Board of Finance

Moynihan: Town To Contribute Toward Land Trust’s Acquisition of Antique Valley Road House

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The town will contribute about $100,000 toward the purchase of an antique house on upper Valley Road that a prominent local nonprofit organization is in the process of purchasing, New Canaan’s highest elected official said. As he’d indicated last month, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan told the Board of Finance during its April 11 meeting that the New Canaan Land Trust “has succeeded in negotiating a purchase of the 1124 Valley Road house, which we’ve been trying to protect for the last four years.”

Referring to the public agency that has owned the four-acre property since 2006, Moynihan continued, “The First Taxing District of Norwalk is trying to improve relations with their neighbors, including the town of New Canaan, and they would like us to participate in their purchase on a 1-to-5 ratio. They’re getting an extra acre of open space to connect the two properties, the Brown Preserve of about 10 acres, and the two acres they’re purchasing. We have the Land Acquisition Fund for that purpose and I think the process is that the Board of Selectmen has to approve it. And they [Land Trust officials] may have to come through all the bodies.”

Asked what the town’s contribution to the sale would be, Moynihan said, “Probably less than $100,000.”

“I don’t want to announce their purchase price because they haven’t announced it,” he said during a general update to the Board.

Amy Murphy Carroll

‘This Is Disappointing’: Playhouse Renovation Estimate Up to $7.9 Million, Double Original Budget

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Due primarily to the unexpected expense of a new HVAC system, the widely anticipated renovation of the town-owned movie theater on Elm Street is now projected to cost about $7.9 million, more than twice the initial budget of $3.9 million, officials say. The town originally anticipated re-using the existing HVAC system in the Playhouse, and budgeted about $400,000 for that part of the project, but due to new Code requirements and the need for better air circulation, the cost has risen by nearly $2 million, to $2.3 million, according to Department of Public Works officials. In addition, the town and its contractors found, after starting the interior demolition of the 1923-built Playhouse, that more structural work was needed than they’d anticipated, Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday. “We noticed that during previous work in the building they actually did some damage to the structure itself, taking out some bearing items, some of the girders are separating, some of the areas that needed to be replaced were refashioned,” Mann said during the selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“So the structural engineers mentioned things that we’ve got to do on the structural side to make the building whole again. And then, given the fact of, after the eight separate design iterations that we went through to try and fit everything into the building and make it compliant with current standards and make it accessible throughout.

Andrew Brooks

Board of Finance Chair: Budget Planning Amid Economic Headwinds

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The purpose of this letter is to update you on the plan for the 2023/24 budget, and our overall financial picture. In summary, our town is in great financial shape, but there are economic uncertainties and challenges that we will need to work through this year. Let me share some highlights. On February 7th, the New Canaan Board of Finance will begin analyzing the Town’s budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024 that begins on July 1st. The town departments have been working on their needs and requests over the past few months.

Board of Finance

‘This Is a Big Project’: Water Main Installation Work To Start This Year

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The town’s highest elected official said Tuesday night that the water company’s plans to run a 36-inch main through New Canaan will start this year. The pipe is “designed to take water from the Bridgeport system all the way to Stamford and Greenwich, and we, New Canaan, get no benefit,” according to First Selectman Kevin Moyinhan. 

“It was supposed to be a 2023 project,” Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So that is something we didn’t anticipate,” he said. “This is a big project.”

Moynihan spoke during a general update for the finance board on capital projects. Plans for the water main installation first surfaced at public meetings in 2019.

Board of Finance

‘That’s In Motion’: Moynihan Lays Out Approvals Schedule for West School Cell Tower

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Though residents and town officials this summer called for more community input regarding the plan, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Tuesday laid out a schedule for municipal bodies to take up a proposed cell tower behind West School. Verizon “has come forward wanting to put a tower on the west side of town,” Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“Specifically, in the town property of the 47 acres on Ponus Ridge,” Moynihan continued, referring to 769 Ponus Ridge. “We are going to come back with two proposals and this will go to P&Z at the end of the month. One would be 1,000 feet behind West School. The other would be at the other end of the property at Llewelyn [Drive], which is a cul-de-sac, in the woods.