The Blog that Works

Few of us will ever forget where we were eight years ago today.  I was at home when the first tower was hit, and I remember the shock and confusion we all shared at that moment. When the second tower was hit, I was in my office, and all speculation was erased.

The day then became a whirlwind of events. I remember meeting the first trains as they came in from Grand Central. There I joined volunteers who offered to assist victims and witnesses that day with crisis counseling and information. News came pouring in about the events, and like many other citizens of Stamford and Connecticut, we couldn’t help but think of the many people we knew working in Manhattan that day, and shared in the grief of learning about our own friends and neighbors who weren’t coming home.

The City of Stamford lost nine citizens to the World Trade Center attacks, and saw countless others deeply affected by what happened. The impact and memories I share are not unique and make up such a small piece of our larger collective conscience surrounding that very dark day. I hope you will join with me in remembering the events, and honoring those who lost their lives on that tragic event – and share with me in the hope that we still stand united and progress forward out of the darkness.

Today I announced that the Mill Pond restoration has begun in earnest and the dam will be completely demolished over the next few weeks. The flowing river has now been isolated in a 25-foot wide bypass channel allowing demolition and reconstruction of the new river channel to occur. With the Pulaski Street dam removed and a section of the Mill Pond dam removed, there is an unobstructed flow in Mill River for the first time in our lifetimes.

The benefits of the Mill Pond restoration include the avoidance of future dredging costs estimated by the Army Corps of Engineers at $1.5 million; flood reduction downtown as the 100-year flood in the future will be contained in Mill River Park; and habitat restoration as over 4 miles of freshwater spawning habit will become available to threatened species of river herring. The economic development stimulus is substantial as well as the blight of the deteriorated Mill Pond is removed from surrounding properties.  A section of the dam at the mouth of the bypass channel was removed in August. The balance of the dam will be breached to allow the pond area and sediment to dry. Completion of demolition will follow.

Over two hundred panels of steel sheet piling have been driven into the river bottom between Broad Street and Main Street to create the bypass channel. Individual sheets are driven 15 feet or more into the ground. Where bedrock prevented driven sheets to be installed, another means of cutoff was provided. With the river now fully diverted into the bypass channel, dredging of the larger, now dry, Mill Pond area will occur along with grading of the new flood plain.

You can follow the progress of the river restoration with monthly videos made from time-lapse photography at www.millriverpark.com. Periodically they will be updated to show the progress of construction. The current video shows the installation of the sheet piling. The pilings will be removed after the river is finally diverted into the newly constructed permanent channel. The video of the dam demolition will be posted later in September.

This morning, I announced several new steps that are being taken to address the contaminated well water found in the Scofieldtown area in North Stamford.

First, the City is making bottled water supplies available to families residing on Hannah’s Road, Larkspur Drive, Very Merry Road, 3-18 Cousins Road and Skymeadow Drive between Scofieldtown Road and Larkspur Drive.  This bottled water supply will be made available while the City awaits results from tests underway, or being scheduled now.  These areas are also the highest priority for well testing based on the results thus far.  So far, of the 59 households within this area, 36 remain to be sampled and tested; 11 tests are pending at the State Department of Public Health lab; 5 have tested negative for pesticides (including 1 City test and 4 EPA tests in 2008); and 7 have tested positive for pesticides (including 4 City tests and 3 EPA tests from 2008).

All of the households that have tested positive have already been provided with bottled water by the State Department of Environmental Protection and have either received or will shortly receive activated charcoal filtration systems for their homes.  These systems are effective in eliminating pesticides like those found in the positive samples. The City is working to contact each of the households to apprise them of the situation and arrange for water supplies to be delivered, and have been able to reach the vast majority.  However, households within this area who have yet not been contacted should call the City of Stamford’s Office of Operations at 977-4141 to arrange for this service.

Second, the City has scheduled a Public Information Meeting relating to the contaminated wells for Tuesday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m.   The meeting will be held in the gymnasium at the Scofield Magnet Middle School.  Please note that the school itself is served by public drinking water supplies, and is not impacted by well contamination. 

The meeting will provide an opportunity for concerned residents to hear from City health and operations officials as well as representatives from the State Departments of Environmental Protection and Public Health.  Further information and an agenda for that meeting will be posted on the City’s website at www.cityofstamford.org in advance of the meeting.

We are working very hard to meet the challenge presented by these troubling findings.  I hope that the residents affected by this problem will take advantage of these interim precautions.  Through the upcoming public meeting, communication between the community and the many City employees involved in the response and our website, I commit the City to providing as much information as we have available to the public as we work diligently to address this most serious problem.

Yesterday, I released the preliminary crime statistics for the first half of 2009.  The overall change in crime was small, a .7% decrease, but the most striking statistic is that serious crime, which includes homicides, assaults and robberies, is down 17.7% compared to the same time period in 2008.  More specifically, the crime stats showed a decrease in robberies by 25.8% and aggravated assaults by 17%. 

While these crime stats are preliminary and may be subject to change, we should be proud of this accomplishment.  Historically, during times of economic hardships, communities tend to see a spike in crime, and not only did we avoid that spike, but we once again lowered crime.  Hats off to the men and women of the Stamford Police Department and everyone in our community who works so hard to maintain and enhance our public safety.  Because of our combined efforts, Stamford continues to be safe and vibrant community to live, work and raise a family.

This past week the City started receiving results back from drinking water tests performed earlier this summer at homes in the Scofieldtown area.  The results are very distressing, showing pesticides in well water at several homes. 

I am sure that these results are especially shocking to the affected families and their neighbors.  It is hard to imagine the thoughts that would come when you learn that the home where you raised and loved your children and grandchildren may have been harming them.  My heart goes out to those who are affected, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that the City works to solve this problem, to protect the residents of the area, and to make sure that everyone understands what has happened and what is happening to fix it.  I only wish that I could do more.

The first thing that we must do is make sure people have clean water to drink and use in their homes.  Bottled water deliveries have been ordered, and we will schedule installations of charcoal filtration systems within the coming week.  This is an effective remedy, one that others in similar circumstances have used for years.  For the long term, we have already begun to develop a plan to have pipes installed to connect the area to the public drinking water supply.  Of course, given the time it takes to carry out that type of improvement, and the cooperation that will be needed from the water company; we need interim measures as well, such as the bottled water and filters.

Next, we need to keep testing so that we fully understand the problem.  We need to re-test the positive findings and continue to test further from the affected areas in order to best gauge the scope of the problem.  We need to gather technical data about the wells in the area.  We may need to drill new wells to monitor groundwater.  We have already hired a Licensed Environmental Professional to help us interpret results, recommend additional testing, and ultimately develop a plan to address the contamination and keep residents safe.

Finally, the City needs to implement that plan and be a responsible steward of this problem we have all inherited.  It is far too soon to know what may be the best way forward with Scofieldtown, but we can surmise that the solutions will be complex and difficult.  Groundwater contamination is hard to resolve in a short period of time; we can’t simply dig it up and haul it away.  We need to know much more about what is there, exactly where it is, its source, and how it is moving.  This may be more challenging because the City has very few records from during the critical time period prior to the 1960s, which may have helped us to more quickly and easily establish the source of the contamination.  Nevertheless, we will rise to that challenge.

Unlike so many generations before us, we face the obligation to leave our community and our environment cleaner and safer than it was delivered to us.  We have already begun, carrying out major cleanups as part of many of our projects in recent years, such as Kozciusko Park, West Avenue, the Stamford Urban Transitway, West Beach and many others.  Scofieldtown may be our greatest challenge yet, but it is one that we must meet for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

I was saddened to wake up this morning to the news that Senator Ted Kennedy had passed away.  Senator Kennedy, the fighting lion of the Senate, was a staunch and unwavering supporter of policies intended to improve the healthcare, education and civil rights of countless Americans.  He authored and co-authored literally hundreds of bills throughout the course of his admirable lifetime in public service. 

I got to know Senator Kennedy in the 1970s when I worked on his re-election campaign and then again in 1980 when he ran for president.  He had tremendous personal warmth which he displayed one-on-one and in front of large crowds.  His work as an advocate for the most vulnerable populations will remain a legacy for years to come and we are all lucky to have had Senator Kennedy fight on our behalf for so many years.

I know that this country is a better place in large part due to his efforts and I join the millions of mourners across the United States and around the world, as my thoughts prayers are with the Kennedy family today.

Today I spoke at a conference designed to increase the awareness of Hepatitis C in communities.  Hepatitis C is a serious and lifelong infection that can lead to liver disease and organ failure. Unfortunately, there is not a vaccine yet to treat the infection.  The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 3-4 million Americans are living with the disease.

My talk at the conference this morning focused on what local municipalities and states can do to find ways to raise awareness around Hepatitis C to promote effective means of preventing the spread of the infection. Throughout my tenure as mayor, I have found that one of the best ways to improve municipal programs is to share best practices with other cities and states.  What better way to know that a program works than to see whether or not it works somewhere else? In that regard, I spoke specifically about the South Carolina Hepatitis C Coalition, an organized group of health care providers and citizens who are diligently working to raise awareness about the disease and to promote preventative programs. South Carolina provides an excellent model for other states to emulate to find low-cost ways to promote collaborative efforts amongst health care providers to raise awareness and promote prevention efforts.  Connecticut should follow suit to prevent the unnecessary spread of a life threatening illness that afflicts too many citizens in our state.  

The City of Stamford recently launched a new emergency mass notification service which will provide similar services as our last reverse-911 system, but at a lower cost to the city.  Having this system in place allows city officials to communicate with residents quickly and efficiently in the event of an emergency, and can even be used for planned and routine public safety announcements.  We can record, send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents, businesses and local agencies in just minutes, through a single phone call.  We are also equipped to send text messages to cell phones, PDAs, e-mail accounts and TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired. 

Getting set up to receive these calls is an important part of sensible emergency preparedness for your family, and it’s up to you to make sure that you’re ready to receive information in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.  If your number isn’t listed, it won’t be included unless you opt in, so be sure to go to this site to register for our emergency alerts.  For your family and friends without internet access, they can call 977-4153 to add themselves to our system.