Photo by Scott McIntyre

At last, work is underway on the multi-use trail adjacent to Long Lane, from the Long Hill Road soccer field to the corner of Long Lane and Wadsworth Street. The contractor is DeRita Construction Company.

While the original plan envisioned a 3-mile multi-use trail from the Wesleyan Hills development to downtown, the project was scaled back for a variety of reasons and divided into phases. This first phase of the trail will serve primarily residents in a variety of housing developments just south of Wesleyan University who wish to bicycle, walk, or run along Long Lane between Long Hill Road and Wadsworth Street, where there are no sidewalks. The path will be 10 feet wide in most cases, paved with asphalt.

Most of the work will be completed this fall, but some details, such as final landscaping, will need to wait until next spring. The Jonah Center has been the community advocate for this project since 2011 when it was partially funded by a federal grant of $400,000. This cost of this section of the trail will be approximately $1,045,000, not including time spent by City staff.

The image below shows the location of the new trail section, most of it parallel to Long Lane between Long Hill Road and Wadsworth Street.

Home Energy Solutions (HES) work crews have a slow period in summer, but you can take advantage of that by calling the Jonah Center’s partner, New England Conservation Services at 1-877-389-7077. Mention the “Jonah Center Promotion” and schedule a home visit. Continue reading →

On June 27, 2018, members of Portland’s Sidewalk Committee and Board of Selectmen held a  ground-breaking ceremony for the $1 million sidewalk improvement project.  Approximately 2 miles of cracked and uneven sidewalks in the Town’s central residential area will be replaced with brand new concrete sidewalks over the next year or so.  John Hall and Bob Herron (Jonah Board member & Treasurer) are co-chairs of the Sidewalk Committee.

PIctured above (left to right) are Bob Herron, Selectman Ralph Zampano, First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield, John Hall, Selectman Jim Tripp, Selectman Lou Pear, Director of Public Works Bob Shea, and former Selectman Fred Knous.

On May 29, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers, hundreds of citizens showed up to protest the FY2019 budget which did not contain funding for the Environmental Specialist and Arts Coordinator positions.  The arts community was represented by numerous adults who were nurtured by the Summer Circus program, including a young woman named Jasmine who entered the Council Chambers on tall “giraffe stilts.”  She had to duck to get through the door, and the camera needed to move up to capture her head and face.  The testimonies were eloquent and passionate.

In the end, the Council voted 7-3 to sustain the Mayor’s veto of the relevant line items.  8 votes were needed to override the veto.  But the struggle is not over. The positions still need to be evaluated, and refilled.

The Jonah Center and members of the environmental community remain concerned about the future of the Department of Planning, Conservation, and Development, which has 2 vacant positions and is struggling to complete urgent, necessary work.

The Jonah Center’s efforts to protect Snapping Turtles from commercial trapping was successful. The campaign began in 2012 and faced many discouraging moments along the way, but now we rejoice in victory for the ancient and majestic snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina 

Our primary turtle advocate, Barrie Robbins-Pianka (who took all of the photos above) deserves major credit for the inspiration and investigative work behind the campaign.  State Representative Matt Lesser was our legislative advocate. Wesleyan Professor Barry Chernoff provided scientific testimony. Many of you, Jonah Center advocates, sent emails and made phone calls to members and leaders of the legislature across the state.  All of this finally added up to critical mass and so, at last, our state will protect snapping turtles from commercial trade. Governor Malloy has signed the bill into law. 

To read one of the most compelling and informative testimonies sent to legislators (from Tim Walsh of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich), click here.

For the first time, a bill protecting Common Snapping Turtles from commercial trapping in Connecticut has passed in the CT General Assembly’s Environment Committee. The vote tally was 29-0.  In previous years, we could not even get a vote for Snapping Turtles in the committee. This bill also addresses commercial trade of Red-Eared Slider Turtles.

Now we need citizens to email their State Rep to bring attention to this bill.  Below is a sample message that you can cut and paste.  Additional talking points and Reps’ email addresses are further down this post. Please “Bcc:” John Hall so we know you took action. Continue reading →

The Middletown Conservation Commission is sponsoring a snowshoeing expedition at the Guida Farm Conservation Area on Saturday, February 17th with an alternative date of Saturday, February 24th. If there is no snow, a conventional hike will go forward on the 17th. The hike will begin around 9:30 at the intersection of Coleman Road and Round Hill Road – at the parking lot across from the T-intersection with Coleman Road.

If the weather is truly inclement — bitterly cold, heavily raining or seriously snowing — the ramble will be postponed until the 24th. Call 860-301-1980 for an update on the hiking plans. Continue reading →

Easy to moderately difficult group hikes will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4 at Harbor Park & River Road led by Deb Stanley; Saturday March 10 at Long Hill Estate led by Beth Lapin, and Sunday, April 8 in Maromas, led by Beth Lapin. Hikes start at 10 a.m. Click here for more information.

Mattabassett District Sewage Treatment Plant in Cromwell. Wilcox Island and the Arrigoni Bridge are visible at the top of the photo.

As described in a previous post, a sewage spill of 3.6 million gallons from the Mattabasset District plant on October 30, 2017, raised some obvious concerns and questions. In early January, John Hall met with the Mattabassett’s Executive Director Art Simonian to get some answers.

According to Mr. Simonian, the October 30 “bypass event” occurred after heavy rain forced storm water into the pipes via the seams that connect one pipe to another. This produced a larger volume (a mixture of storm water and sewage) reaching the treatment plant. As a consequence and to avoid flooding the plant itself, 3.6 million gallons of partly treated sewage needed to be discharged into the Connecticut River over a period of hours while the heavy rain and storm runoff continued. Continue reading →

The Jonah Center has learned that 3.63 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Connecticut River between 1:10 a.m and 7:10 a.m. on Monday, October 30, from the Mattabassett District wastewater treatment plant in Cromwell. On a difficult-to-find section of the CT DEEP website, this spill was reported as a “bypass event” caused by “excessive flow/storm event.” As far as we know, there was no public notice issued to warn the public of this event. We will be seeking more information about this spill and inquiring about the frequency and volumes of other spills from other nearby plants, as well as the reporting and public warning requirements. Continue reading →