Board of Education

Officials Approve $152,000 for Grass Treatment Products on Town Parks, Athletic Fields

By |

Town officials on Tuesday approved two contracts worth a total of approximately $152,000 for grass treatment at New Canaan’s parks and school athletic fields. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of contracts that will see grass treatments including the application of pesticides and fertilizers in some cases, according to John Howe, superintendent of parks with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. 

Exactly how chemicals are applied depends on factors such as how much use a field gets (for instance, Irwin Park has “very little use”), and whether it’s a school field, Howe told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. “We don’t apply any pesticides to the school athletic fields, but we do have one application on park fields for grubs, broad-leaf weeds and crabgrass,” Howe said. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of a $131,200 contract with Burlington, Mass.-based Tom Irwin Inc. for the purchase of grass treatment products and a $21,016 contract with Harwinton-based Championship Turf for the application of the products. Asked by Williams whether the Board of Education prohibits the use of pesticides on school fields, Howe said that there is a state law banning the use of “turf grass pesticides” in schools serving children through eighth grade.

Government

Selectman Williams: Concerns About Waveny Park Safety Have Been ‘Politicized’

By |

A town official on Tuesday voiced concerns about the characterization of New Canaan’s most heavily used park as unsafe. Saying he believed that some of the talk around town about the safety of Waveny Park was “misguided a bit,” Selectman Nick Williams raised the issue during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. While saying that he was “in favor of safety,” Williams asserted that “Waveny is one of the best parks in America and one of the safest parks in America.” Speaking during a section of the Board’s agenda dedicated to general town matters, Williams said that suggestions to the contrary were “perhaps politicized,” but was not specific about how. “I think it’s unfortunate that people are talking about Waveny as if it’s Central Park in the 1970s,” Williams said.

Government

Selectman Devereaux Seeks To See Proposals from Parties Who Want To Buy Vine Cottage

By |

Selectman Kit Devereaux on Tuesday called for New Canaan’s highest elected official to make a review of proposals to purchase a prominent town-owned building downtown “more transparent” than so far considered. 

Telling First Selectman Kevin Moynihan that Vine Cottage is “important to a lot of people,” Devereaux asked that responses to the town’s request for proposals for the building be made available for public review. “The people own the building and I think they deserve to know how the selection is made,” Devereaux said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting, held in Town Hall. The Board voted 2-1 in June to approve an ‘RFP’ for Vine Cottage, with Devereaux opposing the move and Selectman Nick Williams and Moynihan in favor. Last month, Devereaux pressed Moynihan to allow herself and Williams to see the proposals. Noting that Moynihan during a media briefing last week disclosed that four parties have shown interest in the ca.-1859 building located opposite the fire house on Main Street, Devereaux said that in making a decision among “that essentially is making the choice for the town, so I think it should be as transparent as possible.”

Moynihan said his plan has been to sit down with the Department of Public Works director and buildings superintendent, as well as the chairman of the Town Council and Board of Finance, to make a recommendation to the selectmen about what to do next.

Footer Featured Widget

Objection Filed to Proposed Demolition of Barn on New Canaan Country School Property

By |

Saying a barn on New Canaan Country School property has architectural and historical significance, a town resident has filed a formal objection to its proposed demolition. 

The private school on Aug. 1 applied to the New Canaan Building Department to demolish the estimated 4,500-square-foot, ca. 1870-built red barn, records show. Citing Mary Louise King’s history “A Portrait of New Canaan,” Mimi Findlay, a founder of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance, said the barn once was part of William Davenport’s farm. “King relates that the farm was purchased from foreclosure by the the New Canaan Savings Bank at the end of the century by the Grace Church in NYC,” Findlay wrote in her objection letter, filed Wednesday with the chief building official.

Election 2019

Podcast: Town Council Candidate Steve Karl

By |



This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Steve Karl, a three-term incumbent on the Town Council who is seeking re-election to the legislative body. Following last month’s caucuses, Karl and his fellow Republican nominees—Mike Mauro, Maria Naughton and Cristina A. Ross—are entering a contested race versus Democratic nominees Robin Bates-Mason, Colm Dobbyn and Mark Grzymski. This week’s podcast is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, a favorite family dessert destination for New Canaanites. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0: