Government

Town Council Approves 2 Percent Increase to Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2016

By |

After some final trimming in some areas—notably, increases in police overtime and money for the schools—the Town Council on Wednesday voted to approve an operating budget of $141,211,088 for fiscal year 2016. The figure represents a 2 percent overall year-over-year increase in spending, including a 2.8 percent increase for the Board of Education. Calling this budget season the smoothest in recent memory—thanks in large part to the group’s leadership in Chairman Bill Walbert, Vice Chair Steve Karl and Secretary Kathleen Corbet, as well as Budget Director Jennifer Charneski and Finance Director Dawn Norton—councilmen also praised district officials for the granular level of insight they provided into spending on the schools. Even so, among themselves some debate emerged prior to the vote about a proposal to remove $100,000 from the district’s operating increase (which went through by a 7-4 vote). Calling it “intellectually unsatisfying” to have the funds removed arbitrarily with no explanation, particularly after so many months with multiple town bodies studying the budget, Councilman John Engel sought to preserve the school’s operating budget as it had been.

Government

New Canaan Playhouse: Private Owner Would Have More Flexibility in ADA Compliance

By |

A new, private owner of the iconic Playhouse on Elm Street would have more flexibility in bringing the 1923 building to ADA compliance than its current owner—the town of New Canaan—does right now, public works officials say. Anyone who owns the cupola-topped brick structure will be responsible for ensuring it is ADA-compliant, Department of Public Works Director Michael Pastore told the Town Council on Thursday. The difference is that while the town is required to bring the building up to code now, a private owner is allowed to work in ADA upgrades with other renovations, and over time, he said. The Playhouse subject to ADA because the building is “considered a public space—people gather there and the town has the ultimate responsibility as the owner,” Pastore said during the legislative body’s regular meeting. “If we were to sell it off to private developer, they would still be responsible for keeping it in compliance with ADA.

Government

DPW: ‘Brutal’ Winter Has Opened 700-Plus Potholes in New Canaan

By |

New Canaan’s highway crews are repairing 700-plus potholes brought on by the wet, cold winter that officially ends at 6:45 p.m. Friday—a season that public works officials are calling “brutal.”

The Department of Public Works will need to secure an additional $200,000 to fix town roads damaged so severely that entire sections of asphalt need to be replaced, officials told the Town Council on Thursday night. And it isn’t just roads, the sidewalks downtown have heaved dramatically, such an area near Starbucks that’s moved four or five inches, while handicapped and pedestrian ramps also have lifted themselves, DPW Assistant Director Tiger Mann said. “We’ve had a lot of damage around town,” Mann said at the council’s regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at New Canaan Nature Center. “We do not feel the damage is done yet. We feel the frost is not out of ground yet and we have not got the wet weather yet.

Government

Town Council Eyes Narrower Scope to Listing of Waveny on National Historic Register

By |

Raising questions about the exact scope of a proposal to list Waveny Park on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as some concerns about just what might follow from the designation, the Town Council on Wednesday night decided to postpone a vote for at least one more month. At one time, an effort led by the nonprofit New Canaan Preservation Alliance focused on listing just Waveny House and that century-old structure’s immediate environs on the National Register, though—with the thought that the park’s outbuildings and grounds, too, could benefit from an opportunity to get matching grants from the state for capital projects—the proposal has since expanded to include the entire park. But just what encompasses the “entire park” among the five contiguous parcels that form Waveny (see image at right) and whether New Canaan should seek to list all of it on the National Register in one shot are open questions, Town Council members said at their regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. Town Council member Kevin Moynihan said he was concerned about “potential negatives” of the listing, such as limiting what could be done on properties abutting Waveny if the designation was granted. “I recall that if you were following the Connecticut Siting Council’s approval of the Armory location for cell towers and the state historic preservation office used the Merritt Parkway’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places as a basis for restricting what could be done on state property adjacent to the National Historic place,” Moynihan said.

Around Town

Did You Hear?

By |

During a meeting with Millport Apartments residents last week, members of the New Canaan Housing Authority noted that the locals could watch them present to the Town Council meeting on Wednesday on a big building project planned for the public housing complex on Channel 79. A man who lives in a Housing Authority property advised those in attendance: “I’ve seen those Town Council meetings on TV. If you can’t get to sleep, watch five or 10 minutes of those and it will knock you out.”

***

Speaking of the Town Council, the group’s gregarious chairman, Bill Walbert, was among those honored Thursday in Stamford as an “influential local community leader” by the Boy Scouts of America at the annual Greater Stamford Good Scout Dinner. We’re hearing that New Canaan had a strong showing at the dinner, anchored in part by longtime Boy Scouts supporter Karl Chevrolet. ***

The Park & Recreation Commission on Wednesday voted 6-1 with one abstention in favor of expanding its support for listing Waveny on the National Register of Historic Places from just Waveny House to the entire park, including grounds and outbuildings.