West Norwalk Association Board Meeting
November 3, 2014
Board Members Gay MacLeod, Linda Forcellina, Anthony Carrano, Ron Paladino, Ken D’Arinzo and Brian Forschino were present at the meeting. Board Member Galen Wells was absent.
Stephen Galyas and Isabel Hargrove attended the meeting as guests.
Linda Forcellina presented the October meeting minutes for approval by the Board. Anthony Carrano motioned to approve the Minutes with the motion being seconded by Ken D’Arinzo. The Board unanimously voted to approve the October minutes.
Treasurer’s Report: Ken D’Arinzo
The Association received $2,710 in new membership fees, including several new families. Gay Mac Leod will send hand written notes to the three families that made $100 donations. The Association’s cash as of the meeting date sits at $2,943.98. Ken noted that the current Wells Fargo account does not charge monthly fees, they do impose fees for high volumes of transactions (more than 50 deposits/withdrawals in a month) or high volume transactions (more than $3,000 in cash in a month). The Board agreed to monitor such transactions going forward to minimize the amount of bank fees paid.Brian Forschino motioned to approve the Report with the motion being seconded by Ron Paladino. The Board unanimously voted to approve the Treasurer’s Report.
Holiday Party:
The Annual Holiday Party is scheduled for Friday, December 12th at Dolce Norwalk Center from 6:00 to 9:00. The Party will be held in the same restaurant location as last year’s event.
- The Party will be advertised on the WNA website, the WNA Facebook page, through resident mailings, 2 separate e-mail blasts and a letter to the editor of the Norwalk Hour. Anthony will put out the signs approximately 2 weeks before the party.
- A $10 entry fee will be charged for each individual attending the Party. Everyone paying will be given a colored wristband.
- Anticipated costs of the Party:
- Dolce, for use of the facility and food($1,500 to be paid in January)
- Printing and postage for the invitations (Approximately $500 for printing and $300 for postage)
- Two tables with two people at each will collect Party entrance fees and annual membership Dues. Both the entrance fee and annual membership fee can be included on the same check.
- A Membership Table will be set up inside the Party later in the evening to give more opportunity for WNA residents to pay dues.
- A separate table will be set up for the Brien McMahon Scholarship Fund collection.
- A location will be provided for attendees to drop off food for the Food Drive.
- Ken agreed to manage the 50/50 raffle during the Party.
Annual Meeting:
Exclusive of the local politicians, the meeting was attended by approximately 30 WNA residents. The Meeting opened with speeches from Linda and Gay as the outgoing Co-Presidents of the Association. Following the speeches, each politician seeking election in the upcoming election was given an opportunity to address the audience. The Meeting concluded with a presentation by General Growth Properties and Larry Cafaro, as legal representative, on the proposed mall on the former site of 95/7. Attendees were also given the opportunity to ask questions.
WNA Information Technology Update:
StephenGalyas, a winner of the 2014 WNA Brien McMahon Scholarship and current computer science major at Fairfield University, has offered to assist the WNA Board with its IT needs. Stephen has offered to assist with website updates, Facebook page updates, e-mail blasts and database management. Stephen currently provides similar assistance to St. Matthew Church.
Ken will assist Stephen with transition and will provide him with the necessary access and passwords. The Board will work with Stephen on possible redesign ideas for the webpage. Stephen will present his initial thoughts for a membership database setup at the December Board meeting.
Recent Coyote Activity in West Norwalk:
The West Norwalk Association has received numerous calls in the past few weeks regarding frequent coyote sightings in West Norwalk. Gay spoke with the veterinarian and Director of the Wildlife Crisis Center who provided the following insight:
- All of the different sightings sound as if they are a single family (i.e., parents and a few pups)
- Coyotes are wild, intelligent and social dogs
- Coyotes rarely attack people or pets
- Coyotes approach people because they are curious
- If not provoked, coyotes will stand and stare at people for a while
- Do not try to feed wild coyotes or try to turn into pets
Repeated calls to Norwalk Animal Control has met with the response that given the coyotes are wild animals and there have been no reported incidents of attacks, there is nothing they are able to do.
The Humane Society provides the following harmless way to keep coyotes from becoming too social with humans in a suburban setting which is referred to as Hazing. To “Haze” a coyote, a person should loudly clap their hands, jump up and down and make loud noises while directly facing the coyote. A person confronted by a coyote should never run. While the Board supports this approach, the approach is that of the Humane Society and not the West Norwalk Association.
The Board agreed to disseminate this information to the West Norwalk residents our website. A letter will be written to the Editor of the Norwalk Hour that provides a summary and directs people to the WNA website for more detailed information.
Ken motioned to adjourn the meeting with the motion being seconded by Anthony. The meeting was adjourned at 8:37pm.