If developers want to connect more than three building lots with an accessway — a driveway that’s shared between houses — they have to go through a lengthy process of applying for a waiver of the regulations.
Expanding that number of buildings that can be served by one driveway from three to five or more was something attorney Bob Jewell suggested the Planning and Zoning Commission should change, at its Tuesday, March 26, meeting.
“This has come before you guys a couple of times before,” Jewell remarked.
He told the commission that he’s currently working on a subdivision off Barry Avenue that would include an access road serving four lots.
Earlier that evening, Jewell failed to get a waiver from the commission for another accessway at 167 High Ridge Avenue
The waiver failed because not enough commissioners were at the table to vote.
“John, can you remember the rationale as to why it’s three lots on an access way?” Vice Chairman Joe Fossi asked Commissioner John Katz, who has been on the commission since the late 1970s.
“As I understood it, basically it was because we did not at that time have roadway construction standards for accessways, and accessways were deteriorating,” said Katz.
Since then, the standards for an accessway to be built have been raised to the level of roads — only narrower.
“Keeping the width down is much to be desired; that keeps the apron down too, so it doesn’t look like a highway being built in the middle of a moderately rural subdivision,” said Katz.
“I can’t think of one reason why we wouldn’t do this,” said Fossi.
“Me too,” agreed Katz, who later indicated he wouldn’t want to see more than five lots served by a shared driveway.
Most of the commission said they could agree to five.
Mucchetti told Jewell to come back with a proposal for up to five lots on an accessway.
Commissioner George Hanlon seemed less thrilled with the idea.
“I don’t like it, but that’s just me” he said.
“But you wouldn’t vote against it?” asked Chairwoman Rebecca Mucchetti
In partnership with Bissell Pharmacy and the Ridgefield Prevention Council, the Ridgefield Police Department will host a prescription drug take-back initiative to promote the proper disposal of medications Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Potentially dangerous, unused and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications will be collected at Bissell Pharmacy located at 23 Governor Street. People wishing to dispose of medications will not have to exit their vehicles.
This service is free and completely anonymous. All medications that are collected as part of this initiative are brought to an incineration facility for destruction by officers of the Ridgefield Police Department.
There is a prescription drug take-back box located in the front lobby of Police Headquarters (76 East Ridge Roadd). This take back box is available to the public 24 hours a day/365 days of the year and is also completely anonymous.
Families are invited to collect eggs, meet the Easter Bunny, and enjoy springtime in Ballard Park on Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m.
This free event is cosponsored by Ridgefield Parks and Recreation and the Ridgefield Rotary Club. For details, visit ridgefieldparksandrec.org or call 203-431-2755.
Finance board member Dick Moccia listened to school board member Sharon D’Orso Tuesday night, April 2, after the finance board approved town and school budgets with a $230,000 reduction to the school board’s more than $98-million request. — Macklin Reid / Hearst Connecticut Media
A 1.24% tax increase for 2019-20 would result from the nearly $148-million revenue and spending plan approved by the Board of Finance on a string of unanimous votes Tuesday night, April 2.
The 2019-20 budget proposal would allocate $98,193,760 for school operations —a 3.36% spending increase —and $38,318,807 for town departments and road repaving, reflecting a 0% increase for the town budget.
The budget assumes expenditures of $11,315,116 to pay debt service.
“Overall, I get a spending increase of 2.4%,” finance board chairman Dave Ulmer said near the end of Tuesday night’s meeting. “That’s with roads and debt service.”
Some $4,468,620 in capital spending proposals — projects and purchases to financed with borrowing, so they don’t affect next year’s taxes — were also approved by the finance board.
All the spending and tax proposals will be passed on to voters for approval or rejection at the Annual Town Meeting and the budget referendum in May.
The $98,193,760 school budget approved by the finance board is an increase of $3,193,760 over the current school budget, which is an even $95 million. But it’s a $230,000 reduction from $98,423,760 budget request previously approved by the Board of Education.
The cut trimmed the school spending from a 3.6% increase sought by the school board to a 3.36% increase approved by the finance board. The $230,000 school cut is exactly half the $460,000 school reduction proposed as a “non-binding recommendation” by the Board of Selectmen. The selectmen’s suggested cut would have meant a 3.1% increase in school spending.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Board of Education Chairwoman Margaret Stamatis was philosophical about the cut to the board’s initial budget request.
“I think we can move the district forward. We’re pleased both boards were thoughtful and listened to what we’ve identified as the needs of our district,” she said.
“We respect their process,” she said.
“We’ll have a discussion at our next board meeting regarding how we’ll address the reductions to our requested amount.”
That meeting is scheduled Monday, April 8, at 7 p.m. In the town hall annex off Prospect Street by Yanity Gymnasium.
“It’s still $3.1 million more than this year,” finance chairman Ulmer said of the school spending.
To get the projected tax rate down to 1.24% the finance board voted to pull $1,675,000 out of the town’s roughly $14-million surplus fund balance.
With a surplus of about $1.3 million projected for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, the fund balance — which serves as a financial cushion for the town — is projected to be $15.4 million at the end of the fiscal year, which would be reduced to $13.7 million by the $1,675,000 “use of fund balance” allocation built into the budget.
The ‘fire watch’ that has a town firefighter on duty after classes at Ridgefield High School continued this week, Fire Chief Jerry Myers said.
“It has not ended yet,” Myers said Tuesday, April 2. “I cannot predict when it will end.”
Because the school’s emergency lighting needs some upgrading, a fire watch firefighter goes on duty to meet fire code for after school hours, when there’s less school staff in the building, according to Myers. The fire department is working with school authorities to get the situation straightened out.
“We’ve had a meeting up there last Wednesday with their lighting contractor,” Myers said. “We’ve outlined what has to be done and as soon as the building is up to compliance with the life safety code we can terminate the fire watch.”
Asked the dollar cost of having a firefighter on duty at school each day, Myers said he had figures from the start of the fire watch on March 5 to March 24. That cost was $8,069.
On March 19, Founders Hall received notice of a grant from Kelly Giordano, Managing Director at Newman’s Own Foundation.
The generous gift of $1,750 will support Founders Hall’s general operations.
Paul Newman’s dream of changing the lives of those less fortunate has come to fruition and then some. Since 1982, 100% of the profits made from sales of Newman’s Own products, now totaling more than $515 million, have been contributed to nonprofit organizations worldwide. Founders Hall is honored to be in their company.
“The Newman’s Own Foundation has set the bar for philanthropic efforts extremely high. Knowing how selective they are about the organizations they support makes this grant that much more meaningful,” explained Grace Weber, Founders Hall Executive Director. “Keeping Founders Hall a lively, well-kept place where seniors can come for life-long learning takes a village, and we are simply delighted Newman’s Own Foundation has joined our village!”
It took many hands to complete the community meeting room upgrades at Ann’s Place. From left: Shannon Cobb, Ann’s Place, Jon Seaman, Seaman Mechanical Services, Joel Third, Rotary Club of Ridgefield, Chris Hoeffel, Rotary Clubs of District 7980, Frank Scahill, Jr., Rotary Club of Danbury, Lee Ogden, H&Y Construction, Charlie O’Neil, Paul Dinto Electrical Contractors. — Ann Hermann photo
A host of volunteers and donors came together to make significant upgrades to the large community meeting room at Ann’s Place, a nonprofit that serves people facing cancer. The Rotary Clubs of Ridgefield, Danbury and Rotary District 7980 provided the seed funds of $10,000 to get the project started. Labor and support were donated by H&Y Construction (Brookfield), Paul Dinto Electrical Contractors (Middlebury), Doyle Coffin Architecture (Ridgefield) and Seaman Mechanical Services (Danbury). None of these upgrades could have been done without the generous contributions of these companies.
The upgrades include 130 new conference room chairs, a high-quality sound system, and construction of a new privacy wall which separates a noisy entrance area from the main room.
“These upgrades have made it possible to run a host of larger seminars and wellness programs, yoga classes, meditation, support groups and more,” said Shannon Cobb, President and CEO. “We even had an open mic night which included a lot of laughter and fun for people facing this pervasive disease.”
Ann’s Place provides comfort, support and resources to people living with cancer and to their loved ones – all free of charge. The clinical social workers, facilitators and wellness experts provide services aimed at improving quality of life during and after cancer.
Other volunteers who helped with the upgrades included members of the Rotary Clubs of Ridgefield and Danbury who unpacked and setup chairs and built the dollies; Marc Huberman and John Krieger who installed the sound system; and Colman Weir, Mike Keegan and Boehringer Ingelheim employees (Ridgefield) who painted after the construction was finished.
“As with all Ann’s Place activities, it is heavily managed by talented volunteers,” Cobb said. “We are so grateful to everyone who helped pull this together.”
Ann’s Place relies on the generosity of donors to be able to continue providing these services free of charge. If you would like to find out more about Ann’s Place services, volunteer opportunities or upcoming events please visit their web site at www.annsplace.org or call them at 203-790-6568.
The math and science performance, a new “STEM supervisor” sought to oversee curriculum revisions in those challenging fields, the school system’s long-neglected building maintenance, and still rising special education costs, were issues at times in heated discussion when public school officials defended their $98.4 million budget proposal to the Board of Finance.
With the selectmen’s budget for town departments already at a zero percent increase, if the finance board finds any reductions the $148-million proposed budget, it’s likely to be in the request for a 3.6 percent increase in school spending.
“It’s no secret our math and science scores are not good. There’s a reason for that,” Superintendent of School William Collins said. “Part of that reason is we’re very light in the curriculum department.”
A team of school administrators and Board of Education members visited the finance board Thursday, March 28, and again Monday evening, April 1, to explain their proposal to increase school spending from $95,000,000 this year to $98,424,000 next year. (Editor’s note: The finance board approved a $98.2-million budget Tuesday, April 2).
They attempted to make the case that Ridgefield’s curriculum needs to be rewritten to meet new state standards in math and science. To lead and coordinate that effort they proposed adding a $162,500 position for a STEM supervisor, they said, invoking the common acronym for science, technology, engineering and math education.
Results of the state’s Smarter Balanced Assessment testing showed 81% of Ridgefield students, across all grades, were proficient in English and language arts while in mathematics just 72 percent were proficient.
Ridgefield’s 72 percent is the lowest rate of math proficiency among the top suburban Fairfield County schools in the state’s DRG-A comparison group, which show proficiency ranging from 88 percent in New Canaan to 73 percent in Wilton, just above Ridgefield’s 72 percent.
The tests also show a downward trend in Ridgefield’s math proficiency as students move through the school system: third grade, 82 percent proficient in math; fourth grade, 79 percent; fifth grade, 76 percent; sixth grade, 61 percent; seventh grade, 74 percent; eighth grade 64 percent.
And, school board members said after Monday night’s meeting, the Smarter Balanced scores include “growth” projections showing where each individual student should be the next year — another area where the town could do better.
“We’re not meeting our growth scores,” school board Chairwoman Margaret Stamatis said.
The new curriculum in math and science should be accompanied by revised “assessments” to measure students’ progress, Collins and the school board said, as well as professional development for teachers.
“We’re asking all of our teachers to teach differently,” Collins said.
Finance board member Dick Moccia listened to school board member Sharon D’Orso Tuesday night, April 2, after the finance board approved town and school budgets with a $230,000 reduction to the school board’s more than $98-million request. — Macklin Reid / Hearst Connecticut Media
Teams, one guy
Most other top Fairfield County suburban schools Ridgefield is compared to by the state — the DRG-A schools — have been investing in curriculum improvements to address the changing educational standards and it shows in their scores, the school delegation told the finance board.
“Look at any of the similar communities. Who do they have to do this work? Teams of people. We just don’t have that,” Collins said.
“We don’t have the people — one guy! — I’ve never seen that before,” he said.
“… We really should have a math person and a science person.”
While the school board is seeking to add a STEM supervisor to help the assistant superintendent for curriculum, there’s been a humanities supervisor for a few years, — although she’s currently filling in as a principal, the Scotland School principal.
The board envisions the STEM supervisor overseeing curriculum writing, including elementary science and also chemistry, biology and physics at the high school. The supervisor would also have a long list of responsibilities related the placement of students in math.
Finance board members wondered if there might be curriculum designed to meet the new math and science standards available from the state or some of the neighboring districts that have already done the work, but that’s not the way it’s done in Connecticut, according to Collins.
“Every district develops their own curriculum, based on the standards.”
Having teachers in the schools are involved in the curriculum writing is important to instruction and learning.
“You can take a curriculum out the box and put it on a teacher’s desk,” Collins said. “ … Unless they really have ownership, what it means, it’s not really implemented effectively.”
Past cuts
School board member Doug Silver told the finance board that he and his colleagues had contributed to the situation by the way they’d reacted to budget cuts in previous years
“We as a Board of Education annihilated the curriculum budget last year,” he said “… We pillaged the curriculum department to not cut teachers — that’s what we did.”
Finance board members asked about increased spending on building maintenance and also capital repair projects and equipment.
“We have a million square feet we have to get back in shape,” Collins said.
Silver said this, too, was a case of catching up after a history of cutting maintenance to avoid direct hits to education program.
“When our budgets get reduced we have, historically, whacked the maintenance budget significantly,” Silver said.
Special education
Finance board member Jessica Mancini recalled some other history “Three years ago when Dr. Baldwin first came in, we had an increase of almost 5 percent in the budget,” she said.
Silver said much of that money had been used — with some success — to narrow the performance difference between special needs students and the general education.
“We had a dramatic gap” he said. “… We are closing that gap, We’re proud of that.”
Another area finance board members asked about was the decision to modify a plan to drop the use the Center for Children with Special Needs (CCSN) — which brings in people who specialize in applied behavior analysis, an approach that has proved to be effective with children on the autism spectrum — and replace them with in-district staff.
That’s still the plan, but the program is now going to be phased in, with the CCSN consultants working another year and the in-district staff being added as well — though possibly not at the start of the year. “The best of both worlds,” Collins said.
Collins said he’s going to have to find about $100,000 to pay for a dual approach, but would do it within the proposed budget.
Finance board members wondered about the reason for the change of plan.
“We responded to community concern,” Collins said. “If you get enough parents who are concerned, you want to provide comfort for them.”
After discussing how students in some lower grades aren’t comparing favorably with peers in other top school districts, Collins assured the finance board that the high school is doing well.
“The lower grades are problematic — those kids get to the high school, they’re catching up,” Collins said.
“Ridgefield High School is one of the highest performing high schools in the state.”
On March 12, Sarah Cohn and Al Onkka of Minneapolis-based Aurora Consulting led Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center’s stakeholders in planning sessions for year-long visitor research, a project partially funded by a $9,990 Connecticut Humanities capacity-building grant.
Keeler Tavern Museum and History Center has received a $9,990 capacity-building grant from Connecticut Humanities (CTH) to help pay for visitor research during 2019.
The project launched in mid-March, with leadership training provided by Aurora Consulting, Minneapolis, Minn., experts in museum audience research and analysis. Through the year-long project, KTM&HC’s leadership, staff and volunteers will gain a better understanding of what attracts the site’s several thousand yearly visitors and what visitors think of the experiences they have while there.
“There’s a lot of competition for Connecticut Humanities’ grants, the review committee sets high standards, and the ‘pot’ of available funds isn’t that big,” said Keeler Tavern Executive Director Hildi Grob. “The fact that we received the maximum amount possible for this grant line tells us that we’re on the right path—that there’s confidence, not only here in Ridgefield but also across the state, in our ability to execute on our strategy to become a regional history center.”
In 2016, KTM&HC purchased and has since converted the Cass Gilbert, Jr.-designed “Brick House” at 152 Main Street into its first-ever Visitor Center, which will have its grand opening on July 4, 2019. Grob expects the visitor research to show how KTM&HC can capitalize on the site’s expanded capabilities to attract larger and more diverse audiences with programs, tours and exhibitions that provide historic context for contemporary issues.
Connecticut Humanities, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, helps libraries, schools and community-based organizations like KTM&HC to connect people and ideas, with the goal of enriching Connecticut’s cultural life. Its capacity-building grants require a 1:1 match; KTM&HC has raised the match through its current capital campaign, supported by the generosity of the local community, and with a $5,000 grant from M&T Bank.
A cache of rifles and other firearms were seized from a Tackora Trail home Thursday, March 28. — Ridgefield Police Department photo
Some people collect and sell antique cars, others collect guns.
That was the point Mark Albin, 49, tried to make this week after he was charged with possession of 16 assault weapons, 76 unregistered high-capacity magazines, and six silencers.
Of the assault weapons included in a photo released by the Ridgefield Police Department, Albin said between five to seven were guns he assembled at home from parts he ordered online.
“They’re legally made, homemade guns,” he said. “That’s what blew a gasket with the Ridgefield police.”
“They’re not 3D-printed ghost guns,” he added.
Albin said he also assembled the six silencers from parts he bought off of Amazon.
The devices are made to look like “solvent traps,” he said.
“Maybe I should have registered the high-capacity [magazines], but they never left my house,” he said, noting that he has 10-round magazines — the legal limit in Connecticut — that he brings to the shooting range.
Albin said one of the other rifles included in the photo — a Norinco AK-47 he purchased in the late 1980’s for $700, is now worth between $10,000 and $20,000, because the gun was manufactured prior to the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons.
According to Albin, the assault weapons made at home were not registered because home-built guns do not have a serial number.
Albin said all of his guns were stored in a safe.
“I’m a mechanic, not a gunsmith,” Albin said. “I like building stuff from scratch, that’s all. And there’s plenty of documentation on the internet that’s readily available to anybody who wants to build guns from scratch.”
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said the issue was not about whether the guns were stored correctly, but that they were unregistered and therefore illegal.
“The worry is what happens when a cache like this one gets into the wrong hands?” said Marconi. “All it takes is the wrong person to get their hands on these types of weapons.”
A mugshot of Mark Albin taking March 28.
Tear-gas grenade
Last Thursday, police responded to a disturbance call at Albin’s residence after his son called police during an argument between Albin and his wife.
“We were having a loud argument and my kid got scared and called 911,” he said. “Nothing physical happened. She didn’t want me to leave the house is all, and I didn’t want to stay.”
An officer who responded to the scene told Albin they would have to hold his guns.
“He said ‘because you’re a registered handgun owner, I need to collect your handguns,’” Albin said. “I gave him access to everything.”
According to a press release from Ridgefield police, officers “discovered illegal firearms, high capacity magazines, and an explosive device.”
Albin was charged and released after posting $50,000 in bail for the weapons charges, and $500 for a disorderly conduct charge for the disturbance. He is due back in court on April 11 for the weapons charges, and May 7 for the disorderly conduct charge.
The explosive device found in the home was made up of parts Albin had purchased to build a tear-gas grenade.
He said the grenade could have been fired from a 3-mm flare launcher, also in his possession and seized by police.
Besides the 16 assault weapons named in the arrest, he estimated he turned over around 40 other firearms to police, including shotguns he uses for hunting.
Reputation
Since his arrest, Albin said he has received death threats made by phone.
“A car pulled in my driveway and [the driver] called me ‘baby killer’ at one o’clock in the morning, laying on the horn,” he said.
During an interview Monday in the parking lot of a closed Norwalk gun store, Albin declined a call on his cellphone from an unknown number in Newtown.
“That’s where I get calls from, I don’t even answer,” he said.
Several residents defended Albin’s reputation.
“He is a local mechanic — an honest, reputable guy,” said John Miceli, who owns a tree-cutting business. “He’s fixed several cars for me over the years.”
Albin said he’s been laid off from his job as a mechanic at the service station. The owners said Friday, that Albin had not been fired, but had been asked to take a few weeks off.
Chris Patterson, a town resident who attended school with Albin, said he is a “solid guy.”
Albin said he’s never threatened anyone with a gun.
“I’ve never pointed a gun at anyone in my life, I’ve only ever pointed at targets,” he said.
‘I don’t remember anything like this’
Police Commission Chairman George Kain said Albin is entitled to a fair trial.
“This is all gonna get flushed out in court,” he told The Press Monday, April 1. “Let the process run it’s course.”
Kain added that the parts Albin purchased to build his guns were “legal to buy.”
“If he was on the streets of Bridgeport looking to buy an AK-47, then I’d have a problem,” Kain said. “You don’t want to destroy a hard working guy who is a darn-good mechanic by all accounts.”
The police commission chairman noted that he didn’t know why someone like Albin would need to have a cache of weapons.
“People have guns for any number of reasons … I don’t know why he had the guns,” Kain said.
Kain said that Albin’s arrest was a first for the police department.
“I don’t remember anything like this,” he said, “but this type of arrest would not have happened up until three years ago when the law changed.”
“People are forgetting the need to fill out the paperwork [to register their guns].”
Ridgefield firefighters responded to the scene of a brush fire on North Street Wednesday, April 3.
Fire Chief Jerry Myers said that the fire was caused by down power lines that sparked and lit up dry leaves near the roadway. He could not confirm whether heavy wind had knocked down the power lines.
“The cause of the fire was not a crash,” he said.
The scene of the fire was right next to St. Mary’s Cemetery on North Street.
Chief Myers said the road was closed and that firefighters were on scene from 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. extinguishing the blaze.
No injuries were sustained.
More than 150 customers were without power between 6 and 9 p.m. Eversource reported.
Sean Livingstone, Mac Perrott, Patrick Browne, Gus Kynast, Yohann Britto, Kurt Monahan, Alex Holder, James Kane, and Luke Faillaci.
The Ridgefield High School Class of 2019 is hosting its annual Mr. RHS on Thursday, April 11. It is a pageant-like show for senior boys, showcasing talent, swimwear, and formalwear portions, as well as a question.
Mr. RHS is the biggest fundraiser for the senior class, and will help us as we prepare for our Graduation, Senior Banquet and Prom. The show will feature Sean Livingstone, Mac Perrott, Patrick Browne, Gus Kynast, Yohann Britto, Kurt Monahan, Alex Holder, James Kane, and Luke Faillaci.
Tickets are $10 for students to buy during lunch periods at school, and are $15 at the door. The show starts at 6 p.m.
Memory Lane Cruisers and Lounsbury House will co-sponsor a summer car show to benefit SPHERE from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 14.
“Muscle cars, street rods, and classics and antiques,” a press release for the event reads.
The gates open at 8:30 a.m. Goodie bags will be handed out to the first 100 customers. There will also be a DJ, a 50/50 raffle, and food from local vendors.
No cut off for years — all cars, trucks and motorcycles are welcome. $20 per car. Free for the general public.
As part of the Parenting the #Selfie Generation: Resilience for Life series, experts will discuss important mind and body issues t at the Ridgefield Library on Wednesday, April 10, at 7 p.m.
Presenters include: Rena Bruckman, MS, RD-N, Debbie Chrabolowski, LPS, Arianna Pina, in recovery, and Marcie Schneider, MD. Topics to be covered include: understanding eating disorders and body dysmorphia, fostering a healthy relationship with food in your home, identifying a concern and seeking treatment, and paving the road to recovery.
The program is made possible by the Girl Scout Gold Award project of Abby Morris.
Parenting the #Selfie Generation is a collaboration of Ridgefield Public Schools, Ridgefield Council of PTAs, Ridgefield Library, Project Resilience, Ridgefield Youth Commission, Books on the Common, Town Vibe, and Silver Hill Hospital.
Please register at ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282 for more information.
A West Mountain Road couple has proposed subdividing their property at 104 West Mountain Road, selling the main house, and moving into their carriage house — all so they can stay in Ridgefield.
The process of getting there is a bit more complicated.
Before the property owners, the Kriedbergs, can apply for the subdivision, they’ll have to reverse a court judgment dating back 50 years that stipulates that the land cannot be subdivided.
That decision stems from a 10-year legal battle between the commission and the original owners of the land — Jerry and Ernestine Tuccio, who wanted to subdivide about 60 acres of land around West Mountain Road.
“Ultimately in June of 1969, the commission approved three subdivisions — Highland Acres, Parkland Company, Eleven Acres Estates,” said Matthew Mason, an attorney representing the Kriedbergs at the March 26 zoning commission hearing.
With that came a “stipulated judgment” from the state — essentially an agreement between the commission and the Tuccios backed up with a legal judgment from the state, Mason explained, which included language that bars the Kriedberg property from being further subdivided.
But if both parties return to the state with an agreement to amend the original ruling, Mason said he didn’t see any reason why the state would not go along.
Subdivision
Amending the 1969 judgment would clear the way for the Kriedbergs to split their property into two lots — each a little more than six acres in size.
The property sits in a three-acre residential zone.
“This proposal would essentially keep the property the same,” except there would be two lots, and eventually two separate owners.
Mason said the Kriedbergs plan to sell the main house, where they currently live, and move into the carriage house on the opposite lot if the plan goes through.
The carriage house is currently being rebuilt on its foundations — the original burned down, Mason told the commission.
He said his clients would consider open space donations to the town and deed restrictions that would prevent the lot with the carriage house to be further developed.
Because the one-bedroom carriage house is too small to support a large family, Mason argued future owners would likely be without children — seeming to imply that the town would gain in taxes without adding to the school population.
Tradition
Some members of the commission seemed hesitant.
Commissioner John Katz noted that in 1969, the commission took “the trouble of saying ‘shall never be subdivided,” in its agreement with the Tuccios.
“We don’t have the verbiage that they used at this table because it wasn’t recorded,” he said, but “…it would be wrong of us to second guess the commission that made that judgment, after the severe deliberations it went through to arrive at that conclusion.”
“So I would be unalterably opposed to this, he added. “…We need to respect the knowledge that went before.”
Katz also raised concern that, in the future, the two lots could be further subdivided, as Ridgefield becomes more desirable.
But Chairwoman Rebecca Mucchetti said she did not have the same concerns, noting that the town is “very different” than it was in the 1950s and ’60s, when the population “was tripling every three to five years.”
“We went from several thousand to 15,000 within a decade — those are not the times we’re facing today,” she said. “What we’re being asked to consider today is a piece of property that already has two existing buildings on it.”
In 2009, another subdivision was also proposed at the property, which would have led to greater development at the site, but that effort failed.
Open space
Commissioner Joe Fossi suggested a third idea — donating around three acres of the carriage house lot to the town as open space, which would leave behind a residential lot that is less than six acres.
“Now it can never be re-subdivided, no matter what court stipulation there is,” Fossi said. “My opinion is that if your clients agreed to that, I could support this.”
Commissioners Cathy Savoca and Joe Dowdell said they were in favor of Fossi’s proposal.
Katz said he still wants to see what would prevent the other lot containing the main house from being subdivided once again.
Mason indicated his clients might accept that condition.
“I don’t believe that they’re going to object to any restriction against any other future division of either lot,” he told the commission.
“Speak to your client,” said Mucchetti, “when you come back there’s likely to be two more commissioners at the table.”
A bill with bipartisan support that would assist states in developing ways for people to anonymously report a potential threat to schools was introduced to the House of Representatives Thursday, April 4, by Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th), along with Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25th) and Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-16th). The Safe to Tell Act would create a grant program for states to develop systems, such as telephone hotlines, mobile applications, or websites to better enable threat reports.
“Too often, in the wake of a school shooting, we look back at the behavior of the killer and see that there were warning signs that went unreported,” Himes said of the bill. “People notice things that don’t seem quite right, or that put them on edge, but don’t know how or where to report it. The Safe to Tell Act creates ways for people to share their concerns of potential threats and educates the public and law enforcement on how to report. Earlier warning and better reporting will save lives.”
“School safety needs to be a top priority in our country, and that means taking action to stop school violence before it starts, Gonzalez said. “This bill will enable states to create individualized systems that work for each of our unique communities to keep our children safe and encourage reporting and proper follow up for potential threats. I am proud to be a part of this legislation and look forward to working with my colleagues to get it across the finish line,” he added.
The Safe to Tell Act can be read here. HIMES_005_xml
The Commission on Aging will host its monthly seminar in the lower level conference room in town hall Monday, April 15.
Emergency Manager Dick Aarons and Health Director Ed Briggs will discuss the importance of disaster readiness in a presentation titled “What if … The Storm Hits Us?” The seminar begins at 3 p.m.
Free refreshments will be provided by Meals on Wheels of Ridgefield.
The commission meeting before the seminar begins at 2:30. Both events are open to the public.
Sarah Triano has rejoinined the RVNA’s rehabilitation team as an occupational therapist (OT) primarily serving patients in RVNA’s outpatient therapy center at 27 Governor Street.
Triano originally worked for RVNA in 2015 as a per diem OT caring for patients in their homes. Since that time, RVNA has expanded our rehabilitation program through new programs and disciplines, as well as through the addition of our onsite rehabilitation center.
As an Occupational Therapist, Triano works with patients of various diagnoses, both orthopedic and neurological – ranging from rotator cuff repair, total shoulder replacement, tennis elbow, and basic hand dysfunction to Parkinson’s disease and stroke patients —and helps them re-learn everyday tasks and activities.
“Sarah’s depth of experience and expertise will truly benefit our patients in so many ways,” said Gigi Weiss, director of rehabilitation at RVNA, “and having Sarah onsite, yet also available for home visits, offers our OT patients excellent options for continuous and consistent care as they meet their goals.”
Triano resides in Ridgefield with her husband Paul, and their children, Aiden, 7, and Mia, 5.
Sarah Wilby, COEEA Awards Chair, left, with Jennifer Bradshaw, Childhood Education Coordinator at Woodcock Nature Center.
Woodcock Nature Center educator Jennifer Bradshaw has received the 2019 Environmental Stewardship Award.
The award was presented at the Connecticut Outdoor and Environmental Education Association Annual Conference on March 27 in Farmington. The annual award acknowledges those who have made a strong impact in promoting environmental literacy and education and have inspired others to become stewards of the natural world.
“Over the course of Jennifer’s six years as an educator at Woodcock Nature Center, her dedication to the organization and to our community has not only grown exponentially, but has been critically important to Woodcock’s ability to serve its mission. We are tremendously proud of Jen’s work,” said Executive Director Lenore Herbst.
At Woodcock Nature Center, Bradshaw serves as the early Childhood Education Coordinator and manages animal care and the birds of prey programs. She envisioned and established the Nature Center’s first pre-school program in 2017: Mommy & Me and the Natural World. This program for caregivers and their toddlers began modestly and has grown to include nearly forty families, three times per week across three sessions per year, including a wait list for attendance. Ms. Bradshaw is a member of Wilton Youth Council’s “Free Play Task Force” and she serves as President of the Connecticut Chapter of the Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools. In 2018, she became a certified “Playmaker” through the Life Is Good Children’s Foundation. “Playmakers” are trained to innovate and adapt their day-to-day work to more effectively care for children by creating the most joyful, loving, safe & empowering, and engaging environments possible.
The second annual Jazz, Funk, and Blues weekend will be held from Sept. 5-8, according to Geoffrey Morris of the Economic and Community Development Commission.
“CHIRP has scheduled Fairfield Counts for Thursday, Sept. 5, at Ballard Park, and then the library, the Aldrich, and Lounsbury House are going to fill in the blanks and book people,” Morris said.
Once the acts are booked, the commission will create a marketing campaign to promote the weekend.
“The idea is each place will market its own thing — each place will market all of them, but we’ll do the overall sort of coordination,” said Morris.
The plan is to have restaurants participate by having brunches and dinners. Morris said ideally the retail stores will also have sales during the weekend.
Vice Chairman John Devine said the library will be adding sound barriers “so that the acoustics work as opposed to bouncing off the walls.”
He suggested the Aldrich should start its program at 4 p.m. — two hours later than last year’s event, so it doesn’t conflict with student sports and other family events.
“I think we should allocate some money and hire bands for the steps of Main Street,” in order to draw attention to the event, Devine said.
“The village last year … you didn’t know anything was going on because everything was in remote locations, so Main Street felt like Main Street on any given Saturday.”
ECDC member Amanda Duff suggested restaurants could create jazz-themed drinks for the weekend.
“Each restaurant could name a cocktail after a notable jazz musician,” she said. “That would be so fun — it could be like a classy bar crawl.”
