The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a two-year lease for the New Canaan Police Department to relocate to a building downtown during the widely anticipated renovation of its South Avenue headquarters.
The building at 39 Locust Ave., longtime home of New Canaan Public Schools, will be vacated by the district following the academic year now underway, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.
“It so happens the Board of Ed space fits the needs for two years,” Moynihan said during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
Under the lease agreement, the town will pay about $30,000 per month in rent, through June 2025. According to the agreement, the Board of Education is paying the building’s owner—a limited liability company whose principal is a Frogtown Road man, state records show—about $217,000 for terminating the lease early.
Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the lease. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Board of Finance and/or Town Council must also approve it.
Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent with the Department of Public Works, said the town must “do a few things to make the space meet the needs for Police Department usage.”
“And that will include a generator,” Oestmann said. “In this case we’re just going to do the docking station and plug the generator in.”
The town is pursuing a project at the police station that will include a renovation of the existing building and a new, purpose-built addition in back.
Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said some renovation work is needed in the entry-level floor area at 39 Locust Ave. “to accommodate our dispatch center and some security issues, we’ll maybe need to add some security cameras.”
“I’m not sure what they have, interior or exterior,” he said. “Not dramatic. And some other security issues for some storage of evidence and property that we’ll need to make more secure.”
The chief added that “parking is going to be difficult” at the temporary headquarters.
“We’re going to need to accommodate parking on the street and take up a majority of the spaces that are available,” he said, adding, “ It’s probably the best option out of anywhere in town for our temporary relocation but the parking is going to be challenging.”
Moynihan had said in May that the town reached a tentative agreement with the building’s owner and property manager.