Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Those seeking to force a referendum vote on the Town Council’s $10 million grant to New Canaan Library for its building project have until Oct. 1 to get 689 registered voters’ signatures, or 5% of qualified New Canaan electors as of the most recent voter list, according to the Town Clerk’s office. If those signatures are obtained, the vote would have to be scheduled by the Town Council within 30 days, and the last possible day to hold the referendum vote would be Oct. 31, officials say. At that point, in order to succeed, the referendum would have to see more people voting in favor of the petitioners’ goal and those voting in favor would have to be at least 15% of of the total electorate.

Around Town

New Construction Planned for White Oak Shade Road 

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The New Canaan Building Department last week received an application to build a 5,000-square-foot home on White Oak Shade Road. The new five-bedroom house at 142 White Oak Shade Road will include four bathrooms and two half-baths, according to a building permit application filed Sept. 13. The contractor on the job is New Canaan-based Cognetta Homes, the architect ISO Architects of Newtown. The vacant 1.15-acre parcel was purchased in March for $1,075,000, tax records show.

News

Stalking Charge for 25-Year-Old Man

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Police late Wednesday arrested a 25-year-old Norwalk man and charged him with violation of a protective order and second-degree stalking. At about 10:35 p.m. on Sept. 22, officers were dispatched to a psychiatric hospital on Valley Road on a report of the protective order violation, according to police. There, officers spoke to the victim and conducted an investigation, according to a police report. They determined that the man had violated an active protective order and had been stalking the victim, the report said.

Board of Education

Podcast: Board of Ed Candidate Janet Fonss 

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Board of Education candidate Janet Fonss. The Democrat is one of eight candidates seeking a four-year term on the school board Nov. 2. There are five four-year terms up for election. There also is a two-person race for a two-year term on the Board of Ed. 

Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

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Government

Town Seeks To Direct Federal Funds Toward ADA Work at Playhouse in Hopes of Reopening

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said this week that the town soon will decide whether to allocate $750,000 in federal funds toward readying The Playhouse for a new movie operator. 

Getting the iconic Elm Street theater back in operation is “one of the biggest economic developments we could do locally” with the first tranche of nearly $6 million in federal funding that New Canaan is getting under the America Rescue Plan Act, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. The $750,000 would be combined with $850,000 already built up through a fund for the 1923-built Playhouse, and together that would be enough “to do all the repairs and code compliance that we need to do to get The Playhouse back in operation,” Moynihan said during the Board fo Selectmen’s regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“We are working with potential operators who are coming in but we can’t reopen until we have a code-complaint building and refurbished building,” he said. The Board of Finance and Town Council are expected to review and vote on preliminary recommendations for how to spend about $3.5 million of the federal funds that the selectmen discussed during their meeting. Once approved, the town could start appropriating funds in October and November, Moynihan said. “Every town and city is doing this differently and they are making their decisions,” he said.