Budget Cuts: Town To Reduce Funding for Landscaping Work Around Several Public Buildings

Town officials are looking to cut back on landscaping work around a handful of public buildings, including Vine Cottage, Powerhouse Theater, Carriage Barn Arts Center, Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School.

The proposed budget for next fiscal year removes about $15,000 paid annually to outside contractors in recent years for more frequent weeding and mulching that the Parks & Recreation Commission had pushed for, including during “spring cleanups.”

John Howe, parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works, told members of the Commission during their Jan. 8 meeting, “The hard part I see is that we have been able to have these buildings look great throughout the year.”

“And we are kind of going backwards,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “Are we in better shape now than we were five years ago? Yes, by a long shot.”

The cutbacks come as the Board of Finance guides municipal departments to reduce operating costs by 2%. The overall parks budget proposed by Howe came in at -2.29% (the outside contractor item later was reassigned within the DPW budget, from parks to buildings.) Howe additionally proposed cutting in half the spending on maintenance of benches in public parks (a $1,500 reduction) and decreasing the number of mosquito larvicide treatments in local catch basins from four to three (a $3,300 savings).

With respect to the landscaping around buildings, Howe said that work outside the New Canaan Police Department and New Canaan Emergency Medical Services will be reduced to spring-time only, as will work at Saxe.

During a budget hearing held Jan. 21 before the Board of Selectmen, Public Works Director Tiger Mann said the department also is cutting back on spending on park trails.

“We had increased the repairs to parks and trails for the new material that the Waveny Park Conservancy is using,” Mann said. “We cannot afford to utilize that material any more, so we reduced that line item.”

With respect to Vine Cottage, Selectman Kit Devereaux said that while the building remains under town ownership it’s “important that it look maintained, because it is sort of what you what look at when you come into town.”

Mann said the DPW would still cut the grass “but the initial sprucing that makes the property ‘pop’ is removed.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said that funding can be found for specific projects as needed and that the reductions are “designed to not over-budget things.”

Parks & Rec commissioners and the selectmen during the two meetings asked public works officials whether the landscaping work outside Lapham Community Center would be cut back (no) and whether the Powerhouse and Carriage Barn would be left to do their own landscaping entirely (the town will still do some pruning). 

Moynihan said that the town’s annual “Clean Your Mile” volunteer effort includes picking up trash near Lapham Community Center. Mann said that while the Service League of Boys did clean up the parking lot area, the bed maintenance and weeding are not part of Clean Your Mile.

Howe noted that the elementary schools already use volunteers and pay for subcontractors to care for their own beds. East School managed a large planting last year and has another one planned for this year, Mann said.