On Monday, March 7, 2016, at its 7 p.m. meeting, Middletown’s Common Council unanimously adopted the Complete Streets Ordinance proposed by the City’s Complete Streets Committee. We wish to thank the many citizens who attended the meeting to show their support. The ordinance requires the City to consider the needs of all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, users of wheelchairs, and public transit riders when planning transportation improvement projects.

In practice, passage of the ordinance means that the Complete Streets Committee will have an official role in planning these improvements, insuring that our streets and roadways are modified (wherever possible and where costs are justified by the likelihood of significant community benefits) to make them safer, more usable, and more attractive for all residents, not just those driving cars and trucks.

Bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly improvements are expected to be made when roadways and sidewalks are scheduled for work as part of road bond projects, with priority given to areas around schools and commercial districts.  The Complete Streets Committee is already working with Middletown’s Public Schools to encourage more students to  walk or bike to school. The construction of multi-use trails to connect various parts of the city for non-motorized transportation and recreation is another goal of the Complete Streets Committee and the Jonah Center.

Mayor Daniel T. Drew is excited to announce the release of the 2nd Edition of the Middletown Trail Guide. The Trail Guide, which was last updated in 2004, is the result of the diligent work and perseverance of the members of the City’s Conservation Commission and community volunteers along with assistance from City staff. The updated trail guide includes maps and narrative descriptions for over 20 areas for hiking, biking, nature viewing and kayaking. Some new additions to the trail guide include the nearly 5-mile long multi-use trail, a 1.6-mile downtown walking loop, and the Mattabesset River Canoe/Kayak Trail which utilizes the City’s new car-top boat launch off Johnson Street. Continue reading →

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art invites the public to a talk by Jessie Stratton, Director of Policy for the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, on the subject of the state’s policies related to climate change. The event will take place on Tuesday, March 29, 7-8:30 p.m. at the deKoven House, 27 Washington Street, in Middletown. Ms. Stratton will discuss our state’s plans related to mitigation, adaptation, and resiliency in the face of already advancing climate change

Jessie Stratton served as a CT State Representative from Avon and Canton from 1989 to 2003 and as the House chair of the Environment Committee from 1993-2003. After six years (2005-2011) as Director of Government Affairs for Environment Northeast, now Acadia Center, the Malloy administration brought her to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to assist the department in its transition to DEEP as it included energy policy among the areas of its jurisdiction.

In presenting the state’s plans related to climate change, Ms. Stratton will touch upon such topics as the state’s energy sources, transportation, increasing storm intensity, threats to streams, rivers and Long Island Sound, adaptation and resiliency research and implementation, strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and public education regarding climate change

Co-sponsors of the event include: Ecoin (Environmental Collective Impact Network); Coginchaug Area Transition; The Rockfall Foundation; Middletown Clean Energy Task Force; Middletown Garden Club; Middlesex Land Trust; and Wesleyan University Physics 105, “The Science of Sustainability”

Dear Friends of the Jonah Center:

Due to a large volume of spam registrations on our website leading to potential security breaches, we have been forced to purge the bulk of our user database and implement a new more secure registration procedure.  If you had previously registered for the web site, your username and login information may have been deleted.  If this is the case and you are unable to login in to the site, please re-register by sending a request through our contact page with your name and email address:

Contact

This does not affect our email distribution list, which remains intact and secure.  Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Web Administrator

Local residents who oppose fracking (hydraulic fracturing) for natural gas, in cooperation with Food and Water Watch, invite the public to an informational presentation on Thursday, January 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library.

Three Connecticut towns have recently passed local ordinances banning fracking waste, joining with hundreds of municipalities in New York protected by similar bans. Why are these towns taking action to protect their communities? We’ll examine the details of these local bans, look closely at the chemical toxins and radioactive materials present in fracking wastes and discuss contamination and human health risks. A video featuring NY State legislators commenting on this issue can be found here.

Continue reading →

You are invited to a special celebration of the Air Line Trail license agreement between the Town of Portland and Eversource on Wednesday, January 20, at 7:30  p.m. at the Waverly Center, 7 Waverly Avenue in Portland. This license is a critical step toward the extension of the Air Line Trail into Portland, using property owned by Eversource.

To mark this milestone, a special celebratory 4 mile hike on the trail, called “Freezin’ for a Reason,” will follow on Saturday, January 23 at 10 AM, starting from the YMCA Camp Ingersoll parking area. Continue reading →

The November 2015 ballot referendum on a plan to refurbish and upgrade Middletown parks was controversial because of the issue of synthetic turf playing fields. The original plan called for construction of 9 synthetic turf fields, but synthetic turf was removed from the bond language, limiting the borrowing authorization to cover natural grass fields only. (See earlier posts on the series of meetings that led to this decision.) The Jonah Center and Ecoin (the Environmental Collective Impact Network) opposed synturf for reasons of human health and safety, environmental protection, aesthetics, children’s alienation from the natural world, public access, and financial risks. Continue reading →

Photo by Janice Anderson

The sunset paddle on August 22 was magical.  38 kayakers and canoeists saw the brilliant green wild rice in splendid late afternoon light. A bald eagle gave a star performance in flight and posed in a dead tree for spectator viewing, while loud cries from the nearby nest announced a young eaglet’s hunger. There was a brave great egret feeding on the shore who didn’t budge in spite of all the paddlers.  6 more great herons perched in a low tree farther away.  A great blue heron viewed all the activity from the osprey platform, while the osprey itself circled and swooped in the area.  We even saw 2 domestic goats grazing along the Mattabesset River upstream.  On the way back, as the light faded, hundreds of small, young fish broke the water surface everywhere to feed, adding a final, magical touch to the evening.  It just doesn’t get any better!

On Aug. 24, at 7 p.m., Middletown’s Common Council will consider 2 bond referenda likely to appear on the November ballot: One bond is for additional funding for the Mattabessett Sewage Treatment project. The other is to make long overdue improvements to City parks and athletic facilities.

The proposed Parks Bond would fund improvements including sidewalks, bikeways, and crosswalks at parks and schools recommended by the Complete Streets Committee. Possible projects include engineering costs for a multi-use trail connecting the Mattabessett Bike Trail terminus at Tuttle Place (Westlake Area) and Veteran’s Park; bike-ped improvements along River Road between Harbor Park and Silver Street; and bike route signage and street markings to make Middletown more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly. Complete Streets improvements are aimed at the following goals: safer and more frequent walking and bicycling; achieving the clear health benefits of these activities; reducing traffic congestion and air pollution; and better quality of life.

A controversial proposal included in the Parks Bond is the replacement of 9 natural grass athletic fields with synthetic turf fields. Synthetic turf is opposed by many members of Ecoin (Environmental Collective Impact Network) who favor natural turf maintained by organic methods, like those successfully used in Branford and other communities. The chemicals contained in synthetic turf, the heat generated on their surfaces, damage to the underlying soil and groundwater, and the required maintenance of these fields raise serious concerns. For more information on the health, environmental, and financial risks of synthetic turf, visit Ecoin’s post on this topic here.

As of Aug. 12, 2015, the Jonah Center Board of Directors has not taken a position on any of these questions, although the Complete Streets Committee, chaired by John Hall and Beth Emery, is clearly in favor of improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists included in the Parks bond.

Electricity generation rates are now relatively low (for Connecticut), due primarily to the low cost of natural gas. So this is a good time to buy your home electricity from a 3rd party supplier.
The Jonah Center is not in the business of recommending suppliers, but if you go to www.EnergizeCT.com and click on “Choose Your Electrical Supplier” on the top right, then follow the directions, you will come to a list of all available 3rd party suppliers. Eversource, listed at the top, provides the “standard offer” or default rate – the rate you pay if you do not choose a 3rd party supplier. Continue reading →

Mayor Daniel T. Drew is excited to announce that the City of Middletown is looking to make land available at low cost to a community farmer in order to support a self-sustaining Community Supported Agriculture program. The City seeks to develop a partnership to make City land available for agricultural activities to supply agricultural products for sale to the public.

The City has selected four, City-owned parcels of land, ranging in size from 3.25 to 5.6 acres, which would be suitable to support a variety of agricultural ventures. Potential agricultural uses may include fruit/vegetable crop shares, fruit/vegetable wholesale, flower gardening and sale, dairy farming, viticulture, orchards, or any other use within the scope of agriculture with which the applicant can provide a suitable business plan. A primary goal of the program is to better provide Middletown residents with access to agricultural goods.

The mayor will formally announce the project on Friday, August 14, 2015 at 9:30 am at one of the City’s open space parcels located off River Road, east of Silver Street. There will be an informational session for all interested parties on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 3:00 at City Hall and all proposals are due by September 23, 2015.

The City is open to hearing all proposals and would like to select a project to begin in 2016.

Contact: Michelle Ford, Planning and Environmental Specialist, City of Middletown, 245 deKoven Drive, Room 202, Middletown, CT 06457. 860-638-4837

Due to Jonah Center action, commercial trapping of Snapping Turtles is now at least regulated by the CT DEEP.  Prior to this action, commercial trapping of these ancient creatures was unrestricted in terms of limits, season, or methods.

Now, the season is only from July 15 through September 30. The traps must be at least partly above water at all times to allow turtles to breathe, must have a 7.5″ escape hatch for small turtles, and the wire mesh must not be narrower than 1 inch. A numbered tag (4 or 6 digits, identifying the license holder) must be visible above the water.

When you are out paddling on the “Floating Meadows” or any other Connecticut waterway, please look for snapping turtle traps and take a photo, using location services so that geographical coordinates are recorded, and let the Jonah Center know of your siting. Email us your photo.  If there is no number of the trap, or if you believe it is an illegal trap for any reason, or if it is out of season, please call the CT DEEP Dispatch Center for Enforcement at 860-424-3333 immediately.