Board of Selectmen

Town To Install Brick Sidewalks Past Walter Stewart’s on Elm

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Town officials this week approved a contract for work designed to improve the sidewalk on a heavily foot-trafficked area of upper Elm Street. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its regular meeting Tuesday to approve $1,965 in survey work in the area of Walter Stewart’s Market. 

The northern side of the sidewalk there is to get brick sidewalks and granite curbing installed, bringing it into the same style as much of downtown New Canaan, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “If you look, we have a brick sidewalk that leads from Elm Street, the downtown area, to the edge of Walter Stewart’s and then from the edge of Walter Stewart’s past Karl Chevrolet to Grove Street,” Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. He continued: “We have brick sidewalks on the opposite side of the street. It’s one piece that’s in the middle that we weren’t able to complete at the time.

Government

Town Approves Contract for Sports Field Fence Repair

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved about $24,000 in contracts with two companies to repair fences at some of New Canaan’s most-used sports fields. The contracts with New Canaan-based Gannon Rustic Fence and New Haven-based Total Fence will address damaged fences at the softball field in Waveny, varsity baseball field in Mead Park and two Water Tower turf fields at New Canaan High School, according to Todd Deklyn, superintendent of parks in the Department of Public Works. “The Water Tower field fence is over five years old, and these two fields get used by various sports groups throughout the season,” Deklyn told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

He continued: “Damage to these fences is mostly caused by balls being kicked or hit in the fence during their games or practices. At the baseball and softball field fences, most of the damage is mostly caused by athletes doing soft toss and throwing weighted balls against them for warmups. Only the bad sections of the fence on each field will be replaced and we have requested two quotes from Gannon Fence and Total Fence.”

The town has used both companies in the past and they’ve “done quality work for us,” Deklyn said.

Government

Selectmen Criticize Effectiveness, Aesthetics of Pedestrian-Activated Flashing Beacons

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a contract with a Newtown-based company for pedestrian-activated flashing beacons on Gower Road at South School and Elm Street at Kimberly Place. Motorists are “not necessarily paying attention to the students in the crosswalk” or crossing guards and monitors at South School trying to ensure their safety, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We put in additional ‘no parking’ signs to try to free up the area and we’re still having a problem,” Mann told the selectmen at their March 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. There also are many people on Kimberly Place who seek to cross Elm Street at the intersection, he said. “It’s been a longstanding request,” Mann said.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Remove Contingency Funding from Police HQ Design Contract

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The Board of Selectmen last week removed “contingency” dollars from a contract related to the Police Department building renovation—a change that the town’s highest elected official said she favors for certain kinds of work. The selectmen ultimately voted 3-0 in favor of the $58,650 contract extension with Jacunski Humes Architects LLC to provide professional design services for furniture, fixtures and equipment or “FF&E” design work. Yet the Board removed a $5,000 contingency that had been included in a request that town Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski brought forward for the project, which is being overseen by a volunteer committee. 

Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll raised a flag during the March 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “If this is a contract to evaluate furniture or other things, why do we have a contingency?” Murphy Carroll said. “Don’t we just have a contract to [say], ‘This is your job, to fit it out.’ And it drives me crazy when asked about the contingencies, but if this is like a professional service that we’re hiring for this phase, isn’t it inclusive?”

Zagarenski said “there might be a need” for contingency funds “if we ask them to do some of the high density storage equipment and those sort of things that are just on the fringe.”

“If you don’t want to put contingency into this, don’t put contingency in it,” he said.

Board of Selectmen

Town To Finalize Easement Agreement with Condo Association Near Mead Pond

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Town officials last week approved funds for a survey of a condominium association’s property that includes an area along the eastern edge of Mead Pond. 

The town didn’t realize when it proposed spending federal American Rescue Act funds to create a Flexi-pave walk around the pond two years ago that the abutting Park Slope condo association owns much of the property downslope from its residences, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

For decades, the town has mowed and otherwise kept up the area— which encompasses a revitalized memorial walk dedicated to the 38 New Canaan men who died while serving in World War II—as part of its Mead Park maintenance, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their March 5 meeting. Now, the condo association “would like an easement” as part of its agreement with the town. Asked by First Selectman Dionna Carlson to explain why the town is pursuing the easement, Mann said, “It’s not a question of why, it’s a question of need.”

“This came about when we were discussing placing the Flexi-pave walk through that area,” he continued at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “It was determined that their [Park Slope’s] property actually extends closer to the park than was originally anticipated or originally known. We thought we owned further back.