Hot Topic: More Airplanes Over Our Towns?

It's hard for me to care about things that have not yet happened, but I am glad other people in the area are more proactive.

People air FAA frustrations
By Neil Vigdor Greenwich Time 07/02/2008

NORWALK - Fairfield County residents vented their frustrations over aircraft noise last night to Christopher Dodd, Christopher Shays, Richard Blumenthal and other elected officials during a public hearing on the Federal Aviation Administration's controversial rerouting plan for the region.

Wilton resident Joe Farhi shook his head in disbelief when told the plan could increase the number of flights over the area by 300 to 500 per day, complaining that he can't enjoy the peace and quiet of his yard 90 percent of the time.

"I can't imagine it getting any worse than it is. It's ridiculous,"

Farhi told federal, state and local officials during the two-hour hearing at Norwalk City Hall.

The new routes are supposed to save 200,000 hours of delays per year at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York, Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey and Philadelphia airports by 2011, according to the FAA. One controversial aspect of the plan would shift arrivals for LaGuardia Airport east over Fairfield County from the current track over Westchester County.

Allan Weinstein, a Pound Ridge, N.Y., resident, told officials that he is worried about the plan's impact on quality of life.

"People move to these communities for quiet, peacefulness and to raise their children," Weinstein said.

Dodd, the state's senior U.S. senator, threatened during the hearing to cut the FAA's budget if the agency doesn't delay its controversial plan to reroute air traffic over the region.

Dodd accused the FAA of ignoring two letters he sent them more than a year ago expressing grave concerns over the plan and requesting information on the number of flights rerouted over Connecticut, their frequency, altitude and noise levels.

"That is arrogance," Dodd said. "We demand some answers to these questions."

A message seeking comment from the FAA was left with an agency spokeswoman.

A 13-town alliance that includes Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich sued the FAA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District of New York in early November, arguing that the agency failed to take residents' noise and other environmental concerns into account when developing new flight paths.

Connecticut filed a similar lawsuit against the FAA the same day over the plan, which was adopted by the federal agency in September and could start being implemented in January 2009. The lawsuits are being consolidated into a single case.

"Let no one doubt, when the state of Connecticut files a lawsuit, we don't walk away from it," said Blumenthal, the state's attorney general and a Greenwich resident. "As your lawyer, I want to be blunt and honest with you, the FAA is no pushover."

The FAA would be forced to wait until the lawsuits are resolved before rerouting planes under an appropriations amendment that Dodd could propose later this year

If the controversial plan is allowed to go forward, "what is today an outcry, will be a revolution on your hands," Dodd said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Shays, the longtime congressman for Fairfield County, said he regularly gets complaints from constituents about aircraft noise.

"They are literally having to go inside on a Sunday and (can't)) enjoy their homes because the noise is ridiculous," Shays said.

The FAA has said that it held more than 100 public hearings before adopting the plan, including one in Stamford. That was of little consolation to Fairfield County officials, however.

"We all want to reduce delays, but this is really not the way to solve (this)," Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said at a news conference earlier in the day. "Arrogance has no place in government."

Dodd questioned the fruitfulness of the hearings, saying that he was told that they were more informational.

"Welcome to the hearing that the FAA never had," Dodd said. "All they did was make us listen to them."

The 13-town Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning claims that noise levels will increase dramatically throughout much of southwestern Connecticut, quadrupling in places such as New Canaan, Wilton and Ridgefield, if the new routes are allowed to go into effect.

Darien Selectman Callie Sullivan said residents in her town are also concerned about the environmental effects of routing planes at lower altitudes over the busy Interstate 95 corridor.

"We have a tremendous amount of pollution," Sullivan said at a news conference earlier in the day.

One factor that could have a major influence on how the alliance proceeds is the upcoming release of a report on the new routing plan by the federal Government Accountability Office. The report, which is due July 31, will look at whether the FAA followed the proper process for developing the plan, as well as the environmental and economic impact of the new routes. Click here to read more.

Negative-Toned Article about Stamford Police

Police efforts to cut gas costs fail; department goes $200K over budget
By Stephen P. Clark Stamford Advocate 07/07/2008

STAMFORD - Despite efforts to save on gas costs, the police department spent nearly $200,000 more than budgeted in the last fiscal year, which ended last week.

Police officials attempted to cut costs by requiring officers to walk their beats and team up in squad cars more often, and by banning them from idling. But it wasn't enough to keep the gas budget from jumping to nearly $500,000 - up from $227,000 in 2005-06 and $381,000 in 2006-07.

Skyrocketing gas prices and the nature of police work are to blame, department officials said.

"If you want to cover the city and keep it one of the safest in the nation, we need to have police cars out there 24-7," said Lt. Sean Cooney, a department spokesman. "An aggressive patrol is one of the ways we keep Stamford safe. That requires a large amount of gasoline."

The department has a gas budget of $434,000 this fiscal year, but Cooney said it is likely that will not be enough. The city buys gas at a discount as part of a program that includes other municipalities in lower Fairfield County. Stamford locked in gas prices at $3.28 per gallon and diesel at $3.94 per gallon for three months until August.

Besides gasoline costs, the police department is struggling to control overtime spending, which reached a record high of $4.8 million the last three fiscal years. The city is trying to fill a new civilian position to oversee police spending. But the only candidate offered the job, which pays $79,000 to $102,000 per year plus benefits, turned it down.

Last fiscal year, the police department started with a gas budget of $292,000. But the department needed a $100,000 appropriation, which city board approved in March, to cover a shortfall. The department finished the fiscal year with another $100,000 deficit, which will be offset by savings from other accounts, including one for recruiting and hiring, Cooney said.

The department used about 165,000 gallons last fiscal year for 150 police vehicles, including boats, motorcycles and vans. City and police officials last week could not provide the number of gallons used in previous fiscal years.

Chief Brent Larrabee earlier this year told the Board of Representatives Fiscal Committee that shift commanders instructed officers to park their patrol cars for one hour on each shift and walk to reduce fuel consumption. The initiative is called "park and walk," which helps officers get to know their beats and gather information about drug dealing and other crimes.

Larrabee also said that the number of two-officer cars jumped by about 25 percent in recent months.

The initiatives are "good police work" but have a "marginal impact" on conserving gas, Cooney said.

Officers have been employing "park and walk" techniques for years, Cooney said.

"We've encouraged officers to do that when their workload permits," he said. "You get out the car, talk to people and develop relationships. You'll see things just by standing on a driveway that you won't see driving by in a police car."

But "park and walk" isn't practical if officers are constantly responding to 911 calls, he said.

"The problem is we're understaffed. The workload doesn't permit it," he said. "We can't require people to park and walk if they're too busy."

Requiring officers to team up in cars also poses problems, Cooney said.

"This is something we've encouraged for a long time. Pick a partner and do so," he said. "But we're not going to make people ride together who don't want to."

Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, head of the police union, said officers are encouraged to team up for safety reasons.

"If there are ways for the city to save on fuel costs, I'm all for it," Kennedy said. "But if we're talking about why I would want a two-man car, the energy side would be low on the totem pole."

The most impractical initiative is banning officers from idling cars, Cooney said.

"You need to have the air conditioner in the summer and heating in the winter," he said. "It's very problematic to tell a police officer while he's sitting in his car to turn his car off."

Linda Cannady, vice chairwoman of the Fiscal Committee, said the department's reversal on the effectiveness of the initiatives is puzzling.

"I'm lost at how they decided they're good initiatives if they're not working," she said. "They need to come up with some initiatives that could work, and enforce them."

Cannady said she wants to know whether officers use patrol cars for personal reasons.

"If they do, that's something that could be cut out," she said.

Kennedy said a township in New Jersey places a surcharge on speeding tickets and uses that revenue to pay for gas.

"That's one way to do it," he said. "You're only assessing the fines to people who break the law."

Cannady said she is skeptical that police will find ways to save on gas costs.

"I don't think the initiatives will be enforced, No. 1," she said. "And every initiative that gets presented, they already have reasons for not implementing them, so what's the point?"

Cooney said police are always thinking of ways to save on gas costs but there is a bigger picture.

"Let's remember that our practices have led to one of the safest cities in the nation for almost 10 years," he said. "So let's not mess with that." Click here to read more.

July 9 Police Blotter

Police blotter Stamford Advocate 07/10/2008
Stamford
Arrests:

* Megan Guiffra, 23, of 16 Depinedo Ave., Stamford, was charged yesterday with violation of a protective order, third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace.

* Cynthia Olmstead, 41, of 79 Manhattan St., Stamford, was charged yesterday with possession of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school, housing or day care, and interfering with an officer or resisting arrest.

* Natasha Pennywell, 25, of 13 Lipton Place, Stamford, was charged yesterday with first-degree failure to appear in court.

* Radine Winston, 52, of 198 Custer St., Stamford, was charged yesterday with first-degree failure to appear in court.

* Juan Cardona, 36, of 55 Lockwood Ave., was charged Tuesday with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

* Anikenko Guthrie, 35, of 85 Main St., East Haddam, was charged Tuesday with second-degree failure to appear in court.

* Edris Jolicoeur, 27, of 62 Reynolds Ave., Stamford, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit credit card theft, credit card fraud, conspiracy to commit illegal use of a credit card, sixth-degree larceny and credit card theft by transfer.

* Amos Kendrick, 37, of 40 Stillwater Ave., Stamford, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit credit card theft, credit card fraud, conspiracy to commit illegal use of a credit card, sixth-degree larceny and credit card theft by transfer.

* Melvin Murphy, 49, who gave his address as the homeless shelter on Pacific Street, was charged Tuesday with second-degree breach of peace.

* Misael Rivera, 21, of 12 Frederick St., Stamford, was charged Tuesday with sixth-degree larceny.

* Robert Ross, 62, of 19 Orchard St., Stamford, was charged Tuesday with second-degree breach of peace.

* Christopher Simonelli, 18, of 28 Pine Hill Ave., Stamford, was charged Tuesday with second-degree failure to appear in court.

* Tasheem Stephens, 25, of 86 Courtland Ave., the Bronx, N.Y., was charged Tuesday with risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct.

* Sydney Thompson, 47, of 48 Fair St., Norwalk, was charged Tuesday with possession of narcotics and possession within 1,500 feet of a school, housing or day care. Click here to read more.

The Bartlett Arboretum is Awesome!!!

Bartlett's legacy lives on at preserve
By Rebecca Haynes Weekend Editor Stamford Advocate

You can hike the Black Birch Trail or wander through the Sundial Garden. Or if you prefer, stroll down Azalea Road or take a walk to the Meadow.

With names so inviting and scenery to match, it's hard not to relax on the grounds of Stamford's Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens, a 91-acre preserve on Brookdale Road that is a refuge and educational resource.

"It's so nice and peaceful here," Stamford resident Delia Fine said on a recent sunny morning, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper while sitting in an Adirondack chair under the shade of a Korean Evodia Rutaceae tree. "It's a great spot, whether you want to walk your dog or just read the paper. What they do here with trees and plants is extraordinary. More people need to know about it and support it."

Fine said she people-watches during her sojourns to the arboretum once a week or more.

"One day, I felt like I wandered into 'The Sound of Music' when I looked and there was a group of nuns in their habits jogging by," she said. "It's worth the drive over. Fairfield County is pretty fortunate to have a place like this."

Originally the home and research laboratory of Francis Bartlett, the property, then 64 acres, was purchased in 1965 by the state and designated as the Connecticut State Arboretum. Bartlett, founder of the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. and a noted dendrologist, used the property as his home, training school and research laboratory. He assembled a large collection of woody plant specimens from all over the world and created a hybridized blight-resistant chestnut tree now named for him.

After the state bought the property, volunteers spearheaded its transition to the Bartlett Arboretum, creating a foundation that would become the Bartlett Arboretum Association. When it opened in 1966, the grounds were managed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Operations and programming were managed by the University of Connecticut's Department of Plant Science.

In 2001, the city obtained the title to the land and turned over management responsibility to the Bartlett Arboretum Association. An adjacent 27 acres of city property was added, bringing the total acreage to 91.

Today, 15 acres are lawns and formal gardens. The remaining land includes 10 hiking trails, a 7-acre Red Maple wetland, a pond and a 3-acre wildflower meadow. The arboretum showcases collections of conifers, Champion trees, nut trees and pollarded trees - deciduous trees kept small and compact through rigorous pruning.

The method is common in Europe and Asia and was begun on the property by Bartlett to study pest management, said Jack Dillon, arboretum executivedirector.

"They also provide a really cool-looking sculptural garden," Dillon said.

The most valuable tree on the property is a weeping Japanese hemlock, he said. The tree is a graft created by Bartlett, who inserted a hemlock shoot into the base of a butternut tree. The new tree thrived under Bartlett's care and is now about 80 years old.

Aside from gardens that feature native plants, the arboretum has a tropical garden with plants from Asia and South America.

"Essentially, we want to show people as much diversity as possible," said Eric Morgan, plant collections manager.

Guided hikes and tours are offered regularly. Informal classes on horticulture and gardening also are offered. School and Scout programs engage young people. There also are classes for professional horticulturists.

A farmer's market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. will be offered each Wednesday through September. Summer Music Sundays presents classical music from 10 to 11 a.m., featuring students from the Yale Graduate School of Music. Evening concerts from 5 to 7 p.m. will feature The Wilfers on Sunday; Richard "Cookie" Thomas, July 20; Orrin Star & The Sultans of String, July 27; Ellen Woloshin & Jim Dawson, Aug. 3; Citigrass, Aug. 10; Big Apple'achia, Aug. 17; and Red Molly, Aug. 24. Sunday morning concerts are free with garden admission; evening concerts are $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers and free for ages 16 and younger.

A summer camp program also is under way.

Todd DuPont, director of summer camps, led a group of Saplings - 4- and 5-year-olds - on a nature walk recently. As he helped the young hikers over the rocks embedded in the Rose A. Thielens Memorial Nature Walk and Trail, he began answering questions and reinforcing the themes he raised during their classroom time.

"I see the blue thing," one camper said as the group made its way up the trail, pointing to a small blue triangle painted on a tree.

"What is the blue thing?" DuPont asked, drawing their attention to the trail marker.

Singing birds, buzzing bees, groups of damselflies, chipmunk holes and animal tracks all held the attention of the six small campers during their walk, which included a jaunt through the Red Maple swamp, courtesy of a boardwalk that keeps hikers from getting wet.

"Look at the dragonflies," one young charge said as campers grabbed the binoculars hanging around their necks for a closer look. "No, they're damselflies," said another.

"Is there any butterflies?" one camper asked DuPont.

"If you look for trees with flowers, then you'll see bees and butterflies," DuPont said.

Kate Sutin of Stamford brings her son, Peter, 3, every Wednesday, when admission is free. Recently, they walked through the Sundial Garden, looking at the flowers in bloom.

"He likes the flowers and the trails, the pond and the tulip trail," Sutin said. "He loves the greenhouse the most. My son loves everything that grows. Every day he says, 'Mom, I want to plant something.' "

- Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens, 151 Brookdale Road, is open year-round from 8:30 a.m. to sunset. The Visitors Center, which houses a small art gallery and a horticultural resource library, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday but closed on national holidays. Leashed dogs are welcome on the woodland trails. Admission is free for members, $6 for nonmembers and free for ages 16 and younger, and for everyone on Wednesdays. Call 322-6971 or visit www.bartlettarboretum.org. Click here to read more.