Norwalk River Valley Trail announces leadership changes and major 2020 trail construction

Patricia Sesto, a resident of Ridgefield and former Director of Environmental Affairs for the Town of Wilton, will pass the baton as President of the Friends of the NRVT to Charlie Taney, a Redding resident. Sesto, a founding member of the Friends of the NRVT, began her work on the trail in 2008 while working for Wilton. As chairman and president of the 5-town committee, Sesto led the development of the routing study that serves as the foundation of the subsequent efforts to build the trail.

Since the adoption of the routing study by the 5 towns in 2012, Sesto has directed the construction of 2.5 miles of trail in Wilton, the designation of five miles of trail in Norwalk, one mile in Redding, 1.5 miles in Ridgefield and helped raise over a $2.5M in private donations and grants.

In 2015, Sesto left her position with Wilton but remained involved as a volunteer.   The NRVT Steering Committee closed the gap in needed services by hiring their first Executive Director, Charlie Taney. With Sesto stepping down as president and Taney looking to change his involvement with the NRVT, Taney will take over from Sesto. Taney said; “It will be a real challenge to fill Pat’s shoes. Her leadership and creativity have established the NRVT as one of the most exciting projects in Fairfield County”.

Sesto and Taney attribute a strong working relationship to their success in seeing a positive conclusion to the DOT impasse that has halted construction for over 18 months. Sesto said, “With the resolution of the DOT lease impasse, the NRVT will have a big year of new trail construction in 2020, with over three miles of new trail added in Norwalk, Wilton and Redding.” Adding, “I could not be more pleased to hand off the leadership of the trail to Charlie. The NRVT Board has every confidence Charlie will be a successful president.”

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said; “We all have a goal of wanting to see the Norwalk River Valley Trail finished. I appreciate Patricia’s involvement as a founding member of the Friends of the NRVT, a dedicated and passionate group that has been incredibly helpful toward those efforts. I wish Charlie the best of luck as the group’s new President and look forward to Trail construction later this year.”

Wilton First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said; “The residents of Wilton are extremely grateful to Pat Sesto and her leadership in making the NRVT a reality.  We look forward to continuing to work with Charlie as President and Pat as a volunteer, as we continue to expand the trail in Wilton.”

Sesto will stay involved with the NRVT as a board member representing Ridgefield. Taney has served as Executive Director of the NRVT for the last three years. A new Executive Director has been recruited and will be announced shortly.

About Friends of the NRVT

Friends of the NRVT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, dedicated to the creation of a thirty-mile, multi-use, soft surface trail running from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, through Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding, terminating at Rogers Park in Danbury. http://nrvt-trail.com/

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Submitted by Norwalk, CT

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