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Norwalk: Open Thread
by turfgrrl
August 21st, 2007 · 37 Comments
Tags: In the News
37 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Open Thread”
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There was a meeting last night for the building construction for NHS. The company is now saying that there was never a lecture hall planned for the Priority School room. Also, the lockers would be installed without locks. Once again, the discussions concerning the construction never reflected these changes. This company is always changing the plans, and Tony D. and Jeff Smith are the only ones who know what should be included in the building. What a disaster!!!
Tonight, the board of ed meeting should be very interesting. Maybe, you might want to attend, so that you can share with us what is decided about the recent dummy policies concerning testing, homework, and retention. Queen Lang or one of her pawns will discuss their merits. A policy concerning Morris’ multiple jobs is suppose to be revealed, as well as the salary increases for King Corda and Queen Lang. I am sure the evening will be filled with excitement and insanity.
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Testing? I’m still wondering about radon testing there a bad score kills doesn’t ?
want to throw in a red herring, the schools will have to be tested again for Radon, even though a systems are in place to reduce the readings ,,rule of thumb unless its all been done in a permanent fashion has to be tested every two years.
We were told last year the work was done in house,,is the same guy in charge?
You have kids that in less than a week are going to sit in closed up clasrooms a very bad thing for Radon, more ventalation the better,,so airing out these classrooms have not been started simply go by and see.
I guess rolling the dice on our young is soething the city is use to doing read the last posting, who is on first seems to be the rule of thumb.
Its only money our money isn’t it?
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Lockers without locks? Interesting concept. Can they be retrofitted for combination locks, or will students have to use padlocks? To remove the lockers and install new ones would mean opening school without lockers. That wouldn’t work very well.
Why is there a need for a lecture hall? What student learns from lecturing? For major presentations, there is the auditorium. That issue aside, how can the company be changing the plans? I would think that all of the plans are public documents, as are changes to the plans. It’s easy for anyone to research this to see whose memory is accurate.
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#3 This particular space would be used for large gatherings for presentations, academic team celebrations, dramatic presentations, student film festivals, parent meetings, etc. Right now, we do not have any seats in the auditorium, and many times, the aud is used for the music program.
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Thanks for the explanation, Slayer. The question remains: Is the lecture hall supposed to be in the plans or not?
Why doesn’t someone from the school go to the NFCC to find out? If it’s still supposed to be in the project, the company is legally bound to provide it. If it was cut from the project at some point, you have the right to know who authorized the cut.
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Same old same old, when it comes to getting what you pay for in construction jobs. Some of the doors at BMHS were installed backwards and some of the new furniture is already falling apart. I see the same thing happening over at NHS. They don’t build things like they use to! People should attend tonight’s meeting and speak out about the dummy policy that Lang wants to put into action. It sets students up to fail in higher ed, it gives our admin a false sense of student achievement, and it will be found out when the CMT/CAPT scores do not match up with the teachers grade. What will happen to teachers that pass students because of the dummy policy and then have parents question them when their student does not pass the Math section or English section on the SAT? This sets up everyone for failure. Students will be lulled into a false sense of security by thinking the have higher averages than others and then they will go off to college and find out they are not in the top 10% but rather in the lower 30% range…not that that is bad but if a student is OCD or a stressing person it may lead to disaster. This needs to be addressed for what it is, they want to look better by raising scores. However, this is not the way to do it. Concentrate on the out-of-district, Buckle down on discipline, and hold students accountable for doing the work that is assigned. Sounds old-fashioned, yes, but it works…let’s get back to basics.
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Norwalk Advocate online has two interesting items:
1. Truck ban approved
2. Arrest made in NHS fire — Moccia to have a news conference at 4:00
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#5 We say it was in the plans. Now, there will be a meeting to find out who is right/wrong. If it was cut, who did they notify or who approved it? You cannot trust this company. This is not the first time something like this has happened.
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Bad news about the truck ban - Flax Hill is bad already - what will this do to it? I hope it’s mostly local deliveries clogging Rowayton’s roads so that my road doesn’t get worse than it already is!
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I’m still wondering if its all rt 136 effected, never did I see a definate plan to keep the big rigs off of water st..and the weight restricted bridge.
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Slayer, what would have to be done to the existing space in order to develop it into a lecture hall? Did NHS have a lecture hall before?
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I’m thinking about the insurance on Andrew’s field building. Several mentioned that it might be self-insured and others mentioned that it was covered by an outside insurance policy.
In considering the possibility of self-insurance, I looked at the BoE budgets over the years. If you self-insure, you should have a reserve account for any claims. There are two lines items that might be insurance reserve accounts. (Like I said in the past, it’s a bear for an outsider to figure these “reports†out.) These possible reserve accounts are Workers’ Compensation and Liability Ins (Gen). These accounts totaled $873K for 04-05, dropped to around $483K in 05-06, and were zero (0) up to the last budget. It appears that these items were transferred to the City Budget at $449K (06-07) and $959K (07-08).
As an aside, that means that over 2 years $873K was removed from the BoE budget while it still went up 8%. Also, can Corda still get his hands on this money? Also, why a 118% increase this year???
I’ve started to review the minutes around this period. There’s a great dialog between Corda & Knopp in the 9/12/04 BET minutes, where Knopp is asking good questions about the large numbers of items that were transferred and changed in the 03-04 reconciliation, what are the processes for estimates, and the use of these reserve accounts. Corda digresses and dangles Text Books.
However, I see that they are reserve accounts. Ergo, there “may†be money in a reserve account.
(Anyone who really knows what goes on, feel free to chime in.)
When I think about a claim against an insurance company, I sure hope that we have experienced people on the job, who can play the three D’s of insurance companies (Deny, Delay, Defend). Regardless of the arguments that these are or are not insurance company strategies, they are useful to plan a claim. Execute each step as though it was to be presented in court. Why this little rant against insurance companies? It’s a pickup from an earlier Turfgrrl post and, also, I expect that we’ll need to spend our own money today.
Speaking of which, haven’t read the papers yet but are there any fundraising activities planned around this Friday’s Norwalk Bears Spirit Night?
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All those for nixing Corda - it is time to speak up!
His contract is being reviewed - send a BIG message to the BD of ED that the people want a REAL superintendent with vision and responsibility. This one is a “throwaway guy”- using our money without any regard for results, teacher morale- puffing himself up with his buddies. Getting rid of the finance director and trying to get rid of the taping of meetings/minutes is a huge red flag that says transparency is not his bag –our money is his bag.
His team should follow him out the door: Opthdal, Lang, even McCarthy who worked at getting him hired and now is a Headmaster.
Vote for accountability- Nix Corda and the Corda Team
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More than voting against Corda and his bunch is not letting their policy pass. We can not agree to the dumbing down of our children.
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Bad news about the truck ban - Flax Hill is bad already - what will this do to it? I hope it’s mostly local deliveries clogging Rowayton’s roads so that my road doesn’t get worse than it already is!
I asked about this today, and apparently trucks with a destination in Norwalk can still use 136. There are lots of businesses along 136 itself that depend heavily on trucks.
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If this truck ban doesn’t increase traffic on Flax Hill, Fairfield Avenue, West Avenue, etc., I would be very surprised. I know for sure that trucks entering I-95 at West Avenue will effect southbound traffic because that entrance ramp is short and dangerous. I can see the back-ups now - not that there weren’t any before. I am sure that traffic engineers have this all worked out, though. (The same ones that tell us there shouldn’t be any traffic problems on Connecticut Avenue on a Saturday).
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Here’s a good one for an open thread. Has anyone been able to determine what the image is in the background on the Norwalk beach stickers?
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I believe that the building is owned by the city, and that it was insured with a 4100,000.00 deductible. I do not think that this money would come from the coffers of the board of ed budget. Good thing–if there is not a line item to cover it.
What happened at the board of ed meeting last night? Does anyone know?
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Sorry-that amount was $100,000.00.
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Re post #16
” I am sure that traffic engineers have this all worked out, though.”
Yeah! When pigs fly. Traffic engineering is something that Norwalk does study after study on, but it only gets worse, because in 80% of the studies they underestimate the amount of traffic, or use the developers traffic studies for the basis of the findings.
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ITEM NUMBER 2,
Why the Hell was there no chain link fence around the barn where a half a million dollars in equipment was stored? We have chain link fences around garbage bins in this city, but no one thought to erect one around this building? I wonder if there will be an increase in Insurance premium cost for this over site? I am curious if there are any other buildings in this city where expensive equipment is stored, that can be broken into by an 8 year old?
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#17 - That image is supposed to be a calf (or cow) as was depicted on the beach stickers from long ago. Hence the name Calf Pasture. Sure doesn’t look like that to me - but I read somewhere that that is what it is supposed to be.
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WARNING:
to all Rowaytonites that are celebrating the No Thru Truck designation for 136:
A. The STC may, in cooperation and agreement with the legal traffic authority of a town, prohibit through truck traffic on any street or highway. The Attorney General’s Office has defined a through truck as one which travels from a point outside the limits of a city, town or borough through such city, town or borough without any scheduled stop in the locality in question. Thus, a “No Thru Trucks” sign may not affect the majority of trucks using a particular road in a town, if they have a local destination.This means that all UPS, FEDEX, or any other truck that either originates or has a stop in Norwalk may still use that route
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wasn’t there talk about closing the West Ave 1-95 southbound entrance ramp because it is so short and dangerous?
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Hey! At the Cranberry Park Tea House dedication, David Parks and Fred Bondi had set up their chairs next to each other and seemed like they were joined at the hip. Kind of like two peas in a pod.
Is this the start of something new politically?
Would Bondi a Democrat side with Republicans on anything, or everything?
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#22: How do you draw the conclusion that a truck which originates in Norwalk can still use that portion of Route 136 if it has no stops in Norwalk?
If a truck leaves Fed Ex in Norwalk and travels west on Rt 136 through Norwalk without a stop, he would then be considered a through truck. Also a truck exiting I-95 on Tokeneke Road and traveling east on Rt 136 without stopping in Darien would be considered a through truck.
My reading of the Attorney Generals position means your conclusion about trucks that stop in town is correct but your conclusion about trucks originating in town is incorrect.
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#25. And Moccia and Briggs were talking to each other for about 10 minute, I suppose they have a deal worked out too. Another voice heard from, trying to start rumours.
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My quote in 22 is the attorney generals decision. Thru truck is a truck that does not originate, conclude, or stop in a town, not the route. As long as a truck originates, terminates, or has a scheduled stop within a town’s limits, it is not a thru truck. A thru truck is one that goes through a town without either ORIGINATING, TERMINATING, or DELIVERING within that town. It is a decision originating from a case up in watertown. For example, a truck starting in norwalk and going to stamford may drive on 136 anywhere in norwalk or stamford, but would be a thru truck in darien.
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There is a Tractor Trailer parked in Vets since yesterday. That means;
1. It is there 2 1/2 weeks early for the Oyster Festival
2. The driver figured $5 was a cheap price to pay to park his load in a city park.
3. The ban on trucks on Rt 136 has already started to rear it’s problems on city parks.
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This is the link for connecticut definition of through truck
http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?Q=259748&a=1380
UPS coming out of MLK does not fit definition and will still be able to use 136
