Monday, December 11, 2023

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Fuel Assistance Available

The Westport Department of Human Services reminded residents today that applications for fuel assistance are still being accepted at its office in Town Hall, Room 200, 110 Myrtle Ave.

Officials encouraged eligible Westport residents to apply as soon as possible, as the deadline is March 14 for those who heat with oil and April 29 for residents who heat with gas or electric

To qualify, a family of two may have an annual gross income of up to $43,327, and asset limits for the state program are $15,000 for homeowners and $12, 000 for renters

For further information or to schedule an appointment call (203) 341-1050.

Presentation to Owners of 36 Narrow Rocks Rd.

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Bob Weingarten (l), Westport Historical Society house historian, presents Westporter Simon Hallgarten (whose wife, Robbyn, could not be present) with a recent photograph of their 36 Narrow Rocks Road home, built in 1795, and, through lenticular photographic imaging, a replica of the house as it appeared in 1935. The lenticular imaging was created by Westport graphic artist Miggs Burroughs (r). The photographs are part of the collection of 131 photographs of Westport houses taken in 1935 seen in the exhibit “Window to Westport’s Past and Present” at the Westport Historical Society. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Real Estate Report: Negotiating is Fine Art

By Judy Szablak

Special to WestportNow

Negotiating your home sale or purchase in Westport is a fine art, and you or your agent should look for clues to decipher the personalities, timing, and communication styles involved in order to best negotiate an agreement.

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Featured Home: This newly built 11-room home at 7 Tupelo Road is listed at $1,999,999.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of Coldwell Banker Westport-Riverside and William Raveis Westport.

Some people reply as quickly as possible, yet others have to mull things over before they give an answer.

Know which type of personality you are dealing with. A fast counter-offer may not necessarily mean the other side is overly anxious, and a slower than expected response does not always mean that the other party is not motivated or interested in pursuing a transaction.

One wrong move in negotiations can either cost you money, or even lose the deal, so be very careful. Emotions can run high, and tempers can flare over otherwise minor items.

CT Slowly Embraces New Zoning Method

By Tom Condon

www.ctmirror.org

Dixwell Avenue in Hamden is an inelegant and jumbled commercial strip, a paean to post-World War II planning, a hurried venue for cars where pedestrians or bike riders venture at considerable risk. For example, at the 1950s-era Hamden Plaza, diners leaving Panera Bread on one side of the mall often find the parking lot so vast and uninviting that they get in their cars to pilgrimage to Ashley’s Ice Cream on the other side.

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Hamden Plaza on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Tom Condon/Ctmirror.org

But over time Dixwell and Hamden’s other two major commercial thoroughfares, State Street and Whitney Avenue, may take on a friendlier look and scale; indeed Whitney already is.

Hamden has joined a quiet revolution going on across the country in an area not usually associated with revolutionary fervor: zoning. Instead of focusing on what a building is used for, as traditional zoning does, the new approach, called “form-based zoning,” concentrates on what a building looks like — its form — and how it relates to the street and the neighborhood.

Advocates say the focus on the physical form of buildings encourages diverse, attractive and walkable streets, protects the character of neighborhoods and encourages development by making it more predictable and less administratively cumbersome.

Click here for more of story

Susan Granger at the Movies: ‘Anomalisa,’ ‘The Lady in the Van,’ ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’

By Susan Granger

Special to WestportNow

Make no mistake: “Anomalisa” is an R-rated animated feature - for adults!

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In writer/director Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” he raised provocative philosophical questions which he now explores existentially, utilizing puppets in stop-motion animation.

First seen on an airplane to Cincinnati, middle-aged Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) is the acutely depressed author of a customer-service self-help book called “How May I Help You Help Them?”

Preparing to deliver a motivational speech the next day, Michael checks into the posh Fregoli Hotel, dutifully calls his wife and son in Los Angeles, and tries to re-ignite an old flame for a drink.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016


8 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Sherwood Island Nature Center – Friends of Sherwood Island Park 2nd-Wednesday Nature Walk
8:30 a.m. – Town Hall Room 307/309 – Board of Selectmen (live coverage cable channel 79, AT&T channel 99, and westportct.gov)
9:15 a.m. – Town Hall Room 201 – Fire Department Strategic Planning Steering Committee
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Westport Arts Center – “Enid Munroe: Artist & Alchemist”
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Westport Historical Society – “Window to Westport’s Past & Present”
10 a.m. – 3 p.m. – 44 Imperial Ave. – Westport Woman’s Club Curio Cottage Half-price Sale
12:30 p.m. – Unitarian Church (10 Lyons Plains Road) – Westport Domestic Violence Task Force
1 p.m. – Westport Library – Board of Finance Special Budget Meeting
8 p.m. – Town Hall Room 309 – RTM Long-Range Planning Committee

See more events:  Celebrate Westport Calendar

BOF Looks at Ambitious Parks & Rec Budget

Westport’s Board of Finance took an informal second look tonight at First Selectman Jim Marpe’s proposed $91,639,626 budget for 2016-17, a $727,396 or .8 percent increase over the current year.

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Restoring the riverwalk along the Saugatuck River near the Westport Library was cited as one of the proposed 2016-17 Parks and Recreation projects. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com

Tonight’s focus—the Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments’ budgets, general government departments and the Wakeman Town Farm.

Combined with the Board of Education $113.5 million proposed budget, Marpe’s municipal forecast would bring the overall town budget to $205,588,568, a 1.49 percent increase.

The Public Works proposed budget of $9,716,717 shows a modest 1.4 percent increase over the current year’s $9,583,246 operating budget.