Green and Clean – 6/17/09

Posted by Bob on June 18, 2009 under Daily Blogs | Be the First to Comment

Much has been made of the need for our society to “get Green”.  Here in Naugatuck we are slowly but surely working to become more conscious of conserving energy and protecting our environment.  The Renaissance Place Project is seeking to become the first energy self-sufficient development of its kind.  Efforts continue to make our Borough buildings more energy efficient.  Earth Day-type activities and clean-ups are starting to happen more than once a year.  We have begin to realize that preserving open space should be an important goal of government policy.  Finally, after years of neglect and abuse, we are starting to realize how important the Naugatuck River is not only to our quality of life, but to our economic development efforts as well.  While much work is yet to be done, the Borough is starting to do its part to ensure we preserve our planet for generations to come.

Where we have been struggling in recent years, however, is the area of blight.  One online definition of blight describes the word as meaning: “Something that impairs growth, withers hopes and ambitions, or impedes progress and prosperity” (www.thefreedictionary.com/blight).  While the word has different meanings, the aforementioned describes the situation in Naugatuck most appropriately.

For years Naugatuck has endured inappropriate dumping and littering at the hands of irresponsible individuals.  Many areas of the Borough, some at the gateways to our community, have been tarnished by trash and debris.  Public and private buildings have been defaced with graffiti, and windows have been broken by vandals.  Certain billboards have become unsightly.  While some might think this has financial consequences only to the direct victims of such actions, all of us are harmed economically by damaged property, eyesores in neighborhoods and debris discarded in random fashion.  Blight reduces all our property values, and makes a negative statement to existing and prospective businesses who help to reduce our residential property taxes.

Our administration intends to address this difficult situation in a comprehensive manner.  It would be easy for us to ask the Borough Board to pass an anti-blight ordinance.  We currently do not have such a law.  Simply passing a law, however, will not solve the problem.  Laws must be enforced, and doing so requires resources which we do not have.

At the July Borough Board meeting, our administration will propose the creation of a “Blight and Beautification Council” to address questions in the following areas:

1. Current blight laws and/or lack thereof -  What does Naugatuck current law provide?  What language should be used to create a new blight ordinance?  What are the successes and failures of existing blight ordinances in similar communities?
2. Enforcement -What are current enforcement methods?  How successful are current enforcement options?  How will the Borough enforce any new blight laws or ordinances?  Who should be responsible for enforcement efforts in whole or in part?
3. Resources -  What existing resources are used for enforcement?  How much would enforcement of any new laws or ordinances cost?  What is the cost of any marketing or educational campaigns?
4. Education -  How can we educate residents and businesses to keep their properties clean and free from blight?  How can we spread the message of keeping our community clean through our schools and community groups and organizations?  What is the correlation between a clean community and economic factors such as property values and the ability to attract businesses?
5. Beautification -  What groups and/or efforts have been successful in improving the image of our community (i.e. Naugatuck Garden Club, Earth Day Clean-Ups, Gateway Sponsorships and Signage, etc.)?  How can we encourage property owners to take more pride in their properties (i.e. Beautification Awards)?  Should there be any common themes and/or unification of effort to existing beautification endeavors?  How do we increase awareness of and appreciate for beautification efforts?

We also must be conscious of the fact that most residents are struggling during these difficult economic times.  The goal of a Blight and Beautification Council is not to make life more difficult for struggling individuals and/or businesses; but to assist and educate all of us to do our own individual part to clean and beautify the Borough of Naugatuck.

We believe that this holistic and positive approach will allow our community to address blight in our community with a plan; one that will produce results, not rhetoric.  Tackling this problem will not be easy, but together we can develop a plan to beautify our community in a comprehensive manner.  Please contact our office by email (bob@bobmezzo.com or bmezzo@naugatuck-ct.gov) or phone (203-720-7007) if you are interested in becoming part of our Blight and Beautification Council.

The Borough can be Green and Clean.  Let us work to making Naugatuck the community we always hoped it would be.