Daily Five: Meeting Tonight to Oppose Housing for Substance Abuse Patients

1. Today should be sunny, with a high near 29, according to the National Weather Service. Tonight should be partly cloudy, with a low around 13, according to the service.

2. Tonight at 7, there is a meeting in the Waterford Public Library for Waterford residents concerned about a proposal by the Stonington Institute to turn a vacant nursing home on Rope Ferry Road into temporary housing for up to 144 adult men receiving outpatient treatment for substance abuse.

Several Waterford residents have contacted Waterford Patch in the past week complaining about this proposal. The Stonington Institute needs to get a zone change approved by the Waterford Zoning Board of Appeals and then gain approval by the Waterford Planning and Zoning Commission before it can start working on the facility.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss the proposed zone change on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Town Hall at their regular meeting. The meeting tonight is for residents opposed to the proposal. Patch will be there as well.

3. After seven days off, school is back in session in Waterford. Additionally, Town Hall has reopened after being closed for New Year’s Day, along with all other non-essential government offices.

Also, after taking it easy for the past week for the holidays, Waterford Patch will be back in full gear today as well.

4. Tonight, the Flood and Erosion Control Board meets at 7 in Waterford Town Hall for the first town meeting of 2013. The meeting is open to the public.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

5. On this date in 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum speed limit in the country to 55 mph, in an attempt to conserve gasoline during the OPEC embargo. And on this date in 2001, Sila Maria Calderon became the first female Governor of Puerto Rico.

Quote of the Day

“Life is to be entered upon with courage.”

-Alexis de Tocqueville

Trivia of the Day

Who famously piloted the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic Ocean?

Yesterday’s Answer: In the 1996 movie The Rock, Sean Connery played John Mason, who in the movie was said to be the only man to escape Alcatraz.