Our houses, as George Carlin once noted, have become places to keep our stuff and, by extension, our neighborhoods and cities are containers for our storage units. A check of our shoe closets will not turn up those technicolored monstrosities available for rental at fine lanes everywhere, but for lack of a better description, Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone is not only a picture of where we are, but where we're going.
If you have children in school and attend their PTA or PTO meetings, you see the same parents at every meeting-that's also true for Neighborhood Watch, Church Social, volunteer sports coaching, etc. Sociologists speak of 80/20; that is eighty percent of a community's volunteer efforts come from twenty percent of its population. No wonder you're tired-you're doing the work of four of your neighbors. And, here's the good news: no sleep until Hammersmith.
In Norwich this week, there's as much, and as little, going on in terms of volunteer efforts that would benefit from your involvement as you might like to see.
This afternoon at five, in Room 335 of City Hall (sit down front because the unamplified acoustics in this room suck) it's a regular meeting of the Redevelopment Agency and with the individual pieces of the Brownfields mosaic in place, it's time to get serious about a hindrance to recycling, repurposing and renewing cities all across New England. It's not just about really meaning well and hoping a lot. All of this takes money, and lots of it.
Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 in the Central Office of the Norwich Public Schools is a regular meeting of the Board of Education's Policy Committee. New school year, but same old lament: nothing vaguely approaching recent meeting minutes anywhere near the school's website. I admire the consistency and realize it's the least you can do. Actually, that's my problem; it is.
At four, in the Planning Department's basement conference room at 23 Union Street, it's a meeting (they meet if necessary so check with the City Clerk at 860-823-3790) of the Building Code Board of Appeals. Judging by the city's website, they last needed to meet over two years ago. Perhaps that's because we have so many appealing buildings in The Rose City, unless, of course, there's another meaning to that word.
At five, in the City Manager's office (Room 219) in City Hall, it's a regular meeting of the Harbor Management Commission, whose most recent meeting seems to have been in July. The members' ears should be burning from a vibrant discussion that went on at Saturday's One City Forum, but good news(!) the meeting was in the Central Fire House so there was no danger to anyone at anytime (nice use of a contraction where the possessive was needed).
Also at five, also in City Hall, but upstairs in Room 335, the Ethics Commission continues its hearing on the Veterans' Carnival at Chelsea Parade (the agenda doesn't tell you the subject-just the case number). And in that room, hearing is more a challenge than a function so sit down way down front and bring a lip reader.
And at six, in their offices at 16 Golden Street, it's a double header, of sorts, as the Board of Commissioners of Norwich Public Utilities who are also the Sewer Authority (how's that for a coincidence?) hold their regular monthly meeting. Here is where the meeting minutes and agenda are usually placed, though it's out of date at the moment.
Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 in the Planning Department conference room at 23 Union Street is a regular meeting of the Dangerous Buildings Board of Review who, if the minutes posted on the city's website are accurate, regularly meet every year and a half or so, plus/minus a couple of months. If you're wondering if they were involved in the decisions on the Greeneville and Buckingham Schools demolitions, the answer, I suspect, is 'no.' A better question might be how a committee whose appointments expired three months ago holds meetings at all.
At six, in the Recreation Offices at Dickenman Field, it's a regular meeting of the Recreation Advisory Board. Like far too many boards and committees, its agenda and meeting minutes are in disarray on the city's website though theirs try my patience since you get to select 'agenda' and then stipulate a year '2011' and get NO results. But be of good cheer because you can then choose 'minutes' and again specify the year, let's say '2011' for grins and giggles, and get NOTHING in return again. Shut That Bloody Bouzouki Player Up!
The Norwich Golf Course Authority holds a special meeting at six in the clubhouse on the New London Turnpike. I don't understand what item 'e' means within a special meeting since only those items enumerated and listed on the agenda may be discussed during a special meeting and 'other' certainly doesn't meet that degree of specificity.
At six thirty, the Dangerous Buildings Board of Review, moonlighting in its other function, meets as the 751 North Main Street Advisory Committee, in the Planning Department's conference room at 23 Union Street. Based on this, I have no idea what their point or purpose continues to be-and judging from the paucity of their posted meeting minutes, perhaps they feel the same way.
There are two convenings of this last item, both at the Courtyard by Marriott (at 181 West Town Street), one on Thursday afternoon from three until five and the other on Friday morning from half past seven to half past nine marking the formal introduction of the already in-progress downtown revitalization fund, which has about ten million dollars to invest (I asked about pony rides; some people can be very brusque). If you're interested in putting your money, along with somebody else's, where your mouth is-as a property owner, real estate broker, downtown business owner or someone who'd like to be one of the preceding, find the time to make one of the meetings and get in the game. Otherwise you will miss every shot you never take. And that's been a problem for way too many years for way too many of us in my little town.
-bill kenny
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