Surge in family households affects Monroe
Influx of young parents spurs growth, rift in Monroe
Incorporated: May 1823
2000 population: 19,247
Area: 26.3 square miles
Town Hall: 7 Fan Hill Road; 452-5400
By BILL BITTAR
bbittar@ctpost.com
MONROE — When Gregg and Susannah Barratt moved into their Pequot Circle home four years ago, they wanted to raise their two sons in a town that offered the best schools and municipal services.
"I don’t want average EMS, police and fire departments," said Gregg Barratt, 37. "I don’t want an average response time. I want the best. I want the school system to hire the best teachers.
"If that means paying higher taxes, so be it."
Although the Barratts expect above-average public services, they closely resemble the profile of a typical Monroe family, according to data available from the 2000 U.S. Census: white, a mean age of 38.1 years and a household of 3.31 people.
They also represent one of two very distinct groups among Monroe’s 19,247 residents — those willing to pay more for a higher level of municipal services. The others are longtime residents, who like Monroe the way it is and oppose higher taxes.
‘We love the area’
Gregg and Susannah Barratt talked about what they like about Monroe as they relaxed on their living room couch with their beagle, Tracker, between them.
They originally chose to move from Brookfield into a community of detached condominiums because of the easier commute. Gregg Barratt worked in Milford and his wife was a teacher at Danbury High School. But their move to Monroe quickly became more than that.
"We love the area," said Susannah, 38. "Especially Wolfe Park. That was a big attraction."
A walking trail from Great Oak Farm provides the Barratts with access to the park, with its expanse of lush green playing fields, tennis courts, swimming pool and Great Hollow Lake.
The couple’s sons, Jake, 8, and Grant, 7, attend classes at Stepney Elementary School, and participate in the town’s American Youth Soccer Organization.
Gregg Barratt, an Emergency Medical Service volunteer of 21 years, immediately joined the Monroe EMS as an ambulance driver. He recently also decided to volunteer as a referee in an adult soccer league.
Barratt, a management consultant, started his own business — A Learning Box — in town. Susannah Barratt is now a teacher at Trumbull High School.
A growing town
Many families like the Barratts have come to Monroe — its population has grown over the past decade from 16,896 residents to 19,247, a 13.9 percent increase, according to 2000 Census figures.
"Trumbull used to be the address for residential homes," said Town Planner Daniel Tuba. "And I think Monroe has evolved to the point where Trumbull was 15 years ago."
Tuba said the town probably won’t run out of buildable housing lots until the end of the next decade.
More than 1,000 units of housing were built in Monroe in the past decade, according to census data.
Because of all the new construction, the town has established an open space committee to try to acquire undeveloped parcels that can be preserved.
The town’s recent purchase of the 20-acre Poprocki property, adjacent to Webb Mountain Park at 44 Old Fish Road, was just such as acquisition.
Student population rises
Monroe’s student and future student population dropped off in the 10 years between 1980 and 1990, but had rebounded sharply by 2000.
The number of residents younger than 19 rose from 4,975 in 1990 to 5,912 in 2000, according to the new census figures.
Continued growth in student population led to construction of Jockey Hollow Middle School in 1997; the town is now considering a $27.7 million project to expand and renovate Masuk High School, where enrollment grew from 911 in 1990 to 1,246 in 2000 — and is expected to jump to 1,425 in 2008.
Connie Howley, 45, of Weathervane Hill, a former Town Council member, said she hopes fellow taxpayers are willing to pay for the enlarged Masuk High, where her daughter, Erin, 14, will be a freshman next fall.
The Barratt family also has an interest in the project.
Both families are concerned about the multiple referendums the town requires to pass a budget every year. Referendum defeats usually result in reduction of the proposed spending increases for education, and they want to see more of a town commitment to education.
"It’s crazy," Gregg Barrett said. "These referendums are nuts."
Seniors’ tax worries
Meanwhile, Selectman Karen Burnaska points out that the town’s senior citizen population— a group that traditionally is skeptical about growth in school spending — is growing as well.
Residents 65 years old and over were counted at 508 in the 1970 Census. They continued to increase over the three intervening decades — to 747 in 1980, 1,316 in 1990 and 2,025 in 2000, according to census data.
A group of these older residents attended a Senior Center picnic at Wolfe Park on a recent hot afternoon.
Sandor Nagy, 61, came to Monroe from Hungary to live with relatives in 1959. He said rising property taxes recently forced him to sell the house he built on Old Tannery Road.
Nagy now lives in a condominium on Senior Drive in Hidden Knolls, a private senior housing development.
"The property taxes on my house went from $1,100 in the 1970s to over $5,000" annually, he said. "They talk about the school system, but the money goes into salaries, not kids."
Nagy complained that seniors pay higher taxes, but get little for their money in terms of municipal services.
"It’s ridiculous," he said. "I think a lot of people — especially senior citizens — are disappointed."
Monroe does have a tax abatement program for the elderly, but many seniors still feel overburdened.
Burnaska has also been pursuing construction of a new 7,000-square-foot senior center. The existing center shares the building with Masuk and will have to move to free up space at the high school.
The $1.28 million senior center would be built on Cutlers Farm Road on property next to Wolfe Park. To fund it, Burnaska wants to use $500,000 the town received from a Delaware firm for allowing it to install fiber-optic cables under town streets.
The town also received a $250,000 state grant for the project and is seeking a $500,000 grant through the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s 2001 Small Cities Program.
Nagy said the town was friendlier when he was growing up, adding that he believes the attitude among many current residents is, "If you can’t afford to pay, get out of here."
The town is also overdeveloped, with growing traffic congestion, Nagy said.
"It’s not like it used to be," he said. "That’s all I know."
Clarence Knight, 74, who moved to High Meadows — a private senior housing complex in town — from Bridgeport nine years ago, said he doesn’t mind changes as long as tax money is spent properly.
What he wants some town money spent on is a new senior center.
"I’d like to see Town Hall quit stalling and give us a senior center," Knight said. "Every year our taxes go up. We should have a center to enjoy."
Diversity comes slowly
Knight is one of 231 African-Americans living in Monroe in 2000 — a decrease from 279 counted in 1990.
Though Monroe’s population is still overwhelmingly white, it’s slowly becoming more diverse. The town’s racial profile was 98.9 percent white in 1970, while the latest data show that figure stands at 95.9 percent white.
Henry Zhao, 26, a part-time manager at his parents’ restaurant — Chinatown Kitchen on Route 111 — moved to Monroe from New York City 10 years ago.
Zhao said Masuk was quite a change from LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, whose student body was 25 percent Chinese. But, Zhao added, he got along well with fellow students.
"Monroe is a family-oriented town, which is a good thing," he said. "It also has a good school system. I praise Masuk."
Monroe’s Asian population currently stands at 292, according to the 2000 Census, the second largest non-white group in town. The largest minority group is Hispanic, which accounts for 482 residents or 2.5 percent of the total population.
Monroe’s future
More change is on the horizon for the town.
Burnaska said the town’s volunteer fire departments and EMS may eventually become paid services to offer protection to an increasing population, as well as a growing number of large commercial structures. The EMS already has a paid shift on duty during the day.
Burnaska said the town budgeted $81,328 for between 12 and 14 EMS employees this year and has budgeted $84,780 for next year.
"It’s a struggle to get money to keep a volunteer EMS," Gregg Barratt said. "Every year here they say, ‘Should we get rid of you and get paid people?’ We constantly have to justify our existence."
Barratt said town volunteers have a quicker response time to medical emergencies than outside providers, and that can often be critical in saving lives.
The EMS has been housed with the Police Department below Town Hall, but recently gained approval for a new headquarters at the Jockey Hollow Fire Station.
The move provides roomier facilities for the EMS and frees up needed space for police, according to Barratt.
Parks and Recreation Director Ron Wallisa said the town’s growing population, combined with increased participation in sports programs for adults and girls, has led to a need for more playing fields.
Local youth soccer organizations recently applied for a grant to build more playing fields at Wolfe Park.
Though it’s often difficult to find agreement on Monroe’s future, many town residents seem satisfied with the current status of the community.
"It’s a wonderful town," Howley said. "We have great folks trying to do the right thing. We just have growing pains."
"This is a beautiful town," said Mike Vrabel, 74, of Twinbrook Terrace, while enjoying the sunshine at the senior picnic. "If we don’t get overpopulated and keep a minimum of 1-acre zones [for houses], we can stay that way."
Bill Bittar, who covers Monroe and Easton, can be reached at 330-6418.
+ Census 2000 Website
+ Census Data
Census says "Asians on the Rise"
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