To the Editor:

I work a few hours per week at Sweet Frog here in town. Last Wednesday I locked the store up at 1:30 p.m. for the owner Jennifer to reopen around 2 p.m. 

Leaving a note on the door stating this, customers became concerned when at 3:30 p.m. she still was not there. They started contacting the Police Department thinking something was terribly wrong. 

Now our Police Department is very busy and could have just told these customers not to worry and she was probably just running late, but they didn’t do that. Instead they contacted her alarm company and asked them to page her.

When she did she was told to contact the Westport Police and let them know she was alright so they could reassure all her customers when they called in.

To the Editor:

My name is Art Buckman. I filed the petition to allow the trapping of aggressive coyotes in Westport. Since filing the petition, I have heard from residents about many dangerous encounters with coyotes. 

These encounters range from stalking to aggressive behavior toward people to attacks on pets and sadly, the killing of pets.

One item I find disturbing is the misinformation out in the public. Information is “put out there” as fact or the norm, when it is the exception or a rare occurrence. 

An example of this, is the use of foot hold traps. The traps used in Connecticut meet international standards for humaneness. They are designed to catch and hold an animal, not injure it. 

To the Editor:

As a Westport voter, I take pride that we ban hunting and trapping. We are the only town in Connecticut that does, due to special statutory authority granted many years ago.

Other towns should be able to ban hunting trapping if they so choose. I was happy to hear that this year, for the first time, a bill was introduced that would allow municipalities to ban trapping.

The bill, proposed by a Fairfield County Representative, the Honorable Fred Camillo, was blocked from even having a public hearing by DEEP, and now DEEP is working hard right here in Westport to try to overturn our community’s long-standing ban on trapping.

The head of DEEP’s trapping program even showed up at our last ordinance committee meeting (in his DEEP uniform), despite the fact that this meeting provided no opportunity for his input.

To the Editor:

The noise in my neighborhood between Long Lots and Cross Highway over the past few years has become unbearable. Being outside during the summer before 7 p.m. is pretty much a no-hoper, at least where I live.

It is either a chain saw, a huge tree shredder, the reverse alarm on a large truck, a leaf blower, a lawn mower or somebody getting their septic drained. It never seems to stop and has me eager to get out of town or praying for winter, which is weird.

Maybe we have just had some bad luck and it will change. Maybe it is not so bad in other parts of Westport. But it seems a helluva way to live, particularly given the price of living here.

I am curious if others have a similar experience and if there is anything that might be done.

Gerard MacDonell,
Westport

To the Editor:

The Board of Finance and First Selectman have written a few notices lately regarding the town budgets, and I just feel a few things have gotten lost in the shuffle. 

My husband went to Town Hall the other day so his fellow firefighter could turn in his retirement papers. He has served this town for 38 years. He did this not because he wants to retire, but because he has to. 

It was a sad moment for everyone. This is years of experience walking out the door, and he is not alone. They are all facing significant reductions in benefits.

The Firefighters Union and the town are still in arbitration over their contract. My husband has been a firefighter in this town for over 20 years. He did not take this job to be wealthy. He took this job because he cares about this town.