08/22/11 The Greenwich Time Has Updated It's Website

Water main repairs underway

The 29-day repair project to fix the water main in the Glenville area began Monday.

....Traffic was flowing smoothly through the intersection of Glenville and Riversville roads Monday morning as Aquarion Water Co. began a 29-day repair project after water main breaks in late July and early August closed the intersection, rattled nerves and cut water to local businesses and residences.

Two-way traffic on Riversville Road -- originally planned to be simultaneous on the northbound lane while repairs are done on the closed southbound side -- will be limited to alternating one-way traffic coordinated by police officers, town officials said.
"We determined that there will not be enough lane width in the northbound lane to maintain simultaneous two-way traffic," Melissa Evans, the town's traffic operations coordinator, said in an email Monday. "Two-way traffic will still be allowed but the delays will be longer."....

....The project team will continue its coordination with the Board of Education to keep school bus traffic moving smoothly, town officials have said.

Work is expected in the area from 7 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. each day for the duration of the estimated 29-day project.

• Town unveils plans for temporary fire station in Horseneck lot

  Neil Vigdor, Staff Writer

  Temporary downtown fire station: Project clears first hurdle with selectmen's OK
  
  A plan to build a temporary fire station in the Horseneck commuter parking lot that would serve the downtown during construction of a new headquarters has cleared its first hurdle, with the Board of Selectmen giving its blessing to the $1 million project.
  
  Plans call for the town to put up two buildings on the western portion of the lot near Horseneck Lane and Shore Road to house an engine company while a new central station is built at Havemeyer Place......
  
  ....About 47 of the lot's 350 commuter spaces would be lost to the temporary structures under the proposal, which needs approval from the Connecticut Department of Transportation because one building's footprint touches a state right-of-way next to Interstate 95.
  
  "Where are people going to park?" Selectman Drew Marzullo said.....
  
  ....Despite an appeal from preservationists to save the Art Deco-era building, town officials have recommended that the current fire station be torn down and replaced with a new structure. They say the costs of renovating the building far outweigh the benefits, with the price tag of a code-compliant new facility estimated at $20.5 million, compared to $28.9 million if the town were to go the preservation route.
  
  Preservationists have questioned the building standards used by the town for pricing the renovation, however.....
  
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• Hearings on rail and bus hikes Tuesday

  Martin B. Cassidy, Staff Writer

  CTTransit riders in Stamford would see the discontinuation of the Bulls Head...
  
  Stamford will host a public hearing Tuesday on proposals to hike rail fares 16.4 percent, cut CTTransit bus service and add a dime to the cost of a bus ride. Opponents said Monday they were hopeful a slate of givebacks by state workers will halt the plans.
  
  Connecticut Rail Commuter Council Chairman Jim Cameron said train and bus riders need to turn up to a hearing in Stamford from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Stamford on Broad Street and Washington Boulevard......
  
  ...Based on Metro-North Railroad's mileage-based formula for determining fares, the 16.4 percent fare increase would make travel from Connecticut New Haven line stations 3 percent more expensive than from New York hubs, according to Daniel O'Connell, director of operations, planning, and analysis for Metro-North Railroad.....
  
  ...O'Connell said as a result of the higher Connecticut cost, Metro-North would pay Connecticut about $1 million annually to compensate for the lower New York fares ....
  
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• Greenwich interns honored at town hall

  Nicole Narea, Special Correspondent
  
  

  Greenwich resident Noelle Gmitter, 19, clutched a crumpled sheet of lined paper in her hands as if holding on to precious memories of playing double Dutch on the concrete and scoring touchdowns during impromptu football games against 6-year-old competitors outside Stamford's Yerwood Center.
  
  Skimming the sheet one last time, she rose from her seat in the Cone meeting room of town hall Monday and strode to the podium with an air of confidence to address nearly 30 people who attended an awards ceremony Monday in recognition of Greenwich interns who worked at the West Side community center this summer......
  
  ....Greenwich resident and former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Linda McMahon, First Selectman Peter Tesei, and Yerwood Center Executive Director Eugene Campbell awarded certificates to Gmitter and her fellow teen and young adult coworkers to celebrate the completion of their eight-week summer internships. Stephen Ross, India Martinez, Joseph Carey, Rejinal Gachelin, Katelin Ford, Chris Flores, and Walter Jones were among the interns honored.....
  
  ....Campbell plans to replicate the program at Greenwich High School in the coming academic year to provide additional employment opportunities for teens in Greenwich. Dean of students Lorraine Termini views the internship as an opportunity to integrate African-American and Hispanic students into the greater community and form lasting connections, she said.
  
  "It was a good experience for me," said Walter Jones, a 23-year-old in the midst of applying to Norwalk Community College. "The first couple days, it was challenging managing so many kids, but over time we established a good relationship, a good bond."
  
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• A Greenwich student's fulfilling Fulbright summer

  

  Taylor Coe, Special Correspondent

  Having been accepted into the Fulbright Summer Institute program in Wales,...
  
  Most students spend summer thinking as little about school as possible, but Michael Borchetta isn't like most students.
  
  Having been accepted into the Fulbright Summer Institute program in Wales, Greenwich's Borchetta found himself spending another six weeks in places from which most fellow students had gladly escaped. With three two-week stints at University of Bangor, Cardiff University, and Aberystwyth University, Borchetta cycled through a whirlwind of social science classes on everything Welsh -- from the country's economics to their language to their political science and history.
  
  A sophomore-to-be at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Borchetta is a double major in economics and mathematics......
  
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