Mayor's Neighborhood Preservation Commission

Mayor's Neighborhood Preservation Committee 06/03/2009 Minutes (Final) CITY OF NORWALK MAYOR’S NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING JUNE 3, 2009 ATTENDANCE: Hal Alvord, DPW Director; Mark Pierce, Wilton Avenue N.A.; Al Raymond, Spring Hill/Hospital N.A.; Georgianna Hanrahan, Flax Hill Association; Tom Hanrahan, Flax Hill Association; Gordon Sweeney, Golden Hill N.A.; Katherine Griffing, Golden Hill N.A.; Bob Albertson, Golden Hill N.A.; Helen Bryan, West Main N.A.; Ron Muller, Village Creek H.A.; Marilyn Maitland, Health Department; Dorie Wilson, Planning and Zoning; Glenn Iannaccone, Norwalk Fire Department; Laura Pasciera, DPW; Lt. Paul Resnick, Norwalk Police Department; Jackie Lejrgren, Flax Hill Assoc.; Leigh Grant, NASH; Maribeth Becker, Chris Okafor, DPW; Mayor Richard A. Moccia (10:21 a.m.) STAFF: Connie Blair, Customer Service CALL TO ORDER Mr. Alvord announced that Mr. Shockley was not able to be present today and that the Mayor was running late with another group. He then started the presentation at 10:07 a.m. A. Welcoming remarks; review and approve the May 6, 2009 meeting minutes. There were no minutes to approve at this time. B. Customer Service Center update; Connie Blair Ms. Blair said that she did not have any updates. C. Hal Alvord, Director of Public Works, to provide the latest information pertaining to recycling in Norwalk. Mr. Alvord introduced Mr. Chris Okafor, who is responsible for the road supervision and Ms. Laura Pasciera, the recycling coordinator. Since 1991, when recycling the City has been part of the SWEROC, SWEROC has contracted with CRRA for recycling. The recycling materials are delivered to the City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 1 intermediate center in Stratford. As of July 1, the City will no longer be part of SWEROC. The City terminated its relationship with CRRA for garbage on December 31, 2008. Norwalk is entering a five year contract amendment with City Carting, which will begin on July 1, 2009 and will carry the City through 2014. City Carting will continue and City Carting will sell recyclables and share the revenue with Norwalk. With the old program, the City had city wide collection and the City paid to dispose the recyclable in Stratford. Under that program, only #1 & #2 plastics could be recycled, along with glass, metal food containers. Bins for #3-#7 are currently located at the transfer station. There was only one annual electronics drop off, oil and batteries could be deposited at Volk FD twice per month. The Hazard Household Waste (HHW) drop only done once a year in Norwalk and the surrounding neighboring towns. AS OF JULY 1st, the city wide collection of recyclable will continue. The City will earn $17.50 per ton. Co-mingled curbside collections in the blue bins will expand to #1-#7. Glass/Metal food containers will still be collected but collections will also include aseptic containers such as juice boxes and milk cartons. Mixed paper will be accepted, and this will include newspaper, office paper, junk mail, paperboard and others in a brown bag. Extra blue bins are available at the transfer station for $10.00 and $5.00 for seniors. Mr. Iannaccone asked about paperboard. Ms. Laura said that it is the cardboard used for cereal boxes. Ms. Maitland asked what age was considered “senior”. Mr. Alvord said he would check into this. Mayor Moccia joined the meeting at 10:21 a.m. The corrugated cardboard must be cut to 3 feet by 3 feet and tied in a bundle with string because the trucks can’t fit bigger pieces. Electronics drop-off at transfer station 6 days per week. There is value for this, but it is not enough for the entities to share revenue, but it is expected that more revenue will be generated in the future and then the municipalities will share the revenue. Oil, batteries and associated items can be dropped off at the transfer station 6 days a week. There will be a charge for motor oil and antifreeze. There is no charge for household batteries. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 2 There is no provision for CFL bulbs at this time. The City is looking for a service to deal with this and Home Depot will accept the small CFLs at this time. Annual Household Hazard Waste drop off will continue and the City has an agreement with surrounding towns (Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, Wilton and Westport ) to allow residents to drop off at their locations. The schedule is posted at the City website. There was a brief discussion about which plastics were stamped #1-#7. Other plastic items need to be either put in the regular garbage or passed along to another user. Mr. Alvord said that the blue bins should be out after 6 p.m. the night before or by 6 a.m. the day of collection. Ms. Pasciera must produce a regular report for the State regarding the separation and recycling. Currently Norwalk is one of the top recycler in the State and manages to recycle about 38% of its total tonnage. Resident trucks, van, and trailers must have a permit and go across scale and the residents are allowed to dump 3 tons for free annually. There is no charge for residents arriving in their cars to drop off trash but a Norwalk beach sticker is required to do so. There is no charge for any Norwalk resident vehicle dropping off recyclables. Yard Debris Site Operation The material that goes in an out of the yard waste site counts as recyclable material. In the past year, the yard debris operation has been uneven. Starting on July 1st, the site at South Smith Street Public Works will be open on Saturdays except for July 4th. The same transfer rules apply for the yard debris site. Mr. Pierce asked who was required to recycle. Mr. Alvord said that it was mandatory in the State of Connecticut. The discussion then moved to municipal recycling. Mr. Okafor explained that many of the businesses have long term leases with private haulers. Ms. Pasciera is involved in encouraging businesses and other groups to recycle. The City is exploring selling wood chips along with other opportunities. Every ton of green waste that is brought into the yard waste site, is trucked out and the City pays for the removals. Currently, the space at the facility is limited. Contact 854-3200 or customerservice@norwalkct.org for further information. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 3 Mr. Alvord was asked about composting. He replied that in the past, composting had not generated a significant reduction in the amount of waste, regardless whether it was done in the resident’s backyard or at the City site. Ms. Grant asked about the vehicles that run on grease and the sludge that is in the bottom of the barrel. Mr. Okafor explained that the residue must be taken to a recycling vendor. Ms. Grant asked if there was one in the area. Mr. Alvord said that he did not know, but that he would check into it. Mr. Alvord said that he would urge everyone to check the various town web sites for what their Hazardous Household Waste site will accept. Every ton of garbage that the City does not have to handle saves the City money and every ton of recycling will earn the City money. The discussion then moved to the alternative gas technology that Stamford had been considering. Mr. Alvord said that Stamford had not been able to move that program forward and the technology was too new. He added that that Norwalk was working on several large upgrades for the sewer treatment plan. Ms. Griffing said that she tied up her newspapers with string and asked if this was still acceptable. Mr. Alvord said that newspaper tied up with string or in a brown paper bag was acceptable. Mr. Alvord was asked about the railing at the transfer station and the difficulty in getting the garbage over the rail for those who are older. Mr. Alvord said there have been two near fatal incidents in the State where residents fell into the transfer area because of the lack of a rail or a rail that was too low. Both people were seriously and permanently injured. Because of this, the railing at Crescent Street will never be lowered or removed, but the attendants at the station will help the residents who need assistance. D. Announcements: dependent upon remaining time The Mayor said that the police would be patrolling the speeders, but that the City was looking to go back to the old “Slow Down” signs done by the students. Mayor Moccia said that the City was going to purchase 10 acres of open space in the West Rocks Road area and no taxpayer funds would be used. The Open Space funding will pay for the land. He assured Mr. Raymond that the ongoing Stuart Avenue issue had been checked into and it wasn’t the utilities this time. However, the situation is being worked on. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 4 Lt. Resnick then spoke briefly about the Click it or Ticket seat belt campaign. He said that in the past, he had arrived at horrific accidents expecting serious injuries and when he reached the vehicle, it was empty and the occupants were sitting on the guardrail. The Mayor was asked if there was a procedure for putting a “Slow Down” sign up. The Mayor said a sign on private property wouldn’t be a major problem, but signs on the City property would have to go through Customer Service for permission. There were several questions about the condition of the Post Office in South Norwalk. The Mayor said that it was a federal building and that the City has no jurisdiction. He suggested contacting the Postmaster regarding concerns. The Mayor said that there had been an ongoing problem with the old Fitch School and that the owner is about to have an arrest warrant made out for him for the garbage and the grass. There was also another issue with Brookside not having its grass mowed. The Mayor said that the reason that the person who was mowing the grass at the school was stopped because there was liability insurance. The discussion then moved to the idea of having projects like this available for groups like Keep America Beautiful. Neighborhood representatives Mr. Raymond said that there was an area on Magnolia where people walk their dogs and don’t curb their animals. The Mayor said that there were signs all over town about this. Mr. Alvord said that the enforcement was the problem. Ms. Grant said that Mr. Whitman would be re-opening the Silvermine Tavern as a bed and breakfast. The premises will be available for rental, but the event will need to be catered. Ms. Grant said that many hours had been spent on applying for a Silvermine Historical District and that the State had turned down the application. Ms. Grant said that the rules had changed while they were in the process. Ms. Becker then reviewed the details for “The pARTy in the Park” on June 20th, between the Aquarium and the Mansion. She said that there would be numerous events all day long all along the area. Mr. Muller said that he was present for Ms. Powell, who could not attend the meeting to day and that Village Creek had no report. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 5 Mr. and Mrs. Hanrahan said that the Flax Hill Association would have their third meeting in the evening and the group would be having a speaker. The Mayor said that the new bus routes, the police have been monitoring the accidents, and there has been no increase in accidents. The buses are a public service. The discussion then moved to the change in traffic on the other roads since Rt. 136 truck ban. The Mayor then said that a traffic study was done and there was no increase in accidents. He said that trucks were larger and seemed to move faster. The Mayor said that Connecticut drivers were rated as # 48 in the nationwide driver evaluations. Ms. Abraham said that some of the problems in her area had been fixed, but there were a number of other potholes that needed to be fixed. Mr. Pierce said that the cannon would be reinstalled on the Green at 3:00 p.m. and the U.S. Army Band will be playing. He invited everyone to attend. City staff: Pepperidge Farm Inc. is sponsoring Norwalk as an Affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. There was no update on this item. Adjourn meeting. The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 11:32 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Regular Meeting June 3, 2009 Page 6