Town officials last week approved a contract with a local landscaping company for pruning and weeding around 10 public buildings in New Canaan.
The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the $31,240 contract with Gregg’s Garden Center on Grove Street.
The town typically does a round of spring weeding in early April, but held off this year given that nearly all municipal buildings are closed, according to John Howe, parks superintendent with the Department of Public Works.
“With that said, it has increased the amounts a little bit, but it has also avoided a second springtime weeding of the beds,” Howe told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held June 2 via videoconference. He added that the $4,000 contingency included in the contract is higher than in years past “due to the fact that the weeds are growing so rapidly right now.”
Skipping the April work likely will result in a break-even for the town, Howe said. The current fiscal year’s budget includes $65,000 for this type of work, Howe said.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of the contract.
Devereaux said she was “really delighted” that Vine Cottage would benefit from the spruce-up. Slated for sale to a private developer, Vine Cottage currently is once again seeing use by municipal employees amid the COVID-19 public health emergency, officials have said.
Howe noted that “the Vine Cottage is coming off in July.”
Devereaux said she was “glad it’s going to get a little springtime lift.”