Government

Funds Approved To Prepare for Replacement of Irwin Park Barn Roof

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved about $20,000 to prepare for the replacement of the roof at the 113-year-old Irwin Park Barn. The original roof on the barn had been cedar, and before the town took ownership of the structure “two more layers of fiberglass” were put on it, according to Department of Public Works Superintendent of Buildings Bill Oestmann. “Which is not code-compliant, but also that’s what is causing the problems with the roof,” Oestmann told the selectmen during their Oct. 19 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The top layer is actually coming off.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to approve a $19,350 contract with Architectural Preservation Studio, DPC, which has an office in New Canaan.

Government

‘It’s Just Been Very Difficult’: Town Re-Contracts with Norwalk Cleaning Company After Problems with Franchisee

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Town officials on Tuesday re-hired a small Norwalk-based company to handle cleaning duties at several municipal buildings after having problems with a different franchise-model group. 

The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of an approximately $95,000 contract to hire P&M Cleaning Services for 13 town buildings. P&M “were the ladies that ran a company here in Norwalk that were actually used to clean our buildings for seven years and then they lost a bid last time because of the franchise-type relationships,” Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. The town had “some problems” with that franchise-model company, JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting, Oestmann said. “A lot of it stems from labor issues, getting quality work and getting people has been a bit of a problem,” he said. “So we tried to work through this for a couple of months with them, it’s just been very difficult and JAN-PRO, it’s a franchise, through corporate it’s franchised out.

Bill Oestmann

‘It Was Unforeseen’: Town Approves Additional $50,000 for Carriage Barn Project

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Town officials this month increased a contract for renovation work at the Carriage Barn in Waveny by more than $50,000, in part to meet the price of more expensive materials amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One of the change-orders for the project was “basically due to COVID, the timing from when we bid the project to when we awarded the project, material prices skyrocketed,” Tiger Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Oct. 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

The selectmen approved funding for a revised total project of $289,588.46, compared to an original project of $238,700, Mann said. Now underway and with a hopeful completion date next month, the work addresses water-related problems that had been threatening the structure for some 50 years, unbeknownst to the town. Specifically, officials opening up the walls on the inside of the Carriage Barn found “all the water was draining through the outside of the walls and then coming inside and saturating the walls” so that parts of the structure had to be removed, Mann said. “Once we noticed that, we had to go on the outside and dig down and place additional concrete there to stop that migration of water,” Mann said. 

The town now is placing concrete on the outside to address the water migration problem, Mann said.

Government

Town Approves $40,000 Contract To Redesign ‘Potting Shed’ at Waveny as All-Season Bathroom

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Town officials last week agreed to enter into an approximately $40,000 contract with a New Canaan-based design firm to help convert a structure in Waveny Park into a year-round bathroom facility. The “potting shed” at Waveny is located next to the Powerhouse Theatre, down the hill from forecourt of the main house. The building has been “used for storage for a long time,” New Canaan Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Aug. 3 at Town Hall. “It suffered a couple of issues last year where the floor gave way and we had to do a little interior demolition on it,” Oestmann said.

Bill Oestmann

Moynihan: Town Likely To Announce New Movie Theater Operator Next Month

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New Canaan’s highest-elected official said Monday that the town likely will make an announcement next month regarding a new operator for the movie theater downtown. Town officials “will probably have an April announcement” on the Playhouse on Elm Street, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. “We have several active discussions going for reopening the movie theater,” he said during a regular meeting of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure. “Maybe April is optimistic, but at least it’s in the works,” Moynihan said. The theater was ordered closed one year ago as the COVID-19 pandemic set in, and Bow Tie Cinemas then terminated its lease agreement.