Monthly Archives: September 2015

18 Questions on the Ballot

November 3, 2015 is election day and don’t forget your reading glasses. For the first time in years it is going to be a double-sided ballot. On side one will be the candidates. Do not for an instant think that this is a minor election. The City Council makes the decisions how your property taxes are used. The School Board controls the largest budget in the city. Learn everything you can about the candidates and cast your votes with care.

After you have cast your votes, it is time to turn your ballot over to the EIGHTEEN Charter Revision  Referendum questions.  I suggest a personal cheat sheet to make the time spent coloring the little circle shorter.  I have attempted  to make my explanations of the 18 questions short and simple and easy to answer with a yes or no. Please read the three page double sided official City of Norwich Explanatory Text for Charter Revision Questions for November 3, 2015 Referendum available at City Hall, NPU, Otis Library and the Senior Center.

Ballot Question #1  Should the term of the Registrars of Voters be increased from two years to four years?  Yes or No

Ballot Question #2  Should the Charter be changed to read that the Mayor has the option of attending or not attending all State, regional, and national conferences for Mayors?  Yes or No

Ballot Question #3  Change the  Charter to read the Mayor will be an “ex-officio”  non-voting member of all commissions and committees rather than a “ex-officio” voting member of all committees and commissions created by the City of Norwich?  Yes or No

Ballot Question #4  Change the minimum capital budget tax levy to be no less than 2% of the previous year’s  General Fund expenditure budget? Yes or No

Ballot Question #5  Eliminate the need for an individual bank account for the Capital Improvement Fund because the current accounting software can track the revenues and expenditures for different funds.  Yes or No

Ballot Question #6  Remove the City Charter terms and conditions for the issuance of bonds and notes and accept and use the terms and conditions  to the issuance of bonds and notes provided in the Connecticut General Statutes.  Yes or No

Ballot Question #7  Exclude from the $800,000 referendum threshold those utility projects (water, sewer, natural gas, electric) financed with general obligation bonds the City has entered into an alternative payment agreement from the revenue of the  selected utility.  Yes or No

Ballot Question #8  Retain the requirement that the City Comptroller submit financial information from the previous month to the City Manager and City Council without the timing requirement of the information being due at the ”first regular City Council  meeting in each month.” Yes or No

Ballot Question #9  Eliminate the provision allowing for a 2% discount on property taxes for taxpayers who pay both installments by August 1st . Yes or No

Ballot Question #10 Match the State of Connecticut Public Act No 14-71 allowing the municipality to increase its competitive bidding from $12,000 to $25,000. Yes or No

Ballot Question #11  Correct a typographical error changing the word “reserved” to the correct word “preserved?”  Yes or No

Ballot Question #12  Allow the City to make approved payments by any commercially acceptable method, including, but not limited to, checks. Yes or No

Ballot Question #13  Make the Department of Public Works responsible for providing the heat, light, and janitorial care for all city-owned properties including the police department. Yes or No

Ballot Question #14 Remove the responsibility of street lighting and house numbering from the department of Public Works.  Yes or No

Ballot Question #15 Eliminate the requirement the Director  of Public Works obtain the advice of other officers and employees before appointing or removing officers and employees of the Public Works Department.  Yes or No

Ballot Question #16 The City Engineer will have custody of all City maps unless specifically entrusted to other officials by the Chief  Executive Officer of the City. Yes or No

Ballot Question #17 The Chief Executive Officer of the City, acting through the Director of Public Works, shall have the power and duty of carrying out and administering all cemetery trusts and to care for and maintain all cemetery properties under the control of the city. Yes or No

Ballot Question #18 Allow the Public Utilities Commissioners to approve certain NPU leases, contracts and agreements up to and not more than 25 years. Yes or No

Read the full explanations and please do not skip voting on these issues. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 

Clay Courts of Norwich

Just heard a nasty rumor that Norwich is going to tar over the lay tennis courts near Kelly Middle School at 76 Mohegan Road just down the street from the Senior Center. What an incredibly bad and insulting move to the tennis playing residents of this city. I am not a tennis player. But even I know that clay courts are a surface that professionals prefer to play on. The Paris Open is played on clay courts. Norwich has clay courts for regular people to play on. Unheard of! Don’t lose this gift making our city special.  Use the courts in marketing the city to investors. If help is needed how,  please contact me, and I will help you or steer you to others who can.

Allow me to tell you how the clay courts came to be in Norwich. 1930 was a time when tennis was a game played only in private clubs and establishments of only the wealthy. Steve Armstrong had a friend with a connection to the courts at Backus Hospital and the love of a lifetime began. He played in singles, in doubles and as a tennis team member. Through college, marriage, family and changes of career Steve developed as a top tournament player, and ranked player in New England for over 20 years. He won several tournaments, two state titles in doubles and once played in the nationals at Forest Hills.

Though a successful salesman for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company he worked on and  supervised the building of various tennis courts throughout New England. All while learning what he wanted for the courts someday to be built in Norwich. With much persuasion, debate and perseverance  the 1940’s recreation department  agreed to build municipal tennis courts.  The material for the court was not just ordered from a supplier. Armstrong led a convoy of trucks to the site in Connecticut where the clay could be found so that there could be no error or substitution in the materials that would be used for the final mix.[i] Once the courts were built his dedication did not stop there. For many years he pulled a six-foot drag brush over the courts, supervised the precise painting of the lines and repairs to the court surface, surrounding fence and poles.  

‘Red’ Armstrong was appointed to the city’s Recreation Advisory Board in 1952 and remained active for the next 20 years. In August 1967, the Norwich City Council officially named the courts the Stephen S. Armstrong Tennis Courts.

The Clay Courts of Norwich, a history of the public tennis court facilities in Norwich, CT was written in 1985 by Steve Armstrong and dedicated to his wife of 42 years Marguerite.

Steve passed away in September 1989, but his legacy at 76 Mohegan Road, Norwich CT lives on. 

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 

Maine’s Benedict Arnold Trail

I didn’t think twice about it when I invited a friend in Maine to stroll the Benedict Arnold Trail with me when she comes to Connecticut in October or November. A prompt and speedy reply was “it’s no stroll” and if she is in Connecticut “how can we be ‘strolling’ together in Maine?” So I quit emailing her and picked up the phone to ask what she is talking about.

I was quickly set straight that the Benedict Arnold Trail is a 13 – 15 mile hike and/or portage trail beginning at Carrying Place Stream on the western shore of Wyman Lake, a 15-mile stretch of the Kennebec River that climbs 750 feet to East Carry Pond to Middle Carry Pond to join the Appalachian Trail, crosses Arnold Bog to West Carry Pond at Arnold Point and reaches its 1,519-foot high point just north of Roundtop Mountain before descending to cross Long Falls Dam Road on its way to Flagstaff Lake. My friends twin sons hiked, cleaned and guided on the trail as Boy Scouts participating with the Arnold Expedition Historical Society for more than the seven years it took them to build it. AND didn’t I realize it’s a six hour drive and only a five and a half to her house with wine and cushy seats available.

If I am serious about hiking the trail, her twin sons will take me so I need to schedule a visit when they are home from college and available or I can buy a copy of “Arnold’s Wilderness March,” a full-color map and guide ($6) to enjoy 80 mile expedition route between the Kennebec and Lac Megantic by car, canoe and foot or go to www.arnoldsmarch.com for more information and details.

The Benedict Arnold Trail in Norwich, CT is but a short and easy sidewalk path with stories told of an intelligent and handsome boy growing up with the trials and tribulations of family, friends, poverty and wealth. Later in his life he made some choices that made his name famous for longer than 15 minutes.  

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Little Plain Green

Norwich is unique because we have multiple Greens and we pretty much know the history of each one. How many of us have ever taken a moment to appreciate the Little Plain Green that sits at the crest of Union and Broadway? In the early 1900’s the name was changed to “Union Square Park” but it quickly reverted back to “Little Plain Green. ”

When Deacon Jabez Huntington and Hezekiah Perkins deeded the property to the city in 1790 they clearly stipulated that it was to be used only as a “park.” George Ripley planted the trees outlining the small park later possibly, without official permission. Perhaps he felt there needed to be shade on the hot summer days. I wonder about the discussions that were held about the installations of the sidewalks and fences that surround the small park. Who would design them? Who would build them? Who would pay for them? Oh how I wish the records included more details of the discussions.  I also savor the visions I have created in my mind  of the baby carriages with the great hoods and large wheels and the mothers and nannies pushing them in circles around and around the park.

By 1875 and the aging of a generation or two there were official complaints against noisy ball playing and music concerts on “the little plain.”  They were halted and have never returned. I wonder what the sounds of guitar’s or banjo’s or the mournful wail of a trumpet might be like.  It’s size is small for a baseball game but not for the game of croquet or a simple game of toss.        

Currently there is a tribute to the men lost by Norwich in the Civil War  and on and off throughout the current years a fountain or three has been donated, constructed, stolen or removed for various reasons. The DAR  wanted their 1909 fountain to :

“…like this open space and these trees, prove to be a blessing to the children who play here from early spring to late fall; to the visitors, who come in increasing numbers to our city and loiter in this park, to the lovers who occupy its benches, and to those who come from the heated quarters of the town and spend their summer evenings here.”

Grateful thanks to James Sexton,  Architectural History Consultant , A Case Study of the Norwich Greens published in 2001 that can be found on TownGreens.com

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Who are the candidates?

It is time for the local election when people vote to choose someone for a particular political office or job. Being a member of the City Council is a tough job and very few people want to commit the time.

This is the time you get your say as to who you want to represent you when it is time to raise taxes, fix roads, apply for money from the state or federal governments, and set the budget for the city. Norwich has 11 people running for its City Council and it’s time for them to speak out.

I want to know what particular knowledge and experience they are bringing to the council and the city. What their thoughts and plans are for the future of the city. Nobody plans to fail, but they may fail to plan, so what plans are they bringing to the table for the future of Norwich. What are they personally going to do to make Norwich a better place to live? How are they going to improve the business environment of Norwich? Where are they going to focus their strengths and energies for the benefit of the city? Do they have a specific timeline for their pet projects in mind? Who will be benefitting from these projects? How much is it going to cost me, the taxpayer? What do they think are the issues most affecting the residents and taxpayers of Norwich? What are the problems and what are the solutions?

11 friends, neighbors, and residents have applied for the job as City Councilors.  How well do you know them? The voters make the decision who will be hired. It is your responsibility to be registered to vote. You can register on line at https://voterregistration.ct.gov If you are out of town on election day complete an absentee ballot available through the Office of the City Clerk. Learn all you can about candidates  for city council Joanne Philbrick, Stacy Gould, Gerald Martin, Peter Nystrom, Bill Nash, Elanah Sherman, Pete Desaulniers, Samuel Browning, Edward Martin, Mark Bettencourt, and H. Tucker Braddock . The largest portion of your tax dollars is governed by the members of the Board of Education. How well do you know Board of Education applicants Margaret Becotte, Susan Thomas, Angelo Yeitz, Aaron Daniels, Dennis Slopak, Joyce Werden, Jesshua Ballaro, Robert Aldi, Cora Lee Boulware,Yvette Jacaruso, and Kevin Saythany.

Ask questions before the election so you are not surprised after the election. Your vote counts!

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Botanical Garden Defined

There is a great deal of excitement over Norwich having an educational Botanical Center. So I looked up a few definitions in the dictionary and learned –

A garden is a piece of ground often found near a house used for growing flowers, fruit or vegetables.

A botanical garden is an establishment where plants are grown for display to the public and often for scientific study.  

An arboretum is a place where trees or shrubs are cultivated for their scientific or educational interest.  

Then I looked up gardens and arboretums in Connecticut. All have an educational component, many are connected to university programs and a few developed to preserve and maintain ecological balance in an area. Due to space limitations this list of gardens and arboretums, all in Connecticut, are in alphabetical order. I did not include parks and recreation areas with educational trails or admissions as those may vary. Please check with the individual facility.

American Clock & Watch Museum Sundial Garden   Bristol, CT

Ansonia Nature & Recreation Center Butterfly/Hummingbird Garden  Ansonia, CT

Arboretum   New London, CT

Ballard Park   Ridgefield, CT

Bartlett Arboretum, Gardens & Trails   Stamford, CT

Bates Scofield House   Darien, CT

Beardsley Zoo   Bridgeport, CT

Boothe Park Wedding Rose Garden   Stratford, CT

Butler McCook House & Garden   Hartford, CT

Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center   Mystic, CT

Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum   Rocky Hill, CT

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Conservatory & Garden   Storrs, CT

Eight Mile Gardens/ Devils Hopyard State Park   East Haddam, CT

Eklund Garden   Shelton, CT

Elizabeth Park Rose Garden*   West Hartford, CT

Fairfield Nature Center   Fairfield, CT

Garden of Ideas   Ridgefield, CT

General William Hart House   Old Saybrook, CT

Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden   Woodbury, CT

Greenbrier Greenhouse & Crosby Conservatory at Edgerton Park   New Haven, CT

Harkness Memorial State Park   Waterford, CT

Harriet Beecher Stowe House   Hartford, CT

Highstead Arboretum   Redding, CT

Hollister House Garden   Washington, CT

Keeler Tavern Museum   Ridgefield, CT
Marsh Botanical Garden  New Haven, CT

New Canaan Nature Center   New Canaan, CT

Noah Webster House   West Hartford, CT

Norwich Memorial Rose Garden   Norwich, CT

Palmer Arboretum   Woodstock, CT

Pardee Rose Garden   Hamden, CT

Phelps Homestead   Simsbury, CT

Roseland Cottage Grounds   Woodstock, CT

Sundial Gardens   Higganum, CT

Webb Deane Stevens Museum    Wethersfield, CT

White Flower Farm   Morris, CT

Wickham Park   Manchester, CT

Wilton Old Town Hall   Wilton, CT

Wright’s Mill Farm   Canterbury, CT 

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Stormwater Season

Norwich CT dearly loves its parking lots and garages. So do I. But let’s discuss the not so loved stormwater.

 Stormwater is water resulting from rain or snowmelt that runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways and parking lots. Along the way, the water picks up and transports contaminants including motor oils, gasoline, antifreeze, and brake dust (commonly found on pavements), fertilizers and pesticides (found on landscaped areas), and soil sediments (from farms and construction sites).

 The water eventually flows into a local stream, river or lake, or into a storm drain or sewer that concentrates the runoff into smooth, straight conduits where it gathers speed and erosional power as it travels underground. When this runoff leaves the storm drains and empties into a stream, its excessive volume and power blast out streambanks, damaging streamside vegetation and wiping out aquatic habitat. These increased storm flows carry sediment loads from construction sites and other denuded surfaces and eroded streambanks. They often carry higher water temperatures from streets, roof tops and parking lots, which are harmful to the health and reproduction of aquatic life and can impact swimming and recreation areas as well.

The loss of infiltration from urbanization may also cause profound groundwater changes. Increases in flooding during and immediately after wet weather, and in many instances it results in lower stream flows during dry weather. Many native fish and other aquatic life cannot survive when these conditions prevail which is not good for an area that wants to be known for its great fishing.

Did you know that the amount of storm water washing off a paved one acre parking lot is 16 times greater than that of a comparable size grassy area according to the CDC?

 DEEP is working to engage stakeholders to prevent the introduction of pollutants into stormwater through its Non Point Source Pollution Management and Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Programs.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated a number of permit programs, administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), to deal with storm water pollution.
 

There is The General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activity. The General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater and Dewatering Wastewaters from Construction Activities   The General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater Associated with Commercial Activity  The General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Chloroform and Horseshoes

So often we act at the suggestion of someone else simply because we lack any experience with it ourselves or perhaps our experience was limited to a very controlled circumstance.

According to the Anaconda Montana Standard of September 8, 1894 one of the first recorded attempts to chloroform a horse took place in Norwich, CT by local blacksmith Gib Pierce.

It seems banker Lewis A. Hyde’s valuable family horse needed a new shoe. Well behaved ordinarily the horse kicked habitually and mightily when being shoed. The blacksmith first tried to coax the horse gently by raising its right front hoof gently but the horse was not fooled and soon a crowd had gathered to watch the performance.   

Local veterinarian Dr. Tower suggested chloroform, saying it was easy enough.  So the animal was chloroformed, though he kicked against the operation vigorously, and yielded reluctantly to the anesthesia.

 It was wonderfully easy to shoe him then, reclining on his side, with his limp leg dangling.
 Then all hands tried to arouse him, but the steed so contrary, kicked resolutely against taking up the burden of consciousness again. He lay all day motionless and flaccid in the blacksmith shop, and the surgeon kept him swathed in wet blankets and doused him with a cold-water douche from time to time. At night be regained his consciousness, and was returned to his stall in Mr. Hyde’s  handsome stable at Norwich town.

But it was evident that his chloroform drunk hadn’t agreed with him. A few days later be began to droop, dying in his stall of lockjaw although there is a difference of opinion about the cause of his death. Many believe it was due indirectly to chloroform, saying it was an unheard-of thing to employ the drug in shoeing a horse.

Horseshoes are stilled nailed to the walls of the hooves of horses and require replacement every six to eight weeks depending on the activities of the horse or its needs as shoes may be needed because of abnormal physical stress such as carrying riders, or pulling wagons or for correction of a bone, or musculature issues or for traction for performance horses such as eventers, show jumpers or polo ponies.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 .