Government

The Playhouse: Feb. 9 Public Hearing Scheduled for New Operator’s Lease

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said this week that municipal officials have interviewed all parties interested in operating The Playhouse movie theater and the town “will be ready very soon” to take next steps. 

“We were encouraged by The Playhouse RFP responses,” First Selectman Dionna Carlson told members of the Board of Finance during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held Tuesday night at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We’ve had so many people interested in the RFP, [Department of Public Works Superintendent of Buildings] Bill [Oestmann] has been taking potential applicants through the building regularly,” Carlson said. The comments came during Carlson’s general update to the finance board. The following notice of a public hearing before the Town Council—scheduled for 7:30 p.m on Feb. 9 at Town Hall—appeared this week on the Elm Street movie theater: “To consider, hear public comment upon and take action on a proposal to lease the building known as The Playhouse, located at 93 Elm Street, New Canaan for a theater operator.

Opinion

Op-Ed: Mid-Year Update from Board of Finance

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[Todd Lavieri is chair of the Board of Finance.]
As we finish the calendar year of 2025, and the halfway mark of our financial year of 2025-2026, I wanted to share a few highlights and updates regarding our Town’s financials. Residents often ask for details and benchmark comparisons.  As I mentioned earlier this year, the average increase in the amount raised by taxation over the past 8 years, including next year’s budget, is 2.30%, a very strong accomplishment by our Town and Boards over this period, and far below the average rate of inflation.  Especially the inflation headwinds that we have experienced since 2021 including a 9% increase in inflation in 2022.  Our average increase of 2.30% is lower than most of our comparable Fairfield County towns.  We budget prudently and manage the budget to deliver surpluses.  We have delivered a combined total of $38M in budget surpluses since 2017 and have returned $36.5M of that back to the taxpayers by applying the surpluses to fund our education, and other expenses, reducing the demand for even higher property taxes. Our average increase in the amount raised by taxation for the period from 2017 through 2023 was 1.53%, an incredible achievement and one of the lowest in the County.  The past two years have been higher due to higher Board of Education budgets and Board of Education health care expenses, coupled with much higher recent inflation that has remained sticky.  As a reminder, our Board of Education budget represents approximately 66% of our total operating budget.  Our total town expenses have increased $20M over the past 4 years, with $17M of that increase attributed to increased spending in Education. Our foundational goals that we established 25 years ago for Finance are still solidly in place.  We want to continue to build and maintain a top school district.  Continue to have fully funded pensions that now allow us to have a lower tax burden today as the funds become largely self-funding, while avoiding punitive liabilities for future taxpayers.  Continue to maintain a beautiful and vibrant downtown business, shopping, and dining district.  Protect and maintain our parks and recreational assets.  Budget prudently.  And fully support our town’s emergency, health, public works, water, and safety services.  Throughout the years, we have worked to fund and deliver these services and support through prudent investments, always with an eye on the tax burden.  There is always pressure to do more and spend more.   The results have shown we can meet the growing demands and rising costs head on.

Board of Finance

First Selectman: Town Has Received ‘A Lot of Interest’ from Prospective New Operators of Playhouse

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The town has already received strong interest from prospective new operators of the movie theater on Elm Street, officials said Tuesday night. Bids are due Jan. 7 to a town-issued RFP for a new operator of The Playhouse and “we’ve been getting active interest in the RFP,” according to First Selectman Dionna Carlson. “We have a lot of interest [from] additional operators to come in and hopefully continue to run it for the enjoyment of the community,” Carlson told members of the Board of Finance during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The comments came as the finance board took up two agreements with the current operator, CinemaLab, that Carlson has already signed: a lease termination agreement and management services agreement.

Government

Affordable Housing: New Judge on Hill Street Appeal

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The state Superior Court judge assigned to the closely followed affordable housing appeal at Weed and Elm Streets recently was assigned a criminal case that has pushed back the New Canaan decision a further month, officials say. The parties in the case—the town and developer Arnold Karp—had been expecting to get a decision this week from Judge Edward O’Hanlan on the proposed 120-unit development at 751 Weed St. but “it has now been delayed till May 7th,” according to First Selectman Dionna Carlson. “The judge on this case was assigned a criminal case, and so he’s even more backlogged,” Carlson told members of the Board of Finance during their regular meeting Tuesday night. In fact, Carlson said, O’Hanlan got so backed up that the state assigned another affordable housing appeal—a 93-unit development proposed for Hill Street—to a different judge, Carlson said.

Board of Finance

‘First Pitch Is April 1’: New ‘Coppo Field’ Baseball Facility at Waveny on Time, on Budget

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A widely anticipated project to create a new baseball facility at Coppo Field in Waveny—an area that appears to passersby as massive piles of dirt behind Lapham Community Center—is on time and on budget, officials said last week. 

The approximately $5 million job—$2 million of which is coming from the town, while the nonprofit New Canaan Athletic Foundation is paying the roughly $3 million balance—started in earnest last month following the approval by municipal funding bodies of a $4,977,685 contract with Canton, Mass.-based Atlantic Sports Group or “ASG.”

“It was actually a very, very tight bid and they [ASG] hit the ground running from day one from the time the selectmen approved it,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held Nov. 12 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

He continued: “If you’ve been out there, you can see that almost the entire footprint is starting to be leveled off. They’ve put in foundations for both dugouts, home and away. Poured those. The breaks started coming back from the concrete testing and they came back well.