Government

We’re writing not only about those municipal bodies that all local media outlets cover—New Canaan Board of Selectmen, Town Council, Department of Public Works—but also the Public Tree Board, Traffic-Calming Work Group, Parking Commission and Park & Recreation Commission.

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Recent Articles

Officials Wary of Proposal for Nonprofit, Community Organizations To Use ‘Pop Up Park’ for Sales

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Town officials on Tuesday night voiced objections to a proposal that nonprofit and community organizations be allowed to sell fundraiser tickets or items such as Girl Scout cookies in the Pop Up Park downtown, saying the popular pedestrian area should remain entirely solicitation-free. When the cordoned-off park launched five years ago, New Canaan’s traffic authority specified that nothing be sold there “mostly because we did not want to have in any way reactions by the merchants that the Pop Up Park would compete with them,” according to Police Commission member Sperry DeCew. “I am not particularly happy about this [idea],” DeCew said at the group’s regular meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. “I do not particularly want people in there being solicited by anybody to do anything—Lobsterfest or Girl Scout cookies. I think it’s inappropriate and there should be no solicitation whatsoever.”

DeCew and fellow Commissioner Paul Foley—together with Chairman Stuart Sawabini, who participated in the meeting on speakerphone—referred to a draft set of “sales guidelines” from the volunteer committee that organizes the Pop Up Park. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Business, Government, Local Merchants, News, Paul Foley, Police Commission, Pop Up Park, Sperry DeCew

Town Publishes Waiting Lists for Commuter Parking Lot Permits

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Town officials now are publishing online the waiting lists for the three commuter parking lots most in demand in New Canaan, at the Lumberyard, Richmond Hill and Talmadge Hill. The lists (they can be found here) will be updated monthly, according to Stacy Miltenberg, superintendent of the New Canaan Parking Bureau. Their publication follows a major effort undertaken by the bureau to “clean up” the waiting lists. Prompted by the Parking Commission, the town last year instituted a $10 annual fee to stay on the lists, and Miltenberg and her department spent several months reaching out to applicants to ensure they still were actively waiting. “When we cleaned up the waitlists back in September, the Parking Commission felt it was a good idea to publish them, because people constantly called to find out where they are,” Miltenberg told NewCanaanite.com. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, News, New Canaan Parking Bureau, Parking Commission, Stacy Miltenberg

Town To Purchase 24 New Recycling Bins for Downtown, Public Areas

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Town officials on Tuesday morning voted in favor of the $10,000 purchase of 24 new green metal recycling receptacles in New Canaan. The town by state mandate must have a recycling receptacle for every garbage bin placed in a public area, according to Don Smith, assistant superintendent of solid waste with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. Yet as of this week, Smith said he had counted 31 garbage bins around New Canaan and “more than half do not have a recycling bin,” Smith told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall. The town is purchasing the two dozen “slatted body outdoor metal waste receptacles” from Port Jefferson, N.Y.-based Global Industrial. “They are gorgeous,” First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Business, Government, News, Beth Jones, Board of Selectmen, Don Smith, Nick Williams, Rob Mallozzi

Op-Ed: Moynihan Says ‘Thank You’ To Caucus Voters

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I was thrilled and humbled to win the endorsement of New Canaan Republicans for the office of first selectman at the caucus last Tuesday evening. I would like to thank all Republicans who came out to vote at the caucus—1,277 strong. Such a large turnout on a summer night in July showed how engaged and concerned our fellow Republicans are about important issues facing New Canaan. I felt that my message about the lack of sufficient commuter parking, poor to non-existent cell phone service in large parts of town, and problems with financial integrity and transparency in government resonated among voters, especially among commuters who I met on the train platforms at the New Canaan and Talmadge Hill stations. I look forward to carrying this message to all New Canaan voters in the Fall as the Republican Party’s standard bearer, along with the entire Republican endorsed slate including Nick Williams, Tom Butterworth, John Engel, Rich Townsend, Penny Young, Claudia Weber and Andrew Brooks. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, News, Opinion, Election 2017, Kevin Moynihan

Mallozzi Will Not Seek Primary; First Selectman Congratulates Moynihan, Republican Nominees

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First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said Monday that he will not seek a primary for Republican endorsement for New Canaan’s highest elected office. In an email to NewCanaanite.com, Mallozzi said he is “presently hard at work doing the Town’s business and also working on my future plans.”

“I know a primary was going forthcoming had I won on Tuesday. However, I could never subject my family, and our community, to any more of the negative rhetoric and disharmony a protracted election season could bring should I have followed the path set by other candidates. I am very comfortable with my decision.”

A three-term incumbent, Mallozzi lost at the July 18 Republican caucus to challenger and Town Councilman Kevin Moynihan by a 612-602 margin. In his email, he thanked “all that came out and voted last Tuesday.”

“And I am buoyed by the wonderful outreach and encouragement I have received ever since,” he said. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, News, Election 2017, Kevin Moynihan, Rob Mallozzi