Seen and Heard in Norwalk: Surprise at the Camacho residence

NORWALK, Conn. – Here are some items of interest that were seen or heard recently in Norwalk:

Breaking news, husband no longer missing

The first snowstorm of the season caused a commotion – or at least an announcement on Facebook – at Democratic Town Committee Chairman Ed Camacho’s house.

Camacho’s wife, Dede Farnsworth posted this on Jan. 26:

“Breaking News: Due to the State of Emergency, attorney and DTC Chairman Edwin Camacho, was actually seen eating dinner at HOME this evening! Mrs Camacho became alarmed when she noticed a man sitting across the table from her around the dinner hour, and notified the authorities. Investigation revealed that the man was indeed her husband, whom Mrs Camacho claims not to have seen in this location in over a year, and so had become confused, authorities report. The press has been alerted and a statement from Mr Camacho is expected any time now.”

Farnsworth went on to speculate what Camacho’s comment would be: “Every place else was closed!”

No apps for you

Department of Public Works Principal Engineer Dick Linnartz appeared in front of Planning Commission members Tuesday, along with DPW Director Hal Alvord, to explain the items the department had requested for funding through the 2015-16 capital budget.

One of those items was an incident management system. Linnartz said that included movable signs, an idea from 19 years ago that had never gotten funded. A grant had allowed Norwalk to buy two such signs, but they were also available to surrounding towns, which means that the signs are not available in an emergency.

The idea is that when there is a big accident on Interstate 95 the (new) signs would be positioned to tell drivers what route to take once they get dumped off the highway and into Norwalk.

“It would be cheaper to do that with an app, cell phone,” PC Chairman Torgny Astrom said.

“I’m sorry?” Linnartz replied.

“I’m not trying to be facetious, but isn’t there an app for that?” Astrom asked.

“I don’t know what you mean by app,” Linnartz said.

“An app on your cellphone,” Alvord said.

Linnartz is retiring this summer. The incident management system, which includes new cameras for traffic lights, road sensors and back-up power for lights, is not recommended for funding.

More capital budget

Planning Commission Vice Chairwoman Fran DiMeglio approached the cumbersome budget review with humor.

You can bet the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) is going to get its new sewage pumps – DiMeglio said she had seen a segment on “Dirty Jobs” and had decided she would “vote for everything” to do with that job.

Well, not really. The pumps are thought of as an emergency and are slated for funding.

Later, DiMeglio said she thought the bicycle markings on Strawberry Hill Avenue are about 5 feet apart. Alvord said they are a lot farther than that. DiMeglio said she was short, so everything seemed longer.