It’s the middle o’ September, and fall is jest days away, hon. It’s hard to believe the way the year is going, but we should be used to it by now. Before we know it, the snow will be flying, and we’ll be wondering about the new year. In fack, a lotta people can’t wait until this one is over for obvious reasons. It seems everything that could go wrong is.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea, Sammy Bluejay fluttered on by and was talkin’ about the concerns the City Council has with the Haven. We posed some queries about that projeck in our editorial pages a few weeks back and found out, no surprisingly, that we weren’t the only ones wondering what in blazes is going on over there.
O’ course, the story came out that the fire marshal was dickering with approving the demolition orders for the place, and a signature was needed before things can begin. And that signature came down. Lo and beheld, jest before the weekend the gasoline station that used to sit on the corner o’ Water and Elm was taken down – almost on cue.
We’ve seen these sporadic razings before, sweets. Jest when the feathers are ready to hit the fan, a building or two is taken down. But this time, Ron Quagliani and his charges on the City Council want some answers, and are using leverage to get them.
Y’see they haven’t, according to Quagliani, given final approval of the street abandonment, which is necessary to proceed. Sooooo, the developers or their mouthpieces have been invited to the next council confab on Sept. 28 to discuss the queries the council has. On then will a final vote be taken on the street being closed for good.
This is a good move on the council’s part. As Sammy relates, the developer, The Haven Development Company, has played things perty close to the vest over the years and months, and don’t like to divulge what they’re up to. It’s like it’s a state secret. Meanwhile, some six years after the whole things was announced – it’ll be six years next month – we are seeing things decay over on the site.
The neighbors want some answers, and so does the council and, Cobina would think the taxpayers as well. After all, the properties were taken with Eminent Domain – a terrible abuse. So, the taxpayers have a right to know what is going on after the force of the state was used to coerce sale of properties.
Stay tuned, honeybunch. It should be an interesting couple o’ weeks.
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Meanwhile, despite all the angst, Nelly Nuthatch reports that schools opened up in the city perty much without incident, and accordin’ to the superintendent, things are going along swimmingly. As yew remember, the Bored of Ed decided to opt for what it called Plan B, which opened up schools five days a week with half-day sessions. It seems to be working.
There was the report o’ one case of the Wuhan Virus, and some kiddies had to be quarantined, but anyone who didn’t think that was gonna happen ain’t payin’ attention. Super, Neil Cavallaro, sez that whilst it was an adjustment for everyone with the new rules, things are going along OK. That’s good.
For one thing, learning at home might be good for a time, but methinks it gets real old really fast. It can’t be good for parents who work, either. Soooo, the kids having a regular schedule of any kind is a good thing. Of course, everyone is holding their breath to see what happens over the next week or so. This is when the rubber hits the road as far as whether there will be an outbreak or not.
Cavallaro did indicate that some parents, who originally thought they’s wanna keep their kiddies home have determined they should go back to class. Methinks yore gonna see more o’ that as the year progresses as it’s seen that things can be safe for the kids, and they hysteria of this thing dies down – effen the media will let it.
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Whilst that is going on, the demolition of the old high school is running apace and the gymnasium was the next to go. Athletes who used that venue and the old dressing rooms and weight rooms had them doing a lot of reminiscing over the last few days. There is something sad about the tearing down of a building like that, and I mean the school! Lotsa memories, lotsa stuff happened, and lives were affected there. Very sad.
Supposedly, all the new construction is done, so I guess what’s gonna happen is continued demolition and continued clean up with the idea that landscaping and other amenities will be completed. Cobina still mourns the amount of dollars that was spent on the old building, especially over the last decade or so. Those kopecks come from us, and nobody seems to care about that as long as they have their bright, shiny new thing.
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Iva Lootey, meanwhile, was traversing around the area over the weekend, and happened to be discussing the fack the state seems to be perpetually in Phase II of the reopening with no end in sight. Well, Iva got a big shock when the person with whom he was discussin’ this said that the rumors about Hartford are that we’re going to be “in stasis” until at least the end of March.
Thank about that, hon. The state is gonna be half-opened through Christmas, the New Year and into spring. Somehow I think that might be a blind, cuz I think things will ease up after the Election on Nov. 3. Just call it a hunch. There’s more politics to this virus than meets the eye.
But effen it IS the case, think about the ripple effecks that’s gonna have on everything, including the businesses that are jest holding on to staying open, and those that are still awaiting opening. Somebody should take that into account.
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It’s been about four weeks since we had the Storm Isaias hit the area with the many trees that came down, and we know that the Dept. of Public Works is doing its best – but there are still branches all over town. People have bundled them, and they lie along the curb becoming kindling. Let’s jest hope that they, in fact, don’t become kindling.
This week might be a wash cuz bulk trash collection for the fall is taking place – it is amazing how much stuff people accumulate – but we hope that all those branches are collected sometimes after that. The leaves are gonna be coming down in a matter of weeks, and that will put more work on the DPW. Soo, we hope things get taken care of perty soon.
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Lastly, the voters will have a question to vote on come Nov. 3. Some two years-plus after it was adopted, and about 17 months after it completed its work, the Charter Revision Commishes recommendations go to the polls. So, over the next few weeks, the city is gonna publish the question and what is included. The whole charter revision is several pages and chapters long, doing a whole rewrite. It is still available on the city website, methinks, and we published it a while back.
The commish has an education committee to answer queries, and will be doing so, and there will be things in the papyrus over the next few weeks. It should be interesting to see what happens.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,