Gripevine

Gripe Vine Readers:

On numerous occasions I have been asked what the Boot Law details are and why the City of West Haven is not operating the Boot Law anymore

.According to West Haven Tax Manager, Rachel A-Massih, ”The Booting Program is used in West Haven when taxes for Motor Vehicles are delinquent, and people are not paying after being sent notice (which were sent in early March.) The fees are collected by the booting company and do not come to the city they are for the booting itself. The city only gets our taxes and statutory interest/fees out of the program while booting does increase delinquent payments there is no way to quantify the amount that comes due to the booting program and those for people who need to register their vehicles or just want to clear up their debt.

“The boot is administered by the vehicle immobilization company Vioalert not the West Haven Police. The program is run in conjunction with our collection agency, Tax Service. There is no cost to the city to run this program. After the delinquent tax, interest and any fees are paid there is an additional boot fee that must be paid by the delinquent taxpayer in order for the boot to be released. Additional information for the boot program is on our website Tax Collector/West Haven.CT/(cityofwesthaven.com) as are instructions on what to do if a vehicle has been booteed for delinquent taxes.

Due to the Pandemic no booting was done but we are working with the administration to determine its use this tax cycle. The direct payments for the 1,133 vehicles booted for the 2014 to the 2019 $714,854.97. This program also increases our motor vehicle collections due to people being worried they will be booted for non-payment when they see the company going around.

Any booting being done by the West Haven Police would have t be questioned to them directly as it does not go through our department, and we do not have any knowledge of it “

Dear Eleanore Turkington:

Why do the snowplows push the snow to the even side of Leete Street?Why not alternate even and odd sides?

A Curious Resident

Dear Resident:

I wrote to your District Councilwoman: Bridgette Hoskie. She replied, “It has been this way for many years, but discussions have been to rotate. They are trying to determine the best way to do it because it could cause mass confusion and issues. “

Dear Gripe Vine Readers:

A few suggestions from a Gripe Vine Reader:

Eleanore, here a few suggestions that might make our city safer:

To the City of West Haven, “For every pothole, place an orange warning cone. It will accomplish two things, invest in the purchase of more orange cons or place West Haven as the city with more potholes!”

And Eleanore, what we need is a bumper sticker for our cars, that says, “Not drunk, just trying to avoid potholes.”

Dear Eleanore Turkington:

Over the last four months, the trash pickup in the Hillside/Central Avenue has been happening earlier with this week’s pickup at 3:45 a.m. Its bee disruptive with the loud noises causing barking dog and sleep issues which is not fine for those having to get up for work. What can be done to change this back to the previous later pickup times of at least 5:30 or 6 a.m.?

Chris Hansen

Dear Chris Hansen

I asked your District Councilman, Robert Bruneau to investigate your complaint. He replied, “I have spoken to Lou Esposito, who has spoken to our contracted trash hauler and states they will do their best to adjust the times to which this occurring.

Dear Eleanore Turkington:

Thank you for getting back to me. I believe some of our neighbors must have complained too, because the trash pickup over the last few weeks have been between 6 and 8 a.m. We appreciate how you advocate for the West Haven residents.

Coming up: lights out on the green…White Street blight, handicap ramp question on Chin Cliff Trail….homeless residing under bridge on the beach…potholes on 3rd and Elm…more potholes on Church and Savin Avenue…. Brown Street sidewalk condition…illegal parking at high school ballfield sidewalks…barking dogs on Jessie Drive…still looking for improvements at traffic light at Campbell and Capt. Thomas Blvd…blight policy explained.. broken sidewalks city wide…Ashford Street potholes…and much more.