West Norwalk Association Special Board Meeting
April 30, 2008
Minutes West Norwalk Association Board of Directors Special Meeting
April 30, 2008
Directors in attendance: Peggy Yff, Ron Paladino, Joel Zaremby, James Forcellina, Jim Hirshfield, Regina Krummel, Chris Potts, William Van Deventer, Bob Wagman, Charles Wilhelm.
Visitors: Gay MacLeod, Betsy McGowan
Meeting called to order at 7:37PM.
The special meeting was held to prepare for the meeting at Dolce on May 5 to hear Dolce’s request for zoning changes to allow them to have celebratory events and extend their hours of operation until midnight.
Betsy McGowan reported on the meeting Dolce held for the Ferndale residents.
Over 50 people turned out. Dolce stated that they and Broad Reach, REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) (owner of 80% of the property) are at risk unless they can get zoning changes. Presentation was softened from first presentation as they addressed the concerns of the residents. (noise, traffic). Betsy said questions, some heated, included hours of use, noise, lighting, traffic, hotel rooms. Larry Cafaro put together a list of possible considerations which was circulated. Betsy felt it was too early to get a consensus of the residents.
Regina Krummel requested that certain harsh words be stricken from the April minutes. Move was accepted and secretary has reissued minutes under separate cover.
Treasurer’s report showed a balance of $7,511.63 largely attributed to the dues mailing.
Jim Forcellina has heard from Jessica Pryce who lives across from Fox Run School. She complained about lights shining in her home at night. Regina and Peggy offered to visit with her and see what the WNA can do to help her.
Peggy passed out proposed outline of action over the next 3 months for WNA to address the Dolce request. Also a draft of the Agenda for the May 5 meeting at Dolce was passed out as well as the PowerPoint presentation prepared by William Van Deventer. (all attached)
The following was discussed to prepare for meeting on May 5;
Welcome announcement to include that we ask all attendees to HOLD all questions and comments until Dolce is finished with their presentation. Dolce should remain in the room after their presentation to answer questions.
Peggy will double check with Chris Dolce on the timing of their presentation and allotment of time for Q&A period addressed to them before they leave the room. Peggy will also tell Chris that we expect the entire presentation be given, the same one we as Board members saw in our first meeting.
The hand out we provide will be marked “DRAFT #1”. The hand out will be strictly an informational, factual document and take no particular position on the matter. William and Skip are working on making sure the zoning chart is factual and correct.
William is working to incorporate Larry Cafero’s list of considerations in to the hand out section “Next Steps” with the exception of the moratorium which is not possible.
The last page of the draft hand out will advise neighbors that they will be receiving a mailing about voting on the issue, how to vote, and when to vote.
The draft hand out will be emailed to all board members by this weekend for approval.
Peggy recommended that we include Norwalk Sound Ordinance Noise page as a reference for people to understand what db levels of noise are in how they relate to various activities.
WNA Closing statement to also explain that there will be one vote per household, and we agreed to encourage interested attendees to attend the June 2nd meeting at NCC.
Meeting adjourned at 9:28 PM.