Effen there is one thing that has marked our transition from March to April it’s been the weather in these parts, sweetie pie. As I scribe these notes to yew, it has rained all but one day, and has been windy and cold. Any thought o’ shutting down the furnace until next October is gone with the wind – literally. The windows in the Cobina domicile have been shakin’ daily, and the rain pelting the same. By the time yew git this missive, the kiddies will be well into their spring break, and the weather is supposed to git better. We shall see.
Of course, the budget hearing that was held two weeks ago was a bit of a lovefest according to Sammy Bluejay. People seem to be fine with the way things are being handled city-wise, and most of the people who discussed the package were perty supportive. Supposedly, some even said they would be willing to pay more effen they had to…no wonder it’s raining!!
Tennyrate, that annual spring event is over, and whilst 100 people or so showed up for the hearing, the real work is underway with the City Council who is now perusing its contents and seeing effen there is anything they might wanna tweak. Tweaking has been a bit sparse over the last couple o’ budgets, but not as sparse as it once was. As I keep remindin’ yew, the council has to have a supermajority to make any adjustments, and on the 13-members council that is nine.
Over the decades nine was almost insurmountable when the Demmies were trisected into factions and there was very little comity betwixt them all. Sooooo, things got bogged down, and the proposed budget usually got through. The party seems to be a little less angry at each other and things are moving along rawther well by Sammy’s reckoning.
By the time the next issue comes out, the budget will be perused, preened, and made presentable for an ordinance, and will be over and done for another year. In the meantime, the perusal of pages (a bit of alliteration) will continue until the entire plan has been eyed. We shall hear in the next few days whether any changes are made, but don’t expeck anything earth shattering, just a few jots and a few tittles.
And whilst the City Council may put its stamp of approval on the package, there is still one more hurdle, MARB by acronym, Municipal Accountability Review Board by name. As I have been tellin’ yew, Herroner is very hopeful this might be the last over-the-shoulder tutorial the panel might be giving to the city. She wants to see them in the rearview mirror very soon. For that matter, so does everyone else.
It has been seven-plus years since they darkened our city gates, and the members have shown little or no regard for our taxpayers or our leaders. Whilst that particular sleight has been softened over the last little while, it is true, nonetheless.
There is a fear that the panel is gonna stay on over some technicality or t’other. Some have said the fire departments’ shortfalls in the pension programs might keep them on. One politico was heard to say they might wanna stay on cuz, “What else do they have to work on?” There were two municipalities under the panel’s direction, and now, I guess, there is one.
Nothing saddens bureaucratic types than not having anything to do with their time, and it becomes a case of justifying one’s existence. Jest look at what is going on in Washington, DC to understand that part of the equation.
We shall see. Maybe MARB will be a not-so-fond memory sooner rather than later, but until we see their backsides leave the building, we won’t raise our hopes too high.
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It’s been two weeks since last we communicated, and two more weeks that the former Haven Property has lain fallow with no indication that anything is happening over there. The irony is that despite the empty expanse where homes used to be, it is a rather nice view effen yew can take a moment to take it all in. Cobina was driving by there t’other day, and happened to look over during a red light. It is a nice vista.
But vistas aside, something has to happen over there, and toot sweet. It’s been more than a year since the last houses were razed, and more than four since the whole place was cordoned off. Yet, the Haven Group, the developers that ditched the project, still won’t let the city know what their plans are. It’s 10-plus years since the project was announced in 2014, and 28-plus years since the original “Water Street Project” was announced in September of 1997.
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Cobina was going to her local breakfast nook last week, when she happened upon slow-moving traffic along Elm Street. That can only mean one thing to a person who’s lived in these parts more than five minutes – there was a big accident on the highway. Sure enuff, that’s exactly what it was. Bumper-to-bumper traffic traversed both north and south whilst state crews were trying to git rid of the debris.
Well, this got Cobina thinking, especially after the Wag came in for tea and biscuits that day. He reminded m’self that this might be the wave of the future when the state begins reconstruction of the two bridges on I-95 that are planned for rehab – the one over the tracks, and the First Avenue Bridge.
Last summer, the state DOT announced plans to start reconstruction of those spans and told the neighborhoods that it was gonna take 27 months from start to finish. That put the target date to 2027. Well, needless to say, like most things the state is involved with, things have not begun on time, and things have been pushed back, but nobody seems to wanna tell the public when this might be.
It ain’t that Cobina wants to see the 27-month mayhem that the reconstruction is gonna promise our area, it’s jest that until we get started, we won’t know when it’s gonna end. Methinks this thing is gonna linger for a while and it might not be until 2028 that the whole thing is complete. Jest think of every day being like the day of the accident. It sends shivers down yore spine.
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We see a local activist is lamenting the condition of Quigley Stadium, and wondering why things have got to the place they are regarding the upkeep. Good question. If mem’ry serves, our esteemed editor wrote a scathing piece a few years back after umpiring a game on that hallowed ground. It was a mess.
That colyume woke up a few people and the place was made somewhat less cow pasture-like and grass was growing where dandelions had taken over. Well, things to be back to cow pastures. We know the city really wants to unload the property and get it on the tax rolls, but the whole thing reminded us of what happened the last time this was contemplated.
A trip down Memory Lane, circa 1989: Mayor Azelio Guerra announces the closure of Quigley Stadium and the conversion into a trucking hub. Back then there were lotsa trucking companies along Front Avenue. Well, the borough exploded, and a grassroots protest was announced. Thousands of people showed up, and that began the downfall of the Guerra administration, and the ascent of Clemente Evangeliste, who eventually unseated the Democrat – the last Republican to hold that office.
What happened during that administration is another matter, but Allingtowners think they are the red-headed stepchildren of the city much like they did 36 years ago. We wonder effen the Quigley Stadium will be the lightening rod it was back then – could be.
In any case, the fack that the West Haven Twilight League plays there – so-called the longest continuing amateur baseball league in the nation – shouldn’t the place be kept up a little better? One would hope.
Let’s see where this ends up. It could be interesting.
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And wonders do never cease. The Kelsey is the new banquet facility that has been proposed by developers, who plan on taking the current building and giving it some upgrades. The big wild cards were gonna be – as usual – Jimmies, Inc., and the Land Trust of West Haven, Inc.
Wonder of wonders, and maybe the reason we had the rain we did last week, both entities have given their imprimatur on the plan, and it looks like the judicial jockeying that plagued the previous plan for the brewery won’t be present with this one.
It truly is a banner day when yew can git the approval of not one but two players in the shoreline development saga that actually don’t plan to bring a lawsuit. Lawsuits have been the fall back for groups ever since the amusement park was torn down and plans for the shore were released – and that was 59 years ago!
We’ll see if this Era of Good Feeling will continue, but in the meantime, let’s enjoy the fack that something might actually happen on that property before the building implodes from its leaky roof.
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We see the city is getting a grant to build a seawall near the Sewer Treatment Plant – officially called the Wastewater Treatment Facility, a nicer name. The fear of damage done by storms setch as hurricanes and other types of weather-related problems has been a longstanding concern with the aging structure, first opened in 1971. This infusion of cash by the feds will allow the city to reinforce things near and around the building to make sure the water from Long Island Sound doesn’t encroach and cause problems.
Of course, the fack that there was a grant involved means, while taxpayers are footing the bill, it’s the federal taxpayers rather than more locally generated levies.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,