Greenwich Selectmen Give First Reads to Historic Home, Flag Requests

Board of Selectmen · Meeting of June 11, 2026

Greenwich Selectmen defer votes on historic home study and two flag requests to second read. First Selectman Fred Camillo, Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectwoman Rachel Khanna unanimously approved minutes from two May 28 meetings and added an Energy Management Advisory Commission expansion item to the agenda. Andrew Melillo of the Historic District Commission asked the board to study local historic designation for 35 Maher Avenue, a 1900-01 Colonial Revival home, calling it "a really unique neighborhood." DPW engineer Juan Paredes requested an Aug. 7 Ecuadorian flag raising, citing that roughly 1.5 percent of the town's 65,000 residents are of Ecuadorian descent.

Rabin sought to expand EMAC from seven to nine members, saying members are "stretched thin" across five active building committees. Camillo said he received 18 harassing messages from an anonymous critic after a viral Nathaniel Witherell video. All new items were held for a second-read vote in two weeks.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,370 words

Source: the Board of Selectmen meeting of June 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

Welcome, Moment of Silence and Approval of Minutes

The Board of Selectmen convened at 10:50 a.m. in the Cone Room. After the pledge of allegiance, First Selectman Fred Camillo asked for a moment of silence for three residents who had recently died: Linda Haji, described as a longtime resident and volunteer; Connie Papas, who had recently led a prayer at a National Prayer Day event; and Ruth Wilson, a former teacher who had celebrated her 108th birthday shortly before her death. Camillo said services for Wilson would be held Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m., adding that the family had asked to keep the funeral itself private.

The board then approved, by unanimous voice votes on motions from Selectwoman Lauren Rabin, seconded by Selectwoman Rachel Khanna, the minutes of both the regular and special Board of Selectmen meetings held May 28, 2026. Before moving to updates, Rabin made a motion, seconded by Khanna and approved unanimously, to amend the day's agenda to add a fourth new-business item: a request to expand the Energy Management Advisory Commission, or EMAC, from seven to nine members. All three votes were taken by roll call, with Camillo, Rabin and Khanna each voting yes.

First Selectman's Updates

Camillo's update ran through a dense calendar of town events tied to the summer season and the nation's 250th anniversary. He confirmed the town's fireworks display has moved this year from July 4 to July 2, at Greenwich Point and Binney Park at dusk, and warned residents planning to watch from Tod's Point to expect heavy traffic leaving the area. He previewed "Sunday in the Park with George" and a returning Salute to Veterans ceremony June 28, along with a tall ship expected in Greenwich Harbor as part of the anniversary celebrations.

Camillo also addressed a matter with no formal town business attached but that consumed several minutes of his remarks: a viral video involving an employee of The Nathaniel Witherell, a Greenwich-run facility, during an incident in Stamford. He declined to characterize the incident itself, citing an ongoing investigation, but sharply criticized the volume and tone of online commentary directed at town employees and officials in its aftermath.

"Whatever it is we've seen, we did not like and we condemn the actions in that," Camillo said. "But it's you never know, and that's why you keep your mouth shut and don't put the town in a vulnerable position by making a comment that you know nothing about."

He said he had personally received roughly 18 messages from an anonymous woman in New York containing racist and personal attacks, and said other town employees had reported similar harassment. He encouraged anyone targeted to preserve the messages and report them to the police department.

Camillo also gave shorter updates on a search for a new golf course operations manager (a decision expected within one to two weeks), a June 14 U.S. Army flag raising, a June 16 Poll Workers Appreciation Day event thanking Fred Carroll for organizing it, a June 18 swearing-in in Farmington where Police Chief Jim Heavey was named president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, and a June 19 Juneteenth celebration, which Camillo said was the first held by any Connecticut town when Greenwich began the tradition under his administration. He closed his remarks by promoting a proclamation honoring outgoing Board of Parks and Recreation member Scott Johnson and by wishing a resident, Mrs. Capalbo, a happy 90th birthday.

Selectwomen's Updates

Rabin opened by noting that a new software system for the Selectmen's Nominations Advisory Committee, or SNAC, had let her confirm within seconds that Scott Johnson has served on the Parks and Recreation board since 1996. She previewed an educational and networking event SNAC is co-hosting with Representative Town Meeting committees, intended to help board, commission and committee members, and RTM members, understand nomination and appointment procedures, which she said remain a source of confusion after "many, many years."

On the Central Middle School project, Rabin said the Building Committee is designing and installing a temporary fire pump station to secure a temporary certificate of occupancy, which would allow students to begin the new school year in the new building. She said demolition of the old building is expected to begin after July 4, pending a permit, and that the project team would know by the following Monday whether the timeline would hold. She thanked Fire Marshal Mark Dawson and John Valerie, whose name she and Camillo both stumbled over during the meeting before Rabin corrected herself on the record, for their work supporting the Building Committee.

Rabin also said she had explored relocating the Old Greenwich Farmers Market, currently displaced from a church site, to a parking lot near her office, but that the property owner declined for liability reasons.

Khanna's update covered a wide range of civic topics. She discussed Pride Month events held the previous weekend, thanking Rabin for a performance during the celebration, and Wear Orange Day, a national gun violence awareness observance; she cited a decline in Connecticut gun deaths from 210 to 151 in 2025, while noting a large share of those deaths are suicides. She reminded residents to enroll in the town's emergency alert system following a weekend power outage and flagged a forecast heat wave with highs potentially near 100 degrees, along with severe thunderstorm risk.

Khanna's most detailed report concerned the town's fish ladder, which she visited for an open house. She reported that as of May 21, close to 45,000 river herring, comprising alewife and blueback species, had passed through the counter this season, one of the longest-running fish ladder monitoring programs in Connecticut. She said staff and volunteers had traced a multi-year decline in blueback herring counts to a 2016-2017 drought, compounded by illegal fishing at the ladder, and said the town is also monitoring osprey, horseshoe crab and bat populations, the latter in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Separately, she reported on a Sustainability Committee discussion with Friends of Byram Park and Save the Sound representatives about Byram Beach, which received a "D+" grade in a recent water-quality report; the group discussed pursuing a federal Clean Water Act Section 319 grant to address non-point-source pollution, along with DNA testing and goose-population management.

New Business: Historic Designation Study for 35 Maher Avenue

Background and stakes: Historic Properties of Greenwich, a local preservation advocacy group, submitted a petition asking the Historic District Commission to serve as a study committee reviewing whether 35 Maher Avenue qualifies for local historic property designation. The property's submission packet describes a 2¾-story wood-framed Colonial Revival home with Craftsman elements, built 1900-01 on a 0.8-acre lot, along with a 1920 chauffeur's cottage. The home originally stood on a Maple Avenue parcel and was relocated to its current site around 1916.

The question before the board: whether to formally nominate the Historic District Commission to conduct the study, the procedural first step toward any eventual local historic designation vote.

Substantive content: Andrew Melillo of the Historic District Commission told the board the property was once part of the estate of Edward Brush, whom he described as a figure in international silver-price markets. Melillo said Brush's sons subdivided the surrounding land into house lots with deed restrictions requiring homes to cost at least $4,000 and to be set back from the street, a pattern the packet materials say created a socially distinct enclave contrasting with the more diverse, multi-family housing stock of Greenwich's Fourth Ward to the west. Melillo also said Brush had helped Brunswick School establish an early foothold in the neighborhood, and noted the road itself was created roughly a decade before the house was moved there, by developer John Maher.

The deliberation: Camillo said he was familiar with the property and called it "a beautiful house." Given no time pressure, he opted to hold the matter for a second read to allow public feedback before any vote nominating the study committee.

"It's a beautiful home. Um, it represents a really unique neighborhood," Melillo told the board.

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote was taken. Camillo said the item would return for a second read in two weeks.

Implications and what is next: If the board ultimately nominates the Historic District Commission as a study committee, that panel would produce a report evaluating the property for local historic designation, a status that can constrain future alterations or demolition. Melillo told the board additional local historic property nominations are expected to follow.

New Business: Ecuadorian Flag Raising Request

Background and stakes: Juan Paredes, a Department of Public Works civil engineer who said he has worked for the town for nearly 12 years, asked the board on his own behalf, not as a town employee, to approve a flag-raising ceremony honoring Greenwich's Ecuadorian community.

The question before the board: whether to approve raising the Ecuadorian flag at Town Hall on a proposed date in August.

Substantive content: Paredes proposed Aug. 7 as the date, tying it to Ecuador's first push for independence from Spanish rule on Aug. 10, 1809. He told the board that of Greenwich's roughly 65,000 residents, about 15 percent identify as having Hispanic heritage, with a further 1.5 percent specifically of Ecuadorian descent, and said many more Ecuadorian residents commute into town for work in caregiving, landscaping, construction and professional roles, including at Greenwich Hospital and in local schools.

The deliberation: Paredes noted that Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Margarita Alban, whom he identified as also of Ecuadorian descent, works closely with the board, and Camillo agreed she should be invited to any ceremony.

"Ecuador is a long friend of the United States," Paredes said. "Shares many of the core American values like liberty, self-determination, republicanism and resistance to unaccountable colonial rule."

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote was taken. Camillo said the board would vote at a second read in two weeks and asked Paredes to confirm a specific date and time before then. Rabin thanked Paredes for the historical background.

Implications and what is next: A confirmed vote and date are expected at the board's next regular meeting.

New Business: 1776 Colonial Flag for Constitution Day

David Wold, representing the Sons of the American Revolution, had requested permission to raise a 1776 colonial American flag on Sept. 17, 2026, marking United States Constitution Day. Wold did not attend Thursday's meeting to present the request. Camillo said the board would hold the item open until a second read, consistent with its handling of the day's other new petitions.

New Business: Energy Management Advisory Commission Expansion

Background and stakes: EMAC, formed in 2019 initially as a First Selectman's committee before shifting to Board of Selectmen oversight, currently has seven members and does not require Representative Town Meeting approval for membership changes. Rabin, presenting on behalf of the Selectmen's Nominations Advisory Committee, said the board is being asked to approve growing the commission to nine members.

The question before the board: whether to expand EMAC's membership cap from seven to nine.

Substantive content: Rabin said EMAC members are expected to serve on the town's building committees, five of which are currently active simultaneously, meeting on a weekly basis or more. She said the volunteer pool is stretched thin and that candidates interested in joining an expanded commission have already come forward.

The deliberation: Rabin argued the expansion would relieve pressure on a small group of volunteers without requiring a lengthier approval process through the RTM.

"On behalf of the committee, on behalf of the Board of Selectmen, I would like us to think about, and maybe we do this as a first read, expanding the board from seven to nine members," Rabin said.

Camillo agreed a seven- or nine-member structure is typical for this kind of committee and said the board would treat the request as a first read, consistent with its non-emergency items.

Procedural steps and outcome: No vote was taken. The board will vote on the expansion at a second read in two weeks.

Implications and what is next: If approved, EMAC could add two members from an existing pool of interested candidates without further RTM action, potentially easing staffing across the town's concurrent building-committee projects, including Central Middle School.

Appointments, Nominations and Adjournment

No appointments or nominations were made Thursday. At 11:21 a.m., Rabin moved to adjourn, seconded by Khanna, and the board approved the motion unanimously.

First Selectman Fred Camillo — present, presiding Selectwoman Lauren Rabin — present Selectwoman Rachel Khanna — present (listed as "Selectperson" in the meeting's attendance record, referred to as "Selectwoman" throughout the rest of the minutes) Ken Borsuk, Recording Secretary — present, referenced in the transcript and credited as minutes preparer Andrew Melillo, Historic District Commission, representing Historic Properties of Greenwich — presented the 35 Maher Avenue petition Juan Paredes, Department of Public Works civil engineer, appearing as a private citizen — presented the Ecuadorian flag-raising request David Wold, Sons of the American Revolution — did not attend; item held open

Historic District Commission — the town body the board was asked to nominate as a study committee for the 35 Maher Avenue historic designation request Historic Properties of Greenwich — the advocacy group that submitted the 35 Maher Avenue nomination packet Selectmen's Nominations Advisory Committee (SNAC) — the body Rabin represented in presenting the EMAC expansion request and the joint educational event with RTM committees Energy Management Advisory Commission (EMAC) — the town committee proposed for expansion from seven to nine members Central Middle School Building Committee — cited by Rabin in her update on the temporary fire pump station and demolition schedule Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) — cited by Khanna as a partner in bat population monitoring Friends of Byram Park and Save the Sound — organizations cited by Khanna in the Sustainability Committee's discussion of Byram Beach water quality Clean Water Act Section 319 grant program — cited by Khanna as a potential funding source for Byram Beach pollution remediation Sons of the American Revolution — the organization David Wold represented in the Constitution Day flag request