Government

New Canaan Budget Director Lunda Asmani Appointed Town CFO

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint Budget Director Lunda Asmani as CFO for the town. Hired in June 2018, Asmani will succeed Sandra Dennies in the role starting next week, and will continue to work as budget director, as well, officials said. “We are very sorry to see her [Dennies] go but are bittersweet to have a new CFO taking over on Friday,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the appointment. Prior to coming to New Canaan, Asmani had served for two years as director of management and budgets for Norwalk, according to his resume.

Kevin Moynihan

Devereaux Asks Town to Include ‘Our Most Local Bank’ in Future Bidding Opportunities

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Saying that Bankwell is a truly local bank, Selectman Kit Devereaux last week urged town officials to take greater efforts to include the company in soliciting bids for the municipality’s business. In reviewing a proposed $600,000 agreement between the town and a New Jersey-based bank, Devereaux asked New Canaan CFO Sandra Dennies whether local banks had an opportunity to bid on the project (an IT equipment lease-purchase agreement for the district). Told that banks who received an email on it included People’s United Bank, First County Bank and Chase—but that Dennies was “not certain” if Bankwell received the offer—Devereaux urged the town to include Bankwell and other local banks in the future. “I would like to request that when we make that list that, for instance, Bankwell—which is probably our most local bank—is included for the opportunity,” Devereaux said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “It could be something that local banks can’t compete on unless they have the opportunity.”

Devereaux and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan voted 2-0 to approve the agreement, with Ringoes, N.J.-based U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. Selectman Nick Williams was absent.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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An attorney representing a New Canaan homeowner last week filed an appeal in state Superior Court of the town’s decision in March to uphold a property valuation from October. The property, 1248 Oenoke Ridge Road, was valued at $7,961,300 and assessed at $5,572,910, according to the appeal, filed May 11 by attorney Amy Zabetakis of Darien-based Rucci Law Group. The New Canaan Board of Assessment Appeals on March 20 notified the plaintiffs, Helene and George Pyne, that it would not change that valuation, which “did not reflect the true fair market value of the property, but rather it was grossly excessive, disproportionate and unlawful,” according to the complaint. ***

Sandra Dennies, New Canaan’s finance director, received a standing ovation from the Town Council on Wednesday night when First Selectman Kevin Moynihan closed the meeting by announcing that she has been made permanent in the job. The former Wilton CFO had been working in New Canaan on an interim basis since last May.

Government

Officials Approve $44,000 in Contracts To Reconfigure Finance Department at Town Hall

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Officials last week approved approximately $44,000 in contracts to reconfigure the Finance Department’s area at Town Hall in a way that makes it more welcoming and also creates space for two more bodies. The department is “the central service agency” of the town and “people need to feel that they can come in and ask any questions” of the staff there, according to interim Finance Director Sandra Dennies. Yet “right now, when you walk in, you walk into a big gray hall,” she told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Sept. 12 at Town Hall. “It is not user friendly.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station found a West Nile Virus-infected mosquito in New Canaan, state officials said Thursday, in what’s called the ‘Hoyt Swamp.’ That’s located up against the Merritt Parkway near Exit 38 (here). No human cases of the virus have been reported in the state this season. Officials say using mosquito repellant and covering up when the insects are most active (dawn and dusk) are simple, effective prevention measures. ***

Pet Pantry Warehouse on Grove Street—host of the annual Dog Days New Canaan—is hiring management and entry-level personnel for its store here in town. ***

The Board of Selectmen this week voted 3-0 to approve the hiring of Nathan Vass Jr. as a welder equipment operator in the Department of Public Works.