Dear Eleanore Turkington:
Every night this whole area where I live, Simon Place, in West Haven, there is a heavy odor like a burning trash dump that fills the air. We have to close all our windows or else this stench would fill the house.The police and fire departments don’t have an answer where it comes from. Anything you could come up with, I would surely appreciate.
Odor Conscious
Dear Odor Conscious:
Francis Withington, West Haven’s Complaint Officer received your complaint and he said, “I can’t determine the cause of the smell. I know that until floodgates are installed by the state for Cove River, much of the vegetation rots and stinks when the tide goes out.”
I’m really curious; Odor Conscious and can appreciate your being uncomfortable with this “stench”. Please let me know when it stops and I hope it will, or if it continues, and I’ll investigate it further.
Gripe Vine Readers:
Back in July, a complaint from a reader appeared in Gripe Vine relating to the condition of Colonial Park. My reader indicated at the time, that the park looked abandoned and had become a parking facility for the people on both sides of it. My reader stated, “Some of the people here also dump their grass clippings and the leaves in the fall. The city plants flowers at the park, but the remainder of the park is a disaster.”
At the time, I contacted our city’s complaint officer, Francis Withington, who indicated he would follow up on the condition of this park.
However, very recently, I received the following letter from an irate Gripe Vine Reader:
Dear Eleanore Turkington:
I drive by Colonial Boulevard at least two times a week. Nothing has changed at Colonial Park.
I often wonder if the people who live on the Boulevard pay extra taxes to park their vehicles along with trucks, etc., of people working on their homes. Most of these houses have driveways longer than 150 feet.
I remember when this part of Colonial Boulevard was a beautiful spot with its running brook and well-groomed landscape, no cars or trucks.
Let’s get it back to a place of West Haven pride, not the dump the neighbors have made it into.
An Observer
Attention Traffic Department of the West Haven Police Department:
There are some traffic violations I am sure you will be interested in following up:
My readers are writing in to complain of the one-way street on Park Street and Washington Avenue where the one way signs near the Savin Rock School is located. Drivers are continuing to cross over Washington Avenue and continue to go down Park Street to reach Campbell Avenue.
Also, Voss Road, recently repaved, with a No Through Truck sign clearly stating the ordinance, is being disregarded by trucks using this road. Please, WHPD, check this out.
To the readers who notified Gripe Vine of these violations, let me know if an improvement has taken place.
If you have a complaint, question or comment, email me at [email protected] or drop a note in the mail to Gripe Vine c/o The West Haven Voice, 666 Savin Avenue. Please include your name, address and phone number, kept confidential with me.