Here in These Deep City Lights (Norwich Meetings 4-9 January 2010)

Same snow, different calendar page? Seems that way around here-hope it was a good transition for you and yours as we went from then to now and start 2010 on a snow-boot covered good foot (suspect not even JB could have imagined that one. Get on up!).

After getting socked three weeks ago with some pretty heavy snow (for us) here in Southeastern Connecticut, we had a couple of sprinklings in the latter part of last week, just to freshen up the scenery (soot-covered snow looks terrible) and also to help remind us that this is, after all, New England (even if folks in the Green Mountains or Down East think of us as part of the suburban sprawl between New York and Boston).

The municipal meeting calendar is a little light this week to start off the New Year which is only fair as we need to shake the holidays from our clothing, and get back into the regular rhythm of being and doing.

This morning at 8:30 in their offices in the Norwich Business Park, it's a regular meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments (SCCOG)-tell me again why we don't live in the USOA? I suspect item five on the agenda is about the project in New London and not the one getting started at the Norwich Harbor that sparked so much discussion this time last year and then was shrugged off. What I found an interesting, albeit now nearly five years old, read, is their Intermodal Connections Study Southeast. Check it out for yourself and then tell me what part of the conditions, conclusions or recommendations has changed (aside from the part where we're still NOT doing any of it). Oh, that's right. That's the part that hasn't changed, my bad.

I mentioned snow, but in six weeks (more or less exactly), pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training and between the special meeting of the Norwich Baseball Stadium Authority tonight at six in Room 210 and the Executive Session of the City Council's first meeting of 2010 beginning at 7:30, it looks like Dodd Stadium might be a Field of Dreams again this summer.

I'm not sure why it's executive session: only the NY-Penn League, territorially, as a franchise of Minor League Baseball can seek to relocate and the city can only negotiate with them so it's not like there's a competitive advantage to be gained or disadvantage to be suffered in an open discussion. I'm hoping the Stadium Authority does the talking as the last time the City Council got involved during a lease negotiation with a previous tenant, some pretty loopy stuff went on. (Admittedly different council, but the same species).

There's more to the Council meeting than Dodd Stadium--don't forget the continuation of the Public Hearing on the purchase of the Norwich Hospital site property, a decision that I would hope the City Council chooses to not make. I've been impressed by the Saturday sessions the Council, Mayor and City Manager have been putting in to work on formulating and executing a plan for smart growth and know they are about a month away from having much of the data they need to start to develop conclusions and outline a plan.

I'd hope when they see how much available industrial, commercial, retail and residential space remains in Norwich, and its square foot cost and expense of development, they'll pass on the slightly more than seventy acres the state of Connecticut is offering the city for 'the low, low price of only a dollar'. It's not just the multi-millions in clean-up costs that bothers me (though it certainly does) and the fact that those dollars are urgently needed for other projects across and throughout the city, it's that there's no plan for what to do with the land (of which slightly less than half is reportedly developable). Sort of like the dog chasing the car who catches one. Now what?

Also on the agenda and I hope subject to good questions, is a proposal by the developers to amend a previous agreement for some property on Chestnut Street that's looking better now than it has in just about all the years I and my family have lived here (I'm not suggesting cause and effect). If I remember correctly, there were a number of proposals, and one was chosen-I'm not sure what to conclude about changes to a previous agreement after both sides have signed on the line, especially if I were one of the folks whose proposal was rejected. Sort of like that 'would you like a pony?' proposition that's resulted in my having lots of hat but no horses. We seem to know how to put the preferred in preferred developer.

Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 in the Central Office across from the Norwichtown Green is a special meeting of the Board of Education who are not that far away in terms of days on the calendar from sitting together with the City Council, Mayor and City Manager, with one another, and with the residents and parents of Norwich to develop an education budget in some of the most distressed times most of us have seen in our lives. One of the strategies it seems the Board is pursuing, based on their meeting agenda, is securing money from the Race To The Top Fund.

Here's a news story from the Chicago Tribune on the program that leads me to wonder how we will decouple scores from Connecticut Mastery (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance (CAPT) Test results from requested increases in annual funding as has been done for decades since “(w)e should not continue the unhealthy focus on standardized tests as the primary evidence of student success,” says someone in authority, quoted in the article. If you can read the Trib story, thank a teacher.

Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 in the Central Office is a regular meeting of the (Norwich Public Schools Kelly Middle) School Building Committee. Their December 2009 (draft) minutes suggest good progress is being made (adds new meaning to the phrase 'some assembly required') and if you think being an elected official in your town is a thankless job, try being a volunteer member of a committee or an advisory panel-that's a real day at the beach.

The Republican Town Committee is slated to get together at seven PM in Room 335 of City Hall, though my recollection is that they often meet in a local restaurant, making them one of the few volunteer panels I can think of that can, potentially, award Michelin stars, which sounds like a very persuasive argument for you to consider if you're a joiner.

Thursday evening in the basement conference room of 23 Union Street it's a regular meeting of the Inlands Wetlands, Water Courses and Conservation Commission. The Commission last met in November.

And while you won't find it on the City's website, Mayor Peter Nystrom will host a question and answer session (possibly joined by one or more members of the City Council) this Saturday morning, starting at nine and scheduled through noon (or until the questions and answers run out) at the Central Fire House. If you can't make a meeting of the City Council and don't have access to a phone or to email, this is another avenue to share your concerns, bouquets and brickbats with those whom we have elected.

Part of the talking together process is learning how to listen. We all need to get better at this to help reinvent Norwich and keep it it from remaining "A place you can stand for one night and get gone."
-bill kenny