Bill Oestmann

Health Department To Be Relocated Temporarily to Irwin Park

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Town officials say they plan to move the New Canaan Health Department temporarily out of the agency’s Vine Cottage home this spring or summer in order to spruce up the prominent Main Street building. 

The exterior repairs to the turreted, yellow structure will take about three weeks, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings with the Department of Public Works. “There’s some wood rot over there and some water damage on the outside of the building, which we all can see,” Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen during their April 19 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Asked about the status of the Health Department, he said, “I’m going to move them out. I’m going to them up to Irwin for probably about three weeks, weather-permitting. For a couple of reasons.

Bill Oestmann

Town Approves $12,500 Monthly Property Management Fee for Newly Acquired Elm Street Building

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Municipal officials last week approved an agreement with a Norwalk-based company to manage an Elm Street building recently purchased by the town. The Board of Selectmen voted 2-0 to pay WFL Real Estate Services, LLC $12,500 per month to manage the property at 220 Elm St., acquired as the future offices of New Canaan Board of Education. The town has “a property manager group who’s going to be managing that property and with that there are common fees that cover all the expenses,” according to New Canaan Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectman Kathleen Corbet voted 2-0 in favor of the agreement during the Board’s March 8 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Selectman Nick Williams was absent.

Bill Oestmann

Selectmen Approve Funds for Roof Repair at Irwin House

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a $24,365 contract with a Stamford-based company to fix the roof of a town-owned building at Irwin Park. The slate roof of the 1963-built Irwin House has rubber in it and is original to the structure, according to Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent in the Department of Public Works. “It’s been a challenging summer, two summers actually, with the amount of rainfalls that we’ve been getting and everything, so we have started to develop some rain issues on a couple of buildings,” Oestmann told the selectmen at their Dec. 14 meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “Irwin House is no exception to that.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectman Nick Williams voted 2-0 in favor of the contract with J. Antonelli Roofing to repair leaks, redo damaged flashing and reset dislodged or missing slate tiles.

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.