On Wednesday, March 11, residents of Stratford’s District 1 gathered for the last in a marathon-round of recent Neighborhood Association meetings. The meetings were initiated by Mayor Chess and the Office of Community Development and Engagement as a means to bring the Stratford community closer together. They will be ongoing.
Ten minutes prior to the meeting, my husband Adrian and I were seated in a small library, just beyond the front doors of the Lordship Elementary School. Perhaps 10-12 other District 1 neighbors sat at similar tables around us. Water and a few refreshments were available. More neighbors bustled in. At the front of the room, a small pin board read The Places We Will Go…
And go we did, to the auditorium, where long tables were dragged out to accommodate the quickly massing crowd. By shortly after 6pm, more than one-hundred attendees filled Lordship School. Erin McLaughlin, from the newly created Office of Community Development and Engagement, led the conversation with warmth and ease. Introductions were made to our local officials including Mayor Chess, District 1 Councilwoman Jean Collier, and three uniformed Police officers.
Collier was quick to point out that her District extends beyond the bounds of Lordship alone, all the way along Elm Street. She also mentioned she is Chair of Public Safety, and involved in the Conservation Commission, where she invites participation from the community.
In fact, encouragements were made by all to join local organizations and participate in civic engagement; be part of the town’s “human infrastructure.” Mayor Chess mentioned his plans for the Urban Forestry Corps, a local group of volunteers, including high school students, that could care for the over 40 parks we have in Stratford, among many other civic projects.
Questions came at a steady clip from the audience, who were mostly over the age of fifty, with few families present.
Officers Rosenbaum, Riccobene, and Sharnick directly answered concerns on teenage partying in a church parking lot and near the Lordship bluffs, dog waste, and stop-sign offenders.
There was much concern with traffic safety, in and around the Walmart shopping plaza (where carts pile up at the bus stop due to improper access from the parking lot). Further concerns were raised regarding construction underway on the street bridge by the Marshalls shopping plaza. Joe Gresko, State Representative, stepped in to let folks know that when the construction work is completed, better signage will be used to help with traffic confusion.
Traffic concerns in the Lordship area and along Elm Street centered on drag racing and street takeovers, in warmer weather. A possible solution of temporary speed bumps was raised.
Regarding the Army Engine Plant, Mayor Chess let the crowd know things are moving “full speed ahead for mixed use. A major planner has been selected. The State will provide up to $6M for remediation.” The Mayor’s vision includes elements like a hotel and conference center, housing, sports, and possibly even a replica of the Globe Theatre.
Again, several concerns were raised about the increase in traffic and volume of people the development would bring, as both inhibiting street-flow and as possibly affecting the “quiet” character of nearby Lordship. The Mayor remembered a time in the near-past when the plant was operating for manufacturing and created significant traffic. He conceded that the road will need to be widened.
With a potential influx of new neighbors through housing developments—like the one along Main Street and another slated at the old Center School property— one person asked if Stratford schools (and their associated tax costs) will get bigger?
With regards to education in Stratford the Mayor raised that presently only 29% of students make grade-level in math, 32% in reading. Where previous administrations had “built the budget on the backs of our schools,” Chess sees education not as a cost, but an investment.
“We need to shore up our tax base,” he said. “Apartments. That’s the only way to lower individual taxes.” The cost to educate a child at present in Stratford is about $19,000, though the Mayor stressed the number of children coming from apartment housing is relatively low. He pointed to Stamford as an example of successful town planning with a harbor development netting $80M a year. “This is how we get out of the [tax] hole,” he said.
Check the Town Hall website for the up-to-date schedule of future Neighborhood Association meetings.
