Christmas card artists

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, left, recognizes the designers of her Christmas cards Friday in the lobby of Bailey Middle School.

Joining Rossi are, from left, Bailey seventh-grader Amanda Zheng, Assistant Principal Stacy Sutton, seventh-grader Amy Zheng, eighth-grader Aleska Aponte, seventh-grader Cassidy Montz, Principal Robert Bohan, seventh-grader Rose Vitale and Assistant Principal Scott Shand.

The students received their original artwork in a frame, along with a professional copy of their card.

(City Photo/Ruth G. Torres)

Bulk trash pickup, e-waste drop-off schedule announced for 2019

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — The 2019 bulk trash pickup schedule is April 8-12 and Sept. 9-13.

Residents are reminded to separate metals and recyclables from regular trash and to put out trash no more than 24 hours before pickup. Violations carry a $100 fine per daily offense, Public Works Commissioner Tom McCarthy said.

Bulk items include couches, chairs, tables, carpeting, padding, fencing and small amounts of bundled lumber, which may not exceed 6 feet in length. No building materials, tires, mattresses, propane tanks or hazardous waste are accepted.

Options for disposing of building materials include renting a dumpster or bringing the materials to a disposal facility for a fee.

Tires can be brought to Lakin Tire East Inc., 220 Frontage Road, for a fee.

Mattresses can be disposed of for free in a container at the city’s highway maintenance garage, 1 Collis St. Mattresses must be dry.

Propane tanks can be brought to Taylor Rental, 304 Boston Post Road, Orange, for a fee of $10 per tank.

Hazardous waste can be dropped off for free at HazWaste Central, 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven. HazWaste is open Saturday mornings from mid-May through October.

In addition to bulk trash, the city picks up household appliances, also known as white goods, and toilets. To schedule a pickup on their curbside collection day, residents must call the Highway Department at 203-937-3644 or 203-927-3585. Appliance doors must be removed.

The amount of bulk trash per collection is limited to 6 cubic yards, which is equal to a pile of trash about 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4 ½ feet high.

Homeowners are required to rent a dumpster or hire a junk removal service at their expense if trash exceeds 6 cubic yards. Otherwise, trash exceeding 6 cubic yards will be left at the curb, and a $100 fine per daily offense will be imposed, McCarthy said.

To prevent a potential fine, property owners should familiarize themselves with the city’s trash guidelines at Public Works.

Bulk trash must be generated by the customer at the residential unit where it is collected. Trash will not be collected if it is generated by anyone other than the resident of the home.

Bulk items must be separated and orderly. Do not place them next to a mailbox or utility pole or close to a fence, McCarthy said.

Also, do not place bulk items in front of a vacant lot or home — they will not be collected, he said.

Details at Bulk Trash Pickup.

The 2019 e-waste drop-off days are April 13, July 13, Sept. 14 and Nov. 9.

Residents can drop off electronic recyclables — typically anything that contains a circuit board or needs a battery — from 8 a.m. to noon at the highway maintenance garage.

Anything that has refrigerant, including air conditioners and dehumidifiers, is not accepted. Those items are considered white goods, and residents are asked to schedule a pickup on their weekly collection day by calling the Highway Department.

The e-waste drop-off is free for residents who have such items as TVs, hand-held video games, computers, monitors, copiers, scanners, microwaves, toaster ovens and other small appliances.

Details at E-waste Drop-off.

For the latest news and information, subscribe to the city’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CityofWestHaven.

Reminders about Christmas trees, leaf bags, holiday trash pickup

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — The city reminds residents not to put Christmas trees in plastic bags or stands for curbside pickup.

Lights must also be removed from Christmas trees. Plastic bags and other items can become tangled in the machine that grinds the trees into compost.

Christmas trees will be picked up in January only. Residents needing a pickup after January will be charged a $25 fee. Christmas trees can also be brought to the compost site at 1 Kimberly Ave.

The 2019 leaf bag pickup schedule is April 1-June 1 and Oct. 1-Dec. 31.

Grass clippings are not allowed in leaf bags, per state law. Leaves must be in biodegradable paper bags and will not be accepted if they are in plastic bags.

“Crews will not pick up leaf bags containing anything other than leaves,” Public Works Commissioner Tom McCarthy said. “No grass, no branches, no sand, no rocks, no dirt.”

Residents are also reminded that brush and branches should be tied in small bundles. Logs and stumps will not be picked up, McCarthy said.

All leaf bags and brush are disposed of at the compost site, where they are grinded into compost. Compost is free with proof of residence.

McCarthy pointed out that residents can bring grass clippings as well as bagged leaves and untied brush to the compost site from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and, starting in the spring, from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Also, residents are reminded that five holidays during the year delay curbside pickup one day.

Affordable Waste Systems LLC of East Haven, the city’s private contractor for rubbish and recyclables, will not pick up rubbish, recyclables or metals Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

If a holiday falls on a weekday, pickup for that week will move ahead one day.

But when a holiday like Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, only Thursday and Friday’s collections will move up a day.

Thanksgiving is also the only holiday that excludes metal pickup in those affected districts.
Separate metals and recyclables from regular trash.

Detailed information about the city’s trash and recycling guidelines is available at Public Works.

For the latest news and information, subscribe to the city’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CityofWestHaven.

About 175 intrepid participants dash in and out of the 34-degree water of Long Island Sound during the 18th annual Icy Plunge for the Cure benefit Jan. 13, 2018, at Savin Rock Beach. (Russ McCreven/West Haven Voice via City of West Haven, File)

Icy Plunge to mark anniversary of breast cancer program

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — The Icy Plunge for the Cure, a longtime winter tradition, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the West Haven Breast Cancer Awareness Program.

Participants in the plunge can break out the arctic swimwear at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 2 at Savin Rock Beach.

Registration starts at 8 a.m. in the Savin Rock Conference Center, 6 Rock St.

The benefit, in its 19th year, was spearheaded by city and police officials to increase breast cancer awareness. Their initial meeting, on Sept. 28, 2000, led to the creation of the West Haven Breast Cancer Awareness Committee and a series of fundraisers, including the plunge, in support of breast cancer research and education.

The events, which included a duckpin bowling tournament, bake sale, pizza taste-off, walkathon and candlelight vigil, were held in memory of Susan A. Ruickoldt, a third-grade Savin Rock Community School teacher who died of breast cancer in 1997.

In 2003, the committee established the Susan A. Ruickoldt Scholarship Fund, which awards $2,000 to a female high school senior from West Haven who plans to continue her education.

Today, the scholarship fund and plunge are the committee’s remaining initiatives, said city Human Resources Commissioner Beth A. Sabo, a founding member who is joined on the committee by founders Maureen Blake, Jennifer Cavallaro, Ronald M. Quagliani, Susan See, Colleen Smullen and Lorie Tamaro, as well as new member Anthony Cordone.

“It has truly been an unbelievable run for the plunge and scholarship,” Sabo said.

The first 100 people to register for the frosty dip will receive “plungewear.” The top fundraiser will receive a prize.

Participants will wait on the beach for the signal to charge into the frigid surf of Long Island Sound. Wetsuits are not allowed.

About 175 people took part in last year’s event, which netted $25,000, Sabo said.

Since the inaugural plunge in 2001, the committee has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for breast cancer research and education, buoyed by Cordone, a local contractor who has raised close to $200,000 for the cause during that time, Sabo said.

Proceeds have previously gone to the Smilow Breast Center at Yale New Haven Hospital and Looking Forward, an education and wellness program for cancer patients at Smilow.

Organizers anticipate another hearty turnout this year, with invitations extended to Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and her predecessors, former Mayors Edward M. O’Brien, John M. Picard and H. Richard Borer Jr.

City, police and fire departments are forming teams and issuing challenges to one another to help raise the stakes and more money.

After the plunge, organizers will hold a raffle with prizes donated by area businesses.

Sabo said the event is a celebration of survivors and a remembrance of loved ones who have died of the disease.

Registration forms are available in the Department of Human Resources on the second floor of City Hall, 355 Main St.

Pledges for the plunge must be handed in the day of the event, Sabo said. Checks are payable to the West Haven Breast Cancer Awareness Program.

For information or to sponsor the plunge, call Sabo at 203-937-3558.

Send donation checks to the West Haven Breast Cancer Awareness Program, Department of Human Resources, 355 Main St., West Haven, CT 06516.

Masons cited for donating hall for special needs dance

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — From left, Robert S. Morton, director of West Haven Youth and Family Services, presents a wooden “Community Service Award” plaque to Steven R. Mullins, worshipful master of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Annawon Lodge 115, and lodge Secretary Frank J. Andrulli III on Thursday at City Hall.

The Masons were recognized by Morton on behalf of the West Haven Interagency Network for Children for donating the lodge hall at 263 Center St. for WHINC’s Halloween dance for special needs children.

Morton is the chairman of WHINC.

(City Photo/Rosa Richardson)

Paintings of former city landmarks donated

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — City native David Stannard displays his paintings of former West Haven institutions — Chick’s Drive-in, 183 Beach St., and The Bilco Co., 37 Water St. — on the first floor of City Hall Thursday.

Stannard, 58, now of Northford, donated the glass-framed oil pastels to the city, which plans to hang them on the wood-paneled wall outside the assessor’s office.

(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

Blue Ribbon School

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 8, 2019 — Forest Elementary School Principal Thomas J. Hunt on Dec. 14 receives a citation from Mayor Nancy R. Rossi recognizing Forest as a National Blue Ribbon School.

Before presenting Hunt with the citation during a celebration in the school gym, Rossi congratulated and praised the assembly of students, teachers, faculty and staff for their remarkable achievement and hard work.

“Your determination, character and commitment to excellence have placed Forest among the finest elementary schools in the United States,” said Rossi, reading the citation. “The West Haven Public School District continues to lead because we have great teachers and great students.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is an annual award bestowed by the U.S. Education Department on schools nationwide for high academic performance or greatest progress in achievement gap closure among subgroups.

Hunt also received a General Assembly citation marking the occasion from state Reps. Michael A. DiMassa, D-West Haven, Charles J. Ferraro, R-West Haven, and Dorinda Borer, D-West Haven, on behalf of the delegation.

The ceremony was also attended by Board of Education members Secretary-Treasurer Susan Walker, Patricia B. Libero and Rosa Richardson; Superintendent of Schools Neil C. Cavallaro and Assistant Superintendent Anne P. Druzolowski; City Council Minority Leader Richard DePalma, R-at large, and Councilman Peter V. Massaro, D-6; and mayoral Executive Assistant Lou Esposito.

(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)