Board of Finance

‘That’s In Motion’: Moynihan Lays Out Approvals Schedule for West School Cell Tower

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Though residents and town officials this summer called for more community input regarding the plan, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Tuesday laid out a schedule for municipal bodies to take up a proposed cell tower behind West School. Verizon “has come forward wanting to put a tower on the west side of town,” Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“Specifically, in the town property of the 47 acres on Ponus Ridge,” Moynihan continued, referring to 769 Ponus Ridge. “We are going to come back with two proposals and this will go to P&Z at the end of the month. One would be 1,000 feet behind West School. The other would be at the other end of the property at Llewelyn [Drive], which is a cul-de-sac, in the woods.

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Letter: New Canaan Garden Club Seeks Support to Complete Flexi-Pave Path at Irwin Park

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As you are probably aware, the New Canaan Garden Club along with the Town, is charged with maintaining and enhancing the beauty and accessibility of Irwin Park for all.  A survey conducted in the fall of 2018 by the Garden Club emphasized that Irwin is beloved by walkers who appreciate the safety offered by the Flexi-Pave path. However, the Flexi-Pave path was never completed on one side of the Park. Consequently, in bad weather, this area can be icy, muddy, and hard to navigate due to its uneven terrain. I am asking for your help to close the Flexi-Pave trail loop and restore the Irwin Endowment. Please join me in support of this $75,000 project, approved by the Board of Finance and Town Council.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police said Wednesday that the department has fielded just two calls related to youth parties in 2018, down from nine in 2017. During a regular meeting of the Police Commission, Chief Leon Krolikowski also shared data that family dispute calls declined year-over-year from 62 to 54, and narcotics violations calls declined from 66 to 48, while fraud calls increased from 53 to 94 and identity theft increased from 25 to 55. ***

The town on Jan. 10 issued a building permit for the widely anticipated fifth platform tennis court at Waveny. More than one-third of the estimated $100,000 cost is to be paid for by private contributions raised among users of the facility.

Board of Finance

Finance Board: Wait Until Summer To Fund Town-Wide Survey

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Town finance officials said this week that since there’s no money in the current budget for a proposed survey of residents regarding spending priorities in the town—a survey estimated to cost $16,000 to $19,000—that it must wait for the fiscal year starting July 1 to get underway. Though there is “wide support to do the survey,” Board of Finance Chairman Todd Lavieri said during the group’s regular meeting Tuesday night, funding it would require a special appropriation. “We just do not have money in this budget, so it has got to be the next one,” Lavieri said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. Lavieri added that there are also open questions such as what firm to use and how the survey would be conducted. Ultimately, no one on the Board proposed a special appropriation to fund the survey now.

Government

Board of Finance to Keep 2 Percent Budget Increase as ‘Strong Guideline’ for Town Departments

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Members of the Board of Finance on Tuesday night discussed the effectiveness of an October memo instructing all departments to present their budget proposals for next fiscal year with no more than a 2 percent budget increase, especially in light of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi last week opened Board of Education budget talks with a request for a 3.5 percent increase. Finance board member Colleen Baldwin said during the group’s regular meeting that while there were discussions before the memo was sent about making the 2 percent a “hard number,” the idea was eventually scrapped “for this very reason.”

Instead, she said that the number was “put out as a starting discussion” with a strong suggestion that the budgets should be presented with “no more than 2 percent.”

But member Thomas Schulte questioned whether the departments are taking the memo seriously enough, considering the financials challenges that the both the town and the state are facing in the coming years and urged the board to bring up these concerns at department meetings. “We tried to do our best to share with them the concerns that we had,” he said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. “I think that the world is very different. It is a more expensive one for people to pay their state and local taxes [in]…and we can’t ignore that, and I think [in terms of] real world budgeting, all of the departments need to be aware of that—whether they’re halfway or all the way through creating their budgets.