Strange Days indeed (Norwich CT Meetings)

Necessary but (also a little) sad business on tonight's Norwich City Council agenda, starting at 7 in Room 335 of City Hall, as Ms. Dee Ann Brennan, the even-tempered, seemingly unflappable Town and City Clerk, is retiring and the Council will be recruiting within and without for her successor. I appreciated her patience in working with me when I was the recording secretary for the Ethics Review Commission in much the same professional manner as her predecessor, Beverly Muldoon, suffered me while I was Charter Review Committee's Recording Secretary, and I certainly hope she and her family enjoy the next chapter in her life.

Actually, you may want to come early, for an informational session at 6:30, I can only hope is inspired by Karla DeVito. Actually kidding aside (that's what that reference to Karla was all about, btw), it's a presentation by the Sierra Club, Cool Cities, on steps to combat global warming that also saves municipalities money. Talk about thinking globally and acting locally. If you care about the planet, or your city's bottom line, consider coming along.

I gave you the link for the Council meeting agenda but there are two items under "new business" I'll mention because my agenda, like that of the City Council is open and not hidden like some folks in public life we can both think of.....starting with item #2.

The City Council eliminated the APED committee some months back while leaving the Economic Development Commission (don't look for it on the city's website, it's not there). Next year, is an election year in Norwich with everyone on the City Council, to include the Mayor, up for reelection. I mention that because the news article notes, attributed to the City Manager, that the Mayor's office is 'in charge of economic development now' and goes on to describe a 'series of public meetings Mayor Benjamin Lathrop has held with community and business leaders.'

Actually, it's been THREE meetings, which is more than a pair, but fewer than what most of us think of as a 'series'. Having attended all three, two (more or less) on State Property that the City may or may not ever own and the other one on private property whose owners didn't even attend the meeting, I am at a loss to understand what this 'series' of meetings accomplished.

Sorry for the repetition: hope is NOT a plan. (I also wonder why the first two 'Development Forum' meeting notes aren't published (I have them if anyone needs them, though I won't be surprised when they're not asked for) which brings me to my larger concern, again, that there are NO notes taken or made from any City Council informational session, like the one that will held tonight--just like all of its predecessors. More repetition: insanity is doing things the way you always have and hoping THIS TIME the result will be different. For those following along at home: Substituting a rose for the period portion of the exclamation point in Norwich Now! is simply not enough and I'm hard-pressed to see any forward motion despite repeated insistence that 'Norwich is moving forward.'

But the Council can move us ahead as a city, and an employer of choice, with New Business item #3 refining and redefining hiring practices and policies. Despite the heated emotions, on all sides of this topic, it's good public policy to consider the revision being proposed, monitor it should it be approved for implementation and impact, and then report back to us, the residents of the city, at a specific point in time on its effects. Do I expect that to actually happen? See my remark(s) above, about both hope and insanity.

On Tuesday morning at 8:30 in NFA's Latham Center there's a special meeting of the Youth and Family Services Committee. I'm not sure who is on this committee as it's nowhere to be found on the city's website. Also Tuesday, the Public Parking Commission, meets at 6 p.m. in the Buckingham Memorial building near the Otis Library at 307 Main St..
And there are dueling meetings, of sorts, Tuesday night with the Commission on the City Plan, at 7 at 23 Union Street with the City Council holding a Zoning and Land Use Seminar, next door in City Hall, Room 335, at the same time. In light of the somewhat warm discussions we've had in recent weeks and months on variations on this topic, it may be very educational for all of us to gain a better perspective. You don't have to be an active adult or a high speed ferry commuter (or a harbor business owner, I guess) to have a dog in this hunt (as long as it's not in the pound).

On Wednesday morning at 9:30 in the Business, nee Industrial Park, 30 Stott Avenue, is a meeting of the Connecticut Municipal Electrical Energy Cooperative, CMEEC. I have no idea who this is or what they do and I can't help but imagine they like it like that. On Wednesday afternoon at 5, Inland Wetlands, Watercourses and Conservation Commission, meets at 23 Union Street while the Golf Course Authority meets at 7 p.m. in the Golf Course Meeting Room (I think they should call it the Mark Twain Meeting Room, but it'll never happen) at the Municipal Golf Course on New London Turnpike. The minutes of the special meeting are here, though the schedule of fees, mentioned as 'attached' in the minutes, aren't. Replace your divot.

On Thursday at 5 in the afternoon there's a meeting of the Historic District Commission that may, as the city's website suggests, be at the VFW post, or, as one of the newspapers notes, is in Room 319 of City Hall or, based on their previous minutes, may be in Room 210 of City Hall. (I love the idea of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego as a meeting planner. Pity the Utopia Edition of the game didn't work out. Maybe that can be a part of our series of Norwich Development Forums? We've already established you need not be present to win.) And Thursday night at 6 the Ice Arena Authority meets in the Ice Rink Meeting Room over at The Rink on New London Turnpike. I'd imagine enlightened self-interest assures they will be attending the Council's Monday informational session on Cool Cities

You drive past the William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich all the time. This is a note about more of a community than municipal meeting on Sunday from noon until three PM. I'm hoping to have my left knee replaced come the late winter, and I have another chance to sneak a peek at the technique (an off-rhyme I know) and maybe I'll see you there.

In closing, I'll mention it here and I'll mention it again next week...next Monday, the 24th, at 6 PM the Council holds an informational session on the next budget. A lot of us succumb to the temptation to wait until the budget hearings every Spring and then rail at the Aldermen for 'look what you did to my property taxes!' These are serious times, my friend, and the Council and everyone in City government understands you cannot control the future but you can plan for it.
If you're intending to criticize the budget landing next Spring, make it a point to be part of the take-off next Monday evening. Now return your tray to the upright position and make sure your seat belt is fastened.
-bill kenny