Paula A. Pineda

Just under 20 community members gathered Tuesday evening at the Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills monthly Community Management Team, or CMT, meeting. Throughout the meeting, residents expressed concern over youth crime, while voicing support for increased youth programming. 

New Haven Police Department Officer Jonathan Lambe began the evening with a police report that described a common trend of stolen cars but noted no violent crime in the past month. He added that the majority of car thefts are committed by youth. 

When Beaver Hills resident and former New Haven school teacher Nan Bartow asked how best to address youth involvement in such crimes, Lambe replied that youth involvement was an issue being considered up to the mayor’s office. “I can only default to the resources I’m given,” Lambe said.

The topic of youth behavior rose again after Neighborhood Specialist Laura Daniels asked the group for general neighborhood concerns.

Residents expressed support for youth programming and worries about low engagement. CMT Chair Rebecca Cramer mentioned hearing police concerns that “there are activities, it’s just that maybe they’re not engaging with them.”         

Lambe said that such activities are often sought out by “model children” but that Police Chief Karl Jacobson was pushing the department to identify other children who could benefit from youth programs.

Bartow expressed interest in the CMT working directly with the Youth and Recreation Department, as they are currently not in direct contact.

Attendees also discussed progress on public works grants, such as ones that fund playground renovations and efforts to calm traffic.

Cramer updated the neighborhood on how it is using its Neighborhood Equity & Opportunity Challenge Program grant, which provides city funding for local projects.

The CMT is currently waiting for quotes on tree trimming along Whalley Avenue, and Cramer says that work on the Beaver Ponds Park play area is “making progress, though not much because it’s cold right now.”

A traffic-calming project on Goffe Street is also planned, and the design is close to being finalized by New Haven and a traffic consultant, according to Cramer. 

Nearly a third of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the opening of the Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism New Haven Outpatient Clinic on 215 Whalley Ave. 

The clinic — which currently offers services to around 280 individuals — is moving from its location down the street from 419 Whalley Ave. Representatives from the Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism said that the new building, which is set to open on March 17, will consist of a mix of group therapy rooms and individual counseling offices.

The Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills monthly Community Management Team meets again on March 18.