Lack of proper snow removal in Danbury is placing the public's safety at risk

Friday, January 14, 2011
Time: 4:05 PM

STORY BUMPED TO THE TOP @ 4:05 PM



I can't believe I'm actually writing this post.

It seems like some residents are being BONEHEADS when it comes to snow removal, specially when it comes to removing snow from the sidewalks and around fire hydrants.

Now before I start, let me just state that it's ABSOLUTELY INSANE for people not to clean the snow from their sidewalks and fire hydrants...ABSOLUTELY INSANE. I mean really, do you need someone to tell you the importance of removing snow around a freaking FIRE HYDRANT or removing snow from a sidewalk? Have we become so lazy of a society that people won't do the right thing until they are told by an authority?

Although you would think that cleaning around a fire hydrant would be common sense, throughout the city there are instances where this is not the case and hydrants and sidewalks are STILL covered with snow. This brings up an interesting set of questions:

1. Is there a city ordinance that outlines a property owner's responsibility when it comes to the snow removal around fire hydrants and/or sidewalks?

2. How much snow needs to be removed around a fire hydrant in order to be in compliance with city regulations (if there is a regulation in the first place)?

3. Which city department is responsible for enforcing snow removal responsibilities? City Works? Fire Department? U.N.I.T.?

4. Is there a penalty for not properly removing snow from the sidewalk and/or around a fire hydrant?

Although this seems silly to even be writing about this topic, as you can see in the above images (which were taken around the Balmforth-Osborne Street area), the lack of proper snow removal in the city is a rather serious problem...and I don't think I need to explain how the public's irresponsible attitude to this subject is placing the city's overall public safety at risk...

I'll update this post once I get some answers...

NOTE: If you see a fire hydrant and/or sidewalk that's not cleaned, snap a photo and send it to me (along with the location) at hatcityblog@yahoo.com (or @hatcityblog via Twitter) with the location and I'll document it by adding the image to this post.

The faster the problem is caught, the faster the problem can be addressed.


UPDATE: WHOA!!!!! I didn't expect the flood of emails I received on this topic. I guess I wasn't the only person concerned about the hydrant problem.

Send your photos (and location of the problem) to me at @hatcityblog via Twitter and I'll add it to the post!

UPDATE 6:00 PM: Danbury Fire Department responds (via NewsTimes Twitter feed):
Danbury firefighters have been digging out fire hydrants for a good part of the day, they said. There are about 1,800 of them in the city.

Since there's a 99.999999999 percent chance the Danbury Fire Department is reading this post, send your photos of buried fire hydrants to @hatcityblog on Twitter, or email me at hatcityblog@yahoo.com and I'll post the images to this write-up. Remember, the faster you point out the problem, the faster the city can fix the problem.

UPDATE 7:30 AM: OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!!

I received a number of messages on Twitter about Carol Kaliff at the News-Times beat me to the punch.

This is SO embarrassing...this is the fire hydrant in front of City Hall on Friday.

Hydrant_CityHall01

Now this is unacceptable plain and simple. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the driveway and sidewalk in front of City Hall was cleared after the storm so why wasn't the hydrant?

We're talking about City Hall!

Here's what the mayor had to say about cleaning sidewalks and hydrants (via News-Times).
Mayor Mark Boughton said if a fire hydrant is on a resident's property, the resident has the responsibility of clearing snow around it.

Given the unacceptable situation at City Hall (and the fact that the building was open on Thursday), maybe the mayor should think about leading by example.

Conveniently, the hydrant was later cleared that same day.

Hydrant_CityHall02

Now it's unfortunate that the Fire Department is getting stuck with this gross incompetence since residents should be out there doing the right thing in the first place (or in the case of City Hall, whoever cleaned the property). With another storm coming thins weekend and next week, hopefully this post can serve as a wake-up call before someone gets hurt!

If you live near a fire hydrant, PLEASE do the right thing and take the time to clean around it...the same goes for sidewalks.

...I'm still at a loss that I'm actually writing about this subject.


Keep sending me your photos of any dangers in the city. Send your pics of uncleared sidewalks and fire hydrants, as well as the location of the danger, to @hatcityblog (via Twitter) or email to hatcityblog@yahoo.com. The faster we can point out the danger, the faster the problem will be fixed.

Stew Leonards:

IMG_1362

Beaver Brook Road (note how the business worked around the hydrant when they cleaned the sidewalk):

IMG_1359


Finance Drive:

IMG_2323

Town Hill Ave:

IMG_2328

Town Hill Ave:



State Street:



State Street:


posted by ctblogger at 4:05 PM | Permalink|

0 Comments:

Add a comment

© 2024 Hat City Blog | READ, WATCH, AND LEARN.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

INDEPENDENT PARTY OF DANBNRY
DATABASE COMING SOON


“Facebook”“Twitter”“Email”

trans_button
CITY OF DANBURY VIDEO ARCHIVE (Dec 2012-present)

The Mercurial (RIP)
Danbury News Times
Danbury Patch
Danbury Hamlet Hub
Danbury Daily Voice
Tribuna Newspaper
CT News Junkie
CT Capitol Report

10.03.18 (PDF):
"Approval of Danbury Prospect Charter School"

10.30.20 (HatCityBLOG VID): Charter School discussion during 2020 interview with Julie Kushner

2018 (RADIO): WLAD
"State Board of Ed signs off on Danbury charter school proposal"

08.20 (VID): CT-LEAD
"Stand up for Education Justice" Rally

08.20.20 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Charter schools are not ‘magic bullet’ to improving Danbury schools"

09.13.20 (OP-ED): CHAPMAN
Candidate for state Senate supports charter school for Danbury

01.15.21 (VID): CT-LEAD
Danbury Prospect Charter School press conference

03.19.21 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Danbury leaders do not want a charter school"

04.01.21 (OP-ED): CT-LEAD:
"Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us?"

05.06.21 (VID): Danbury rally to fully fund public schools

10.07.21 (VID): Danbury City-Wide PTO "Meet the Candidates" education forum

10.07.21 NEWSTIMES
Danbury candidates quarrel over charter school, education funding

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"New operator named for Danbury charter school: ‘I’m a huge advocate for parent choice’"

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"Some Danbury Democrats ‘open minded’ about charter school after new, CT operator named"

01.21.22 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Lessons from Danbury: Ending the dual process for charter school approval"

02.09.22 NEWSTIMES
"Proposed Danbury charter school won’t open in 2022, governor leaves funding out of budget"

02.18.22 NEWSTIMES:
Danbury residents plead for charter school funds in 9-hour state budget hearing: ‘Just exhausted’

03.05.22 (LTE):
Time has come for Danbury charter school

03.12.22 (OP-ED): TAYLOR
"Why I am excited about the Danbury Charter School"

03.16.22 (LTE):
"Why a Danbury Charter School?"

04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
"Crowding and a Lack of Options for Danbury Students, But No Agreement on Solutions"

04.04.22 (OP-ED): DCS
"Danbury Charter School plans debut"

04.07.22 (PODCAST): (CEA)
"SENATOR KUSHNER DISCUSSES POINTS OF OPTIMISM FOR DANBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS"

04.18.22 (VID): CT-LEAD
Protest press conference

04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU
Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school

06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER:
"Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"

trans_button
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.

The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.

Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.

Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MAYOR BOUGHTON'S DEPOSITION

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MIKE McLACHLAN (then MAYOR CHIEF OF STAFF) DEPOSITION

Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants v.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
3:06-cv-01992-RNC ( D. Conn. )

(02.25.08) Court docket

(10.24.07) Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Emergency Motion for Protective Order

(09.26.07) Press Release

(12.14.06) Complaint


Barrera v. Boughton, No. 07-01436
(D. Conn. filed Sept. 26, 2007)

(02.25.08) Court Docket

Amended complaint

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims

Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Defendants' Answer to Amended Complaint

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Immigrant's 2006 arrest was flawed Danbury mayor testifies

(10.05.07 (VIDEO) Boughton mislead the public about Danbury's involvement in raid

(09.18.07) Yale Law Students expose Danbury involvement in raid

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Interview with Yale Law Students at FOI presser

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 FOI complaint media roundup

City Clerk Jean Natale standing next to skinhead sparks outrage

(10.03.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 rally

(09.29.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 case deepens

Word of raid spread across the country

(09/29/06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 protest news conference

(09/29/06) Immigrant newspaper "El Canillita" gives best account of ICE day labor raid at Kennedy Park


trans_button Santos Family Story
VIDEO: Tereza Pereira's ordeal with ICE agents

VIDEO: Danbury Peace Coalition Immigration Forum (April 2006)
featuring Mayor Boughton and Immigration attorney Philip Berns

VIDEO: 2007 Stop the Raids immigration forum at WCSU

2007: Community protest anti-immigration forum

A tribute to Hispanic Center Director and immigrant activist Maria Cinta Lowe



trans_button
2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Results:
11.15.23 Recanvass return
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Election night returns
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Initial returns


ESPOSITO FINANCE REPORTS:
Oct 10 2022
Jan 10 2023
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

ALVES FINANCE REPORTS:
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

CAMPAIGN SLATE DATABASE
Dem/GOP slate/ballot position

VIDEO: DRTC convention
VIDEO: DDTC conveniton


2021 (ALVES/ESPOSITO)

TOWN COMMITTEES
(VID) DDTC nomination convention
(PDF) DDTC campaign slate flyer

(VID) DRTC nomination convention
(PDF) DRTC campaign slate flyer

FORUMS/DEBATES
(VID) 2021 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum

CAMPAIGN FINANCE
First quarter
Alves Apr 10th SEEC filing

Second quarter
Alves Jul 10th SEEC filing
Esposito Jul 10th SEEC filing

Third quarter
Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

CAMPAIGN MAILERS
Alves "Jan 6th" attack mailer 10.21.21
Esposito "you can't trust Alves" attack mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 09.30.21
Esposito mailer 09.28.21
Alves mailer 09.27.21
Esposito mailer 09.27.21


PAST CAMPAIGN COVERAGE

2005 (BOUGHTON/ESPOSITO)
Danbury 2005 election results
Newstimes Dean Esposito profile (10.25.05)

2007 (BOUGHTON/ABRANTES)
Danbury 2007 election results
(VID) Helana Abrantes TV ad
(VID) BRT tax deferral presser
(VID) Helena Abrantes "Community Forum" interview

2009 (BOUGHTON/GONCALVES)
Danbury 2009 election results
(VID) 2009 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2009 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2009 DDTC nomination convention

2011 (BOUGHTON/TABORSAK)
Danbury 2011 election results
(VID) Saadi/Nero campaign kickoff

2013 (BOUGHTON/NO DTC ENDORSED CANDIDATE/MCALLISTER)
Danbury 2013 election results
(VID) 2013 DDTC nominaiton convention

2015 (BOUGHTON UNCHALLENGED)
Danbury 2015 election results

2017 (BOUGHTON/ALMEIDA)
Danbury 2017 election results
(VID) Al Almeida concession speech
(VID) 2017 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) Al Almeida nomination acceptance speech

2019 (BOUGHTON/SETARO)
Danbury 2019 election results
(VID) 2019 NewsTimes Editorial Board interview with Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro
(VID) 2019 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2019 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2019 convention endorsement speeches from Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro