About 50 people joined Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and other city officials Tuesday for the first “Night Out With The Mayor,” an event organized to hear residents’ concerns and answer questions.
The event, at the Ansonia Rescue Medical Services building on West Main Street, was combined a meeting of the city’s block watch program, but the top issue wasn’t related to crime — it had to to with snow.
Snow on sidewalks, specifically.
“The biggest complaint I had in my area up on the north end, mostly along North Main Street, was sidewalks,” said Joanne Czecot, a north end resident who helps coordinate the block watch.
She noted that a city ordinance says property owners have six hours after the end of a storm to clear snow from sidewalks, and while it’s not realistic to expect every sidewalk to be spotless within that time frame, it’s a different story “when it gets to be a week past the snowstorm and people are walking in the middle of North Main Street.”
“Is there a fine for it? Can we enforce it more?” she asked.
The ordinance — click here to read it — doesn’t call for a fine, but says the Department of Public Works has to clear snow that property owners haven’t, with the city sending a bill to the owner.
“We need to enforce it more,” the mayor said.
Police Chief Kevin Hale agreed.
“We are trying to be more aggressive with that because we’ve had a terrible winter,” he said. “We’re also trying to find some balance,” the chief said — e.g., cops won’t ticket an elderly woman six hours and one minute after a storm stops if her sidewalks aren’t spotless.
Czecot wasn’t the only one with concerns about snow — though most who spoke Tuesday night said that the Public Works Department has done better this year clearing the roads than in years past.
Doug Novak, who Cassetti hired after taking office to lead the department, told residents Monday he still gets about 10 complaints per storm about people displeased with snow in their driveways.
“Unfortunately, plowed snow will get pushed in your driveway,” he said.
The DPW can’t send a truck out to every address in the city to clear snow from people’s driveways, but he said if there are special cases — like an elderly person who lives alone — he’d take that into consideration on a case-by-case basis.
“I’ll listen with an open mind, but if I can’t do it, I’ll be honest with you, I’ll tell you I can’t do it,” Novak said.
The Public Works Department can be reached at 203 – 736-5945.
Police: Be Good Witnesses
Beyond snow removal issues, Chief Hale and Officer Rick Esposito, who helps coordinate the block watch program with Czecot and Ed Norman, told residents to be watchful and report suspicious activity to police.
“All we’re asking is to be the best witnesses you can be,” Esposito said. “We’re not asking for any heroic acts out there.”
Norman said that the block watch program has grown throughout the city since it began in 2009 and credited the presence of block watch signs on city streets with reducing crime.
“People see that and they go somewhere else to commit their crimes,” Norman said, thanking the Valley Community Foundation for grants to pay for the signs.
Beyond that, Norman said a block watch is just a good way of getting to know the people who live around you.
“It’s a community function, you get to meet your neighbors, and it works out well for raising the quality of life in Ansonia,” he said.
Mayor Gives Update
During Tuesday’s meeting Cassetti gave a report to residents on recent goings-on, then introduced other officials who had come to the event before taking questions.
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During his remarks Cassetti highlighted the slight tax decrease he proposed in the 2014 – 2015 budget Aldermen sent to the tax board last month.
“My goal is to lower taxes even more, and the best way to do that is to have an aggressive approach to economic development,” he said.
Cassetti highlighted the fact that Shelton’s Better Packages is moving to a new location in Ansonia’s Hershey Industrial Park, and said the opening of Mustang Sally on East Main Street next month will give the city “much-needed night life.”
Cassetti said more good economic development news is on the horizon.
After the event, the mayor said he was happy with the turnout and said the “Night Out” events would likely occur quarterly.
“We’ll probably do it again in May,” Cassetti said.
