Amy Murphy Carroll

New Board of Selectmen Sworn In at Town Hall Ceremony

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In her first public address as New Canaan’s highest elected official, Dionna Carlson on Tuesday night vowed to make good on a campaign vow to restore transparency, civility and teamwork to the office of first selectman. Addressing a standing-room-only crowd in the Town Hall Meeting Room during an Oath of Office Ceremony, Carlson said she was “full of gratitude” and felt “a deep sense of responsibility” on taking office. “I want to express my sincere thanks to all of you who supported me during my campaign,” Carlson told the crowd after she and her fellow members of the Board of Selectmen—Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll—as well as Town Treasurer Andrew Brooks had been sworn in by Town Clerk Claudia Weber. 

She continued: “Your belief in me and your tireless efforts brought me to this moment, and I am humbled by your trust. As I step into this new role, I want to emphasize that I am committed to working collaboratively with members of boards, commissions, committees and our dedicated staff for the betterment of our entire community.  Together, we will strive to address the needs and concerns of our residents and to ensure our town continues to thrive and prosper.”

Referring to the values of transparency, civility and teamwork, Carlson said they’re “not just words on a poster.”

“They’re the guiding principles that will shape my tenure,” Carlson said. “I firmly believe that an open and transparent government is essential for building trust and fostering a sense of unity within our community.

Government

Town, Church Reach Agreement on God’s Acre

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. The Board of Selectmen during its most recent meeting voted in favor of an agreement that’s expected to bring a lengthy legal battle between the town and Congregational Church of New Canaan to a close. The agreement (which can be read here in full) sets aside the question of who owns God’s Acre—a question that First Selectman Kevin Moynihan raised amid the legal dispute—and calls for creation of a four-person committee to make decisions about the hallowed New Canaan property, a burial ground for the town’s founders. Selectman Kathleen Corbet during the Board’s July 25 meeting cited this sentence from the agreement—“Whereas, for at least two centuries the church, the town and New Canaan residents have honored, maintained and enjoyed God’s Acre in a respectful and harmonious manner”—saying, “I feel this agreement moves forward with those intentions.”

Selectman Nick Williams added, “It’s an elegant and simple solution.”

The selectmen voted 3-0 to accept it. 

A dispute first arose in 2020, when the church opposed a town-backed plan to construct a stone terrace at the top of God’s Acre, saying that they were the legal owners of the property. The church’s claim was questioned by Moynihan, who noted that the town spends taxpayer dollars maintaining the parcel. 

While evidence has since been discovered by attorneys representing the Congregational Church that supports their claim to ownership, the new policy that both parties have agreed upon will override any previous claim to ownership in favor of both parties agreeing to hold joint stewardship of the property.

Around Town

Congregational Church, Town Find Contractor To Repair ‘Wayside Cross’ at God’s Acre

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The Congregational Church of New Canaan and town have agreed on a contractor to repair a damaged World War I monument on God’s Acre that was damaged during a police pursuit this past summer. The Wayside Cross (local history here) will be repaired by Lorton, Va.-based Rugo Stone, under a $31,166 contract that the Board of Selectmen is scheduled to take up at its regular meeting on Tuesday. The Rev. Dr. Stephen Chapin Garner, senior minister at the Congregational Church, told NewCanaanite.com in an email when asked about the monument’s status that “the church and town have been working really well together” to try and get it repaired in time for the Nov. 11 Veterans Day ceremony at God’s Acre. VFW Post 653 member John McLane, a U.S. Army captain in Vietnam, said that the Wayside Cross at God’s Acre “has been a memorial to those who have lost their lives serving this country since right after World War I.”

“Our New Canaan VFW Post holds a service there every Veterans Day,” McLane said.

Around Town

‘One of the Truly Bright Lights’: Amid Pandemic, Local Clergy Members Form Stronger Bonds

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Even prior to the onset of COVID-19, New Canaan’s local clergy association stood out in the experience of the Rev. Stephen Chapin Garner. Collegial and kind, it includes unusually gifted people whose monthly gatherings are free of a type of guardedness can limit such groups, Garner said. As the pandemic set in this spring, bringing unforeseen practical challenges among other demands, New Canaan’s spiritual leaders began leaning harder into one another, according to Garner, senior minister at the Congregational Church of New Canaan. “We laugh together, we joke, we share the challenges of time and we have gone past ‘friendly,’ to friends,” Garner told NewCanaanite.com. “For me, some of these folks are people I would turn to if I had a complex issue in my life, let alone the church.

Around Town

Congregational Church on God’s Acre: ‘It Is Our Church Cemetery’

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Though the town’s highest elected official said recently that he doesn’t understand the Congregational Church of New Canaan’s claim regarding ownership of God’s Acre, an email obtained by NewCanaanite.com shows that the church’s pastor had outlined the position to him early this summer. The Rev. Chapin Garner told First Selectman Kevin Moynihan in a June 9 email, “Our understanding is this: God’s Acre is not only a cemetery, it is our church cemetery.”

“Indeed, it is named ‘God’s Acre’ because that is the 17th century term for a church burial ground,” Garner said in the email, whose copied recipients included Town Attorney Ira Bloom, attorney Gabriella Kiniry, a congregant who has advised the church, and Nick Williams, a selectman who also is a a member the church. “We have had pastors and parishioners buried on that hill, and it is our sacred obligation to protect that hallowed ground in which they were laid to rest,” Garner’s email continued. “We do not want anything built on our ancient burial ground—not a terrace and not sidewalks. Not only is that our desire, but we strongly believe Connecticut State law prohibits any construction on an ancient burial ground.”

He referred to a state law that prohibits towns from using ancient burial grounds for anything other than burials.