Tag Archives: Shellfish Commission

Roundup: Sunrise Service, Beach Art, Climate Hope …

Posted on April 20, 2025 | 17 comments

Over 100 people celebrated Easter this morning, with a traditional sunrise service at Compo Beach.

Here’s to a wonderful day, to all who celebrate.

(Photo/Rick Benson)

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Meanwhile, nearby, Banksy — or someone like him — has come to Westport.

An intriguing bit of street art — more aptly, “boardwalk art” — appeared recently, at the Compo Beach lifeguard shack.

Print at the lifeguard shack. (Hat tip and photo/Andrew Colabella)

No one seems to know who is behind the print. But it sure adds color and interest, a few weeks before the guards arrive.

Meanwhile, a few yards away, a number of fence pickets — relics of the previous playground renovation — remain. They’ve been offered to families and organizations who bought them, to help fund the 2009 rebuild.

The 2025 re-do begins tomorrow. New pickets are part of the project. They may be available to donors in the 2040s.

(Photo/John McCarthy)

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Yesterday’s protest was not as large as the one 2 weekends ago.

But — on the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord — over 100 people gathered at the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. As with the earlier demonstration, they held signs decrying a number of actions by the Trump administration.

Once again, many — but not all — drivers honked in support.

Another protest is planned next Saturday.

(Photos/Adam Stolpen)

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David Pogue left Westport last year, for Bedford, New York.

But he’s back (almost) for the 4th annual Norwalk Earth Day Festival.

The “CBS Sunday Morning”/PBS “Nova”/New York Times tech writer (and much more) returns on April 26 (11 a.m., Mill Hill Historic Park), for a talk on “Climate Hope.”

Organizers promise “10 surprising reasons for hope,” and 10 impactful actions anyone can take to help protect our planet. Click here for tickets.

The event, on the Norwalk Green, also includes vendors, healing arts, kids’ activities, a labyrinth, picnic grove, tree planting, “trashion” show and beer garden. Click here for more information.

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Speaking of the environment: Weston’s EcoFest is set for May 4 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lachat Town Farm).

The day of environmental service, celebration and education includes community members, local businesses and organizations, showcasing sustainable products and initiatives.

There’s live music by high school bands; food trucks and vendors; family-friendly games and activities; mini-speaking series on topics like pollinator planting, eco-gardening, electrified lawn care and recycling, plus a live animal presentation.

There’s also a bottle and can drive,with raffle (marking Weston’s collection of its millionth bottle and can). Every 25 redeemable containers offers a chance to win $250.

Click here for all EcoFest details.

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Speaking (still) of the environment: Westport’s Shellfish Commission takes care of the land, as well as the water.

The other day, members Jamie Walsh and Jesse Harte, plus former Conservation Department director Alicia Mozian and interested Westporter Heather Walklet collected 5 large bags of trash — plus assorted large sections of styrofoam — at Longshore’s Hendricks Point.

Jamie Walsh, Alicia Mozian and Heather Walklet, picking up our trash.

It’s an annual clean-up for them.

And an annual reminder to Westporters: Pick up your own trash, please! That’s not the Shellfish Commission’s job!

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And speaking of environmental cleanups: Sustainable Westport invites volunteers to help along the Longshore waterfront and surrounding areas next Saturday (April 26, 2 to 4 p.m.; meet at the pavilion).

It’s part of the town-wide Earth Day clean-up, organized by the Parks & Recreation Department. Click here to volunteer.

Last year’s Longshore coastal cleanup. (Photo/Brandon Malin)

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Camp season is creeping — okay, zooming — up on parents.

Some kids love sports. Others are passionate about arts.

For STEM-minded boys and girls in grades 1-8, there’s a week-long Daley Genius STEM Camp (June 25 to July 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Content Studio, 20 Saugatuck Avenue, next to the Goddard School).

Click here for more information.

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There are several “free libraries” around town: small structures (and one “bookcycle”) that offer books to anyone who wants them. (Or, of course, wants to donate volumes to them.)

Most patrons are people walking or biking by.

There is one at the corner of Hillandale Road and Morningside Drive South. Neighbor Bob Weingarten sees plenty of pedestrians look at the kiosk. However, he says, until the other day he had never seen someone stop their car, and browse.

He was so intrigued, he took this photo:

(Photo/Bob Weingarten)

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The concert by pianists Dr. Liang-Fang Chang and Dr. Uriel Tsachor at Saugatuck Congregational Church — postponed earlier this month — has been rescheduled for April 27 (4 p.m.).

The Y’s Men of Westport & Weston co-sponsor the free event, on the church’s Steinway grand piano.

Dr. Liang-Fang Chang and Dr. Uriel Tsachor

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Longtime Westport resident Jeanne Nylen died April 15. She had suffered a stroke 2 weeks earlier.

The Fairfield native and Wheaton College graduate married Samuel Nylen in 1962. They moved here 2 years later.

Jeanne served as a Girl Scout leader, Nature Center docent, teacher’s assistant, and head of the Hillspoint Elementary School PTA.

Later, she pursued her passion for exploring by becoming a travel agent with Westport Travel, and visiting Hong Kong, Morocco, the Arctic Circle, and much of Europe.

After Sam died in 1999, Jeanne opened her home to visiting Chinese teachers. She hosted 8, through a Staples High School program.

In retirement Jeanne cared for her grandchildren, and enjoyed the theater, symphony and opera, her book group, and tennis. She was also a decades-long member of the Green’s Farms Congregational Church.

Jeanne is survived by her daughter Wendy (James Hopkins) of Bridgeport; step-grandson Samuel Hopkins (Krissy) and 2 great-grandchildren of South Glastonbury, and son Toby (Gail) of Sutton, Massachusetts, and grandchildren Dallas, Victoria and Sam Nylen.

A memorial service will be held later.

Jeanne Nylen

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It’s that time of year: American oystercatchers have returned to the eastern end of Compo’s South Beach, to nest.

Once again, that area has been roped off, to provide the shorebirds the space and quiet they need to breed.

Matt Murray spotted these important signs, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.

(Photo/Matt Murray)

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And finally … well, you knew this was coming, right?

(Happy Easter, to all who celebrate! And whether you do or not, feel free to click here, to fill our basket with a joy. And also a contribution to “06880.” Thank you all!)

17 Comments

Posted in Arts, Beach, Children, Education, Environment, Longshore, Obituaries, Politics, Weston

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Hunter Peterson’s Shellfishing Life

Posted on January 26, 2025 | 9 comments

Few things in Hunter Peterson’s life are more satisfying than shellfishing.

The Westport native began at any early age. “It’s so rewarding being outdoors,  harvesting things with your own hands,” he says.

“You feel self-reliant, cooking what you caught for yourself and people you love.”

Those sound like the words of a weathered oldtimer. But Hunter is in his mid-20s. He graduated from Staples High School in 2017.

Since then he’s been a volunteer firefighter here, and in New Hampshire. He’s worked as a deckhand on fishing boats, and in oyster farms.

Hunter Peterson

All along, he fished and crabbed.

Now Hunter has taken his passion to a new level. Last year he began meeting groups at Compo Beach, Canal Beach and the Saugatuck River. He shows them how to stand on shore or wade into the water, and harvest oysters, clams and blue crabs.

Wielding rakes for quahogs, traps for blue crabs and bare hands for picking oysters off rocks, he passes on his knowledge and excitement.

One of Hunter Peterson’s crabs …

His eager students are all ages.

“It’s a great family activity — especially with blue crabs, which you can catch completely from shore,” Hunter notes. “You don’t need to go into chest-deep water, with waders.”

Some people in his groups have fished for a long time. Others never did, but are intrigued by the time-honored New England activity.

There is an even mix between males and females.

… and a clam.

Hunter’s shell-fishing interest has taken him beyond the water. Last month he joined Westport’s Shellfish Commission. Members monitor water quality, look out for the town’s natural shellfish beds, and protect our important resources.

This year, he has a booth at the Westport Winter Farmers’ market. In addition to selling shellfish, he enjoys educating people about the bounty.

Hunter Peterson’s booth, at the Indoor Westport Farmers’ Market.

Hunter’s future plans include possible raw bar catering, and spring trout fishing trips on the Aspetuck River.

Meanwhile, he hopes to start a shellfish farm. He is taking a state course, while exploring a 10-acre lease in Long Island Sound

(For more information, text Hunter Peterson at 203-803-5006, or follow him on Instagram: @saugatuck_oyster_company)

(“06880” covers the Westport waterfront — literally, and figuratively. If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

Relaxing, after a successful day.

9 Comments

Posted in Beach, Environment, Local politics, Staples HS

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Alicia Mozian Leaves Mark On “Wet Westport”

Posted on September 29, 2022 | 17 comments

If you’re a Westport homeowner, there’s a 40% chance you live on wetlands, or in a floodplain.

If you’re part of that 40% and have moved here since 2001, you’ve received a letter — and fat informational packet — from Alicia Mozian, telling you what that means, and how to care for your property.

And advising you to call her, before beginning any work on the land.

That’s just one of the proactive approached Mozian has brought to her job as Conservation Department director.

Alicia Mozian

Low-key but intensely passionate, her blandly named office oversees nearly every aspect of Westport’s environment. Shellfishing, Cockenoe Island camping, the Sherwood Mill Pond Preserve, single-use plastics, the plastic bag ban — all are in Mozian’s domain.

But most important may be protecting the town’s wetlands and watercourses.

We have 13 named waterways. We sit at the bottom of several watersheds, which feed into Long Island Sound. Our groundwater table is very high.

“Westport is very wet,” Mozian says simply.

On Saturday, her 2-decade career as Conservation director — and 36 years of service to Westport — come to an end. She’s retiring — kayaking off into the sunset, you might say.

The Westport she leaves is much different than the one the Pennsylvania native found, soon after graduating from Nasson College with a degree in environmental studies.

Westporters are much more aware now of the effects of water on our properties, and our lives. At the same time, larger houses — and the construction they entail — impact things like runoff and silting.

Large homes and tree-cutting affect water tables and runoff.

Mozian has been the right person to manage the interactions between residential and business property owners, builders, neighbors, politicians, environmentalists, and everyone else with a stake in Westport.

Her first job here was in 1986, as an aide to Planning & Zoning director Mel Barr. She moved on to conservation analyst; earned a master’s in resource administration management, and was named assistant zoning planner.

In 2001 she succeeded Fran Pierwola, as only the second Conservation director in our history.

Mozian had already made an important mark. In the 1990s she helped Westporters get a 10% discount on flood insurance — a reward for town-wide flood hazard mitigation that continues today.

Flood insurance is important to homeowners in flood-prone areas like Compo Cove. Westporters are eligible for discounts.

As Conservation director, she spends much of her time talking to people. Mozian answers questions, and educates property owners about upcoming work.

A lot of that entails “managing expectations. People don’t always know what they bought, or design their project to meet the land. They want their land to meet the project, not the other way around. That can lead to problems.”

During Westport’s booming construction decades of the 1950s and ’60s, many wetlands were filled in. The federal Clean Water Act of 1972 slowed that, but the damage was done.

Now those homes are being torn down. Their replacements are larger — and their high basements sink into groundwater. Nothing in the state building code prevents that, Mozian says.

“Where does the water go? In other directions — on other people’s properties,” she says.

“You’re supposed to capture runoff from driveways and roofs. But you can’t do a lot about groundwater.”

Above ground, large-scale tree-cutting also affects where water goes.

Fortunately, Mozian says, Westporters are environmentally conscious. Her small office is augmented by a host of volunteers, from the Conservation and Shellfish Commissions to Sustainable Westport and the Sherwood Mill Pond Committee.

Fortunately too, she is not stuck in Town Hall. Mozian says her favorite days are “picking up garbage on Cockenoe Island, or the Mill Pond. That’s when I get instant gratification. I can see I made a difference.”

Alicia Mozian picks up garbage at Sherwood Mill Pond Preserve.

It’s harder to see the effects of educating a variety of constituencies about the environment. Still, Mozian says, “I think I’ve done pretty well, balancing what people want versus what they need. I want their plan to be better when they walk out the office than when they walked in.

“I don’t love all the teardowns. But I’ve learned to work with them, and make them as environmentally sound as possible.”

The low point of her career was the protracted fight with the Westport Weston Family Y over its proposed, and largely untested, Fixed Activated Sludge Treatment (FAST) sewage system at the Mahackeno site.

There are many more highlights. Mozian is proud of her Wetlands Community Leader Award from Washington’s Environmental Law Institute. It was presented for her work improving water quality, through the Sasco Brook Pollution Abatement Committee.

Alicia Mozian, with her Environmental Law Institute award.

She’s also proud that none of the Conservation Commission’s decisions have ever been overturned by a court challenge. She’s been sued by developers, homeowners and neighbors — sometimes more than one group, for the same project.

She has done it all with a staff of just 5.25 people. That quarter employee — the sediment and erosion control inspector — is shared with Planning & Zoning.

“We used to have complaints about sediment from construction sites getting into waterways,” Mozian says. “But not now.”

She does not know of any other community that funds such a position.

Overall, Mozian says, Westport is in “pretty good” environmental shape. It can be measured by metrics — which the Board of Finance demands every year at budget time.

She prefers a different measure: “If you can swim in the water, drink the water and eat shellfish, we’re doing our job.”

Low tide clamming at Compo Beach is part of Alicia Mozian’s portfolio too. (Photo/Ferdinand Jahnel)

Next week, Colin Kelly takes over that job. He’s spent 18 years with the Conservation Department, first as compliance officer and now analyst.

“It’s time for the next generation. He knows things I don’t know,” Mozian praises. “He has good rapport with builders and others. He’ll deal with violations quicker. The department is in very good hands.”

It’s been in great hands for the past 21 years, for sure. Now Alicia Mozian looks forward to seeing her 92-year-old mother more, and her niece’s upcoming baby.

She will visit friends across the country, hike, and go to concerts. (She was a DJ in college.) Perhaps she’ll teach; she’s interested in subjects like citizenship, and helping realtors understand wetlands, aquifers and floodplains.

She will not miss the daily commute from Orange. But Westport will miss Conservation Director Alicia Mozian very, very much.

(“06880” covers all things Westport. Please click here, to support your hyper-local blog.)

17 Comments

Posted in Environment, Local politics, Real estate

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Town Site Needs Help

Posted on February 23, 2017 | 4 comments

If you had to use one word to describe the Town of Westport’s website, what would it be?

Mine is “utilitarian.”

For one thing, it’s a town site. It’s not supposed to be exciting.

For another, it was last redesigned in 2011. In technology terms, that was when fish first crawled out of the sea.

But the site is being upgraded soon. It will be coded for use on those newfangled smartphones and tablets, as well as desktops and laptops.

And the designers want us to help.

Users can offer feedback on how they use the current site — and what they’d like to see in the future — by answering a quick survey. The basic questions are kind of blah, but the opportunity to expand on your answers at length is a good one.

Click here for the survey. Your town government wants to hear from you!

(My 2 cents: Get rid of that tagline “New England in tradition; cosmopolitan in outlook.” Yikes!)

Everything you need to know about the Shellfish Commission is on our town website. But not one photo of a clam!

Everything you need to know about the Shellfish Commission is on our town website. But not one photo of a clam!

4 Comments

Posted in Local politics, technology

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