Wednesday evening, the Beecher Road School Parent Teacher Organization held its annual back to school Ice Cream Social. As with other years, it was a well attended event. Sen. Joe Crisco and State Rep. Themis Klarides were both on hand to help PTO members, Superintendent Guy Stella, and members of the staff serve ice cream to students, parents and community members.

Parents sat in lawn chairs and compared notes of summer vacations and hopes for the coming school year as children ran around with their friends or danced to the music of a DJ.

Wednesday was a particularly hot day and many enjoyed the cold ice cream. Others talked about the effect of the heat on education. The Horace Porter School in Columbia, CT closed early because of the heat on Wednesday and the Laurel School in Bloomfield, CT is closing early today because of the heat. While there are currently no plans to close Beecher Road School early because of the heat, such a move would create complications with bus routes.

Indoor air quality is an important issue at schools that is too often overlooked. The EPA has an IAQ Tools for Schools Program and Connecticut has An Act Concerning Indoor Air Quality in Schools.

Beecher Road School appears to be adequately handling the current heat wave. While there have been scattered reports of students heading to the nurse's office because of the heat, it has not been at such a level that the administration has needed to take action, and so far, there is only one report of a class having to be moved because of excessive heat.

Indoor air quality has a significant impact on education which needs to be carefully considered at Beecher Road School. Events like the BRSPTO Ice Cream Social provide an important opportunity for members of the community to gather for a fun social event, as well as to share concerns about what is best for long term education in our town.

Students at Beecher Road returned to school today as Woodbridge returns to its fall schedule. This evening, there will be a recreation commission meeting at 7:30 PM in the Beecher South Assembly Room.

Tuesday, Amity High School students return to school. Wednesday at 10:30 AM, the Thin Threads Book Club will meet at the Public Library. The PTO will hold its Ice Cream Social at 5:30 PM at Beecher Road School.

At 6 PM the Police Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting. Included in the agenda is Personnel matters concerning Sergeant Promotional Interviews and the Personnel Sub-Committee Recommendation concerning a New Dispatcher. The report from the Chief of Police will include an In-Car Video Demonstration.

Thursday night there will be a viewing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid at the Public Library starting at 7 PM.

With a week left before proposals are due to the town of Woodbridge, CT concerning the purchase or long term operations of the Country Club of Woodbridge, I have been asked to provide my thoughts about how the club has been run over the past two years.

For those not acquainted with the recent history of the club, in 2009, The Woodbridge Country Club experienced financial difficulties. Instead of the land being sold to a developer, the town stepped in and purchased the property. For the past two years, the club, renamed the Country Club of Woodbridge has been run for the town by a management country. Now, the Town of Woodbridge is seeking either a long term manager or a buyer.

I live approximately three quarters of a mile from the club. I have walked to the club to sled on its hills in the winter, just as my wife did when she was younger and would walk with her parents and grandparents to go sledding at the club.

Much of the focus of the current management has been on the golf operations and although I worked as a caddie about forty years ago, I am in no position to comment on that aspect of the operations. I also have eaten at the club restaurant from time to time. I was disappointed that the chef who had been at the club in 2009 did not return in 2010. I believe he provided real value to the club. I am glad that the town's Request for Proposals has asked all bidders to address issues of retaining current staff.

The aspect of the club that I have used most has been the pool. We were one of the first families to sign up for pool and tennis membership in both 2009 and 2010. I have used the pool extensively. In 2009, the pool didn't open until late in the season, and not many people joined. It often felt as if I had a great private pool to use in 2009. 2010 has been a different year. There have been days during 2010 which saw more people use the pool that used it in all of 2009.

As with any operation, there are minor things I would like to see done differently, yet all in all, through the difficulties of these first two years, the pool operations have been excellent. It is my hope that whomever buys or enters into a long term agreement to manage the club continues to run the pool the way it has been over the past two years.

The Town of Woodbridge has made a wise decision in purchasing the club and handling its operations as it has for these first two years. Hopefully, the decisions made by the town concerning the future operations will be as wise as these initial decisions and the people of Woodbridge will have this wonderful facility remain available, boosting the value of all the properties in town.

While catching up on the local-local-local scene, I checked back on CT Siting Council docket #388, and found the "Certification Package" under "Final Decision"--

Here are the preliminary results from the Democratic and Republican primaries in Woodbridge, CT

Democrats
Governor
Dan Malloy 363
Ned Lamont 267

Lt. Governor
Nancy Wyman 388
Mary Glassman 233

Secretary of the State
Denise Merrill 401
Gerry Garcia 207

Comptroller
Kevin Lembo 455
Mike Jarjura 109

Republicans
Governor
Michael Fidele 104
Tom Foley 178
Oz Griebel 31

Lt. Governor
Mark Boughton 154
Lisa Wilson-Foley 135

U.S. Senater
Linda McMahon 133
Peter Schiff 98
Rob Simmons 88

Attorney General
Martha Dean 208
Ross Garber 88

While some regularly scheduled meetings for the Town of Woodbridge are cancelled during this summer week, there are other important events taking place.

The Amity Board of Education which normally takes place the second Monday of each month is cancelled as is the Board of Selectmen’s regularly scheduled meeting for the second Wednesday of each month.

The Republican and Democratic State primaries will take place at the Center on Tuesday, from 6 AM until 8 PM. This year, the voting will take place in the senior center, which is air conditioned.

Then, on Tuesday evening, the Woodbridge Inland Wetlands Agency will inspect sites around Woodbridge. This will be followed by a meeting at Town Hall which will include a continuation of a public hearing on the Town of Woodbridge's application for the construction of a storage shed at the new firehouse as well as discussions about various other applications before the agency.

From Congresswoman DeLauro's Press Release:

At 2:30pm on Friday, August 6, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) will visit the Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge, CT to discuss their sustainable farming practices and how they are benefitting the local community.

The historic farm was established by the Massaro family and gifted to the Town of Woodbridge with their express wishes that the land be used for agriculture. Since 2008, the Massaro Farm Committee, which was appointed by the town, has been working to fulfill that wish, restoring the original buildings and establishing a Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) organic farm.

The Massaro Farm CSA, Inc. is dedicated to providing the surrounding communities with the opportunity to purchase healthful, organic, and locally grown vegetables, fruits, and farm goods. They are a non-profit organization whose mission is to not only provide our local residents with these agricultural products, but to educate the community, including schoolchildren, about smart and local food choices, to donate organic food to soup kitchens and senior centers, and to keep the tradition of local farming alive with new and innovative organic farming methods and energy efficient practices.

As Chairwoman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman DeLauro oversees the conservation and other programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture that make the Massaro Farm CSA possible. She has secured federal funding in the past, and has included language in this year's FY2011 Agriculture Appropriations bill that will help the Massaro project is transform from a 'work in progress' into a reality.

Section 1-225 of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act requires that votes from public meetings be available within 48 hours and minutes be available within seven days. Minutes of public meetings are important for residents to be able to find out what is going on in their town. They are also important to journalists who do not have enough time to cover local events. In some cases, they become part of important legal discussions.

The Connecticut Siting Council is currently considering an application by AT&T to put a cell tower in Woodbridge. On July 28th, attorney Keith Ainsworth on behalf of the Woodbridge Conservation Commission submitted an application to intervene in the proceedings.

AT&T objected, relying heavily on the minutes of the Woodbridge Conservation Commission, including noting that the June 17th minutes of the Conservation Commission meeting is not yet available. The July 15th minutes are also not yet available.

On Wednesday evening, the Board of Selectmen met to consider a request from the Woodbridge Conservation Commission for the Town to participate in funding for intervener status re Siting Council Docket #388. If a vote were taken, the results of the vote would not be required to be available until this evening at the earliest and the minutes are not required until next Wednesday. Nonetheless, there have been subsequent filings in the docket concerning the meeting.

Part of AT&T’s objection asserts that the Conservation Commission’s Intervention Request is procedurally defective and lacks authority. They refer to the agenda item at the Board of Selectman meeting to consider the Conservation Commissions request saying

We are advised by a member of the public attending the meeting that the Board of Selectmen took no action on the Conservation Commission’s request.

Keith Ainsworth, on behalf of the Conservation Commission replied,

The Conservation Commission was authorized to take action to file the intervention before the Siting Council and expend town funds in doing so by the Board of Selectmen last evening. AT&T represented falsely that selectmen failed to act on the request

AT&T responded

Attorney Ainsworth’s allegations of a misstatement of fact which was conveyed to us by a member of the public is not accompanied by any independently verifiable facts of his own (i.e. based on discussions with the Town’s Board of Selectmen). As such, the Council may want to call the First Selectman directly to ascertain what if any formal action the Board of Selectmen did or did not take last night.

The response continues noting

The request previously submitted by Attorney Ainsworth lacks a resolution from the Conservation Commission adopted by a duly noticed public meeting of its own authorizing such action to seek intervenor status in Docket 388.

Agendas and meeting minutes matter. They are a way to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard and this can become very important when the lawyers get involved.

Update: Attorney Ainsworth provided a correction which states:

The Board of Selectmen did not take action on the resolution to fund the Conservation but instead declared that the Conservation had its own professional services line item from which it could draw for the funding of this intervention.

He states that he was misinformed. He goes son to withdraw from representation of the Woodbridge Conservation Commission in this matter.

The Connecticut Siting Council has now denied the application to intervene 'on the bases of untimeliness and lack of standing'.

As a final note, Service List indicates that the Connecticut Siting Council has used U.S. Mail to deliver the documents.

Woodbridge Police have reported a traffic fatality that occurred on Amity Road Saturday evening shortly before 8 PM.

Timothy Kelly, age 48, of 3 Arch Drive, East Hampton, CT was killed when his vehicle struck a tree. Kelly was the sole occupant of the vehicle, a 2010 Hyundai Accent, which he was operating northbound on Amity Road when he failed to negotiate a curve, drove off the right side of the road and into a wooded area. His vehicle was extensively damaged and Kelly had to be extricated from the vehicle by the Woodbridge Fire Department. Kelly was pronounced dead at the scene.

Press Release