CHA CHA LOOKING RIGHT AT THE CAMERA IN THE CEREMONIAL START SAT. 3-6...
I
D I T A R O D # 3 8 C U R R E N
T S T A N D I N G S - WESTPORT-RELATED
MUSHER - BIB #40 - follow our race favorites
here!
BE SURE TO ATTEND OR WATCH ON TOWN TV
ON
MONDAY, MARCH 15TH AT 7PM AN
"INFORMATIONAL HEARING" (from the Town Hall Meeting Room)
A presentation will be made describing the projects and financing
included in the proposed $6.6 million bond issue, which is to be voted
upon at a Special Town Meeting on
March 23, 2010. These projects
are:
Middle School Roof Replacement
Middle School Door and Window Replacement
High School Door and Window Replacement
Hurlbutt North House Boiler Replacement
High School Boiler Replacement
Town Library Boiler Replacement
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
TUESDAY MARCH 23RD AT 7PM IN W.M.S. CAFETERIA...
TOWN
OF WESTON WARNING OF SPECIAL TOWN MEETING, TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010
The voters of the Town of Weston, Connecticut, are hereby warned and
notified that a Special Town Meeting will be held in the Weston Middle
School Cafeteria, Weston, Connecticut on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at
7pm. The Board of Selectmen nominated Woody Bliss to serve as
Moderator...
ITEM 1. To
consider and vote on a Resolution to Apppropriate $6,926,000 for
Capital Improvements to the Weston Public Schools and the Weston Town
Library, and to authorize the Issue of Bonds, Notes or Temporary Notes
in an Amount Not to Exceed $6,600,000 to Finance Said
Appropriation.
A copy of the full text of the Resolution
is on file and available for
public inspection at the office of the Town Clerk and on the Town's
website...
This
page has "hot links" to subject-areas - updated continually every
day...use internal Google search engine above to find topics and
stories of interest.
ABOUT WESTON TABLE OF CONTENTS
with links.
"ABOUT WESTON" SITE MAP . Including
quick links to our global
business, climate change and financial melt-down sub-pages.
"ABOUT
WESTON" ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY of site
including external links. Or use Google Search above!
"About
Weston" is all about Weston, Connecticut.
Web-contact,
click
here: margaret@aboutweston.com
"About
Weston"
provides original research on Weston, Connecticut, links to official
sources, and expresses the opinions
of this Weston,
CT website. Original jokes and political comment by "About
Weston" and original art
by
"About
Weston" are also on this website.
LATEST "ABOUT TOWN" SHOW:
NOMINATED
AS MODERATOR OF WESTON'S ANNUAL TOWN BUDGET MEETING (ATBM), TO BE HELD
APRIL 7, 2010, ATTORNEY SUSAN A. MOCH
Find out about how a Town Meeting form of government runs in the
21st Century! And why this old New England tradition for
community decision-making is still vital in the 21st century.
Town Meeting is a big part of why civility wins out and democracy works
in Weston! Please enjoy this entertaining as well as educational
"About Town" interview with a distinguished member of the Town of
Weston's Panel of Moderators. Watch
now!
GET THE FULL PICTURE ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS FROM
HON. JOHN
E. STRIPP!
Nine-term
Connecticut State Representative for the 135th District, representing
Weston, Easton, and Redding, the
Honorable John E. Stripp draws upon his unique combination of extensive
legislative experience and experience as a banking executive to
provide valuable insight into the budgetary and other challenges that
Connecticut is faced with. Watch
now!
MEET
WESTON'S NEWLY ELECTED FIRST SELECTMAN!
The
Honorable Gayle M. Weinstein was elected in November, 2009 as Weston's
First Selectman. She had also been a member of the three-person
Board of Selectmen for the
previous two years. In this
interview, she provides
valuable insight into the issues facing Weston, and the approaches she
intends to bring to them. Watch
now!
GET
TO KNOW THE WESTON WESTPORT HEALTH DISTRICT! As the eighth year of
"About Town" interviews begins, a three-part series on our health gets
underway. The WWHD was one of the first groups we interviewed,
just after September 11, 2001. Eight years on, the role of the
WWHD has expanded, and for some of its functions, the District's
borders have widened! Learn about H1N1 flu, water quality,
environmental health, emergency
management, and many other topics that are fundamental to maintaining
our health, our environment, and even the value of our homes! - watch now!
"ABOUT TOWN"
INTERVIEWS HON. ROB SIMMONS, CONGRESSMAN 2001-2007 AND CANDIDATE FOR
U.S. SENATE 2010:
The Honorable Rob
Simmons, who represented Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District in
the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, is a
recent guest. Mr. Simmons is a candidate for the Republican
nomination for United States
Senator, in the 2010 election. Learn more about Mr. Simmons'
distinguished career of service to his state and country - Watch here!
All Aboard the RV
Wagon Train!!! Get in the mood - put on your hiking shoes, your
broad-brimmed hat, take lots of water and learn all about the American
West - beyond John Ford movies (and see for yourself who's on Mount
Rushmore)! This was an "away" interview for "About Town" - with
Lyn Kimberly of American Wanderer - WATCH NOW!
ON
FILE - SEE THESE AGAIN!
The
Honorable Woody Bliss, shown above at the left, served as Weston's
First Selectman from 2001 to
2009, was a member of the Board of Selectmen for ten years, and served
as chairman of Connecticut's South Western Region
Metropolitan Planning Organization. He chose not to seek
re-election in November, 2009. Watch an exceptional
interview with him, in which he reflects on his years of service, and
provides
valuable insight into the issues facing Weston.
Watch
now!
Watch
this two-part interview with Westonite Jim Lomuscio, shown above second
from left, who
draws on his
distinguished career as a non-fiction author, journalist, editor, and
teacher, to provide us with truly unique insights into the field of
writing, and the state of journalism today. Mr. Lomuscio's books
include "Village of the Dammed: The Fight for Open Space and the
Flooding of a Connecticut Town" (finalist for the 2006 Connecticut Book
Award in Nonfiction), and the McGraw Hill college writing textbook
"Writing with Your Head & Your Heart: Balancing Logic and
Emotion to Create Powerful Nonfiction." He currently serves as
Full Time Professor of Writing in the Department of Writing,
Linguistics, and Creative Process, at Western Connecticut State
University. Watch
now!
Weston's
Superintendent
of Schools,
Jerome R. Belair, and Director of Finance & Operations Dr. Jo-Ann
Keating, give us a rundown on the FY 2010 budget preparation process,
cost containment measures that are being undertaken, and many other
matters of importance to all Westonites! Watch
now!
CT
State Senator Toni Boucher (R-26th) provides
important insight, perspective, and wisdom concerning the major issues facing
Connecticut residents in these challenging times. Watch "About
Town" on YouTube here!
One of
our best interviews yet!!!
Weston's new Police Chief, John Troxell, gives us a rundown on traffic
control planning, safety measures for all forms of vehicles, and the
outlook
for “street life” or pedestrian-friendly improvements for 21st century
Weston, among many other interesting things! - Watch
now!
Director
of Public Works for the Town of Weston, Joe
Lametta, brings us up-to-date on the responsibilities of DPW as we
update the Town Plan!
A wonderful lecture concerning Art
and Painting, by a noted authority
and a really great teacher! See David Dunlop (website www.daviddunlop.com) discussing
"New Materials, New Patterns, New Histories: The Future for
Painting." This lecture was presented on March 1, 2009, at the
Silvermine School of Art, of the Silvermine
Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT:
If you are using a cable or dsl
connection, click
here: http://www.aboutweston.com/Silvermine-Dunlop3-1-09CableVersion.wmv (File size is 208 megaBytes; the lecture
comprises 1 hour 39 minutes)
If you are using a dial-up modem
connection, click
here: http://www.aboutweston.com/Silvermine-Dunlop3-1-09ModemVersion.wmv
(File size is 37
megaBytes; the lecture comprises 1 hour 39 minutes)
Nichole
Peyreigne, Mezzo-Soprano,
and Grace Heaphy, Pianist, are two extraordinary
young talents in the field of classical music. Watch them perform
in a very special concert to benefit pediatric brain
tumor research via the Making Headway Foundation, to help support the
research of distinguished neuro-oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Allen of NYU
Medical Center. Watch
now!
"ABOUT TOWN"
interviews Dr. Jeana Wirtenberg, Director of External Relations and
Services at the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise of Fairleigh
Dickinson University: In
this very
special two-part edition of "About Town," a leading authority tells us
all about Enterprise Sustainability, and how corporations can and in
some cases are implementing "win-win-win" strategies that are good for
the environment, for society, and for themselves.
--Watch
now!
MAGIC!
So you want to learn to make some? Watch
now! Also, see "Art Through A Poet's
Eye," featuring Adele Kamp, as
well as all
three parts of the Weston High School
tour: click
here!
Our favorite daily newspaper in
Connecticut - although the Weston FORUM is our local go-to source...read "About Town" column sample here!
TOP STORY TODAY -
UTC Chief Financial Officer:
Connecticut Too Expensive To Do Work
Hartford Courant
By ERIC GERSHON
March 13, 2010
NEW YORK —
Connecticut's biggest private
employer is determined to do more of its work outside its home state
and other "high-cost" locations, top executives said Friday at an
investors' conference in New York.
"Anyplace outside of Connecticut is
low-cost," United Technologies Corp.'s chief financial officer, Gregory
Hayes, told Wall Street investment analysts — paraphrasing previous
remarks by another UTC executive, Jeff Pino, president of Sikorsky
Aircraft.
"Even if work has to stay in the
U.S., there are opportunities to reduce cost by moving out of those
high-cost locations," Hayes said.
Hartford-based UTC employs 26,000 of
its 205,000 workers in Connecticut, largely at Pratt & Whitney,
Sikorsky and Hamilton Sundstrand.
UTC did not present a plan for
reducing its home state employment base, and executives did not
indicate that a plan is in the works, or that a specific division or
group could be targeted.
In an interview with reporters later
Friday, UTC chief executive Louis Chênevert insisted that the
company would keep not only its headquarters in Connecticut for the
foreseeable future — at least the 10 years he expects to remain in
charge — but significant manufacturing operations also.
"The fact is, we're the largest
employer in Connecticut and we will remain the largest employer in
Connecticut for the next decade," he said in response to a question
from The Courant. "And it's that simple."
The state's second-largest private
employer, Stop & Shop, has about 15,000 employees in Connecticut.
The executives' remarks come as
Pratt fights in a federal appeals court for permission to shut down one
of its last three major Connecticut factories, in Cheshire. That
factory and a smaller repair unit in East Hartford employ about 1,000
people. The jobs would be moved to Columbus, Ga., Singapore and Japan.
Chênevert suggested that UTC
would not bear sole responsibility for making Connecticut a place where
it would continue to operate.
"I think it's a known fact ... that
Connecticut ranks almost dead last in competitiveness for
manufacturing," he said. "And at some point, whatever the state can do
to be helpful, maybe work with large companies like ours, is going to
ensure that you have the optimal outcome for Connecticut."
The state in the past has presented
incentive packages to UTC to save jobs, most recently last year as part
of an unsuccessful effort to reverse the Cheshire decision.
How and whether state officials
respond to the more general comments made Friday remains to be seen,
but the office of Gov. M. Jodi Rell quickly issued a statement saying
the remarks by UTC show the need to lower business costs in Connecticut.
"We need to cut spending and hold
the line on taxes," the governor's office said. "It's really that
simple."
But as UTC — among the world's
largest and most complex firms — continues to remap its global
footprint, its calculations are anything but simple. The company must
weigh costs, but also international politics and shifting demand. These
factors affect where it produces the jet engines, helicopters,
elevators, air conditioners and related products and services that last
year generated $53 billion in revenues.
UTC is investing heavily in
operations in China, Turkey, Poland and elsewhere overseas where it
sees demand for its products growing. The company, one of 30 members of
the Dow Jones Industrial Average, also is increasingly bearing down on
India.
But the engines, helicopters and
parts that are headed for military use have to be made in the United
States, though they can be made by foreign companies with operations in
the United States.
Top UTC executives have complained
for decades about the high cost of operating in Connecticut, especially
in factory production work at Pratt.
In 1992, the company openly raised
the possibility of sharply curtailing production in the state, and
announced a plan to do so. A package of state tax breaks and other
incentives saved thousands of jobs, but production work nonetheless
declined in the years that followed.
In 1994, then-Pratt president Karl
J. Krapek said Pratt would probably sell its 1,200-acre complex in East
Hartford and move its headquarters to its Middletown plant by 2005, but
that never came to pass.
In a 1997 speech to local business
groups, George David, then UTC's CEO, said, "Manufacturing, I believe,
is not in the future of the state of Connecticut," although he was
referring to growth, not necessarily current operations.
UTC has in recent years maintained a
stable workforce in its home state, in part by adding jobs at Sikorsky,
despite job cuts at Pratt and Hamilton.
Sikorsky's local workforce has grown
from 7,200 to 9,300 since 2003.
UTC also moved more than 1,500 Pratt
engineering jobs from a plant in Florida to Connecticut in 1999. And
when Hamilton bought Sundstrand, jobs moved from Illinois to
Connecticut.
Of all the UTC divisions with major
operations in Connecticut, Pratt has seen perhaps the most painful
changes. There were about 15,000 state Machinists union employees at
the jet engine maker two decades ago. The Machinists ranks have shrunk
to 3,700 today, and Pratt is now trying to eliminate nearly 800 more
Machinist jobs.
Pratt's story, like that of UTC as a
whole, is one of globalization.
Just last year, Pratt opened two
major new manufacturing operations in Shanghai and Istanbul. The
company employs about 5,000 in Poland, said its president, David Hess —
equivalent to about half of the division's Connecticut workforce.
Alain Bellemare, president of
Hamilton Sundstrand, said his division had or is cultivating operations
abroad, in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, Poland, China and Singapore.
Pino, the Sikorsky president,
reinforced the message that UTC finds Connecticut a burdensome place to
do business.
"Generally, every place we go is
lower cost than Connecticut," he said.
•Courant Staff
Writer Mara Lee contributed to this story.
Copyright ©
2010, The Hartford Courant
BOARD
OF SELECTMEN "HOT NEWS"...
Info
Q&A
session, Town Hall (on Town TV) Mon.March 15, 7pm; Special Town Meeting Tues. Mar. 23,
7pm, WMS cafeteria.
Top possibile sites for Town
Cemetery (2 on the left); r., location of "Information" public hearing
at Town Hall,
Special Town Meeting to approved bonding for new WMS roof at the Middle
School.
Board
of Finance met March 11, 2010 at
7:30pm, in the Town
Hall Meeting Room, to vote on resolution for Special Town Meeting,
March 23, 2010 at 7pm in the WMS cafeteria.
----------------------------------
Listen to what
a violin can do Mar. 27...
TOWN
OF WESTON:
Schedule
of Selectmen's meetings for 2010;
"SPEAK
UP 2010"
NOW ONLINE HERE:
Length:
1 hour 41 minutes 32
seconds
- CONNECTICUT
MUNICIPAL FISCAL INDICATORS (FYE 2008)
From the horses
mouth...click link above. Overall, of the Connecticut 169
municipalities, the average per capita
debt was $2139; the median debt per capita was $1547. Guess
who is #1 in debt per capita? Weston ($7124). And
following are Easton ($6135) and Westport ($5811). Greenwich,
which used to have no debt, now has $751 per capita.And who has the
lowest number? Putnam ($39). Followed by
Winchester ($110), Hampton ($149) and Pomfret ($188).
- WESTON ELECTION 2009 STORY HERE
- SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
ON VALLEY FORGE BRIDGE STORY HERE;
- Will health effects of turf fields be an issue in
Weston? Elsewhere in CT...
- Household Hazardous
Waste Collection Day in Weston was April 25 - 250+ cars - see photos here; Did you miss
it? Will there be one in 2010?
- BUDGET
PROCESS: what can we look to
this year? What went on during the entire process last year?
NOTE AND PREPARE FOR 2010: Watch LWV of
Weston "Speak Up 2009" here.
WHAT
WERE
THE PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT IN 2009? See a list of the 18 questions
asked as well as
some snapshots...
LWV
of Weston SPEAK UP 2009
notes on the link page; more than 200 in audience at Norfield
(the largest crowd
yet, we think) and about twice the size of Town Plan "Workshop"
----------------------
Read about Internet posting rules for towns
OPPOSITION
TO BUDGET
APPEARED AND CARRIED THE DAY:
http://www.westonfiscalresponsibility.com/
BUDGET
PROCESS BEGINS AFTER ELECTION 2009 (FOR FY2010-2011)
here...and
a review of what happened last year!
FOR
"ABOUT TOWN" RESEARCH PAGE ON RE-EVALUATIONS, CLICK HERE.
REVAL
COMPANY WEBSITE (ASSESSMENT
APPEALS BOARD MEETINGS OVER); and
if you want to go to the web page
for Weston: http://data.visionappraisal.com/WestonCT/DEFAULT.asp
At
the Board of Selectmen Thursday, March 5, 2009, Town Assessor explained
the reval process as it took place in Weston in these difficult times,
and some highlights.
The
2008 revaluation...notices...online at www.visionappraisal.com
by clicking the "Online Database Access" button, then "Connecticut",
and finally, "Weston, CT". Click here for more information. Not sure
yet? click Here for revaluation chart showing
value trends from 2003 - 2008.
--------------------
Full
steam ahead on
Bleachers/Booster Barn and Lyons Plains Firehouse, as Board of Finance votes
"yes" on both! Got OK and input from Building Committee...now
what?
Board of
Selectmen meeting Sept. 4 OK's modified (only new cars) fuel efficient
car tax policy on a Party-line vote.
Lachat property back
for another try as "gateway" to Devil's Den - new Ad Hoc Committee to
form...not yet, to our knowledge! And the Cemetery
Committee gets new blood, reports, and then nothing doing, as
preferred site frowned upon by Aquarion/Macquarie Bank of Sydney, down
under.
Postcards From Weston. Speaking
of postcards: check out "About
Town" video of additions to Weston High School. Take a virtual visit
to Morehouse Farm Park's attractions!
Town Hall in the Spring, l, Town Hall Annex in the
"Kinderland" portable buildings, r.
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND
REGIONAL OR MULTI-TOWN ENTITIES PLUS
PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS WE WATCH:
BOARD
OF SELECTMEN;
BUILDING COMMITTEE;
Going solar, fuel cells, anything
else that works GREEN: its now disbanded Alternative Energy
subcommittee;
BOARD OF
FINANCE and its role in the the budget
process;
WESTON
PLANNING AND ZONING - background
Aquifer Protection zone
location and regulations
approved
by Planning and Zoning May 6, 2008, after Public Hearing, effective
date - AUGUST 15th, 2008 - Surely a building block in the
new Town Plan!
Aerial photos of Weston
(fly over town and find YOUR HOUSE) and the rest of Connecticut online
at CLEAR!
Population Projections from UCONN:http://ctsdc.uconn.edu/
Town
Att'y's 2005
letter...the story of when, why
and how the Town of
Weston exempted itself from its
own Zoning
Regulations and...research topics;
The Center of Town has special
features of note.
OTHERS:
Next new initiative: Selectmen
finishing the Booster
Barn and
home-side stands;
Cemetery Committee (most
recently revived August 13, 2009);
Arts Commission news;
WestonArts.org:
the folks concerned about the theatrical and arts/music part of a
Weston education.
Lachat
Building & Maintenance Committee
Older reports:
Select
Committee on
Legal Review reports to Selectmen in June; time extended
until after the summer for submission of final report, which was
submitted and thanks given all around.
See news of
upcoming claim on fund balance in this
FORUM story.
Veterans'
Tax Relief
(well explained in this FORUM article) approved Jan. 17,
'08;
Elderly
Tax Relief
changes had comment at PUBLIC
HEARING,
Thurday, April 3 at 7pm in Town Hall - no negatives,
Board of Selectmen approves! Post-employment Benefits ordinance
approved by Selectmen April 24, 2008.
What
to do for
intellectual exercise...
Chief
Troxell
favored unanimously by Police Commission; officially
selected January 2008 at a public meeting and now to be signed to a
contract.
Kaestle
Boos study in
draft form Friday, December 7, 2007 - reviewed by Facilities
Committee of the Board of Education - items appear in Town Capital
Budget partially funded (eg. $250,000 for Library Roof;
questions asked at ATBM re: school projects).
New
stop signs OK'd by Police
Commission.
Taxation
STIMULUS
FOR VALLEY FORGE?
Cartbridge
replacement open. Story here.
TRIBAL
RECOGNITION ACTIONS: Board of Selectmen voted to join Att'y
General
Blumenthal in opposing more tribal casino/recognition.
New info on line - real property sales data:
Special
Town Meetings notice and ATBM PAGE
Environment
Read
the final draft of the Morehouse Farm Park "Drinking Water Quality
Management Plan."
Where
the DWQMP began...Consent
Agreement with CTDPH.
PUBLIC
HEARING held Tuesday, May 23rd for two hours (approx.)...Pro and Con
heard, many out-of-towners spoke. Read proposed "deer management"
Committee
report and recommendations here.
Price
of gasoline over the top? Check out
the issue here: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
Greenhouse
gas inventory;
People
Sister
City;
Click
here to go to the CT Register and Manual for names of elected and
appointed
Town Officials and staff (it is slightly out of date since it is
published
annually).
AUDITORIUM
OPEN...Camera Photo
Oct. 29, 2008...and so, the show went on!!! Remember the
W.I.S. in 2004?
FAIRFIELD
COUNTY'S
GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: a class project at Weston High School 2008.
See World
Bank
report on Arab Education (Dr. Pierson, in photo second from left,
now resigned from Weston
post, in Abu Dhabi).
-----------------------------
RESPONSIBLE PLANNING
C O M M U N I T Y
R E S O U R C E
I N V E N T O R Y :
Above,
Hubble Telescope link. All
the
data - left- and the "how-to" directions, right, for studying Weston's
natural characteristics. Governor's
thinking: "clear" need for responsible development in CT. CSDC the
source for data in Connecticut.
REGIONAL THINKER GRIEBEL...
"Oz" Griebel addressing regional
economics. In the Short Session
coming Feb. 3, look for businesses to fight!
MUTUALLY SHARED SERVICES
FORUM: CT Regional Economic Development
Thursday, January 15, 2010 at CCSU, discussions among municipal
officials, planners (APACT), OPM, CARPO, ACIR and more organizations,
we suspect (we saw CCM there). CT-N videotaped the keynote and
the opening session on affordable housing.
OPM Secretary Bob Genuario gave that keynote address; it was
noted that the "Rainy Day" fund was appropriately emptied out ($1.4
billion) in October, similarly to the $600,000 spent in one night at a
previous crisis point some years back. The next 2-year budget
will be written without any "Rainy Day" or Federal "Stimulous" money to
fall back upon. The good news is that we are in better shape than
California, Michigan, Massachusetts and a host of other states - we
should benefit if and when any new programs from DC come along...
"Oz" Griebel addresses planners and business persons regarding regional
economic development "break-out" session panel. "Over the next
four years" Mr. Griebel suggests that policies change to encourage
business; Joint Development the only way to go, with
overbearing COG not the answer, says another presenter. Old
mills, small town revitalization also discussed. It is pointed
out that "CEDS" are in 8 areas in CT covering 138 towns, but that 30
plus other communities are not so organized. This makes
for a fragmented-looking state and less likely, thus, to attract
Federal $$ - that's the way we heard it!
CRISIS: many hands in the pot...
-------
"Responsible
Growth" - bill signing story. Further
improvements to
"Responsible Growth" in 2008 "short session" fail..but so does a bad
bill (from the LWVCT website description): however, 2009 is
seeing a big push for change...but dollars speak louder than change
this session. LINK TO
OPM OFFICE OF RESPONSIBLE GROWTH HERE.
"SMART GROWTH PASSES IN 2009!
IN
CONNECTICUT, THE PLACE TO GO FOR DATA: http://ctsdc.uconn.edu/
The
information about Weston provided at the NEMO link below is not
detailed or accurate enough, but that is why "About Town" recommends an
independent "windshield survey" approach when doing a Town Plan.
On-line environmental, virtual course
of study for the University of Connecticut...NEMO!!!
For those who follow the
Legislature...for the record...passed House then the Senate, at 11:40pm
June 6,
2007 "An
Act Concerning Responsible Growth" H.B. 7090
It was amended at the end - bi-partisan
amendment here.
CT State and Southwestern Region's Plans of
Conservation and
Development maps...above: State
Plan of Conservation & Development 2005-2010, (Weston shown at
left), and as it applies to SWRPA. The South Western Regional
Planning Agency is an eight-town Region from Greenwich, Stamford,
Darien, Norwalk and Westport and north of the Merritt Parkway including
New Canaan, Wilton and Weston.
Its latest Plan was
adopted in February, 2006.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Another
great story...
The Connecticut
Department of Transportation - A PAGE ALL TO ITS OWN!
"...On
June 28, 1983, a section of I-95 highway bridge over the Mianus
River in Greenwich collapsed, killing three people and seriously
injuring three more. The tangle of bodies and mangled vehicles that
fell 70 feet to the peaceful little river sent a horrific message that
Connecticut's transportation system was in dire need of
repair..." Read full, seven page story here.
SWRPA(South
Western Regional Planning Agency on the WEB)
"Responsible
Growth" bill
sHB7090 passed and this is the section that spoke to Economic
Development...
- LINK TO U.S.
CENSUS BUREAU FOR QUICK NUMBERS!
- A different route to data: how many clicks to get
to SDC?
- Weston quick
Census 2000 link..
- Unofficial page regarding land use
mapping in the Region;
- The official
locational map of the Region, 2004;
- Average
daily traffic counts, capacity, accidents (2001).
Congestion
Pricing coming
to N.Y.C.? Not so fast...but CT is going to study
alternatives state-wide next year
May 2009 - David Fink reports to SWRPA on
affordable housing event at two locations including Housatonic
Community College: http://bridgeportvisden.eventbrite.com/
Rell: Towns Will Receive Help Planning
Affordable Housing
By LORETTA
WALDMAN | The Hartford Courant
11:35 AM EST,
November 11, 2008
The Capitol Region
Council of Governments, a regional planning agency
representing Hartford-area municipalities, has been awarded federal
assistance to develop responsible growth strategies for affordable
housing, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has announced.
CRCOG will receive
direct technical assistance valued at approximately
$45,000 from a team of national experts organized by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Rell said. The largest of the state's 15
regional planning agencies, CRCOG has long been a proponent of the
environment, social, and economic benefits of smart growth and will use
the funds to enact "incentive housing zones" that encourage affordable
housing development. CRCOG requested EPA assistance with technical
policy analysis and public participation processes to develop and
promote model smart growth regulations that include provisions for
incentive housing zones in rural, suburban, and urban areas in the
Capitol region.
"This assistance
will help Hartford area towns promote a regional
approach for combating sprawl," Rell said. "By developing zoning
regulations based on responsible growth, we will be able to promote
more affordable housing options in the greater Hartford area."
Other communities
receiving the funding are Miami-Dade, Florida and New
York City. Connecticut Communities represented by CRCOG are: Andover,
Avon, Bloomfield, Canton, East Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor,
Ellington, Enfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Hartford, Hebron,
Manchester, Marlborough, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Somers, South
Windsor, Suffield, Tolland, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield,
Windsor and Windsor Locks.
One of the
recommendations to come out of Rell's Responsible Growth
Task Force last year was to develop models of smart grown zoning
regulations that could be used by Connecticut's municipalities and
regional planning organizations.
"If left
unchecked, sprawl will continue to chop up the landscape and
impair our ability to remain economically competitive," she said.
"Responsible development ensures that we protect valuable natural
resources at the same time we take important steps to grow and
strengthen our economy."
More information
about the communities receiving EPA smart growth
technical assistance: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/sgia2008.htm
.
"As the world
turns..." on
the Federal Level...to
the cabinet" and other links...any new developments in open beach
policies?
U.S.
CENSUS BUREAU ON-LINE:
PLANNING & ZONING: Please
remember
that this is not official information, nor does it purport to represent
the opinions of anyone but the author of these pages. A source
for
basic urban planning education is: http://www.planning.org/
BAD NEWS IN 2009 - "Shovel
ready" may mean burrying this fine idea...planning
process take too long or was it just the ways things work? There
may be some news of a positive sort soon...and that word came from
former lead staff who noted at a SWRPA meeting that the scale of any
development and the timing, while bad for the project, will create less
upset in neighboring communities through constrtuction.
Weston land use 1999 next. Georgetown Land
Development gets "smart growth" award
and now funding
comes through for green design at
Gilbert & Bennett - see CLEAR aerial photo and official UK
greenbelt next...for
overview
of the Weston Plan itself, click HERE.
Unofficial
update of Town
Plan begun
(first things first: develop an existing land use map...)
ANYTHING NEW
OUT THERE? ENERGY IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICTS -
link here and scroll down
to sections 21-36 for the official word, or click
here to go to this website's version (Weston's unofficial
planning process as well as a look at a few places far away.)
Cool map of
"tear-downs" in Westport HERE
(thanks to WESTPORTNOW.COM)
Ideas;
density bonus
legislation/special taxing district
Change
agents;
Action;Facts.
Related
Weston
Town Plan 2000 information - unofficial
Town Plan illustration.
Unofficial
version
of the Town Plan's maps;
Postcards
from Weston.
CT
Plan of Conservation
& Development 2004-2009 link HERE;
Outdoor
Recreation in CT; go directly to information on "SCORP" HERE;
NEMO
land cover
map for Weston HERE.
CLEAR interactive and explanation of remote sensing data HERE
for Weston.
Wetlands:
what are they and how many different types can you think of...
Out-of-town
projects;
Nature
Center at Lachat news...
Regional
Planning and data link to U.S. Census Bureau
State
of Connecticut: latest CT
PLAN OF C&D - easy
to read version.
Special
Permit Zoning gives
people the last
say...latest (things happen slowly in
Weston...):
LACHAT
AGAIN!
At left, concept;
center, the site of P&Z Special
Permit public hearing; at right, ATBM
considers cut to funding...and they did; another
Committee formed - "Lachat
Advisory Committee."
LACHAT: something is up...Committee (not sure which
one) is to
meet, we think, on June 18, 2009 at Lachat.
NEW COMMITTEE
REVIVED PLAN -
Public Hearings September 12 and 25, 2006 came up with modest proposal;
Juliana
Lachat
Preserve Master
Plan presented first Dec. 4, 2003, then...
June
17, 2004
Special Town Meeting says "YES" to $1.5
million Town share of funding plan...and then project is
withdrawn
after first night of Special Permit Public Hearing at Planning and
Zoning...ATBM cuts all funding for FY07.; WHAT NEXT?
Cultural,
historic, architectural
and natural preservation...
Click
(l.)
above for history of G&B.
Built
environment -
click
(next) for Whidbey Island, WA news; and our Seattle
page.
Mt. St. Helen's
outside Seattle,
2004--nature takes a hand...in other places,
too.
How to start...inside
as well as outside (of Weston proper): check out P.A.05-205;
Historic Presevation:
Georgetown,
CT: a work in progress; elsewhere
in New England:
Neighborhood plans/revitalization:
West Hartford, CT:
Blue Back Square news...
Seattle,
WA:
a cool place
to
emulate? Maybe not...
NEWS here.
Check up on third count of votes in
gubernatorial
election HERE;
On
Whidbey Island, WA., cultural activity is an accepted way to build
community (supporting its arts community). Ideas from
Whidbey Island HERE.
Seattle,
WA incorporates urban design into its planning; check
out
Whidbey Island research HERE
R-e-s-p-e-c-t
nature's impact: Mount
St. Helen's virtual tour...
Urban
design in Redding:
We think the Central
Part of Weston needs some: some ideas;
Any
development
consequences of Zenon
plant use?
CT
SITING COUNCIL...cell towers, 345kV lines regulators;
U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers on power to Long Island; other (not
Weston)
History
of School Construction: HOW
DID THIS MEGA-PROJECT develop?Army
Corps projects;
Open space
planning - both active and passive open space - involving transit:
Seattle
neighborhoods to be linked by bike trail - how does
SAFETEA-LU (Federal Highway Bill) relate to this?
SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER
STAFF
Tuesday,
June
21, 2005
The
City Council
yesterday approved a measure that will allow hikers and bicyclists to
travel
between Magnolia and Fremont by trail. The Ship Canal Trail's
link
at the Ballard Bridge will now connect to the Lake Union waterfront. In
1996, the city acquired property as part of the Lake Union Ship Canal
Trail
Project, allowing the trail to be extended from near the Fremont Bridge
to Sixth Avenue West. The measure transfers property from
Burlington
Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. to the city to complete the trail. The
city
will extend the trail westward from Sixth Avenue and connect it to the
existing bicycle path along West Emerson Street. Cyclists will be
able to travel between Seattle and Redmond almost entirely by
trail.
(Redmond=Microsoft)
High points in Weston open space purchasing
(but by no means the whole story)...
"Village
of the Dammed" a great history of why Weston is the way it is!!!
Special
Town Meeting
Jan. 9, 2003 votes "yes" twice and takes well-established open space
purchase
policy one step further--begins
landbanking program.
Check
out location of Fromson-Strassler and Elizabeth Luce Moore "land
bank"
properties; link to
Aspectuck Land Trust.
The
power of www.aboutweston.com
- 2002 bike map from the State of Connecticut (lower Fairfield County)
now uploaded!
"SPEAK UP" NEWS - Selectman Muller
asks if we all want to remain "rural" or ay least really, really
residential.
At "Speak Up 2010" the Chair. of P&Z, Stephan Grozinger (r.),
announced, in response to a League question, the new Town Plan draft
should be available in 60 days or so.
T H E M A P
Below (l) is an unofficial land use map of Weston, Connecticut @1996 by
"About Town" (prior to website). Land Use Maps: Legend for
1996 here; 2008 (r)
colors here
Our
unofficial
version: e-Town Plan of Conservation and
Development Update 2010 (our "Existing Land Use Map"at the right)...
"Filling in the
blanks" exercise almost complete...from the last time we did an existing land use map
(2008):
OK,
we'll started the
ball rolling:
If the
GOALS of the new Plan are to
both maintain the relatively rural
nature of Weston while both making
the schools even more of a focus, while not bankrupting the taxpayers,
then...
POLICIES of the PLAN should enhance
them...including
sewer avoidance,
heavyily enforced and creative
environmental
protection policies,
consistent Town spending on and
maintenance of "education village"and education programs, buildings and
infrastructure improvements.
Results of
the SURVEY taken by P&Z at the end of 2009; looks as if
we are in step with the responding population!
SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION: Census of Children
What has been done in this area in the past: http://www.aboutweston.com/towncen00.htm
And even longer ago: http://www.aboutweston.com/TWN00.htm
PUBLIC
INVOLVEMENT...GOING THE EXTRA STEP...LATEST ON SURVEY RESULTS HERE!
Public nixes idea of expanded village
district in Weston
Weston FORUM
Written by Patricia Gay
Thursday, 23 July 2009 00:00
A large majority of residents attending a town plan workshop were
against the concept of forming a village district in the center of
Weston.
Harold Halpin, a 16-year resident of Weston and member of the Weston
Village District Coalition, appeared before the Planning and Zoning
Commission Monday night, July 20, to discuss a multi-zoned, village
district plan that would allow for a mix of residential, municipal,
religious, and business uses in the town center.
The town is currently zoned residential, with one exception — the
Neighborhood Shopping District, which houses Weston Center.
Mr. Halpin asked P&Z to consider incorporating a village district
into the town’s 10-year Plan of Conservation and Development, which the
commission is in the midst of reviewing and updating.
He said the district would be a good thing for Weston and give the town
flexibility to add things like medical offices, sidewalks and cafes.
“The idea is not to turn the center into a commercial district, but to
protect the distinct character of the town while adding some more
services,” Mr. Halpin said.
Another benefit he said was that land values within the district would
increase — if and when residents decided to sell.
P&Z member Don Saltzman did not care for the idea. “It’s too broad
a concept. It’s difficult to encumber people’s houses and I don’t
understand why churches are included,” he said.
Several residents with homes within the proposed contours of the
district said they did not want to risk someone next to them putting up
a commercial structure.
Others who spoke against the idea said it was unfair that houses within
the district could benefit and profit by selling their homes for
commercial development.
And several other others said they wanted Weston to stay as it was,
without more development.
Workshop
Mr. Halpin explained that business and commercial development was a
major topic of discussion by the public at a planning workshop in
February. At that workshop, approximately two-thirds of the 100
participants said they would like to see more goods and services in
town.
Christine Lomuscio, who attended the February workshop and spoke in
favor of more businesses, had a change of heart Monday night. “I know I
said I was in favor of more services back then, but that was at budget
time and when the economy was really bad,” she said.
Mr. Saltzman polled the audience to find out how many favored the
proposal. There were seven votes in favor, and approximately 35 against.
P&Z member Katie Gregory said to keep in mind that the village
district was only a concept and there was no application pending for
it. “What you are bringing to us is an idea,” she said.
“Yes, this is a just tool for Planning and Zoning to consider as they
review the town plan,” Mr. Halpin said.
--------------------------------------
AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTRICITY
AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY: read
all about the section devoted to ENERGY
IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICTS in
Public Act 07-242!
SAMPLE
QUESTION:
How can Revson Field (shown above in a photo BEFORE the
Referendum) be the key to developing a more coordinated, centralized
approach to energy
policy for the Town of
Weston? ANSWER: By making it part of an
Energy Improvement District!
MOVING AHEAD!!! citizens'
call for "sports complex" heard by
Selectmen; movement
gaining steam to build Booster Barn/home stands/press box (never
accomplished with the $80 million from the Nov. 15, 2001
Referendum). Keep your fingers crossed and hope for Booster Barn
by Sept. 30th!
"About
Town" Original
Town Plan 2010 - 2020
includes: link to "Village
District" map proposed -
compare to our Central
Part of Town "hub"
map.
- REMEMBER CLUB WESTON?
- QUESTION:
What is the story on migration? In other places in America there
is out-migration...if
birth rates go down too, that is 1990 ("there are no more children")
all over again!
- ONLINE
"About Town's" unofficial EXISTING
LAND USE MAP 2008 (still in progress);
- ONLINE
DOCUMENTATION: Our
own, unofficial historical Land Use
Maps here (1986
to 1999); our own Land Use analysis 1999.
- ONLINE
RESEARCH: NEMO
doing regression analysis based on newer data -
should
be helpful in Town Plan update...measuring the effects of incremental
construction (NEMO leader above, at right, who spoke to P&Z this
Spring)?
- COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH: include
10-year look into public finance and capital expenses as part of
Town Plan of Conservation and Development.
- VIDEO
interviews with information sources.
Town
Planning not done
locally across the pond. "Knock
downs," UK
definition of "brownfield" and
UK discussion of planning: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7190000/newsid_7197500/7197538.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1
RESEARCH
SOURCES and ideas on related challenges for Weston: map above left
links to "land
use change" page...at right, a previous NEMO map of the
State by Census Tracts (1990). NOTE: top two-thirds of Weston in
the low development category--and much of that is the Nature
Conservancy and the Reservoir.
Ideas
and topics from out there
(including
"visual issues" ): how do do a Plan...
Wildlife in crisis...in Weston!
CAN WESTON
MAKE THE TOWN-SCHOOL SUPERBLOCK INTO AN ENERGY
IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT?
How
does
"Responsible Growth" implementation, now the law,
apply in Weston? Perhaps
the new Town Plan can address this?
Research
to date (what
has happened since Year 2000);
GIS
system for Weston coming (not before Town Plan is due for update,
tho'); can SWRPA help?
Long-range
population projections from
UCONN: go to CT Data Center here: http://ctsdc.uconn.edu/; and
enrollment projections here: NESDEC10-15007.pdf
What relationship
is
there between the State of
Connecticut Long-Range Transportation Plan and Weston's Town
Plan?
Where do bicycles fit in...Energy
Options
to the forefront?
New use for high school roof? GLOBAL
WARMING - National
Conversation came to Weston H.S. cafeteria Oct. 4 - click here for pix.
Global
Warming
before the Supreme Court! How is Weston
affected by this
decision? And for Connecticut especially, "green
policy" wins the case!
Should the new Plan include any other ideas,
such as the ones in red Italic here?
From across
the
pond...always a good place to check for new ideas.
MAKING CHANGE
The
economy:
Very much in the news, don't you think?
Scramble for water?
What
was that you said? I
couldn't hear you over the noise of low flying jumbo jets...FAA issue;
Power
issues: New England Governors and Canadian Premiers Conference;report
#2 is about day 2 of that conference, re: region's
prospects. So
how does the U.S.A.plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Growth
enablers: power supply, generation and delivery systems.
Long
Island Sound: Liquified Natural Gas ("LNG")
facilities- where
are they in the U.S.A.?
Utopia
Studios and the further redevelopment of South Eastern CT; base-closing
in
Groton...didn't happen...what is the Plan for Southeastern CT economy
now?
Investment
by
outside "agencies" - for example, art
in Everett, WA;
University
of
Connecticut/NEMO; here you will
find maps for Weston (of
land cover and basins)
- COOL MAPS!C.L.E.A.R.
"Smart
Growth/Property
Tax Commission" - link
to CCM summary; download full report from there;
civil rights lawsuits reviving.
How
about global
warming and the Kyoto Protocol? I-BBC article here.
TAKING ACTION ("so how do we
do anything about solving problems?")
CTDOT
reform panel website;
Bridgeport
newspaper's editorialson
housing
policies...
Check
out equivalent
of "village
district"in
another part of CT.
BLUE
RIBBON COMMISSION REPORT; local control of zoning...METROPATTERNS.
Affordable
Housing History... news reports; Norwalk HOUR series HERE;
ANTI-BIG
HOUSES
REPORT:
latest article; old article HERE; later
report HERE;
Some
LAND
USE LEGAL DECISIONS...Legislature passes "Poirier" relief bill. Substitute
Senate Bill 448 history...signed by Governor June 1, 2004.
KNOW THE FACTS
TERRASERVA:
Aerial photographs and U.S.G.S. maps;
CLEAR
maps from University of Connecticut;
Center for Population Studies at UCONN: http://popcenter.uconn.edu/
U.S.
CENSUS 2010
WEBPAGE: Census 2000 NewEstimate for
2004...regional
Census link;
Hartford
Courant/U.S.
Census 2000 selected data for
the State of Connecticut.
...AND
SOME MORE FACTS
Weston's block
group ("neighborhood") maps from U.S.Census 2000...Profile
of selected economic characteristics, U.S. Census 2000 for Weston,
CT -
The
major
CT source on the Internet and the latest report of interest:
http://www.ct.gov/
http://www.conndot.ct.gov/pttrans/index.html
HOW
DOES WESTON
RELATE TO EVENTS AND TOPICS OUTSIDE ITS BORDERS?
Eminent domain: U.S.
Supreme Court Kelo v. City of
New London--click
here for commentary; eminent
domain ruling in New London sets up CT Legislative debate in
Special Session
- CT POST editorial; new
proposal in legislature never saw the light in '04. DAY
editorial on New London urban
renewal...CT
Legislature
asked to empower Zoning Boards re: site
plan powers - didn't pass 2005...
Legal
issue other than eminent domain:
Farmland
tax breaks in court; a victory for farm preservation (Falls Village).
Farmland
de-classification
elsewhere in CT (importance of Board of Assessment Appeals);
How Lyme
does land preservation.
When
is a gift
of open space not forever? (Answer: when you don't
follow
the tax rules closely?);
Wetlands
litigation.
Sprawl
as a health issue?
"...study
found no link between
suburban
sprawl and a greater incidence of mental health problems. Regions
considered to have the worst suburban sprawl included Atlanta;
Riverside-San
Bernardino, Calif.; Winston-Salem, N.C.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and
Bridgeport-Danbury-Stamford,
Conn., the report said. Regions with the least amount of sprawl
included
New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Portland, Ore...
Property Tax and taxes
in general department:
Discussions
in CT
Tax Study by Program Review
and Investigation
Latest
NJ PRESS RELEASE:
How New Jersey study PART THREE reads;
PART TWO by
R.P.A.
came out...
Review part
one
here (issued during the recent election campaign for Governor of New
Jersey); please note that the victorious candidate, now Governor,
over the July 4th weekend, closed down the State of New Jersey in a
battle with the Legislature over increasing the sales tax to pay for his
budget.
Other:
Could
Weston learn
anything from Missoula, Montana? From
Seattle?The
Citizen-Planner
info source, horses mouth variety: http://www.plannersweb.com/.
Intersection and
highways design thoughts...roundabouts
on
Whidbey Island (Oak Harbor)? How about visiting ANWR and learning to be a musher?
Planning
ideas from...across the pond.
In Weston's next Plan? Examples of greenbelt,
roundabout and
parking gargage...just below!
"LOOK LIKE..." (but these are across the pond): North
of the Merritt, roundabout in the news on the Greenwich-Stamford border
and the Stamford parking garage, perhaps?
Outreach by About Town:
we can learn from other
places (classic English ideas above)!
IN CONNECTICUT: looking east along Long
Island Sound and generally in an easterly direction:
Utopia - the
project, as it was; related
to
Utopia. Casino
expansion...
East
Norwalk Neighborhood Association (ENNA);
FROM THE COURTS... LATEST WORD
ON URBAN RENEWAL LAW! Photographic
essays from Brooklyn by
talented artist/urbanist. Latest: http://www.brooklynfootprints.com/home.html
I-BBC take on urbanization:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2006/urbanisation/
Architecture can make a difference:
http://www.newhampshire.com/article.cfm?ArticleID=1839
Arvada, CO - a place we did long-distance
consulting
about street-closings for a mall (many years ago)
news;
Scottsdale, Arizona
our newest e-place to visit!
We're
a bit behind on this one...
Missoula, Montana a recent e-place for research (related to
WILD THINGS farm
team)!
Weston,
CT sometimes might be mistaken for...Palo Alto, CA!
Seattle, plus tourism
and "visioning" on Whidbey Island; E-Land
Use Planning
on Whidbey
Island,
WA; open
space and preserving history important on Whidbey Island; compare
South Whidbey Schools to Weston's (U.S. Census 2000) - click here to
read about their school
construction issues.
American
Planning
Association (APA) in China - pre-earthquake:
urbanization: create
communities of lasting value.
-------------------------------------------
Sub-prime problem to hit CT
investments?
Click
here for Treasurer's message; click
here for Manchester Journal Inquirer report.
Relationship
between poverty
and health care...we're number 3, after New Hampshire ("Live Free
or Die") and Utah.
--------
T R
A N S I T O R I E N T E D D E V E L O P M
E N T :
Weston
T.O.D.? The best example
of this might be: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/ACT/PA/2007PA-00242-R00HB-07432-PA.htm
Connecticut
Department of
Transportation (CTDOT) - "...the highwayman came riding, riding,"
riding...
Reprise of problems
with "Big Dig" in Boston.
Sub-page on TRUCK TRAFFIC
& SAFETY here...
Or as we say across the pond, "transport."
Property tax going to get a re-do in 2009, 2008
Sessions? And last Session before that...and the one even before
that...
OPM
PRESENTATION - The
Appropriations Committee held a briefing on the Governor's
proposed budget Thursday, February 8, 2007 LOB. OPM Secretary Robert
Genuario made the presentation
to the Committee. Was anybody listening? Governor
Rell's budget - link
here.
WARNING:
main page to Legislative Branch should now read (as prefix to specific
locations with CGA) http://www.cga.ct.gov
WATER SUPPLY
BACKGROUND/NEWS:
GLOBAL
PICTURE:
UN Report: Nature Best
Controls Climate Gases
NYTIMES
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:23 a.m. ETJune
5, 2009
AMSTERDAM (AP) -- The U.N. Environment Program says nature's way
is
best for controlling the gases responsible for climate change.
A UNEP report says better management of forests, more careful
agricultural practices and the restoration of peatlands could soak up
significant amounts of carbon dioxide, the most common gas blamed for
global warming.
It says millions of dollars are being invested in research on
capturing
and burying carbon emitted from power stations, but investing in
ecosystems could achieve cheaper results. It also would have the added
effects of preserving biodiversity, improving water supplies and
boosting livelihoods.
The U.N. agency released the report Friday at U.N. climate talks
in
Bonn, Germany. The event was Web cast worldwide.
---------------
FROM
THE WORLD
ECONOMIC FORUM, January 29, 2008:
DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) —
Warnings of a water and food crisis seemed
incongruous among the lavish hospitality of Davos this year, but the
danger was stressed repeatedly to the assembled world elite. Scarcity of water was named
by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a
top priority at the World Economic Forum and he warned that conflicts
lay ahead if the provision of the vital resource could not be assured.
"Population growth will
make the problem worse. So will climate change.
As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts
lie just over the horizon," he said in a speech on Thursday.
Ban reminded the gathering
of the world's wealthy powerbrokers in Davos
that the conflict in Darfur in Sudan was touched off by a drought. "Too
often where we need water, we find guns," he said.
Rising food prices are also
causing problems in emerging countries,
with demonstrations and violence witnessed in a host of countries
including Mexico and African nations Mauritania, Morocco,
Senegal. Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath warned earlier in the
week that prices of some foodstuffs had doubled in his country at a
time when 25 million people in India were estimated to have moved from
taking one to two meals a day.
"What does 25 million
people moving from one to two meals a day do for
prices?" he asked a room of corporate bigwigs and policymakers who pay
thousands of dollars to attend the exclusive get-together here.
Referring to the challenge
of providing food at affordable prices, he
said: "Next year in Davos we'll be discussing this..."
DEEP
BACKGROUND:
LATEST BROADWATER
NEWS:
BREAKING NEWS:
April 13, 2009, U.S. Department of Commerce upheld N.Y.State on
appeal!!!
Governor Paterson
of New York joins Governor Rell
in saying "no way" to BROADWATER (which appealed)!!!
From Save the Sound and CFE - it is
now up to Governor Spitzer of New
York...oops!
Older report - FERC 3-1 OK given to Weavers
Cove
proposal in Fall River, Massachusetts July 15, 2005...new news there;
(Answer:
bad news - OK'd; discussed at SWRPA meeting
August 1, 2005.)
Coast
Guard hearings
pre-report;
"LNG" - what
is it?
Watch industry
videos HERE;
Safety
concerns: http://www.lngfacts.org/About-LNG/Safety.asp
-------------------------------------------------
GLOBAL
WARMING, ON AN EXPLOSIVE PLANET, HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, KID - HUGE
ICEBERG, SIZE OF
MANHATTAN FOUND IN
CANADIAN ARCTIC; July 2008 VIDEO.
Bad news for bears - who are now, in 2008,
an endangered species...I-BBC
report.
AIR POLLUTION,
ECONOMY,
BIODIVERSITY, ETC. AND THE
LATEST;
Click
above to get the New York TIMES page on the U.S. Supreme Court
OUR LINKS:
U.S.
Supreme
Court: previous to last terms; 2006-2007 term; and 2007-2008: unanimous Duke
Energy; bigger one - Massachusetts
decision...
"What me worry" department...oil, global warming
and now nuclear warfare - "who's on first/" "No more fish"
story here.
Plainfield
Proposal Raises Concerns For Environment; Opposition To Power Plant Is
'Overblown,' Company Official Says
DAY
By Ted Mann
Published on 10/25/2007
A coalition of state environmental groups urged regulators to
block a
proposed power plant in Plainfield that would burn construction and
demolition debris to generate electricity...for full story, click here.
Hartford Courant articles:
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-global-sg,0,2341101.storygallery?coll=hc-headlines-home
I-BBC indepth on
Fuelling the Future: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2006/energy/default.stm.
Check
out current air pollution
here; Clean
Air, Cool
Planet:
http://cleanair-coolplanet.org/
I-BBC
on
biodiversity;
OIL: Pipeline woes in Alaska
(August 2006 - Republican Gubernatorial Primary turns out incumbent); new sources of oil in or offshore America? I-BBC report on Caspian
development here...
How about nuclear testing under and/or over the
ground?
I-BBC backgrounder here.
Newest
notes from above; melting matters here.
Related topics: on the global
economy; how is China doing?
A thoughtful report on world oil supply, from 2004, we have saved it here; or go
to it directly on the net: World
Oil Supply.
I-BBC video on oil
and its relationship
will modern life.
BUILDING
COMMITTEE page
At
the
Building Committee (click above for details): the Auditorium
project...in August 2008.
Clerk of the works for High School Auditorium project
on board.
Multi-Year Capital Plan:
Kaestle Boos to
evaluate Town and School buildings for long-range capital planning
purposes; on-going work on Town and School facilities with Town
and School staff in addition to study.
Revson Field in meeting
notes;
Refresh
your memory of what happened when in the School Construction saga,
which isn't quite over...and latest Town
projects.
SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE (r.i.p.) /
BUILDING
COMMITTEE:
Auditorium opens for winter concert - seats, alterations
for sound, replacement of worn-out rigging and other elements (i.e.
hand-made "thrust" stage from 40 years ago) - air conditioning
operational we think;
"Fields"
issue elsewhere. And in
Weston, a report (considering
that we may be asked to
participate in building homefield stands, press box and booster barn
with changing areas) - in Selectmen's hands.
At
right, the new and old parts of Weston High School - different but the
same--both as modern and functional - with post-Referendum work
replacing roof on old section (done) and renovating auditorium and
stage
spaces (underway summer '08 into the winter term);
MASTER
PLAN FOR SCHOOLS & FIELDS (l.):
COMPLETED...just a few ends to tidy up (Booster Barn and home field
stands)!
Tertiary
treatment
plant now working properly (no overflows). Intermediate
School open for business.
Revson
Field was undergoing repair; see history here.
How about reliving those early days of the school project?
Click here: http://www.aboutweston.com/hurlbutt.html
THE
SCHOOLS
& FIELDS PROJECTS: QUICK
LINK
to unofficial
meeting notices/notes. HISTORY
LESSON:
how we got to where we are...the Referendum of November 15, 2001 for
$79 million and change is just about over...last claim in the
works. REMEMBER THIS ONE? ON
A REALLY HOT NIGHT AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 2008, THE
AUDITORIUM GOT
A BIG YES VOTE (THE FIRST WORK TO BE DONE ON THE SPACE
IN 40 YEARS)...congrats to all who worked to make this a successful
conclusion to the project approval.
OUR
FAVORITES FROM I-BBC:
...ONE SMALL STEP FOR
MAN,
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8133835.stm
G-20
news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/business/2009/g20/7897719.stm
MAKING
CHANGE IN U.S. LESS
FUZZY: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7657473.stm
GLOBAL CREDIT CRUNCH TIMELINE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7521250.stm
THE 'BIG
BANG' SUPERCOLLIDER
STORY IN
FULL
HERE
Global warming sidelight: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7494305.stm
GREEN: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/7075560.stm
Confused
over the names of
countries? Changing
world here.
Big ships: the
pix; how about the Titanic? the present story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6377633.stm
From across the pond:
Page last updated at 03:34 GMT, Saturday, 13 March 2010
Obama Nasa plans 'catastrophic'
say Moon astronauts
|
By Pallab Ghosh,
Science correspondent, BBC News
|
Former Nasa astronauts who went to the Moon
have told the BBC of their dismay at President Barack Obama's decision
to push back further Moon missions.
Jim Lovell, commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission,
said Mr Obama's decision would have "catastrophic consequences" for US
space exploration.
The last man on the Moon, Eugene Cernan, said it was
"disappointing".
Last month Mr Obama cancelled Nasa's Constellation Moon
landings programme, approved by ex-President George W Bush.
Nasa still aims to send astronauts back to the Moon, but it
is likely to take decades and some believe that it will never happen
again.
'Moral leadership'
The astronauts spoke to the BBC at a private event at the
Royal Society in London on Friday organised by the Foundation for
Science and Technology.
 |
 It will have
catastrophic consequences in our ability to explore space and the
spin-offs we get from space technology 
Jim Lovell
Apollo 13 commander
Obama cancels Moon
return project
|
They were joined there by the first man on the Moon, Neil
Armstrong.
As the last astronaut to return to the Apollo 17 lunar module
in 1972, Cernan was the last man to set foot on the Moon.
"I'm quite disappointed that I'm still the last man on the
Moon," he said. "I thought we'd have gone back long before now."
So why does he believe Americans should go back to the Moon?
The proposed Ares-1 rocket has been
cancelled by Mr Obama
|
"I think America has a responsibility to maintain its
leadership in technology and its moral leadership... to seek knowledge.
Curiosity's the essence of human existence."
It is a view shared by fellow Apollo Astronaut Jim Lovell,
the heroic commander of Apollo 13.
"Personally I think it will have catastrophic consequences in
our ability to explore space and the spin-offs we get from space
technology," he said.
"They haven't thought through the consequences."
Lunar dream alive
Although Cernan and Lovell expressed their dismay with
President Obama's decision, Mr Armstrong tactfully avoided the subject.
When he set foot on the Moon in July 1969, it seemed as if
humanity would soon colonise other worlds.
By 1994, when I interviewed him for the first time, he said:
"The reality may have faded. But the dream is still there and it will
come back in time."
But with the cancellation of Nasa's Constellation programme
to return Americans to the moon by 2020, who is to inspire the next
generation?
Nasa still aims to send astronauts back to the Moon, using
Nasa to provide incentives and oversight to the private sector for
launch services.
It is likely to take some time, however.
Until then we will have the epic tales of Armstrong, Lovell,
Cernan and the rest of the Apollo astronaut corps to remind us that all
things are possible - and despite the current pause in human
spaceflight to other worlds, the dream is still there.
The
"About
Weston" site was
last updated on 3/13/10.
You
are visitor
number 
since 7/19/04. Prior to
7/19/04, there were a total of 9833
hits; "About
Weston"
began on 12/14/98.
