Weevils, planning, and approprations ...

I start my public comment this evening with three premises. I've lived on Candlewood Isle for 32 years and enjoy a direct beneficial interest from a healthy lake, and secondly, I'm absolutely for any solution to scientifically and economically address the millfoil problem.  Lastly, lets assume for the moment that the weevils are an effective solution, such a premise eliminates the 'science' as a distraction from this comment.

However, lets look at the big picture of Candlewood Lake.

• its a commercial enterprise for electric power generation that has been sold and resold,
• its a commercial/gaming destination for fishing events and tournaments,
• it supports commercial businesses, marinas and two restaurants,
• it supports recreation for thousands of local families and visitors,
• it indirectly supports many local businesses, 
• its a revenue generator for all five municipalities surrounding the lake providing higher assessments on more expensive home and hence taxes.
  
  

Its health is critical in supporting those enterprises, commercial, private and municipalities.

There are five municipalities surrounding the lake, numerous tax districts, private communities, commercial enterprises directly tied for revenue to the lake [marina's for example], State of Connecticut, DEP, EPA, Army Corp of Engineers, Candlewood Lake Authority [CLA], Club A, and other organizations with vested interests in a the lake as a destination.  Each of these vested interests and associated stakeholders must be involved in defining the scope of and metrics for a successful solution to the millfoil problem.  And from my research each of these stakeholders have acknowledged the issue; however each has a different set of methods and priorities for addressing the issue.

Leadership within an organization focused on the proper scope for a comprehensive plan and one that can succeed, without dependence on a single voter constituency is necessary if we are achieve a successful solution.  A single organization, a quasi-municipal organization, in my opinion should be the responsible agency providing leadership addressing the millfoil problem.  This organization being non-partisan, non-political would provide the largest tent for inclusion of those municipalities, commercial, private and others of vested interest.  A Millfoil Task Force with representation from each of the vested and beneficial organizations would provide the best approach for success in addressing the problem.

The quasi-municipal organization in my opinion that can provide the required leadership for this lake issue is the Candlewood Lake Authority.

Their Mission Statement: The Candlewood Lake Authority provides lake, shoreline and watershed management to foster the preservation and enhancement of recreational, economic, scenic, public safety and environmental values of the Lake for the City of Danbury and the towns of Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford and Sherman in cooperation with the State of Connecticut and Northeast Utilities.

The CLA is aggressively acting to protect those values enumerated through its legislative agenda.  CLA is focused on being the watch dog to set the course of Candlewood Lake's future.  I can see no better organization with the local and legislative agenda and organization to provide the necessary leadership and guidance to the various stakeholders and properly addressing the Millfoil issue in a non-partisan program.

Weevil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 (Redirected from Weevils)

A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than 6 mm (¼ inch), and herbivorous. Due to the shape of their heads, weevils are commonly known as snout beetles. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the familyCurculionidae (the true weevils). Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum), which belongs to the familyAnobiidae.

Many weevils are damaging to crops. The grain or wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius) damages stored grain. The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) attacks cotton crops. It lays its eggs inside unripe cotton bolls, and the young weevils eat their way out.

Weevils are often found in dry foods including nuts and seeds, cereal and grain products. In the domestic setting, they are most likely to be observed when a bag of flour is opened, although they will happily infest most types of grain including oats, barley and breakfast cereals. Their presence is often indicated by the granules of the infested item sticking together in strings, as if caught in a cobweb. If ingested, E. coli infection and other various diseases can be contracted from weevils, depending on their diet.

WHAT IF ... THE STATE DOESN'T PONY UP THE $8 MILLION?

Town of New Fairfield, Notice of Annual Town Meeting and Adjourned Town Meeting and Referendum

1. To consider and act upon the appropriation of Town Government expenditures totaling $9,681,068 from the General Fund, and $485,048 from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund, and $903,194 from other governmental funds as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 39, 2010.

2. To consider and act upon the appropriation of Education expenditure totaling $35,288,515 from the General Fund and $140,000 from the Capital and Non-recurring Fund, as recommended by the Board of Finance for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010.

3. To consider the resolution entitled "Resolution Appropriating $32,625,000 For The Planning, Design, Acquistion and Construction of Renovations And Improvements To Meeting House Hill Elementary School And New Fairfield High School And Authorizing The Issuance Of $32,625,000 Bonds Of The Town To Meet Said Appropriation Provided That The Bonds Shall Be Reduced By Amount Of Any State Grants-in-Aid Received For Such Purposes.  (The State grants-in-aid are currently estimated at $8,076,457).*

* We "the taxpayers are always on the hook for the full amount" until the final audit is complete and State Department of Education [SDE] can adjust as they see fit from their final audit. The $8,076,457 is merely an estimate by the architect NOT BY THE SDE.  The architect has a beneficial interest with his COMMISSION WHICH IS BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT.  This architect project personnel are the same ones that did Portland, CT.  Perhaps some risk management/guarantee by the architect that the reimbursement will be $8,076,457 is in order.  Experience is the best teacher, the last project Dr. Castagnola did with the personnel representing this architect was Portland, CT.  The SDE final audit found that the town's expectation that the new facility would have an enrollment of 1,076 students had not been met.  As a result, the state required the town to repay approximately $4.6 million in bonds it had borrowed to help pay for the project. Special legislative action was necessary to solve the problem.

 Have you ever done a renovation on your home that EVER CAME IN AS ESTIMATED!!!  The state post construction audit is handled very objectively. One of the biggest items will be the roofing for the campus as most is less than 15 yrs old and there is really no reason to do over again.  Therefore the SDE will most likely not consider that cost of replacement as necessary when the useful life is 20 years. 

THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES BUT NONE WERE DISCUSSED!

4. To consider and act upon the acceptance of a STEAP grant totaling $500,000 for Water Improvement.

WHICH SCHOOL, MHHS or NFHS SHOULD GET THE NOD?

NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS & COLLEGES, INC. 

COMMISSION ON PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Read the report withholding Accreditation of the NF High School
 CLICK HERE > Alicia Roy correspondence with NEAS&C

At the second town hearing, Ron Oliveri, trying to downplay the importance of NEAS&C elicited from Alicia Roy the fact that, should we lose accreditation, our kids won't have a shot at competitive colleges.  Oliveri was trying to say it was "just a non-profit" but Alicia made it clear that NEAS&C pretty much had control over the process and mattered a lot.

By the next hearing - at the BOF, Alicia was more prepared and tried to say we had "ten years" to fix everything, based on an undocumented alleged phone call with someone at NEAS&C.  After being asked, Alicia conceded that the ten year window had started in 2007 and that we were approaching the 7 year point.  Moreover, NEAS&C expected everything to be completed by then.  When NEAS&C learns that the science wing is all we plan to do WATCH OUT.

The people of NF will be forced to do the rest of the schools because, as you can tell from the report, the problems are systemic.  The paper should be flooded with letters about this. The progress report was sent. NEAS&C evaluated it. We are still on Accreditation warning.

Regarding impact on students ability to get into college, opinions vary from virtually no impact (me) to very severe impact (administration). They claim that elite schools will not accept kids from a high school without accreditation. I point out that many religious high schools don't have accreditation and their kids get into elite colleges. Interesting enough, many of the elite colleges are now pursuing home schooled kids (who obviously are not accredited) because they do very well in college.

The other thing is that accreditation has very little to do with learning. Basically, it says you have a nice school environment with all the latest gizmos. It doesn't assess CMT scores, CAPT scores, SAT scores, ACT scores, or anything else that is an independent assessment of learning. (Or almost no big city schools would ever be accredited.) Colleges know this. And they do look at scores!

NEAS&C is essentially a conglomeration of school administrators and teachers who evaluate other schools (who pay them to do it). The conclusions are based on what the administration and teachers tell them. If you complain about something the taxpayers haven't provided, you get put on warning (then progressively through several stages to loss of accreditation). Then the administration goes to the public claiming that, unless you give us the money, we will lose our accreditation! NEAS&C will not accept the fact that something was proposed and the taxpayers voted it down. They want what they want - taxpayers will just have to get over it.

I believe that only one school has ever lost accreditation. And, yes, the process takes about 10 years.

So, form your own opinion, download the NEAS&C correspondence with New Fairfield.

HODGE, "NEW FAIRFIELD IS FILLED WITH OLD CHESTNUTS THEATRE PATRONS"

Candlewood Darkened: Gateway's Playhouse Closes After 35 Years in Summer Stock

By David Rosenberg
Publication: BackStage
Date: Friday, October 2 1998 

After almost 35 years and eight managers, Candlewood Playhouse has burned its last wick. The New Fairfield, Conn. summer stock theatre, renamed Gateway's Candlewood Playhouse by its current administrators, will call it quits after this season and the property will probably be used for retail shopping. It's the second such demise in the area this year, the nearby Danbury Theatre Co. having shut its doors in June. 

According to Gateway producer John Hodge, "Following our ice show, which closes on Dec. 3 and goes out on tour, we're closing. There's not enough money here, we continue to lose money, we don't see a lot of growth."  Hodge and partner Paul Allan also operate the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, L. I., which has covered the debts of its sister venue to the tune of nearly $1 million. Productions usually play both houses. 

"I just don't think this is the right area for live theatre," said Hodge. "The people in the immediate surroundings are not that interested. The only shows they go to see are some of the old chestnuts where they know the titles and already know the music. They don't want to be challenged in any way."

Under Hodge, Gateway has done its share of chestnuts but constant recycling is, obviously, not feasible. The past season began with "A Funny Thing..." " and continued with "State Fair," "Hello, Dolly!," and "Singin' in the Rain." Next month will see an engagement of "The Odd Couple." A big winner this season was the revival of the Kopit-Yeston "Phantom," but last year's "Tommy"‹which won a slew of prizes from the Connecticut Critics Circle‹is an example of a challenging piece that didn't do well.

"Compromising Long Island"
"In many ways it's been compromising Gateway on Long Island," said Hodge, "because audiences out there want to see newer, more current stuff, things they know about but haven't gotten toBroadway to see.  Danbury is a big city but where the theatre is situated does not provide tremendous access.  We can't operate in the winter and the summer people who have cabins around the lake want to relax for the weekend. They're not tourists; they're owners." 

The 600-seat proscenium playhouse scheduled eight performances a week, using professional actors and musicians. A for-profit organization, Candlewood required 70-75% capacity to make money; 60% was often the average. Much more profitable is Gateway's touring business. Cross-country bus-and-trucks of "Me and My Girl" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" are ready to go, "A Chorus Line" is set for Taiwan and a contract is about to be signed for "42nd Street" in China, the first such tour for a Broadway show. Also successful is a scenery and costume rental division.

Candlewood's history began with the building of the facility that cost $450,000 in 1964. Originally named the Meadowbrook Playhouse, its first production, opening July 6, 1965, was "Bye, Bye, Birdie." Renamed the Candlewood Playhouse the following year, to more closely conform to nearby Candlewood Lake, the theatre has also offered restaurant meals as well as children's shows and big-bands programs.

The playhouse saw its share of stars: Elaine Stritch, Shelley Winters, Shirley Booth, Dorothy Loudon, Sid Caesar, Gloria Swanson, Jessica Tandy, and Hume Cronyn. In 1974, concerts and star package tours filled the bills with the likes of Ann Miller, Jack Benny, Marlene Dietrich, and Carol Channing. Still, money was lost, as it was when the theatre briefly offered non-Equity revues. Preceding the six seasons Hodge and Allan took over, a different management team closed the theatre in the middle of the 1992 season, leaving subscribers in the lurch.

This year, many incentives were tried. Weekend prices were cut and a hotel-theatre package was continued from last season. A free summer program for children was offered and a ticket booth was set up at the Danbury Mall. A pre-show New England clambake and an after-show cabaret also tried to please customers. 

Reached in his New York office, Bernard Posner, the property's owner, said, "If John Hodge can't make it, nobody can. I feel terrible about it and I'm sorry for him. But just not enough people filled the theatre, which is too bad, because I think it was a cultural gem."

A LEADING INDICATOR HOUSING SUPPLY ... OR ONLY IN CALIFORNIA ...

OUTRAGEOUS ... NO ONE COULD IMAGINE ... AND NEW FAIRFIELD WE'RE TOLD IS CAMELOT AND NOT IMPACTED BY THE GENERAL ECONOMY!!!!  PLEASE, DON'T PEE ON MY LEG AND TELL ME ITS RAINING!!!!

Housing crunch becomes literal in Victorville --
May 5, 2009
Curtis Forrester moved into a brand-new house in Victorville last week, but there was little time to enjoy the Jacuzzi and designer kitchen. He was there only to see it destroyed.

Just a few days after his arrival, the two-story residence and three other luxurious model homes were crushed and hauled off for scrap, the latest fallout from Southern California's real estate crash.



Forrester was hired to keep thieves away and help sell off the fixtures. "All my life I've been building things," said the 59-year-old construction worker. "It's kind of fun tearing them down."


The Victorville demolition is one of the most dramatic ends to a bad bet made during the housing boom, but abandoned developments have become an all-too-common sight in California. Nearly 250 residential developments totaling 9,389 homes have been halted across the state, according to one research firm.

The developer of the Victorville project had hoped to sell the houses for more than $300,000 as they were being built last year, Forrester said. But reality quickly diverged from that vision. Home prices have tanked faster in San Bernardino County than any other Southern California county during the downturn. In March, the median home sale price for the county was $160,000, down 43% in a year, according to the San Diego-based research firm MDA DataQuick.

Officials of Guaranty Bank of Austin, Texas, which took over the development last year, were unavailable for comment. But Victorville city spokeswoman Yvonne Hester said the bank decided not to throw good money after bad.

"It just didn't pencil out for them," she said. "They'd have to spend a lot of money to turn around and sell the houses. They just made a financial decision to just demolish them."

The development was in a part of town remote even for Victorville, a wind-swept high desert city of about 100,000 residents. A dozen of the homes were in various stages of construction. Some had frames erected, and a few others had drywall hung, said Jorge Duran, Victorville's code enforcement manager.

The four finished homes, however, were richly appointed with granite countertops, whirlpool bathtubs and dual-pane windows.

Building permits were issued in September 2007, Hester said. Home prices were already falling, but in San Bernardino County, the median price that month was still a robust $325,000, according to DataQuick, enough to keep fueling hope -- or denial.

Construction halted in the summer of 2008, and the homes became a nuisance, attracting vandals and squatters, Hester said. The city first cited the developer for failing to maintain the property in July, Hester said.

"People were taking sinks, the air conditioners. For someone who wanted to do no good, it provided an opportunity," she said.

The bank repossessed the development in August, Hester said. Demolition permits were granted April 9.

The wrecking crew showed up near the end of the month. Forrester was not officially part of the demolition team. His nephew, who got him the job, operated the backhoe that tore through the houses with the destructive ease of a mechanical Godzilla. Forrester's job was to chase vandals away and sell what he could to bargain hunters.

He slept in the model homes until, one by one, they were gone. By Friday, the crew was on the last house -- a hulking two-story model with a floor plan blown open by demolished exterior walls.

The place looked as if it had been hit by a hurricane, but it was only the splatter of the burst housing bubble. Folks driving by on U.S. 395, the highway from Hesperia to Reno, saw the wreckage and stopped by to see what they could salvage.

Forrester was happy to oblige them. Whatever they would take "saves the dump fees," he said. "I gave one guy a granite counter for $40, gave another dual-pane windows for $20 a piece."

A fellow with a dually pickup and trailer showed up asking for some studs. He declined to be interviewed, nor did he want to talk about what he would use them for. Used building materials are prohibited for use in new construction, so lumber from the site would have to be for personal projects.

Forrester sold him a trailer full of 2-by-4s for $40.

A bit later, Marla Bowers and Candy Sweet drove up, also looking for lumber. Bowers said she wanted to build a shed. Sweet needed to repair some termite damage.

"A dollar for clean ones, 50 cents if they're dirty," Forrester offered. When Bowers hesitated, Forrester lowered his price. They settled on a six-pack of Corona.

Ron Willemsen, president of Intravaia Rock and Sand, the Montclair company handling the demolition, said he was glad to see people finding uses for the materials. But wrecking a pristine house troubled him.

"It's a waste of a lot of resources and perfectly good construction," he said.

Willemsen, whose family has run the business for 50 years, said it was the first time the firm had demolished a new housing project to return a potential neighborhood to soil.

Typically, the company demolishes vacant properties when they've outlived their usefulness and other construction projects are set to take their places.

His firm also recycles the demolished structures, as it will these former dream homes. The concrete will become base material for parking lots and roads, the wood chipped into mulch.

"Have you seen the side of the 210 Freeway?" Willemsen said. "That's our product."

peter.hong@latimes.com.