Government

Selectmen, Commission ID Wages Issue within NCPD

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Town officials this month discussed what they described as an ongoing salary issue among New Canaan’s finest. 

During the Ag. 6 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, members of the Police Commission asked the selectmen for percentage salary increases for the highest-ranking members of the New Canaan Police Department. Paul Foley, a member of the appointed body, asked the Board to increase the deputy chief and captain’s salary from 2.75% to 3%, and the chief’s from 2.75% to 3.5%. During the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference, Foley said these increases aren’t “quite where other departments are, but it gets them bumped up a bit.”

Foley said the increases would send a message to the rest of the staff that “there is some room for compensation increase.”

Foley said the department has been dealing with an issue where there’s a lack of individuals moving into administration positions.

Government

Town Officials Approve Request To Demo ‘Audubon House’ at Nature Center

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Town officials last week approved a request to demolish a long-disused town-owned building at the New Canaan Nature Center. During the Aug. 6 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, officials discussed the future of the “Audubon House,” a deteriorating 15-by-30-foot structure located across from the Oenoke Ridge nonprofit organization’s Visitor Center. 

Department of Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski asked the Board of Selectmen for authorization to enter into a contract with Fuss & O’Neill, a civil and environmental engineering company. 

The contract, in the amount of $4,355 plus a contingency of $800 (a total of $5,155), is required to perform the demolition of the rectangular structure, Zagarenski told the Board at its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Director of Public Works Tiger Mann said the cost is funded in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget in a $50,000 line item. The building originally served as a laundry facility for the late Susan Dwight Bliss, a New Canaan resident and philanthropist.

Government

Town Officials Reject Proposal To Require Residents to Remove Snow and Ice

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Saying it is both unfair and unsafe for residents, town officials recently rejected a proposal to require certain property owners to remove snow and ice from public sidewalks abutting their property. 

The Town Council last month heard from various New Canaanites voicing their opinions on the first selectman’s proposal from June. A committee of the legislative body at its July 15 meeting voted unanimously to reject the suggestion, despite budget concerns. 

Town Council Bylaws & Ordinances Committee Co-Chair Tom Butterworth said, “There is very low likelihood [the proposal] has got any life left in it,” following the legislative body’s vote. Before residents addressed the Council, members conducted an informal straw poll, in which all council members expressed a collective desire to reject the proposal. 

Following the straw poll motion, residents were invited to speak to the Council. 

Here is what they had to say:

Rich de Moll: “As you probably already know, Park Street is a designated response road and, therefore, has enhanced snow clearing in the winter. In addition, it’s a primary access road for cars going to high school and middle school complexes as well as the Merritt Parkway.

Homepage Featured

Back to School: NCPD Officer To Return to East as SRO

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. For many, going back to elementary school may not be a good thing. 

But for Police Officer Ron Bentley, “it means the world.” 

For the school year that kicks off this month, Bentley—a two-plus decade NCPD veteran readying to enter his final year as a cop—has been assigned as the School Resource Officer or “SRO” at East Elementary School, his alma mater. Bentley describes this assignment as “personal.” 

“I was there the other day and I’m walking through the school and a flood of memories came back from when I went to school there— from where the gym used to be to the teachers and  just great moments that I had there,” he said. Bentley—together with his younger brother, Charlie, a New Canaan firefighter—grew up in town. Bentley was a member of the 1994 New Canaan High School graduating class.

Bruce MacLear

Private ‘Finch Club’ Proposed for Historic Park Street House

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. A group of local residents are seeking to build a private club in the historic ‘Maxwell Perkins House’ on Park Street. The three-floor house—long owned by the late architect Richard Bergmann—would be called ‘The Finch Club’ under a plan that was presented recently to the Planning & Zoning Commission. The Greek Revival-style house at 63 Park St. once was occupied by Maxwell Perkins, the great Scribner’s editor of Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe.