Minutes of the West Norwalk Association Board
March 2, 2015
Board members present – Anthony Carrano, Ken D’Arinzo, Brian Forschino & Isabelle Hargrove. Stephen Galyas attended as a guest. Lucy Arreco was not in attendance.
Anthony Carrano called the meeting to order at 7:35pm.
The Board members present voted unanimously to approve the January Board Meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report – Ken D’Arinzo
The current bank balance is $4,814.74, which does not reflect $314 of outstanding checks. The March Treasurer’s Report was unanimously approved by the Board members present.
CNNA Meeting Update – Isabelle Hargrove
Isabelle offered to be the full time WNA representative on the CNNA. Isabelle noted that at the meeting she attended, the agenda was too large to be covered in the time allotted. It was mentioned that the date for “Keep Norwalk Beautiful” was set for Saturday, April 11th. Since this was the first Saturday of the Norwalk Public School Spring Break, the WNA Board agreed to schedule the West Norwalk Clean-Up for Saturday, May 9th at 10am.
The CNNA stated that they were looking to establish an Executive Committee made up of the representatives from each of the Norwalk neighborhood associations. The WNA will need to decide if it would like to have a representative on the Executive Committee. The CNNA also commented that they would like to issue a position statement for the Association. The WNA Board also needs to decide whether or not the Association should be part of the CNNA position statement.
The CNNA is also looking for people to join various committees that focus on Norwalk. Anthony represents the West Norwalk Association as a member of the Oak Hills Park Authority.
Oak Hills Update – Anthony Carrano
Anthony has been attending the Oak Hills Park Nature Committee. The Oak Hills Park Authority is working with the City to gain ownership for two open areas (1) the old leaf pile and (2) a back corner lot. Neither area is accessible by easement. The Nature Committee is looking to set up a Rose Garden and a Main Green on the property.
Website Review – Stephen Galyas
The old website is still located at www.valerietest.com in case any current Board members wanted to compare it to the new website.
The Board agreed that pictures on the website should focus on different areas of West Norwalk, such as: The Five Mile River, The Meeting House, Fox Run School, Ponus Ridge Middle School and Norwalk Community College.
The Board thought people would visit the WNA website for the following reasons:
- People interested in the West Norwalk neighborhood;
- People interested in the West Norwalk Association;
- People interest in joining the WNA Board;
- People looking for dates of events; and
- People who have an issue they would like to raise.
The Board also noted the following updates / revisions to the website:
- The 2015 Membership Form needs to be updated;
- The link to the WNA bylaws is not working;
- The list of officers needs to be updated; and
- The new scholarship application needs to be put up.
Brien McMahon Scholarship
Ken has the application we need to return by March 20th. Scholarships will be awarded on June 3rd. Isabelle agreed to coordinate the process with Brien McMahon. All other Board members will will review the applications with the names redacted and all Board Members together will decide on a winner. The Board agreed to grant a single $1,000 scholarship in 2015 and agreed to have Linda Forcellina present the scholarship to the winner. Isabelle suggested giving the winner the check after the student has completed their first semester of school.
Spring Clean-Up
The Board agreed to schedule the West Norwalk Spring Clean-Up for Saturday, May 9th at 10am at Fox Run School. Anthony will get the garbage bags and gloves. Brian agreed to provide water bottles. Anthony will speak to the Norwalk Hour. Stephen will put the date on the website and the Facebook page.
Family Fun Day
The Board is concerned about being able to staff a Family Fun Day. The Board needs to find out when the Fox Run Ice Cream Social is to avoid any conflict.
Dolce Update – Anthony Carrano
Dolce confirmed that property has not been sold, just the branding. Mike McNeill told Anthony that he does not expect anything to change with the operation of the facility.
All Other Business – Ken D’Arinzo
Five Mile River – Bob Wagman, Rebeccas Oresman and Ken D’Arinzo attended a meeting regarding flooding of the river.
There have been issues of cars being broken into on Watering Lane and Morehouse Lane. It was reported to the Norwalk Police but a police report was never completed. Norwalk Community Affairs Officer Terry Blake has offered to address the incidents.
Isabelle is looking to recruit people to run for the Board of Education.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:18pm.