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Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume VIII, No. 1
Friday, January 6, 2012
Blight ordinance taking shape By MARJORIE NEEDHAM The newly formed Property Maintenance Ordinance Committee (PMOC) met Dec. 28 and chose member Bob Smith, an attorney, as its facilitator. Member Ken Heidkamp served as recording clerk. Other members are Curt Bosco, Dave Williams, Dennis Small, Ron Vitarelli, Ray Sullivan, Maryanne Barra and Lou Orsini. Earlier this week, member Ralph Barra stepped down, citing a possible conflict of interest because he is a selectman and will vote on the ordinance formulated by the committee. And two new members, Heidi Shea and Joe Martino, were appointed at the Board of Selectmen meeting Jan. 3. The committee’s minutes say that, at the Dec. 28 meeting, the committee used as a starting point a draft ordinance presented by Smith. Members suggested some language changes and clarifications and dropped entirely a section that referred to “visible portions of the property characterized by significant, unattended bare dirt patches.” The committee also voted to name the ordinance the “Property Maintenance Ordinance.” Smith told members of the public in attendance the procedure for putting the ordinance in place would include public meetings once a draft had been finalized by the committee and approved by both
the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Selectmen. The final step in approval of the ordinance would be a vote at a town referendum. The changes and clarifications from the Dec. 28 meeting were not available at press time, but the draft ordinance covered the definition of a blighted property, how the property owner will be notified, who will enforce the ordinance, what the penalties will be for violation of the ordinance and which properties would be exempt from the ordinance. The draft said a property would be considered blighted if a town official finds it poses a serious threat to the health, safety or general welfare of the community or if the fire marshal determines it is a fire hazard. Also, properties that are in disrepair, unfit for human habitation or affect the enjoyment or value of neighboring properties or the quality of life of others would fall under the ordinance. Owners would receive written notice of violations clearly stating the violation, the corrective action needed, the time frame for correcting violations and the fines and fees for not complying. Violations would be punishable by a fine of $100 for each day the violation continues. And anyone in violation for 30 days could be cited to appear at a hearing. The PMOC will meet next on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 5:30 p.m.
Barra leaves PMOC By JONATHAN “CHIP” LONGO – were appointed to the PMOC for a term of one year, from Dec. The Board of Selectmen 19, 2011, to Dec. 19, 2012. The (BoS) at its Monday night meet- board congratulated Shea, who ing amended and approved the was in attendance at the meetminutes of the Dec. 19 meeting, ing. St. John said more members and approved tax rebates, ap- would be needed for the newly pointments to the Property formed committee, regardless Maintenance Ordinance Com- of party affiliation. mittee (PMOC) and a reapConcerning the PMOC, the pointment to the Elderly Tax BoS amended the agenda to Relief Committee. It also ap- include a motion to remove proved a motion for Selectman Barra from the committee. St. Ralph Barra to step down from John said Barra felt it would be the PMOC due to possible con- a conflict of interest to serve on flict of interest. both boards. St. John agreed, The meeting started with Se- noting that whatever the PMOC lectman Elaine Strobel asking would be working on would ulfor clarification of the minutes timately come before the BoS. of the Dec. 19 BoS meeting. She Barra made the motion to resaid as the minutes read it was move himself from the PMOC, not clear who was appointed to and the board passed it unanibe acting first selectman in the mously. Barra said he would first selectman’s absence. The submit a letter of resignation. It board had voted to make Strobel was noted that Barra would act the acting first selectman. The as a liaison between the boards minutes were amended and and that his wife, Maryanne, accepted. would remain a member of the Next the board voted to ac- PMOC. cept five tax rebates totaling During public comment, St. more than $714. John gave an update on the Then Democrat Robert Raf- cleanup from the October snow ford was reappointed as a mem- storm. He said the Public Works ber of the Elderly Tax Relief Department had completed the Committee from Jan. 4, 2012, to first round of debris removal Jan. 4, 2013. and would be going back to pick Two residents – Republicans up any leftover material. Heidi Shea and Joseph Martino
A 12-foot-high back hoe loader is dwarfed by a mountain of tree debris at the Middlebury Transfer Station. The pile, which stands 22 feet high, was picked up from town streets over the past month. A prior pile has already been ground into mulch in the town’s tub grinder. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Public Works wrapping up storm cleanup By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Middlebury Public Works Director Daniel Norton said Wednesday, “We’ve been on some sort of storm cleanup since August.” That’s when Hurricane Irene, downgraded to a tropical storm, made a pass through Middlebury, downing trees and branches and washing out culvert headwalls. That cleanup was still under way when snow storm Alfred arrived Oct. 29. Snow from Alfred weighed down trees that hadn’t yet dropped their leaves, and the damage was even more devastating than that done by Irene – tree trunks snapped, branches fell and whole trees were downed, with many of them taking electrical service lines down with them. Some residents were without power for more than a week. Through it all, Norton said he stayed focused on the job at hand. “What I’ve learned in many years in public works is to take everything in stride,” he said. “The weather dictates what is going to happen. You have to keep your head about you and make the right decisions.” As Public Works Director, Norton said his first job after any sizable storm is to make sure the roads are passable so emergency vehicles can get through. He said residents who see the edger come down the road and push the debris to the side wonder why the debris was simply pushed out of the way and not removed. But Norton said it’s part of making all roads in town passable first and then going back to remove the debris. Removing debris is pretty straightforward, Norton said, but many limbs and trees were entangled in electrical wires, and town workers had to wait for CL&P workers to deal with those wires before they could tackle the debris. That’s why some roads had only one passable lane for several days while the town waited for CL&P to remove debris from wires. Norton said the amount of debris from the two storms was about the same as when Hurricane Gloria hit Connecticut in 1985. So, how much debris was there? Norton said Irene brought down about 2,600 cubic yards of debris, and Alfred brought down another 13,000 cubic yards. When all the debris is ground up, Norton said the town will have about 4,000 cubic yards of mulch. Town workers use this as needed on town properties, but it also is free to town residents, who can pick up what they need
Workers repair a culvert headwall on Long Meadow Road Extension by the cemetery after it was damaged by Hurricane Irene. A number of headwalls had to be either replaced or repaired following the storm. (Submitted photo) from the mulch piles at the transfer station. Normally, Norton said, the town goes through 1,500 to 2,000 cubic yards of mulch in a year; this year, the town has picked up 4,000 cubic yards of new mulch in about four months. Tree debris wasn’t the only thing public works crews had to deal with after the storms. Hurricane Irene washed out 10 culvert headwalls and left several more needing repairs. Culvert headwalls are the concrete walls that surround the ends of culverts on either side of roads they pass under. Although the town doesn’t usually get involved in picking up tree debris from storms, Norton said it did so after Alfred because there was so much debris, and many residents had no way to get the debris to the transfer station on their own. “We had the big trucks, the excavator with the claw and the tub grinder, thanks to our boss, who had the foresight to buy it when it was cheap.” Norton was referring to First Selectman Edward B. St. John who previously served as both first selectman and public works director and who encouraged the town to purchase a number of pieces of heavy equipment. As a result, Norton said, the
town hasn’t had to contract out any of the tree debris removal work. And the federal government is providing some of the funding for the overtime and equipment costs associated with the cleanup. “Thank God FEMA was there because we would have been asking for a lot more money,” Norton said. He said public works employees logged 2,124 man hours on cleanup following Irene and have thus far logged 4,200 man hours on cleanup following Alfred. However, he said the cleanup is now in its final stages, and there is probably only about 1,000 cubic yards of debris left to pick up. Had this happened last winter, town workers would have had a more challenging cleanup job. In December 2010, more than 16 inches of snow fell, and on Jan. 7, 2011, the first of several major snowstorms hit when 10 inches was dumped on the town. Had the same amount of snow fallen this year, it really would have hampered the storm cleanup, particularly if the debris had been buried under plowed snow. Norton said when Alfred came through in October, he knew he had perhaps two months to get the mess cleaned up. “Somebody must be watching over me because I usually don’t have this kind of luck,” he said.
Adoptable pets.................8 Book Review.....................2 Career Coach....................3 Classifieds.........................7 Community Calendar.........2 Computer Tip....................8 Film Review......................2 Fire Log.............................2 Frugal Mummy..................5
Legal Notices....................7 Library Happenings............2 Obituaries.........................5 Opinion.............................4 Parks & Rec.......................6 Police Activities.................2 Puzzles.............................7 Reg. 15 School Calendar...3 Senior Center News...........3
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Upcoming Events
Inside this Issue Middlebury Republican Party Caucus
When: 7:30 p.m. What: Enrolled Republicans can endorse Republican Town Committee candidates Where: Shepardson Community Center
Library to display area artist’s work
Page 8
TUESday Jan. 10
Middlebury Democratic Party Special Meeting
When: 7:35 p.m. What: Enrolled Democrats can nominate and elect candidates for the Democratic Town Committee Where: Shepardson Community Center
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Mail: P.O. Box 10, Middlebury, CT 06762 Published weekly by The Middlebury Bee Intelligencer Society, LLC - 2030 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT 06762 - Copyright 2012