AA Learn more about in-home care options for your loved ones

The First Church of Christ welcomes you to our Worship Service every Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. in the Meetinghouse. Kid’s Church every Sunday morning at 10:10.

Interim Minister: The Rev. Susan Murtha is the Interim Minister at FCCW and has made quite an impact. Plan a visit to see what is “happening.” You can also read about her on our website. We are honored to have such an extraordinary individual here with us at First Church!

Kid’s Church has begun again at First Church! Families meet at the church at 10:00 and at 10:10 the children are walked over to the Parish House for Kid’s Church by Forest Vandeflor, our project leader for children’s ministries, along with an adult volunteer. This is a great time for the children while their parents are at the worship service!

Weekly Bible Study: Bible Study meets at the Parish House each Wednesday, 10:30 am. All are invited!

Boy Scout Troop 907: In May, Troop 907 Woodbridge scouts helped a West Haven cub scout pack during a camping trip and hike at Webb Mountain campground in Monroe, CT. Newer scouts worked on the Tenderfoot rank requirement for physical fitness and some of the scouts went on canoe overnight campout near Middletown, CT on the Connecticut river.

For the final meeting of May Troop 907 scouts replaced flags in three cemeteries for local veterans. On Memorial Day, the scouts participated in the Woodbridge Memorial Day ceremony at the Woodbridge Center and provided a color guard. One of the boys lowered the flag to half-mast in honor of soldiers who gave their lives for us.

On June 9th scouts and scout leaders volunteered to help with the church’s strawberry festival including set up, tear down and grilling all the food, etc.

As shown in the photos, the troop held its year ending Court of Honor and family picnic on June 10th. This included camping out on the Woodbridge church green. Saturday evening scouts went to local camp Whiting and learned some campfire skits and games with the Woodbridge Cub Scout pack at this overnight event.

Most Troop 907 scouts will be camping in July at Camp Sequassen. Troop meetings will reconvene Thursday evenings at 7:00 in early September at the First Church of Christ Parish House, rear entrance. Interested scouts and families are always welcome. See troop907.org.

Best wishes,

Rich Forselius, Troop 907 Committee Chair

Troop 907 is a robust, active, outdoors oriented troop chartered by the First Church of Christ in Woodbridge. The Troop meets Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM and is always interested in welcoming interested scouts and families to check them out. More at troop907.org.

Upcoming events: Water Works: Saturday, July 15^th @ 10:30am – Parish House Lawn @ 5 Meetinghouse Lane – Join us for our fun family event. With live music, sing-a-long, crafts games and a fire truck!

Zoom Option: The option to attend Sunday Service via Zoom continues to be available. To receive an invite, please email the office or log onto our website and add your name to our church email list. All people in the community are welcome in person or via Zoom.

*If you would like assistance gaining access to Sunday Services, please call us by Friday morning, at 203-389-2119, or email us at [email protected].

Office Hours: The Church office in the Parish House is open from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Join the FCCW Choir! New members are always welcome. Join us for rehearsals each Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-school space is available: Pre-school/day care space is available in the Parish House at 5 Meetinghouse Lane. Three rooms, 1,200 sq. ft., and an outside fenced playground.

For More Information: Visit our website at www.uccw.org for resources such as our calendar of events, monthly newsletter, ministry and volunteer opportunities, photo galleries, scout info, and much more! Follow us on Facebook and stay up to date with parish happenings, including memorials and baptism announcements.

Feel free to email us or call the office with all your questions. We are happy to hear from you!

First Church of Christ

5 Meetinghouse Lane

Woodbridge, CT 06525

Phone: 203-389-2119

*Email: [email protected]

Website: www.uccw.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/uccwoodbridge

*For online or media related questions, please email Lisa Tartaglino at [email protected].

WOODBRIDGE — At two busy intersections along Route 67, two large signs directed travelers to a nearby Bethany farm that doubles as an ice cream shop.

The signs belong to Kriz Farm Ice Cream, a three-year-old startup on Bear Hill Road that borders the Woodbridge line. Since the shop's opening, the advertisements have stood intermittently at the Route 67 intersections of Bear Hill Road and Acorn Hill Road, situated on the private property of Woodbridge residents with their consent, according to Wendy Kriz, the business owner.

But in May, Kriz received a letter from a Woodbridge zoning official notifying her that the shop's signage violated that town's zoning regulations. As a result, the signs would need to be removed, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the New Haven Register.

Now, Kriz is challenging the ruling through an appeal that has sparked a debate among Woodbridge zoning officials over the intent and the effectiveness of the town's regulations. She said she hopes to come to a compromise with the town "which will allow us to draw new business to our ice cream shop and community."

In her letter to Kriz Farm Ice Cream, dated May 17, Zoning Enforcement Officer Kristine Sullivan wrote that, "Business signs for businesses not located in Woodbridge are not allowed."

Sullivan said in the letter that she received "numerous complaints" about the signs, and requested they be removed by May 26, or else the town's Public Works Department would remove them. The business also could face "further enforcement action," Sullivan stated.

The town's zoning regulations allow for businesses to install signs in residential districts, such as the areas where the signage for Kriz Farm Ice Cream is located.

More News

However, according to Sullivan's interpretation of the regulations, those businesses must operate on the properties where their signs are placed.

"The signs that are there are not on property where the use occurs," Sullivan said during a hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals last week. "There’s no doubt they are wayfaring signs, but under our regulations, which are my duty to enforce, they are not signs which can be allowed to remain."

Sullivan said she consulted with Town Attorney Gerald Weiner prior to issuing the violation, and he agreed with her interpretation. The regulation is necessary, Sullivan added, because, "Otherwise, you could have signs sprouting up all over town for anything as long as someone said you can put a sign there."

Some ZBA members disputed Sullivan's ruling, saying that the regulation's ambiguous language does not allow for a clear interpretation.

"I think these regulations are quite confusing," ZBA member Celia Walters said during the hearing. "I don’t think the regulations specify. It doesn’t say anywhere that the business has to exist on the property."

Walters said the regulations should state specifically that out-of-town businesses are prohibited from advertising on private property in Woodbridge.

"It’s ambiguous from this language and we haven't had this issue before us," she added. "For those reasons, either (the regulations) need to be amended or we need to approve the sign."

ZBA member Shawn Flynn, who also serves on the town's Economic Development Commission, said Woodbridge and Bethany, although two separate municipalities, are part of the same community. He added that, "Everyone in our town should be aware that we need to be supportive of businesses … to help all of our residents."

Besides Kriz Farm Ice Cream, Woodbridge has several business signs that violate the town's zoning regulations, according to a member of the public who spoke during the appeal hearing. Sullivan said she would look into the illicit signs.

"We clearly have other signs that are in violation," ZBA member Cynthia Gibbons said. "We all drive by them everyday."

The board voted to continue the appeal hearing until its Aug. 8 meeting. In the meantime, members said they expected to seek a second opinion on the matter from Weiner.

"I think what we’ve uncovered is that this is something that we need to dig into," Flynn said.

Kriz Farm was started by the late brothers Johnny and Joseph A. "U.J." Kriz more than 60 years ago. Originally a dairy farm, it now raises horses and other farm animals, according to Wendy Kriz.

The Kriz family opened its ice cream shop in July 2021 to help sustain the farm business, Kriz said in a phone interview this week.

Kriz said the two Woodbridge signs have been "crucial" to attracting new business: the signs are the only ones that the business uses to direct traffic to its property.

Many customers, she added, have reported finding the ice creamery through those advertisements.

[email protected]

WOODBRIDGE — A group of neighbors are taking their grievances against the installation of a Verizon cell tower on Newton Road to appellate court.

The Woodbridge Newton Neighborhood Environmental Trust, a voluntary association whose members own residential property in a scenic neighborhood along Newton Road and Soundview Drive, has appealed a Superior Court judge's decision to uphold the Connecticut Siting Council's approval of an application to install a Verizon cell tower on a 6.01-acre parcel at 118 Newton Road.

One Soundview Drive resident whose home is adjacent to the site of the cell tower has also filed a separate appeal on her own behalf, begging the appeals court to stop construction of the structure.

"We have to appeal, because we will lose our family house and will be financially destroyed," Kiyoko Karwowski stated in her appeal. "In our residential community, nobody would live next to a cell tower and we are going to force evacuating from our house. Please help."

More News

Karwowski said over the phone Thursday that the cell tower would cause her home's property value to plummet and make it more difficult to sell in the future.

"It will ruin everything," she said.

A decision from the appeals court is expected to take at least a year or more, officials said. According to Town Attorney Gerald Weiner, the Board of Selectmen has indicated that it wouldn't authorize hiring an attorney to further represent the WNNET during its appeal. The town had previously hired an attorney to represent the group during the Siting Council's application process for the cell tower.

"It's just a waiting game to see what happens in the appellate court," Weiner said during the Board of Selectmen's Jan. 11 meeting.

The association — described in court documents as being “concerned for the orderly development and environmental integrity of Woodbridge” — has argued that the cell tower would spoil their scenic views and lower property values.

After the Siting Council, which has authority over the placement of telecommunications facilities in the state, voted 4-2 to approve the cell tower application in December 2021, the group appealed that decision in Superior Court, asserting in court documents that the council had refused to consider how the tower would affect private property values in the surrounding area.

But a New Britain Superior Court judge dismissed the association’s appeal in November 2022, saying the group failed to establish the council had violated any rules by approving the application.

The application, submitted by Cellco, a Delaware-based telecommunications company doing business as Verizon Wireless, proposed to construct a 100-foot cell tower with a 50-foot-by-50-foot fenced compound, referred to as the “Woodbridge North 2 Facility.”

The cell tower is expected to expand wireless coverage in north central parts of Woodbridge where service is lacking or non-existent, the application states. The total estimated construction cost for the facility is about $425,000, according to the application.

[email protected]

WOODBRIDGE — After months of deliberations, local zoning officials have decided to allow recreational cannabis sales in town.

The Woodbridge Town Plan and Zoning Commission voted at its meeting Tuesday night to adopt regulations permitting cannabis retailers and cultivators to operate in certain commercial zones. The regulations also apply to other cannabis facilities as defined by state statute, including medical marijuana dispensaries and hybrid retailers, which sell both recreational and medical cannabis. The commission previously had not regulated medical marijuana establushments.

According to the regulations, every cannabis retailer will be required to obtain a special exception permit from the town and a retail license from the state Department of Consumer Protection, which regulates the adult-use market. The retailers will be confined to the General Business, Business Industrial and Dev. 1 zones in eastern Woodbridge.

The hours of operation for recreational cannabis retailers, medical marijuana dispensaries and hybrid retailers will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m Sunday through Saturday, the new zoning rules state. Cannabis production facilities will not have set hours of operation.

More News

Cannabis facilities must be located at least 300 feet from schools and other educational facilities, public parks, the Woodbridge Town Library and community center, according to the regulations. Cannabis establishments also must be at least 300 feet from each other, among other requirements.

TPZ Chairman Robert Klee and members Jeffrey Kennedy and Kathleen Hunter voted in favor of cannabis sales, while member Paul Schatz voted against. Klee, a former state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner, declined to comment on the board's decision.

Schatz said he disagreed with the board's decision to exclude churches, synagogues and houses of worship from the list of places that cannabis facilities must be located a certain distance from. In contrast, local liquor establishments are required to be at least 500 feet away from "any church or other religious facility or institution," the town's zoning regulations state.

According to Schatz, various local clergy disapproved of having a cannabis facility within 300 feet of their building. The TPZ member also said he did not want cannabis facilities near places of worship where students attend school.

"I know that there are a number of schools housed in houses of worship, and for me, the regulation, as it was written, was ambiguous," Schatz said. "I don't trust that future (commission members) will view it the same way as it was intended, so I wanted it specifically written out regarding houses of worship."

Woodbridge had been among a handful of municipalities in Connecticut that had not yet regulated retail cannabis facilities. In their brief discussions on the subject, some TPZ members had contemplated whether allowing cannabis businesses would be worthwhile, noting the close proximity of retailers in neighboring municipalities.

When the state legalized the use of recreational cannabis in July 2021, it gave municipalities the authority to restrict or outright ban cannabis establishments through zoning regulations or ordinances.

Recreational cannabis sales began in the state in January, and adults over 21 were be able to start growing marijuana plants in their homes in July.

‍COVID Clinic: In partnership with Griffin Health and the Department of Public Health, there will be a second all-ages COVID - 19 vaccination clinic held in the Center Building gym on June 1. No appointments are needed - ages 6 months to 100+ are welcome. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are available for both the primary series and the bivalent booster. The clinic will run from 2 pm to 6 pm. Please bring a health insurance card and a photo ID if you have them, but it is not necessary to have either to receive a vaccine. Check with your physician to see if you are up to date on your vaccines.

Living Treasure Committee Volunteers Sought: Human Services will hold the 5th annual Living Treasure event on September 14. The event honors residents age 60 or over who have demonstrated positive actions to improve the quality of life in Woodbridge, who have contributed and may continue to contribute their time to enhance our community, and who have performed this work on a volunteer, unpaid basis. Members of the community are welcome to join the event planning committee which meets during the months of June, July, August, and September. This event raises funds for The Woodbridge Center. Please call 203-389-3429 to volunteer.

Food Pantry: Residents in need may contact Human Services for access to non-perishable food each month. The food pantry is currently looking for donations of canola/olive oils, ground coffee and tea, baking mixes/snacks, jams and jellies, crackers, salad dressing, deodorants, and laundry detergent. Kindly check all expiration dates prior to drop-off.

Volunteer Appreciation Event: The Human Services Department honored approximately 150 volunteers at the 33rd Annual Volunteer Recognition celebration. Many thanks to all receiving this honor for their dedication, their time, and their generous contributions to the Town of Woodbridge. The Human Services Special Recognition Award was presented to Barbara ‘BJ’ Ahern, the Surreybrook School, and the Woodbridge Recreation Commission. Outstanding Volunteers this year are Katie Behr, B. Patrick Madden, and Sheehan Munim. The Community Organization and Business Award was given to Bethany Fuel LLC, Boy Scout Troops 63, 907, and 410, and Whitney Rehabilitation Care Center. The Woodbridge Center Award was presented to Deb Urso of Hamden Rehabilitation and Health Care Center and the First Selectman’s Youth Award was presented to Jack Morrison. Congratulations to all these wonderful volunteers!

Emergency Preparedness: In the event of a summer weather emergency or power outage, elderly residents and those with disabilities are encouraged to register for the Emergency Call List by calling the Human Services Department at 203-389-3429. The Department will provide outreach to all on the list prior to anticipated emergencies.

Hot Weather Safety: Too much heat is not safe for anyone, it is even riskier for older people and those with health problems. Please make sure children, older adults, and pets are not left outdoors or in cars for prolonged periods of time. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), isolated seniors are often susceptible to heat exhaustion if they spend long periods of time in a very warm home, do not find ways to cool off, or do not actively hydrate. Additionally, the NIH advises, “older adults are more likely to have chronic medical conditions that affect the body’s response to temperature, and to take prescription medicines that alter the body’s ability to control temperature or sweat.” Hydration is a key element in averting heat exhaustion or even heat stroke as well as making sure air conditioning and/or fans are used during hot days. One way to check for dehydration is to pull up the skin on the back of the hand for a few seconds; if it does not return to normal almost immediately, the person is dehydrated. The following tips are always a good reminder: drink plenty of liquids but avoid drinks containing alcohol and caffeine; Try to keep your home as cool as possible by opening windows overnight and keeping shades or curtains closed during the day; Dress for the weather using natural fabrics such as cotton; Do not try to exercise or do other outdoor activities when it’s hot. If you need help getting to a cool place, please call The Woodbridge Center Monday - Friday to arrange transportation at 203-389-3430.

Got Yarn? The Woodbridge Center’s craft group is looking for donations of new, clean yarn for projects they donate to Human Services and other agencies.

Services to Homebound residents: The library, in conjunction with the Human Services Department’s Friendly Visitor Program, offers delivery of library materials to the homebound. Through this program, library service is offered to residents who are 60+ as well as those who are disabled, temporarily disabled, or lack transportation to come to the library.

Residents may request books, large-print titles, audiobooks, magazines, CDs, and DVDs. The Senior Center arranges for delivery of the requested materials to homebound persons. The library now has no overdue fines and offers automatic renewals for items unless another patron is waiting for them. Contact the library at 203-389-3433 or [email protected] if you are interested in these services even if you do not have a library card.

To reach Woodbridge Human Services call 203-389-3429 or 203-389-3415 or email [email protected]