Cold Days from the Birdhouse

I've never understood how February ended up with the shortest number of days-lack of an aggressive agent perhaps or a moment away from the calendar creation at a critical point? Hard to say and custom becomes habit so quickly that if you were to put me on the spot and ask about a different calendar construction I would have no idea what it should or could look like. Maybe that's how the status quo becomes the status.

February, or what's left of it, has opportunities for involvement in local activities and actions starting this afternoon at 4:30 with a special meeting of the Housing Authority in their offices at 10 Westwood Park.

At five, in Room 210 of City Hall is a regular meeting of the Redevelopment Agency whose agenda wraps up an action on a brownfields reclamation that ties quite nicely back to the principals involved in last Wednesday's Vibrant Communities Initiative.    

Tuesday afternoon at five, in Room 219 of City Hall, it's a regular meeting of the Harbor Management Commission whose agenda leads me to believe they are about to have themselves a busy spring and summer. That should be good news for the rest of us who enjoy the Norwich Harbor.

At six, in the conference room of the Norwich Public Utilities at 16 Golden Street, it's a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners and the Sewer Authority. You'll find their respective (special) meeting minutes of earlier this month here, and here.

Wednesday afternoon at five, in Room 210 of City Hall, is the next regular meeting of the Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Committee. I find it interesting the meeting calendar is the sole mention of this committee anywhere on the municipal website but you can fascinate me for hours with the beam from a laser pointer. (Section 11, (a) of the revised public act makes it clear the posting of minutes are required, within  seven days no matter how bad the website is. And, yes, we heard enough about that last Friday).

At 5:30 in the Kelly Middle School Community Room, it's a special meeting of the Norwich Public Schools Board of Education. If you're intending on attending this meeting, make sure you understand the purpose of the meeting and what the meeting is not about-to include decisions about personnel changes. When you review the agenda you'll see there's no place for public comment; that's because we're expected to listen.

And on Thursday evening at seven, the first of March (already!) in the Planning Department's conference room in the basement of 23 Union Street, it's a regular meeting of the Inlands Wetlands, Water Courses and Conservation Commission. Here are the minutes of their February meeting so you have a frame of reference for what they're working on.

Saturday evening beginning at 7:30 in the Slater Museum on the campus of the Norwich Free Academy is a debate featuring the three candidates for the Democratic Party nomination of the US Senate. Tickets are free but must requested/reserved in advance.

There's enough to do for those who so choose and if you choose to shake your head in dismay and despair, that's fine as well, of course, and your choice. We each have as much voice in our destiny as we decide and choosing to NOT decide is also a decision. A very poor one, but it proves again sometimes our mistakes are the only thing we can call our own.
-bill kenny