Amy Murphy Carroll

‘That Just Wasn’t Honest’: Selectmen Call for Full Accounting of Delayed Waveny Elevator Project

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Saying delays and cost overruns on the Waveny House elevator project are unacceptable, members of the Board of Selectmen this week called for more transparency from Public Works officials, a specific number for how much it has already cost and regular updates on the widely anticipated installation. 

Everyone is “frustrated” with the project, described as being on track for completion this month then just one week later pushed out to July-August, Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll noted. “I’m incredibly frustrated with this, because since I was on the Board of Selectmen and I have asked at least once a month, ‘Where are we in the elevator? Are we okay? Are we on time?’ ” Murphy Carroll told DPW Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann during the regular selectmen meeting held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Two weeks ago, we were told to be done by the end of April,” Murphy Carroll continued.

Government

OSHA Cites Issue at WWTP, Town Approves Funds for Pump Safety Guards

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Officials last week approved an approximately $17,500 contract with a Bridgeport-based company to create guards for a town facility after federal inspectors identified a safety issue. Last month, representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration walked through Department of Public Works buildings, as well as Town Hall and the newly renovated New Canaan Police Department—the first time that OSHA came for such an inspection since 2017, according to DPW officials. While in the Waste Water Treatment Plant, an inspector found that eight pumps showing about two inches of exposed, slow-spinning drive shaft on each side of the motor represent “a safety hazard,” according to Bill Oestmann, DPW’s superintendent of buildings. 

“And they say because it’s an exposed shaft it should be covered,” Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their April 7 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The pumps, which are bolted to the floor in a lightly trafficked area of the plant, have been in place for more than 25 years “and they’ve been running with no problem, but OSHA felt that they needed some safety guards on these pumps,” he said. The Board—First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll—voted 3-0 in favor of DPW’s request to enter into a $17,600 contract with Hard Corps Iron Works to create those guards, which Oestmann described as a “kind of safety cage” that still will allow for repairs. 

Public Works Director Tiger Mann noted that “at the time of the installation it wasn’t determined we needed it because we asked the question at the time.”

The selectmen asked what kind of accident OSHA foresaw (someone’s clothing or very long hair perhaps getting caught), what is the height of the pumps (ground level), how often inspections happen (every five to seven years), where the funds are coming from (sewer fund contingency) and whether Board of Finance approval is needed (yes, received later on Tuesday).

Government

Town Approves Funds To Repaint the Historic ‘Gores Pavilion’ at Irwin

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Town officials this month approved funds to power-wash and repaint the exterior of a historic structure in Irwin Park. The Gores Pavilion—designed by Harvard Five architect Landis Gores as a winter lodge and summer pool house—was dedicated in 1960 at a grand surprise party arranged by Philip Johnson in honor of Gores himself. During their June 3 meeting, members of the Board of Selectmen approved an $8,690 contract with a Stamford company to power-wash, scrape, prepare and paint the building’s exterior. 

The building was painted about eight years ago, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings in the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “It requires overall maintenance on the painting end because of the type of materials that are on that building,” Oestmann said during the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And it’s historic in nature, so we have to keep up with the maintenance on it.

Government

Town To Install 25 New Lampposts in Waveny This Spring

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a pair of contracts to replace 25 lampposts in Waveny, the first of two installation phases in the popular park. The new lampposts will be larger than those currently installed in Waveny, more similar to those in the downtown, according to Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent in the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “They stopped making them,” Oestmann told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “They’re very old. We’re going to basically redo the whole thing, new footings and everything, and put LED lights in them so it’d be more efficient.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Put Off Vote on Redo of ‘Bridegroom’s Room’ at Waveny

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Saying they need more information, members of the Board of Selectmen this week put off voting on contracts for a future “bridegroom’s room” at Waveny House. Building officials came to the Board at its regular meeting Tuesday seeking approval for two contracts that would see a chandelier installed in a former IT Department office that the town now wants to convert into the groom’s room for weddings at Waveny. The room also would be painted, but the selectmen said they first need to understand how many lower wall electrical outlets are in it, and also what color it will be. “I don’t think we’re ready,” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said of voting on the contracts, totaling about $15,000. “I don’t think we’re ready for this one.