Government

Town To Pave 8 Local Roads

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Town officials last week approved an approximately $1.25 million contract with a Norwalk-based company to pave a number of local roads. The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting April 2 voted unanimously in favor of the contract with FGB Construction, one of four companies to bid on it, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The company has “done excellent work with minimal complaints from the residents and the motoring public,” Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. The roads to be paved include Danforth Drive, Indian Rock Road, Lantern Ridge Road, Laurel Road from Canoe Hill to Turner Hill, Pond View Lane, Reeder Lane, Toby’s Lane and West Hills Road. It’s “the first portion of our paving program for this year,” Mann said.

Cristina A. Ross

Town Council Approves 5% Budget Increase; Last-Minute Reductions to Board of Ed, Library Spending Requests

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The Town Council last week approved a budget for next fiscal year of about $175 million, an approximately 5% increase over current spending. The figure includes a Board of Education operating budget of about $91.5 million, up about 3.7% year-over-year. During a meeting held April 2, members of the legislative body in a divided vote made reductions to the Board of Ed ($250,000) and New Canaan Library ($107,000) spending requests for fiscal year 2025. In proposing the Board of Ed cut, Councilman Rita Bettino said that she was wary about adding fixed costs in the form of 13 staff positions to the district following a town-wide revaluation that could see significant increases in taxes for some, depending on the mill rate. 

While the positions that the district is adding “don’t add up to $1 million necessarily, they are ongoing costs and they don’t go away and they just get built upon, going further,” Bettino said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She added, “I’m just uncomfortable adding any more ongoing expenses than I believe are necessary. It’s not just the salaries.

Government

Town Approves $100,000 in Contracts for New Fitness Area at Waveny

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Town officials last week approved three contracts for the installation of a widely anticipated new outdoor fitness area at Waveny this summer, replacing existing equipment that’s broken down. The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting Tuesday voted 3-0 in favor of the contracts, a total of $96,894. 

The new fitness area will be located just east of the existing one, making room for a brand-new children’s playground area that’s planned for the same site—the grassy, tree-strewn island that abuts the Orchard Field parking lot at the park. Parks and Recreation Director John Howe told the selectmen that local landscape architect Keith Simpson is drawing up a design that includes trees and plants to clearly cordon off the two areas. “And even though we’re using colors that are neutral in nature—the tans and browns and grays—we still want to shield it off,” Howe said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconferencel

Referring to the playground committee’s plan to have the playground areas further off the main road through Waveny, he said, “And we don’t want people stopping on the edge of the road, dropping off kids or anything like that.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contracts: GameTime MRC Equipment ($50,544 for “The Gladiator” fitness equipment), $20,315 for Pat Corsetti Inc. for installation and $26,035 for Rubber Recycle for a tan Poured-In-Place surface, according to Ryan Restivo, assistant parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works. The playground itself—a project led by a volunteer committee that includes Monica Capela, Hilary Ormond and Lauren Connolly Nussbaum—will be finalized and installed following community input and fundraising.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Cell Coverage: Town Approves Contract for Updated ‘Street Test’

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a contract with a Seattle-based company for a long-awaited “street test” to understand cellular coverage in New Canaan. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 at its regular meeting to approve the $32,500 contract with Ookla. The vendor is the Utilities Commission’s preferred option for the test, the first step in obtaining clean, up-to-date, real-time data before decisions are made on the best ways to address coverage gaps. Commission member Christa Kenin, who presented to the selectmen with Chair Rich Townsend, said the appointed body was attracted to Ookla because “they are able to truly mimic the consumer experience.”

“Other vendors that came forward to us, if you could imagine—I’m oversimplifying it— they would just have an antenna on their car and drive around, but that is just catching a signal,” Kenin said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She continued: “What Ookla does is it is able to measure, is there a signal so can you initiate a call? And also voice and data will be tested in this.

Government

Affordable Housing: Town Responds in Appeal of P&Z’s Denial of ‘Red Cross Building’ Proposal

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An attorney representing the town said in a court filing Monday that it’s “indisputable” that the burden facing the Planning & Zoning Commission in denying an affordable housing proposal in New Canaan is “substantial.”

In a reply brief (available in full here) regarding plans for a 20-unit development in the former “Red Cross building” at 51 Main St.—a proposal that P&Z denied—attorney Peter Gelderman of Westport-based Bechem Moses PC said it’s also “indisputable that the need for affordable housing exists in New Canaan.”

The state affordable housing law known by its statute number, 8-30g, “requires the Commission to balance that need against public interests requiring protection,” according to the brief filed on behalf of P&Z in state Superior Court in Hartford. Geldermen continued: “Some sites within the Town simply do not meet that balancing test. 51 Main Street does not because it is located within New Canaan’s only historic district. The design of the project is incongruent with the preservation of the district and thus is abhorrent to the environment and the health of the residents of the Town of New Canaan.”

The reply brief comes as the courts process appeals of three P&Z denials—namely, for the Main Street proposal, as well as a proposed 120-unit building at Weed and Elm Streets and 93-unit structure on Hill Street. (Briefs also have been filed in the Weed/Elm and Hill Street cases.