NEIGHBORHOODS
What’s going on in your part of Greenwich
Downtown
Town government officials plan on holding a special community forum on flooding in September to help residents prepare for future storms.
First Selectman Fred Camillo announced the planned forum in his weekly newsletter on Friday.
“We want people to know how to be better prepared,” Camillo wrote. “We’re going to focus on topics like home mitigation, creating family emergency plans, and different types of flooding.”
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Town Hall meeting room, 101 Field Point Road.
Emergency Management Director Joe Laucella is expected to be in attendance. More information will be shared closer to the forum.
The Department of Public Works is the best point of contact for flood problems and staff can be reached at public works@greenwichct.org. During the work day, residents can also call DPW’s customer service line at 203-618-3001. When it is an emergency after work hours, residents should call 911.
Downtown
Part of East Elm Street is expected be closed this week as work crews work to connect utilities to some new condominiums.
Four new condos, at 97-99 East Elm St., are nearing completion, but they have yet to be connected to the sewer line. Crews need to run tests to find exactly where the sewer line is under the road and they will need to close the road to do so.
Jim Parlanti of A. Vitti Excavators told the Board of Selectmen last Thursday that it would be safest to close the road down for two days while crews work.
“(We will be) making Swiss cheese with these test kits throughout the whole road,” he said on Thursday. “The only way is really to get done with the safety of everybody involved, and to expedite it and hopefully in a timely fashion in two days, is to temporarily close the road.”
Parlanti and Chris Franco, owner of the new condos, said the road closure would not deter pedestrian traffic or block local residents from getting into their homes.
The Board of Selectmen approved two daytime road closures for this Wednesday and Thursday, with the condition that Parlanti and Franco get approval from the Greenwich Police and Greenwich Fire Departments beforehand. These additional approvals had not been secured as of this writing, but the board said it would help ensure the work proceeds on time.
Downtown
First Selectman Fred Camillo said he is working on a plan to revitalize a corner of Greenwich Avenue through a new public private partnership.
The town owns some land near the historic post office at 310 Greenwich Ave. The building is occupied by Restoration Hardware, but Camillo said he has been in touch with private citizens interested in contributing money to spruce up the nearby walkway.
“The idea is to light up the memorial and light up the flagpole,” Camillo said on Thursday at the Board of Selectmen meeting. “But also do water features around it and light them up. It’s not a cheap project, it will cost money. But there seems to be significant interest. The more people I speak with, the more interest there is.”
The historic building was bought by a developer for $15 million back in 2011 and was reopened as “RH Greenwich, The Gallery at the Historic Post Office” in 2014.
The town still owns part of the land outside the building, so Camillo has been thinking about how to better use the space. Any sort of private donation to the town to fund this project would need multiple approvals before any work begins.
Camillo has tried to make public private partnerships a defining part of his legacy as first selectman. He helped secure $5 million to rebuild the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, but more recently his efforts to bring in $30,000 to rebuild a dog park near the Western Greenwich Civic Center have stalled over neighborhood concerns.
Camillo is up for reelection on Nov. 7.
Greenwich
The first installment of 2022 Grand List property taxes are due Tuesday. Accounts will be considered delinquent and interest penalties will be assessed if payments are not received by the end of the day on Tuesday.
Residents can mail checks to PO Box 3002 Greenwich, CT, 06836-3002 and they will not be considered delinquent so long as mail is postmarked by Aug 1. Payments can also be made online at www.greenwichct.gov.
The Tax Collector’s office at Town Hall at 101 Field Point Road will also have extended hours to ensure people get payments in on time. The office will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Aug 1.