Monday, March 15, 2010
The county must record more than $2.8 million in damage to qualify for federal aid.
Governor M. Jodi Rell toured damage in Fairfield County today caused by a severe storm that brought heavy rain and high winds over the weekend, downing trees, blocking roads and cutting power to tens of thousands of households across the state. At least three deaths in Connecticut are also associated with the storm, including a New Jersey woman who died in an accident on Park Lane in Westport Saturday. Rell met in Greenwich with First Selectman Peter Tesei and in Stamford with Mayor Michael Pavia. After reviewing the damage and discussing the situation with local leaders, the governor declared a state of emergency. "Saturday's storm was among the most destructive to ever hit Fairfield County and the damage is simply astounding," Rell said …
Alteris installs the state's largest wind turbine on New Haven's waterfront.
The New Haven skyline has a sleek new look: a shiny, 156-foot-tall wind turbine spinning prominently and silently on the waterfront near I-95's Quinnipiac River Bridge. The high-tech turbine was designed for the site and installed with the expertise of Wilton-based clean energy firm Alteris. It is the state’s largest wind turbine and just the latest wind power installation by Alteris. On Monday, after the turbine passed its final inspection, Phoenix Press, a commercial printer, flipped the switch and powered its enormous Heidelberg printing press from the force of the winds blowing at the confluence of the Quinnipiac River and New Haven Harbor. At a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Bob Chew, Alteris’s director of wind energy …
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Westport, Weston and Wilton held a joint candidate forum for local residents to meet and question those interested in being governor.
From bringing tolls back to the state and analyzing expenditures to creating jobs and consolidating services, four Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls told Westporters Wednesday night how they would address Connecticut's $3 billion to $4 billion annual deficit. It's an issue each candidate or potential candidate — some are still in the exploratory phase — sees as a top priority for the state's next governor. Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont and Simsbury First Selectwoman Mary Glassman are all vying for that post and made their intentions known at a candidate forum held by the Democratic Town Committees of Westport, Weston and Wilton. In welcoming the crowd, Westport …
Wilton's Republican Town Committee, despite lengthy discussion and an executive session, reelects its leadership.
What was said behind closed doors Wednesday night is for Republican Town Committee members alone to know, but when they emerged from executive session, the RTC swiftly and unanimously reelected their leadership. The events leading up to the actual vote did not proceed without issue. Several RTC members, including Mike Kaelin and State Sen. Toni Boucher, were adamant about allowing absent committee members to participate in the meeting via telephone. A debate followed as to whether that was an allowable procedure and would need to be added to the agenda (and, thus, would require a vote) or was simply a procedural move. "I've called in from a ship in a blizzard," said Vice Chairman Mike Rudolph. "There have been times to have call-ins and I …
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A host of town officials attend a two-hour budget workshop between the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night.
As the budgets currently stand, the Board of Finance estimates they would be going to voters with a proposed mill rate increase of 5.1 percent, which they believe would not pass. First Selectman Bill Brennan, however, said in no uncertain terms that if the town is forced to make any more cuts, there will be nowhere left to trim save for employees. "If we have to have [more] cuts, there's no question that we'll have to have layoffs and I'm not going to sit here and say who will be laid off," Brennan said emphatically when asked where else there may be room for savings. "We're trying to survive, that's our goal," he added later. Between its last iteration and the one presented on Tuesday, the Board of Selectman have trimmed an additional $1.…
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Wilton Town Hall
238 Danbury Rd
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44764
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Planning and Zoning holds another public hearing for a pending package store special permit in Wilton.
If things continue apace, pretty soon Wilton will have its own six pack...of package stores. The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing for a special permit application to open a liquor store at 941 Danbury Road. The proposed business, Wilton Wine & Spirits, is the fourth such store to come before the committee since the town voted to amend its charter in November of last year and allow liquor sales in town. "My only thought here is that we went through increasingly reduced questioning beginning with the first [store] and going down since," said commissioner Mike Rudolph. "Is there any way to include the restrictions that we have for the other liquor stores?" The restrictions Rudolph was referring to include limitations on …
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Friday, March 5, 2010
Governor Rell announces $40 million of state road and capital repair funds, $156,014 of which will go to Wilton.
GOVERNMENT|Friday, March 5
Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that $30 million to fund local paving projects and road repairs and an additional $10 million for local capital improvement projects is expected to gain approval when the state Bond Commission meets March 16. Governor Rell said the $30 million in Town Aid Road (TAR) funding and $10 million in Local Capital Improvement Program (LOCIP) funding has been highly anticipated by cities and towns. "We all know we are in the midst of a very difficult budget year," Governor Rell said. "It is a tough year for the state and for towns, but we will not overlook our local governments' needs. All 169 municipalities are impacted by this funding. Many have already expended local funds for road maintenance in …
Members from the Boards of Education, Finance and Selectmen gather to discuss cost cutting measures.
Where exactly savings can be found between Wilton's governing bodies is up for debate, but it appears that search will likely be conducted by someone outside those groups. Members from the Boards of Finance, Education and Selectmen met Thursday night to continue their discussion of how to more effectively approach operations like purchasing and payroll management. Al Alper and Jim Meinhold (Finance), Karen Birck and Jim Saxe (Education) and Susan Bruschi (Selectmen - Richard Creeth was absent) seemed to agree that an examination of purchasing processes in town should be high on the list of priorities. The Triboard is considering hiring a third party to examine both the town's governmental and educational mechanisms in an attempt to …
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Wilton Town Hall
238 Danbury Rd
/articles/triboard-tackles-consolidation
44764
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
A grassroots movement that began in 2009 is catching on locally as residents tire of politics as usual.
According to a new movement afoot in town, it's time for politicians to wake up and smell the…tea. Fed up with politics, scores of Wilton and Ridgefield citizens are joining the Tea Party, a national series of protests against tax increases begun last year. Participants hope to stanch the national debt, decrease the number of government programs, and get politicians to listen. It's a grassroots movement that has sprouted quickly and broadly. "The movement seems comprised of people who disagree on a variety of social issues, but to a person all of them are on the same message about overspending and over-government," said State Sen. Toni Boucher. "I'm quite amazed how similar in tone they are." Most members of the Tea Party want Washington …
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Board of Selectmen unanimously approves a decision to hand over funds in a "Cemetery Fund" bequeathed to the town over 40 years ago.
The town of Wilton doesn't employ any gravediggers but, as it turns out, they probably could have afforded to do so, at least for a few days. Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church has Wilton Controller Rich McArdle to thank for unearthing a "Cemetery Fund" among the town's holdings, which will likely be handed over to church officials in the coming days. The money was bequeathed to the town well over 40 years ago and, from what McArdle can tell, it was either forgotten about or just never used. "I don't know if some of it has been spent over the years," McArdle said. "But as far back as I can go in the general ledgers, it looks like it's just been accruing interest." The gift of $100 was originally made in 1962 by Lilias W. Selleck, who …
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Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church
36 New Canaan Rd
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Wilton Town Hall
238 Danbury Rd
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From the commentators on this thread who extol the virtues of the Tea Party, I would appreciate your comments in response to an article from last weekend's Washington Post ("Experts: Pentagon shooter, others strike symbols of 'power for the powerless'") http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030504438.html. Frankly, there is way too much "Code" going on here and it'… more ›