Town officials approved a $20,000 contract last week with a land surveying company in hopes that it will signal to Eversource that New Canaan is ready to run natural gas on the western side of the downtown.
The work by Bridgeport-based Cabezas DeAngelis—for the reconstruction of sidewalks and streetscape on Pine Street—would take place after the installation of gas there, officials said at the Aug. 18 meeting of the Board of Selectmen.
“This will hopefully put a little fire to Eversource saying that we have plans to come in and redo this area, and we would like you to come in first and take care of it so we don’t have to come in after and then pave it again,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said during the meeting, held via videoconference.
The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to approve the contract.
The already now is “in slight disrepair or major disrepair,” Mann said.
“It’s a major adjunct for a portion of the business district,” he said. “I know [First Selectman] Kevin [Moynihan] and I have been pushing hard with Eversource gas to have them come into the area, specifically upper Elm Street, Grove Street, Pine Street. And this is in anticipation of them coming in and doing some work, and us coming in later, repaving it and then redoing the sidewalks. On the northern side, there is a series of utility poles and they are problematic with being in compliance with the sidewalk. So it’s imperative for us to get a detailed survey of the property lines or road lines themselves and then hopefully be able to plan around that for future work.”
There’s no exact date for the surveying work, Moynihan said.
“Maybe next year if we are lucky,” he said.
Mann said Cabezas DeAngelis has done “excellent work for us in the past,” including on Main and Park Streets.
“I think it’s important to stay with the same looks and feel throughout town,” he said.
when are the gas lines coming to forest st commercial and residential areas?