ANSONIA – The city has appointed two new members to the recently created Ansonia Opera House Committee in wake of the vice chairman exiting stage left.
Kathleen Fisher, a Glastonbury resident, recently submitted her resignation as vice chairman. Fisher in her resignation letter, cited logistical reasons, living about an hour away as her reason for stepping down. While Fisher said she appreciated being nominated as vice chairman, “I think a person who lives locally would be a better fit.”
The Board of Aldermen during its meeting Tuesday (Oct. 11) unanimously voted in favor of naming Sharon Voraschak, a member of the Board of Education, and Martha Gaborealt, a Bridgeport resident, to two-year terms on the committee.
The committee learned of Fisher’s intentions at its Sept. 29 meeting and voted to elect Alderman Joe Cassetti as vice chairman as her replacement. The committee is chaired by volunteer city firefighter and photographer Anthony Mullin, along with a mix of residents, city officials and several out-of-towners who had been involved in efforts to publicize the opera house.
Voraschak said she’s excited to serve.
“I see this committee wanting the best for Ansonia and the Valley, and will roll up their sleeves to the challenges ahead,” Voraschak said. “It will someday be an extraordinary blessing to our community.”
Voraschak said the potential for bringing the opera house back to life could mean exposing students to opportunities for new art and entertainment curriculum and programs.
“Places like Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret, and Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, not only support art and entertainment for their communities but also include educational programs and apprenticeships for youth interested in acting, singing, dancing and poetry and Art History,” she added.
The committee, which meets on the fourth Thursday of each month, will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at City Hall.
The committee is charged with exploring ways to restore the 131-year old opera house, located downtown next to Uptown Bar & Eatery (formerly Crave). There’s a lobby and stairs on the first floor, with the opera house itself on floors two and three.
The Ansonia Opera House is privately owned by Walt Kendzierski and his family. However, he has teamed with the Cassetti administration in an effort to secure grant money to get the building back into use. Kendzierski and Cassetti signed a lease agreement in March formalizing the partnership.
The lease agreement specifically calls for the opera house to be used as a public or private venue for entertainment, educational or community functions. The lease Mayor Cassetti signed in March is valid for 30 years. Ansonia pays $1 per month. In addition to an annual $3,000 tax credit for the life of the lease, the property’s assessment is frozen. The city’s assessor’s online database lists the assessment at $292,300.
The lease agreement calls for the city’s government to first search for grant money — whether it be from state or federal sources — to replace the windows in the building on the Main Street side of the building, and to secure grant money to investigate the environmental and structural conditions of the opera house. The lease refers to these two efforts as “phase one,” and gives the city two years to achieve the stated goals.
Here’s some other news coming out of Tuesday’s night aldermen meeting:
Senior Center Update
Corporation Counsel John Marini gave a quick update on the city’s plans to start looking for a senior center director to preside over a new senior center being built downtown, in the same building that houses the new Ansonia police headquarters. The city’s Recreation Director Jeff Coppola has been serving the dual role as senior center director since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marini said, noting it’s time to get back to normal.
“With the pandemic over, the city wants to ensure full functionality for both departments,” Marini said. “This means a dedicated director for both.”
Marini said he worked with the Senior Center Commission, and Diane Stroman, chairwoman of the city’s Commission for Elderly Services, in coming up with a revised job description. A salary range will be decided by union contract, Marini said.
Marini said Ansonia has not yet given up hope that neighboring Derby may still join forces and merge its senior center with Ansonia’s new center. He said regionalization funds are available and “waiting to be applied for.”
“Ansonia remains hopeful that terms can be reached to bring Derby and Ansonia seniors together,” Marini said.
Marini projected the new center could be open by the end of December.
Under an agreement rejected by Derby, Derby’s senior center was to become the top director of the merged senior center.
Mayor Rich Dziekan supports merging senior centers. However, there have not been enough votes on the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen to make it happen.
A Derby Aldermanic subcommittee is supposed to be searching for a location for a new Derby Senior Center within Derby — but that committee has never met.
Winter Is Coming
The city’s Chief Financial Officer Kurt Miller gave the Aldermen a brief update on what the Public Works Department is doing to get ahead of old man winter. Miller said the city is going to contract with a weather service to stay both ahead of and on top of winter storms.
“We’ll get pinpoint updates leading up to storms and during storms,” Miller said. “It’s a good investment to have so we can properly deploy our men, and get the roads cleared – and it’s something similar to what I had in Seymour (where Miller previously served as First Selectman).”
The name of the service is DTN WeatherSentry, based out of Nebraska. Miller said the cost is $1,800 per year and the city will budget for the service each year going forward.
Miller said the service will provide specific email updates just for Ansonia, regarding weather conditions, and the service will also allow Ansonia to speak directly with a meteorologist for specific questions when needed. Miller said the city tested the system out, and it’s working “spot on.”
“The better the information we have, the better prepared we can be for each storm or weather event,” Miller said.
