Joan Crick Has Deep Roots And A Deep Love For The Borough

By John Voket

When you talk with Newtown Borough Warden Joan Crick, you cannot help but appreciate the deep feelings she has about her hometown, and the unique neighborhood where she has been living for decades.

This year Ms Crick celebrates her 26th year of public service to the borough. And for only the second time in her 16 years as the district’s top political leader, she will be facing an opponent on May 2, which is Election Day in the borough.

 In a mailing she plans to circulate to all the residents in the one-square-mile zone that encompasses much of Newtown’s municipal center, Ms Crick talks about her family’s deep roots in the community she calls home.

“I am a tenth generation Glover and directly related to John Glover, one of the founders of Newtown,” she said, reading from the letter.

While she would probably be surprised if more than a few residents were aware of her esteemed heritage, she said she would not be surprised if many of the borough’s occupants lacked a true understanding about the town within a town in which they live.

“There probably are some people who live here who aren’t aware of all the details. The borough is a very special and unique place,” Ms Crick continued. “It was established in 1824, and because of its location, has long since served the needs of its residents and practically everyone in the entire town.”

Using the memo to help educate or refresh the memory of many newer borough residents, she points out the district provided the town’s first firefighting services, the first legal zoning initiatives, the towns first fire hydrants, and even Newtown’s first few streetlights.

“As the borough is its own municipality, it has the powers and authority of statute to effectuate the needed protection and preservation of its residents, and maintains what The New York Times called its ‘…pristine early American elegance,’” she noted.

When Ms Crick interacts with borough residents, she said they are most often concerned with the condition of existing sidewalks, or the lack of sidewalks on some of the area’s more outlying roadways.

“We’re five years into a ten-year program to repair the existing sidewalks so we can restore the historic ambiance around and along Main Street,” she said. “Of course our immediate goal is to replace the worst portions first.”

She pointed out that most municipal sidewalks are directly beside the roadways, but in the borough, and especially along Newtown’s historic Main Street, the sidewalks are set back behind a line of stately trees, whose roots have an adverse effect on the pathways that cross above them.

“It’s a challenge in most areas because we have to work around those trees and roots,” Ms Crick said. “But the borough initiated a tree ordinance when the sewers were installed along Main Street to make sure the workers avoided damaging the roots.”

She is extremely proud that the long tradition of preservation activities throughout the borough was recently recognized by the state Historical Commission.

“We were commended for protecting one of the last historic Main Streets left in Connecticut from commercial overdevelopment,” she said. “But you have to remember that the borough instituted its own zoning laws in 1932, which had a big effect on maintaining the integrity of Main Street.”

Ms Crick recalled meeting up recently with a childhood friend who, like her, grew up in the borough.

“She said she couldn’t believe how little Main Street had changed since she moved away in her 20s. But it’s thanks to the dedication of generations of borough leadership that have kept the look of our traditional New England Main Street alive,” Ms Crick said.

If she is successful in the upcoming election, Ms Crick said she would like to see a sidewalk program expanded to some of the other streets in the borough.

“I’d like to be able to continue the sidewalk program to the country roads in the borough which are losing that country feel due to the town’s growth, and the high speed of traffic,” she said. “It would be nice for the residents who live on those roads, many who have been there for generations, but it is very costly.”

Ms Crick added that she would like to work more closely with Newtown’s community development officials to research and apply for grants to underwrite the costs of new sidewalk installations, to minimize the impact on borough taxpayers.

She cannot talk about the local roadways without casting a wary eye on the speed of traffic flow, which is becoming an increasing concern across the borough.

“I’d like to be able to come up with some ideas to alleviate speeding on our roadways,” she said. “Traffic on some of these quiet neighborhood roads has become quite dangerous. I couldn’t live with myself if some tragedy was to happen before we took some action on this matter.”

As the granddaughter of a Newtown selectman and the daughter of a highly dedicated public servant who held posts on the Boards of Selectmen, Finance, and Borough Board of Burgesses, Ms Crick feels it is her civic duty to carry on that legacy.

“I’m very proud of my family and all the good things they’ve done for the town,” she said smiling. “But we’ve always been involved in civic affairs.”

And when it comes to this one-square-mile of real estate, the Borough of Newtown, Ms Crick believes it still has just about everything a resident needs to enjoy a wonderful lifestyle.

“It’s really a special place. We have a theater, the wonderful library, schools, the Ram Pasture with its picture perfect skating pond. I’ve always lived here and I’ve never wanted to leave here,” she said.

And after she eventually passes on the torch of political responsibilities to the next generation of borough leadership, Ms Crick says she will still remain in the borough — forever.

“I’m a tenth generation Glover, and I can visit all — my father, my grandfather, and the rest of them down in the Newtown Village cemetery,” she said. “Someday I’ll be right there beside them, but for now there’s still plenty to do to keep me busy.”