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MARCONI ON 2006: Issues facing the town in the
new year
Dec 29, 2005
First Selectman Rudy Marconi is looking forward to �a great year�
in 2006, but there are many ongoing issues facing the town, he
said.
Questions of whether housing will be built on Bennett�s
Pond south, how to resolve the potential impact on north
Ridgefield of more plane traffic at Danbury Airport, what will
become of Schlumberger�s �campus� in central Ridgefield when the
company moves, and how best to resolve the perennial vexation of
Ridgefield traffic are all at the top of his list of concerns for
the upcoming year, he said in an interview on Thursday, Dec.
22.
|
| �Ridgefield is in great shape
and will continue to be in great shape for the next several
years,� says First Selectman Rudy Marconi. But plenty of
challenges face the town. | But
Mr. Marconi said he thinks the news will be mostly good in the next
year.
�It�s going to be an interesting year, but a good one,� he
said. �The good news is that all of the issues I see the first
selectman working on are issues that will improve our
community.�
A highlight of the year will be the �March to
Victory� weekend, over July 1 and July 2, commemorating the French
army�s march through Ridgefield 225 years ago, he said.
Bennett�s Pond
An
immediate issue is the fate of the 155 acres known as Bennett�s Pond
south, he said.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is in the
midst of public hearings on a proposal to allow the property�s
owner � giant developer Eureka V, LLC � a rezoning for
345 age-restricted condominiums and 100,000 square feet of office
space. The property is currently zoned for commercial use only. If
the commission approves, the developer has agreed to drop its
litigation against the town, which has dragged on for years. The
Board of Selectmen has endorsed a settlement plan contingent on the
zoning board�s approval.
�Eureka is on the plate right now,� Mr.
Marconi said. �Depending on the outcome of the issue at Planning and
Zoning, that will dictate where we go from here.�
Mr. Marconi
said he will also work hard with Schlumberger to find an appropriate
use for its village property. The company plans to move to
Massachusetts in late 2006.
�I have a meeting set up after
January 1 with the real estate specialist who has been hired by
Schlumberger to work on the release of the property from their
inventory, and he has informed me that it is very important to
Schlumberger that he work with the town in arriving at a solution
that is best for Schlumberger and the community,� Mr. Marconi
said.
Airport, budget,
charter
Mr. Marconi said Danbury Airport has become
�a serious issue that we need to resolve.�
He expects to discuss
the airport with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton �right after the first
of the year.�
�I�ll be asking for his cooperation, which I don�t
question we will receive, regarding the airport,� Mr. Marconi said.
�We need to have an agreement with the city of Danbury, an
understanding of what the concerns are of the people of Ridgefield,
while at the same time recognizing Danbury�s commitment to the
airport and its continuation.�
Because aircraft noise affects
many Ridgefield homes, both Ridgefield and Danbury need to agree on
how to address noise problems, Mr. Marconi said.
The upcoming
budget season will be �a very interesting and difficult time,� Mr.
Marconi predicted.
One hot issue will be whether to approve plans
to renovate the police station � or even to tear it down and replace
it or move the police headquarters elsewhere.
�The feasibility
study is complete,� Mr. Marconi said. �We will be reviewing it at
our Jan. 18 selectmen�s meeting with a discussion as to what to do
next.�
Both the firefighters union and the municipal employees
union (which comprises the town�s office workers) will renegotiate
their contracts with the town this year, he said.
Mr. Marconi
also noted that the Charter Revision Commission was scheduled to
complete its work this summer, including a report with any
recommendations for changes to the town charter. He hoped that the
commission�s recommendations could be added to the ballot in the
November election, so that voters would not need to make another
trip to the polls.
Water and traffic
help?
Mr. Marconi also hopes to resolve the water
quality problems that have plagued Barlow and Scotland Elementary
schools sometime in 2006.
The excessive chloride levels in the
two schools� water have kept both schools on bottled water all
year.
Mr. Marconi said the solution preferred by the state
Department of Public Health is for the town to extend the water main
out to the schools. He said that Aquarion � the town�s water
supplier � has expressed support of a plan for the company to pay to
extend the water line out to a proposed new water tank site on North
Street. Then the town would only need to pay to extend the line from
that site out to the schools, he said.
�Hopefully the water issue
at Scotland and Barlow schools will be resolved in 2006,� Mr.
Marconi said. �I sent maps to Aquarion with a suggested solution � a
tank which would be located on North Street. They�re going to take
the map back and look at what I�m proposing. I would need to secure
some easements from private landowners. Aquarion will be discussing
this. The plan would be to extend the water main with costs being
shared by Aquarion.�
Mr. Marconi also hopes to see some
improvement in Ridgefield�s traffic in 2006. He noted that a lengthy
traffic study of Ridgefield was completed in 2005
�In the second
week of January, I will go to Hartford to meet with the Department
of Transportation to begin the process of securing grant money for
the implementation of some of the recommendations of the traffic
study,� he said. �We will be looking at some of the slivering as
requested by the Department of Transportation and doing something
with the unloading area in front of the Ridgefield Hardware building
as requested by the police department.�
State grants
Mr. Marconi
said he had also discussed with state Rep. John Frey the possibility
of getting state grants to help pay for some town
improvements.
�We�re working with ... John Frey to secure grant
money to improve Route 35 from the intersection of Route 116 and
Copps Hill that would include new sidewalks, new landscaping and new
lighting,� Mr. Marconi said. �We will also be looking for grant
money to assist with the new entrance to Ballard Park and money to
expand the housing at Ballard Green by 12 units ...�
He said
state grant money may be used to improve parking by the Venus
building.
A study of that parking lot had concluded that moving
the entrance across from the police station could lead to more
parking, he said.
�A new entrance across from the police station
would lead to Playhouse Way, with new landscaping and lighting,� he
said. �On the north side by the Yanity gymnasium we would relocate
the skate park up by the tennis courts and put more parking there.
Our target is for this to happen in 2006.�
Mr. Marconi plans to
�work hard� on the electrification of the Danbury branch rail line,
which he said would lead to better commuting and less
traffic.
Right now, �we average 65 to 70 cars in each of the four
parking lots on the Harlem line,� he said. �Plus there are probably
100 cars at the Branchville station. Plus those who drive.�
Mr.
Marconi said that Ridgefielders are willing to commute by rail, but
better rail service is a necessity. �Traffic is only going to get
worse. We need to come up with alternate forms of
transportation.�
Mr. Marconi said the emergency operations center
would be up and running in 2006, just in case.
And he said the
Ridgefield Community Coalition Against Substance Abuse would
continue its work, including a course offered in conjunction with
the Karen Foundation to parents of Barlow Mountain School fifth
graders. He said the response to the pilot program was so positive
that the coalition would offer the program to all of the town�s
elementary schools in 2006.
�As we round the corner into a new
year, we look optimistically at Ridgefield,� he said. �Ridgefield is
in great shape and will continue to be in great shape for the next
several years.�
� Copyright by Hersam Acorn
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