Residents press West Haven council on snow plowing, student parking and teen programs

Several West Haven residents used the public comment period at the March 9 council meeting to press officials on neighborhood services.

Donald Lewis of Ellen Drive gave a detailed account of repeated inadequate snow-plowing in his cul-de-sac, saying small pickup trucks arrive late or make half-hearted passes and that larger equipment is not deployed. Lewis said the street remained impassable after recent storms, left elderly neighbors at risk, and that a payloader had dumped a large pile of snow onto his front lawn. He asked the mayor to change the plow plan for that area. Mayor Dorinda Boer responded later in the meeting that the city had discussed moving the route to a larger truck and that the administration would address Lewis’s specific street.

Diane Chandler of Forest Road described parking problems she attributes to University of New Haven (UNH) student rentals: loss of driveway parking, backyard/intimidating behavior by renters, double parking and residents putting cones or sticks to reserve spaces. Chandler said she contacted police and the university and has not gotten a lasting resolution.

Dora Barnes, who identified herself as a Board of Education employee and Tetlow Street resident, urged more teen-oriented recreation (ages roughly 13–17) and raised concerns about the low number of Black administrators in the district’s nine schools. Council members and the mayor said the city added courts and fields at Kerrigan and highlighted the Malloy School community center location; the mayor encouraged volunteers and community involvement.

Council members said they would follow up: Quagliani and Callahan spoke with the Forest Road resident after the meeting; Mayor Boer said she would follow up on the Ellen Drive plowing and seasonal street-lighting schedules.