Too Many Homefires Burning (Norwich Meetings April 6-10 2009)

The Norwich municipal meeting calendar heats up, even if the temperatures outside don't quite keep pace.

Not that long ago we got the tax notices on our cars and trucks (okay, on your hovercraft, you show-off) in the mail, right? You remember the envelope--when you opened it up you grumbled, or shrieked or spoke in tongues and vowed to 'talk to somebody about this because it's nuts!'. This is the week to do that. The Board of Assessment Appeals meets in Room 335 of City Hall today through Thursday to hear complaints about motor vehicle assessments. Here's the catch: if you submitted a written application to appeal the assessment and returned the application by March 20, 2009, you were granted a hearing and have an appointment. Be there. If you didn't, you're not in the game and it's your own fault. There's a second round of hearings next week as well, but the same rules apply.

Today, you could, I suppose, bring a book and a thermos and make a day of it at City Hall, starting at 1100 in City Council Chambers with what one newspaper is calling a "YMCA closure discussion." It's the follow-up to last Monday's meeting (of sorts) on the announced 30 April closure of the Norwich YMCA and the means and opportunities to avoid this.

A lot of well-meaning people are marshaling their forces and mobilizing their energies in the hopes of keeping the Y alive--but hope is not a plan. Perhaps the meeting this morning will accurately outline the depth and extent of the financial challenges the Board of the YMCA were facing when they opted to close--and we can see where to next, once that happens. Perhaps worth a read, if you're heading to the meeting (and even if you're not) is David Collins' Friday column, assuming it's still on the other end of this link. Tonight, come early for the City Council meeting at 7:30 (seriously; there's an informational workshop at seven by NPU on the sewer plant upgrades and the NPU overall budget) followed by the Council meeting at 7:30 with a large and varied agenda (and, selfishly speaking, a new episode of House on at eight o'clock, so talk fast gentlemen, not that you aren't accused of that now).

If you didn't want to click the link--the City Manager will outline his proposed budget (brace yourself for a less than happy ending), there's a motion to bond 800K to buy the old Simon Ford property so, at a time not yet specified, another 20 to 40 million dollars could be bonded/appropriated/found in the engine of an old box car to build a new police and emergency services headquarters. (At 25 cents a tooth, how many flights would the Tooth Fairy need to make to Norwich to finance this, do you suppose? Eyes on your own paper! No cheating or copying!). I find it interesting that on the website page listing the City Council, the link to the Mayor's email address has been deactivated. I'd smile as I type this, but my teeth are paying for the new police station.

Tuesday at 6 PM in Room 335 of City Hall is an information workshop by the 350th Committee and Outside Groups. Perhaps there'll be an update, as outlined at the January 2009 informational meeting with the City Council, on the progress the Limited Liability Corporation that is the Semiseptcentennial Committee (which is why it's a dot com and not a dot org, by the way) is making in becoming a non-profit organization. All I ever get when I ask is embarrassed silence and an uneasy shifting in chairs. My daughter got me, as an early birthday present, a "Norwich 1659-2009" (rose) red tee shirt over the weekend, so I think I'm allowed to ask about the financing-heaven knows, given TWO opportunities, this City Council didn't ('let the celebrations begin' indeed).

Not on the municipal meeting calendar, but of import nevertheless and possibly of more than passing interest, is a state budget forum organized by Representative Christopher Coutu (R-47th) aTuesday t 7 PM in the American Legion hall at 22 Merchants Avenue in Taftville. The Governor and the State Assembly and Senate have been making all the headlines in recent days but when it comes to budget deficits, early retirements, program mergings, tax increases or any of the other 'silver bullets' floating around, I just scratch my head. Bring your questions or ideas, I'll bring my itchy head, we'll make a day of it. Heck, with the projected size of the deficit, we'll make TWO days of it.

Wednesday afternoon at three in the City Manager's conference room (Room 219) is a meeting of the Community Development Advisory Committee and, as their agenda suggests, before the Committee moves forward with this year's grant requests, there's a review of previous actions that's needed.At 5:30, in room 335 is a special meeting of the Sachem Fund (just me or have they had more special meetings than regular ones recently?), followed at six o'clock by the Baseball Stadium Authority in room 210 (might want to work on the currency of meeting minutes postings, if I may make a suggestion; these are from February, rather than March, and in them, the names of both reporters are misspelled). Also on Wednesday, at seven in the Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department, is a regular meeting of the Public Safety Committee.

Thursday afternoon at 5:30 in the Norwich Public School's Central Office (across from the Norwichtown Green) at 90 Town Street is a meeting of the Board of Education's Budget Expenditure Committee. The link is only an illusion of assistance--it's over a year old and not current, which is far too true of far too much of the entire website. I would assume in light of whatever recommendations the City Manager has for the Board's overall budget when he presents his tonight, things will be a little busy in the Central Office come Thursday.

That's it for this week--there's a lot going on and as budget season progresses, there will be hearings and opportunities to learn more about where our money goes and how (and why). We cannot buy police and public safety, or infrastructure or public education the way we purchase hamburger or horse manure (I knew that was going to happen, but was powerless to stop it, sorry) and we certainly can't pay for it the same way, or even the way we used to do it. We need to lower our voices and our demands upon our government and rediscover how far we can all get when we work harder to succeed than we do to avoid failure. One is not the absence of the other and we need to get better at telling the difference and then telling each other.
-bill kenny