Friday, June 12, 2009

Mixville resident shares his thoughts on Mixville

An unedited guest post written to a group of Mixville supporters by Cheshire resident and Mixville neighbor, Terry Terzakis:

Hi,

I am writing to all of you who were on Laura's e mail list from the Mixville Park meetings. I want everyone to know that tonight someone from "out of town" decided to drive their Hummer SUV into the back pond at Mixville Park. This resulted in several fire trucks and several police having to answer the call to rescue. I hope all of you are as fed up as my family and as many of us in the neighborhood are. I am urging you all to take tonight's event as fuel for our fire and contact each and every member of a town authority as needed. The Town Manager, Head of Park and Rec, Police Chief, Council members... This would not have happened if the gates were closed and locked like we have been asking for since last year. The inner gate to the pavilion is not even being closed anymore. This is unacceptable and all of us need to voice this and do so loudly. And regardless of who these idiots were that decided to joy ride through the pond, someone could have been hurt or possibly killed. Is that what it's going to take for our town to wake up and do something about our park? Please pass the word to your families and neighbors whom you know are also passionate about saving our park. Now is the time to speak up. Make the calls, write the letters. Make a trip to town hall. If any of you have spent any weekend time at Mixville this summer know how bad it has become. If all of this were going on at Bartlem Park around the precious new playground there or around the pool, that park would be gated up faster than you can blink. Why is the town ignoring Mixville? Please make your voice heard.

Thanks,

Terry T. Terzakis

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

If someone is injured on that property while the gate remains open, is the town responsible?

What is our liability?

We have a town attorney who should look into this sort of thing. Just like he should look into our liability if one of the teenagers, who continue to use our skateboard park without helmets, is injured.

Legal issues should be looked at.

Anonymous said...

Good point. I would guess the town could be held liable if they purposely leave the gate open as they seem to have been doing.

The skateboard park is an accident waiting to happen too.

Anonymous said...

RE: This would not have happened if the gates were closed and locked like we have been asking for since last year.

Mssrs. Milone and Johnson are too busy to respond to your public safety concerns.

They have more pressing priorities like collecting files on people like you who complain.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Bartlem park is also being overrun. Ive noticed quite a few cricket games being played by a group from new haven. They hog the open fields and leave quite a bit of litter. Also, the new playscape is becoming an issue. My child was pushed down a slide the other day by a little boy. The boy was wearing a waterbury public school uniform. Our town is being overrun by people who do not pay our taxes while taking the perks. Put gates on all parks or let the cops start profiling. We need to take back our town before violence breaks out

Tim White said...

10:35... ouch!

It is true though that Town Hall made a conscious decision years ago to neglect Mixville. All the current concern is nothing, but damage control.

I remember sitting in a budget meeting several years ago being told that "if we close the summer camp at Mixville, then we can get those people to go to Bartlem." (paraphrase)

I see that in very simple terms:

An intentional disregard for, and neglect of, Mixville.

And the behind-the-scenes reality is that the only reason anything is even being considered now is because the vaunted 5-vote Rubber Stamp died a few months with the return of Sheldon Dill.

Otherwise, you could be absolutely certain nothing would change... unless the change was more hummers in Mixville Pond.

Anonymous said...

The skateboard park was a colossal waste of money. Idiocy like that is why the State now does not have the funds to pay for essential programs.

Amazingly, in the midst of all this, they are still passing useless "green mandates" that will drive up expenses for local government

Anonymous said...

Idiocy like the State giving $525,000 to Cheshire for a turf field is an even bigger reason they can't fund the important projects.

Anonymous said...

I think this thing is being blown out of proportion and it has been hyped to a level of hysteria. Yes, incidents occur, but I believe that the incidents described so far don't call for drastic immediate action. Even, the fact that a Hummer rolled into the water is nothing more than an isolated incident.

I was there today, on Saturday, at 2:30 PM after we went to the Strawberry Festival. I did not see any abnormal crowd or anthing that should disturb anyone. There weren't many people and they were evenly spread across the park.

I can't imagine that Monday thru Friday is any different than today was, and I can't see that a large unrully group would be using the park during the working week.

If there is an offending group, I feel that a parks representative should discuss the problem with the group and establish rules where everyone can enjoy this terrific park.

I haven't been to the park on recent Sunday, but I intend to go and see for myself what happens on Sunday. At this time, I think no action to restrict and charge residents is in the best interests of all of Cheshire's residents, I feel that charging will basically turn the park into a neihborhood park, to be used by residents who can easily walk to it and don't need a car sticker to park.

I would love to live within walking distance to the park and if I did, I know my property value would be enhance.

So, I recommend calming down, taking things slow and determine how to tweak the current rules to deter serious misuse of this facility.

Anonymous said...

hey Cheshire folks, don't you want to be able to go to other town's parks?? Just cause somebody is from NH or Waterbury doesn't mean they litter..

Anonymous said...

Hey out-of-towners, what's wrong with your own parks?

Adam Cook said...

What do you mean "Just cause somebody is from NH or Waterbury doesn't mean they litter.."

Do you think we litter our own park?
Were the ones cleaning it up every night so people who don't pay Cheshire taxes can enjoy it and drive Hummers into the pond making the existing oil slicks larger. Not that our tax dollars are finding their way to the park. If they were, maybe we'd have a baseball field where it belongs instead of in a pile at the base of the hill.

Anonymous said...

the field is at the bottom of the hill. have you considered what the extra spoil pile is for? or are you going to just bitch and moan about it? considering the field was rebuilt last fall, I think it is much better than it was.

Adam Cook said...

The baseball field is better than it was before? Are you serious? It's a muddy pitted 3rd pond at the moment, what the hell are you talking about? And if the pile is so god damn important why the hell has it been sitting there for 2 years? Your god damned right all I'm going to do is complain until something is done. And to you Mr. anonymous I say sack up and post your name.

Adam Cook said...

... And the playground is a JOKE! It used to be a real playground with sand and a massive slide. Now it sports a vandalized run-down melted-in-some-places plastic playscape which can't be used easily. Not 10 minutes ago I walked down there and the playground was 50% submerged. Later in the summer when it dries out, your kids will have to put on shoes to go from the beach to the playground. Why? Because 10 or so years ago some mental giant said "hey, lets put hard sharp splintery woodchips down on the playground.

Anonymous said...

If you are the Adam Cook that I am thinking of, didnt you try to burn the playground down once? Actually, the whole park?

Adam Cook said...

That would be Adam Cooke with an E Thanks. 20 years I've been catching flack for having the same name as that guy :-)

Anonymous said...

My bad and I appoligize.

Adam Cook said...

No big. Check out some park pictures
http://www.cooksdesign.110mb.com