The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a $13,800 contract with a Danbury-based company for the emergency replacement of a boiler at the New Canaan Nature Center.
The selectmen during its Feb. 7 meeting voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Eastern Mechanical Services, which installed a new “Navien Combi Boiler” in the Animal Care Center at the Oenoke Ridge organization.
The boiler had failed in mid- to late-December “and we had to replace it obviously since we were in the middle of winter,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
“We changed over from an oil to a propane, so we can actually remove the oil tanks,” Mann said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And we had [First Selectman] Kevin [Moynihan] sign it since it was an emergency basis, and then we are bringing it here for your approval. We apologize it’s been a little bit delayed bringing it to you.”
Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contract.
The town-owned property that forms the Nature Center’s 40-acre campus at Bliss Park (146 Oenoke Ridge) was donated to the town in 1959 by Susan Dwight Bliss for purposes of establishing a nature center. The town owns the buildings there, while the environmental education organization— founded in 1960—operates its own nonprofit business and programs (and owns what’s inside the buildings).
The funds for the boiler replacement were covered out of the DPW’s operating expenses, Mann said.
Corbet asked what is the source of the New Canaan Nature Center water that feeds the water heater there (Aquarion) and how old was the boiler that was replaced (20-plus years).
“Past its [useful] life,” Mann said.