Board of Selectmen

Six Appointed to Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

By |

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint six members to a newly conceived committee that will advise the executive branch of local government on building and infrastructure projects. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan will serve as chairman of the committee, which is to meet monthly and “provide expertise and financial oversight on an ongoing basis for major decisions and plans such as town-owned buildings and infrastructure projects including but not limited to major capital projects that are part of the Five-Year Capital Plan,” according to a draft resolution read out at the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “Right now I am the oversight over Public Works, and some other towns have standing commissions,” Moynihan said. “I have discovered that I sometimes do not have the bandwidth to be on top of all projects and this is an opportunity for us to have people on Board of Finance who have a continuing interest, making sure that projects are on budget, so a sort of standing building committee in that regard, and also it gives us the opportunity to better coordinate with the Board of Education on their projects, like solar.”

The appointees to the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure include Moynihan, George Blauvelt (a Board of Finance member), Neil Budnick (Board of Finance), Penny Young (Town Council), Penny Rashin (Board of Education) and Stuart Sawabini, former Police Commission chair. Moynihan said he’s still looking for a seventh member to nominate, a “contractor type.”

Under the resolution, committee members will serve two-year terms.

Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to make the appointments. 

The first selectman introduced the concept of the committee two weeks ago, saying it would include specialists such as contractors and architects and would advise the Board on projects such as major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations.

Board of Selectmen

‘It’s a Lifesaving Issue’: Resident Calls on Town To Increase ‘Dry Hydrant’ Installations

By |

In the wake of recent fires in New Canaan, including one that will result in the total loss of a home, a longtime resident and local business owner is calling on the town to do more to help firefighters do their jobs. The town in this upcoming budget season should increase the recurring $10,000 set aside annually for installing and repairing “dry hydrants” that tap water supplies such as ponds, pools and streams in areas without water mains or regular fire hydrants, according to Tim Brown. Citing recent house fires including one on Dan’s Highway that rendered a home uninhabitable, Brown told members of the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Tuesday that the town “must do more on their own” help firefighters. “It’s great to have brick sidewalks and nice clocks—I am fully supportive of that—but I think we have to look at some of the outlying areas in the town to do a better job to support taxpayers,” Brown, owner of BTS Insurance, said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I don’t think we do enough.”

He added, “I just think the town needs to address this thing seriously with the effort to give back to the townspeople what they deserve.

Government

Parks & Rec Recommends ‘Fields Use’ Fees for Additional Sports Groups in New Canaan 

By |

Members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their most recent meeting voted unanimously to approve a new slate of fees for groups using town-owned playing fields. 

The fees are to go to a dedicated fund held by the New Canaan Athletic Foundation for the maintenance and upgrade of fields and facilities at locations including New Canaan High School, as per a formal agreement between the nonprofit organization and the town, according to Commissioner Sally Campbell. Youth sports teams in New Canaan already are being assessed a “fields usage fee” on a per player, per season basis, Campbell said during Parks & Rec’s Nov. 13 meeting, held in Lapham Community Center. 

“There were a couple of groups that do use the athletic fields that kind of do not fall under that umbrella, so we met to see if we could bring them under the umbrella because they do use the athletic fields and they do use the dirt fields, and we came to the decision that these groups probably should be charged a fee,” Campbell said. Asked which groups she referred to, Campbell said that men’s softball, flag football and very young soccer players were to be paying a fee “and then it kind of fell through the cracks, so we want to formalize that.”

A fee also will be assessed to runners using Waveny trails in the fall. Following the Commission’s 8-0 vote, groups that now will pay a $25 per player fee include adult rec softball, men’s soccer, men’s lacrosse and Canons baseball; a $20 fee will be assessed to rec flag football players; and a $10 fee will be assed to rec soccer, rec field hockey, young New Canaan Football Club players and participants in a fall track program that uses Waveny.

Dick Rose

Commission Approves ‘Certificate of Appropriateness’ for Planned Terrace at God’s Acre 

By |

The volunteer body that oversees God’s Acre at its most recent meeting voted unanimously to approve a proposed flagstone terrace that is to be installed at the top of the parcel on Park Street, opposite the entrance to the Congregational Church of New Canaan. The Historic District Commission voted 5-0 at its Nov. 21 meeting to approve a required “Certificate of Appropriateness” for what those in charge of the privately funded project have dubbed the “Founders Terrace.”

Conceived as a permanent space where the Town Band can set up for Christmas Eve caroling, the terrace is to include a 24-inch wide sitting walls and is designed to serve as a gathering space for locals year-round, according to the group behind the project. One member of that group, local landscape architect Keith Simpson, noted while presenting to the Commission that New Canaan in marking the 200th anniversary of its 1801 incorporation held a ceremony in just that spot, with local, state and federal officials, and a makeshift set-up of chairs and speakers. With the terrace in place, “if you had something going on here—and we don’t intend to have any tables or chairs there on a regular basis—but if you ever you wanted to have 200 people here, you just would close off a section of Park Street and extend out,” Simpson said during the Commission’s meeting, held at Town Hall.

Government

Neighbors, Attorneys Criticize Waveny’s Proposed Senior Housing Complex at P&Z Hearing [CORRECTION]

By |

[Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to show that the site in question is in the half-acre zone, not the two-acre zone as originally reported. The date of the P&Z hearing also has been corrected to Nov. 19, not Nov. 20.]

The proposed senior housing complex on Oenoke Ridge is inconsistent with New Canaan’s regulations and violates some precepts of the town’s guiding document with respect to planning, according to representatives of one neighboring organization. Waveny LifeCare Network’s application for a 70-unit residential retirement building also requires approval of changes to the New Canaan Zoning Regulation that amount to “spot zoning,” attorney Steve Finn, representing St.