Politics & Government

News Highlights in Town

Board of Selectmen approve nominations, downtown paving project; CL&P starts tree trimming.

The Board of Selectmen approved several appointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Social Services last week.

All but one nomination were approved unanimously. The one nomination that failed to garner even a second so that it could be voted upon by the three-member board was the reappointment of Democratic Town Committee Chairman Frank  Farricker to a third-term as a regular member of the Planning and Zoning Commission.  There wasn’t any disagreement over Democratic Selectman Drew Marzullo’s assessment that Farricker devoted “hundreds if not thousands of hours” of service to the commission since his initial appointment seven years ago.

Republican Selectman David Theis said, “I cannot second the nomination” made by Marzullo. “He (Farricker) said he wanted to serve only three months (until June),” Theis said. The position is a three- year term which expires March 31, 2014.

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If Farricker were appointed, the Selectmen would have to make another appointment nomination that couldn’t be voted upon until after the Representative Town Meeting’s (RTM) summer recess ends in September.

Without Theis seconding the nomination, Farricker’s reappointment is a moot issue.

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The Selectmen, however, did make several other appointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission:

  • Paul Marchese, a Republican and an architect in Greenwich, who has served since 2004;
  • Frederic Brooks Sr., also a Republican, as regular commission member after serving as an alternate member since 2006;
  • Nancy Ramer, a Democrat and an attorney in Greenwich, as an alternate member;
  • Michael Borkowsky, an unaffiliated voter and retired executive for Bristol-Myer Squibb.

All the terms expire  March 31, 2014.

The Selectmen also approved the appointment of Angelica Arenas to the Board of Social Services; Ennala Ramcharandas as an alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the reappointment of Thomas Zack to the Alarm Appeals Board.

All of the appointments are subject to the approval of the RTM.

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Motorists who are dodging the potholes along Milbank Avenue and East Elm Street can breathe a sigh of relief … but not until summer.

The Board of Selectmen approved acceptance of federal financing for the $500,000 project, administered by the South Western Regional Planning Agency’s Surface Transportation Program, which will provide 80 percent of the cost. The remaining 20 percent of the cost is included in the town’s proposed 2011-12 Capital Improvement Program Projects budget. The project will include paving nearly 950 feet on East Elm between Greenwich and Milbank avenues, and nearly 5,400 feet of Milbank from the traffic circle at Mason Street, north to East Putnam Avenue.

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Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) has announced that it has hired an outside contractor to trim throughout Greenwich. The utility is spending more than $1 million for trimming in Greenwich, New Canaan and Norwalk, to help minimize power outages caused by falling trees and limbs, and to give power crews more room to make power line repairs.

In Greenwich, trees along 117 miles of town roads are scheduled for trimming. All of the work is being done by Lewis Tree Service working under the guidance of the town tree warden Bruce Spaman and CL&P Senior Vegetation Management Program Coordinator Doug Pistawka. The tree trimmers are working to create an average clearance zone of eight feet alongside electric lines, 15 feet above the lines and 10 feet below.

Residents having questions can contact Spaman at (203) 622-7824, or CL&P at (800) 286-2000.

 


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