Jim Glowienka and Walt Kirkman, representing
The Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited, met with representatives of
Stamford’s Parks Management on April 20th, 2004, in
their offices in the City’s Municipal Building. A second meeting
was held the two days later as a river walk along the Mianus
River. This memo is a summary of these meetings.
We met with Erin McKenna,
Stamford’s new member of their Land Use Bureau, and her boss Robin
Stein, the man in charge of their Land Use Bureau. Tom Bruccoleri,
a member of the Stamford Government Traffic Dept. joined us during
the latter part of the meeting. Erin has taken over Tom
Bruccoleri’s responsibilities for managing the Mianus River Park
and the Mianus River. Erin provided Jim and Walt with copies of
Tom’s memo on Mianus River Park issues.
The purpose of this meeting
was for us to meet with these new Stamford people as
representatives of Trout Unlimited, and to acquaint Erin and Robin
with the conditions that exist in the Park. Also, to describe the
very different interests/activities in the Park of the three
principal user groups, to elicit an exchange of ideas, and to get
back on track to develop a plan that will address the various Park
problems in a timely and effective manner.
We described the current
conditions of the Mianus River Park and the Mianus River. We
commented upon the biker’s activities, the dog walker’s
indifference to the leash laws, many fisherman’s carelessness
moving in/out of the River, absence of game wardens and lack of
police enforcement of existing City of Stamford Ordinances.
Generally, described the degradation that has occurred in this gem
of a park that is truly a special resource for the people of
Stamford and Greenwich.
We also reviewed some of the
many initiatives considered that could have helped to correct
these problems. In the dialog that ensued, we emphasized Trout
Unlimited’s commitment to improving Connecticut’s cold water
resources, and to our successful experience in managing the types
of river related programs that are needed citing the work already
done and in process on the Norwalk River.
We discussed next steps. Erin
characterized the process we are embarking upon as management;
planning, budgeting and the process of implementation. In this
instance, this will entail involvement with two other departments
of Stamford’s government, i.e. Operations and Police. The former
will involve Parks & Recreation Maintenance plus Health & Safety.
The latter will involve the city’s enforcement capabilities.
Highlights that emerged from
this extremely worthwhile meeting.
 | Reiterated TU’s hands-on
experience and success in carrying out river projects designed
to improve water quality and reduce degradation of the river
banks working in conjunction with the towns involved, the DEP
and the USDA. |
| They introduced the idea of
Park Rangers to carry out the duties heretofore relegated to
State Game Wardens and City Police. The infrastructure into
which these Park Rangers would fit in Stamford and the scope of
their specific duties were not developed at this meeting.
|
| The use of private funding
as supplemental funding or matching funds, corporate sponsorship
and direct contribution of both manpower and materiel was met
with some surprise. And, was most welcome as we described the
successes TU had in operating with this community
participation. |
| Concepts for control of the
Park’s use by its publics were considered. For example,
limited access by each class of user, park passes, and
designating specific trails for use by each user group.
|
| Most importantly, to set up
a next meeting including representatives of other user groups as
soon as possible. |
