Woodstock CT Café

from Con

I agree that a naked assertion that the storm ‘was not that bad’ on it’s own is not an argument, but I back that up with facts. Do you refute those ‘facts’ (that is, consider them suspect and not facts at all). The leaves on the trees were the only thing that made the storm out of the ordinary. We had at least 2 (and I think I remember more) storms last winter where more snow fell than this storm and the weather conditions during and more to the point after those storms were much more difficult than this storm – it was windy, below freezing, over a foot of snow on the ground, roads were lined with large snow banks, etc.

Conditions after this storm were pretty mild – temps were right back up in mid to high 40?s, there was little wind, no snow on the ground and it was partly sunny (sometimes mostly sunny). What about that comparison do you dispute? In what way was this storm so bad except for the leaves on the trees?

Regarding those leaves, the choice is NOT whether to spend the money to Trim adequately – yes it is expensive, but failure to do so is much more expensive as we have just seen. The expense of a 6-day power outage is not in Restoration alone and Restoration by itself was far more expensive than trimming would have been – but the loss of business revenue, all other financial losses incurred by residents because of 6 days with no power, those costs are astronomical taken in the aggregate. Read the rest of this entry »

The voting percentage was only 26%.

Hi Kevin, Welcome from Colorado. Be safe and hurry back.

The voting should be posted at about 8:30 PM

Candidates (Incubants underlined)

First Selectman, Allan Walker (R) SEATED – 1069

Selectman, Mitch Eaffy (D) SEATED – 506

Selectman, Chan Paquette (R) SEATED – 762

Clerk, Judy Walberg (R) SEATED – 1107

Treasurer, Barbara Rich (R) SEATED – 1067

Tax Collector, Linda Bernardi (R) SEATED – 1100

Board of Finance (both)

1.   Fred Chmura (D) SEATED – 646

2.   Dave Hosmer (R) SEATED – 911

Board of Education (seat three, vote for two)

1.   John Dlugosz (D) – 553

2.   Cliff Davis (D) – 628 – SEATED

3.   Mike Bernardi (R) – 800 – SEATED

4.   Hans Frankhouser (R) – 621 – SEATED

Board of Assessment and Appeals

1.   Rebecca Hyde (D) – 494

2.   Nancy Nystrom (R) – 791

Planning & Zoning Commission (vote for 5, seat 5)

1.   Earl Brazeal (D) – 614

2.   John Anastasi (R) – 806 – SEATED

3.   Fred Rich (R) – 953 – SEATED

4.   Dotty Durst (R) – 999 – SEATED

5.   Dexter Young (R) – 972 – SEATED

6.   Jeff Gordon (R) – 1051 – SEATED

P&Z Alternate

1.   Travis Sirrine (R) SEATED – 994

Economic Development Commission – term begins 2011

1.   Ed Higgins (R) SEATED – 1067

Economic Development Commission – term begins 2012

      1. Karen Carr (R) SEATED – 984

Although the turnout was light, this forum was a success because the two candidates for the BOE Cliff Davis and John Dlugosz and the two candidates for PZC Earl Brazeal and Jeff Gordon spoke eliquently and forcefully to a small crowd composed of leadership and representatives of the DTC and the RTC, and citizens of Woodstock. The reception of each candidate was cordial and respectfull. Lindsay Paul did a classy job of introducting the mission of CPWF to the crowd, and Bill Sowka held the crowd at bay as the event moderator – maybe Bill will do Miss America next . We look forward to many non-partisan events like this in the future.

The entire session was recorded. We will eventually post excerpts of each of the candidates’ statements post election, win or lose.

As usual, the Cafe will be the first to post the voting results in Woodstock between 8:15 and 8:30 PM Tuesday night. Stay tuned.

from Dean

One part of my business is designing engineering controls to protect people from flooding (an easy example is floodwalls or dams) – speaking to Con. In the early part of a project we define a “design storm.” For example, a 100-year? A 500-year? Obviously, it will cost much more to design something protective of a 500-yr flood than a 100-year flood (btw, these happen much more frequently now than every 100-or 500-years, thanks to climate change).

So someone can only afford that I build something for a 100-year flood, the next week, the 110-year flood happens, guess what, the protected neighborhood floods. People make an investment decision on the level of protection that they want and their is risk regardless of the level of investment is made (e.g. build for 500-year, doesnt mean that the 510-year flood doesnt happen the next week, it is just reduced risk). Read the rest of this entry »

The Monday Night Forum is recommended by the Democratic Town Committee.
Featuring Jeff Gordon, Earl Brazeal, John Dlugosz, and Cliff Davis left to right.

Join us to meet the candidates and experience the fireworks – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. All are welcome. CPWF

Reposted in memory of Andy Rooney, friend and neighbor in Rowayton CT

Last week (January 2011) the NY Times had a nostalgic article about the Polo Grounds where the New York Giants played in the 1950s before they moved to San Francisco. The article jogged my memory about the good old days when I was a kid growing up in Rowayton CT on Long Island Sound. I’ve been doing this reminiscing a lot over the last year as my parents spent their final days in our house. One of the great things my parents gave to me was their friends of their generation and sketchy stories about their early lives. I recollect the 1950s as the decade of my youth when nothing in life was complicated and there was a lot of fun to be had. My lone connection with the Polo Grounds was through one of their friends.

An important part of my life at that time was major league baseball from the beginning to the end of the 50s when my interest waned because of college. And besides, all of my favorite players had moved on or were about to. I was a devout Yankees fan and my best friend, Paul, was equally devoted to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Read the rest of this entry »

from Con

It seems as though you either skimmed the comment or I just wasn’t clear. You seem to make a lot of assumptions that are not supported by the evidence, facts, etc. and you seem to tilt toward excusing CL&P merely because the Storm is BIG and they task is very difficult. But these Storms are 100% part of the job. They are ‘Ordinary Course’ business for a Utility, not a unique or out of the ordinary event. They are totally ordinary given the right perspective, and this is the perspective that a Utility is ASSUMED to have in order to perform at it’s best all the time, when it’s easy and when it’s extremely difficult.

The utility is an Institution, not a person. A person can be excused because the forces of nature are overwhelming. But even that example has exceptions that call in to question this tendency to excuse failure because of overwhelming forces – consider the US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer. This is a great example of an institution that manifests their very function in the tasks of individual human beings facing awesome forces and succeeding by overcoming the obstacles put up by huge storms at sea and the like. Read the rest of this entry »

Cafe Central only got power back at 9:30 AM today. This is why we have been slow to post. This was the beginning of our 7th day without power. I will try to find the time to describe the repeated mis-information (basic lies) CL&P gave us after we get our act together. Admin

Great article Con. I have added a link below to another great article out of the New York Times on 11/4. It sheds some light (no pun intended) on some of the issues that you speak of.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/business/the-troubling-connecticut-power-failure.html

Here are some interesting tidbits from the article:

“Yet according to regulatory filings, Connecticut Light and Power cut its maintenance spending by 26 percent, from $130 million in 2008 to $96.5 million last year.”

“…when Connecticut’s power is already the most expensive in the continental United States.”

“There’s even a near-perfect model of how Connecticut Light and Power could have done the job better. Norwich, Conn., a city of 40,000, has owned its own electric utility, as well as those for sewage, gas and water, for 107 years. Norwich Public Utilities’ customers pay, on average, a bit less than Connecticut Light and Power’s. Yet after this past weekend’s snow dump, power was out for only about 450 of its 22,000 customers — and for no more than an hour.” Read the rest of this entry »

We still don’t have power because of a broken cross-bar on a pole. No wire fell down. Probably take a half hour to fix. John

from Con

CL&P has utterly failed the Citizens of Connecticut and most especially the residents of Northeast Connecticut once again and hardly 2 months after their unacceptably poor restoration efforts following Storm Irene.

Several of us posted lengthy comments regarding CL&P and the manner in which they sought to restore power after a huge outage. I concluded that their very System was inadequate to the task of restoration. They seem to perform their ‘custodial’ and administrative duties competently as long as everything is smooth, normal and without real problems and challenges.

However, something is terribly broken at CL&P. What IS their system? To me it seems that at every step, every juncture, of ‘problem solving’, their system inserts enormous delay. It seems that once they have identified a specific problem (which alone takes far too long – they have awful internal communication) they dispatch about 3-5 times the number of workers necessary to fix it. Read the rest of this entry »

Power is coming back and so is visitation: green = page turns and blue = unique visitors.

NO SCHOOL again Thursday

Today is Wednesday, November 2, 2011
This is the outgoing phone message from the Town Hall.

The Town Hall is open today until 6 PM. Woodstock schools are closed. At this time 41% of Woodstock is without power and CLP’s primary focus today is to continue clearing roads that are either partially or fully closed. CLP has assured the First Selectman that Woodstock is a priority and we should continue to see steady restoration progress. Read the rest of this entry »

from John

This post represents my personal opinions and in no way should it be considered that I am speaking on behalf of any PAC or political party … in any way.

Yesterday two RTC bullies communicated to the town clerk’s office their dissatisfaction with CPWF because of the SEEC form 1 signed by Jeff Gordon. What this form actually says requires some legal interpretation. So I won’t waste your time quoting from it. Based on the RTC’s campaign poster, apparently they think they own Woodstock’s future.

These two apparently don’t like the support that the PAC known as “Community Partners for Woodstock’s Future” or “CPWF” is giving Jeff Gordon who is running for re-election to the Planning and Zoning Commission. In fact, Jeff is the Chairman of PZC and has been doing a terrific job with this commission. Because of his tireless effort on PZC, he deserves town-wide support and unanimous re-election.

It is my understanding that a PAC can support any candidate it wants with or without that candidate’s consent. None of the candidates supported by this PAC are members of the PAC or are receiving donations from the PAC.

I don’t know if a complaint has been filed with the SEEC but it looks like I will be having my bi-annual meeting with an SEEC attorney.

Two years ago, CPWF supported three candidates – two Republicans and one a Democrat. All were elected and no stink was raised even though the SEEC attorney knew about CPWF. During that last campaign a complaint was filed with the SEEC that had NO MERIT by two other bullies. So in Woodstock, if you don’t play by the bullies’ rules you will find yourself in a heep of hot water, not to mention the manure raining down. In Woodstock, forget freedom of speech and the democratic process, and do what the bullies want.

The following is my summary of what other Woodstockers have said:

‘I am surprised that they would make this an issue. It seems that fairness, objectivity, and a proclivity to hear all voices are not traits that Bernardi/Young value on PZC. Didn’t Durst write in support of Jeff? … It does not look good for Bernardi to be working at cross purposes to a PAC which has kept it’s nose clean, been 100% open about its intentions and purposes, and worked hard to get more information to the public in a bi-partisan basis.’

‘The Chair of the Republican Town Committee of Woodstock called the WINY morning talk show to voice disapproval that Woodstock Historical Society “Meet the Candidates” event only included one Republican. WINY was called to clarify that CPWF was presenting the event at Palmer Memorial Hall. It is silly not to use the space as intended in 1914.’

‘This is a candidates’ forum sponsored by a bi-partisan political PAC called “CPWF” and this group is renting the hall for the event. Renting the hall at the WHS is available to any group.’

‘Really rather sad that the Republicans, or Democrats for that matter, couldn’t be bothered to host a forum/debate, yet critique those who put the time and energy into getting this event together.’

‘…thanks for putting CPWF’s red signs up along with the RTC signs. You may get a call from Dexter or Mike, or find a horse’s head in your bed.’

‘…this is an attempt to silence CPWF and deter the candidates from associating with this PAC.’

PS: I will still support Linda for Tax collector. She is doing a very good job in this taxing role for the town… but maybe I can’t say this.

I stopped to inquire about when we were going to get power this morning. But the CL&P guy would not talk to me. Very rude.

NO SCHOOL – Wednesday – WA, WMS, & WES

Tuesday, November 1st – Update from Town Hall (as of 9:47AM)

The Town Hall is running on generator power and is closed for normal business. Woodstock schools are closed. At this time 68% of Woodstock is without power and CL&P is aware that 15 roads are either partially or fully closed due to trees in the wires. CLP has assured the First Selectman that Woodstock is a priority and we should continue to see restoration progress through today and tomorrow.

The Town Hall is open for flushing water, bottled water, MRE’s, warmth and cell phone charging.

The Transfer Station is open. (Sorry this is so late in getting up on the Café.)

Wireless Internet access is available at the Woodstock Middle School cafeteria today until 4 PM, enter through the lobby.

The Hyde School has opened Krebbs Gymnasium to Woodstock residents for showers from noon-2PM and 7PM-9PM. Please park in the Cultural Center parkiing lot and follow the signs. Drinking water is available in the maintenance building behind the gym from 7AM-3PM.

Woodstock Academy is open for showers until 10PM tonight. The cafeteria is open for warmth, bathrooms, water and charging stations. Use the back parking lot.

The Town Hall will be opening at 5:30PM again tonight as a regional shelter for residents in surrounding towns seeking a swarm place to sleep. HOWEVER, they should bring with them;

Sleeping bags and pillows or linen
Toiletries and face cloths
Medications
Cell phones
Diapers for children
Snacks
Activities

You should report your personal outage to CLP at 1-800-286-2000. Further updates will be provided on the Town Hall’s outgoing phone system and sent to WINY radio.

If you have questions ….. 860-928-0208 x336 for Julie x310 for Carolyn

We are trying to re-schedule this before next Tuesday. CPWF