Board of Selectmen

Six Appointed to Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint six members to a newly conceived committee that will advise the executive branch of local government on building and infrastructure projects. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan will serve as chairman of the committee, which is to meet monthly and “provide expertise and financial oversight on an ongoing basis for major decisions and plans such as town-owned buildings and infrastructure projects including but not limited to major capital projects that are part of the Five-Year Capital Plan,” according to a draft resolution read out at the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “Right now I am the oversight over Public Works, and some other towns have standing commissions,” Moynihan said. “I have discovered that I sometimes do not have the bandwidth to be on top of all projects and this is an opportunity for us to have people on Board of Finance who have a continuing interest, making sure that projects are on budget, so a sort of standing building committee in that regard, and also it gives us the opportunity to better coordinate with the Board of Education on their projects, like solar.”

The appointees to the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure include Moynihan, George Blauvelt (a Board of Finance member), Neil Budnick (Board of Finance), Penny Young (Town Council), Penny Rashin (Board of Education) and Stuart Sawabini, former Police Commission chair. Moynihan said he’s still looking for a seventh member to nominate, a “contractor type.”

Under the resolution, committee members will serve two-year terms.

Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to make the appointments. 

The first selectman introduced the concept of the committee two weeks ago, saying it would include specialists such as contractors and architects and would advise the Board on projects such as major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations.

Board of Selectmen

‘It’s a Lifesaving Issue’: Resident Calls on Town To Increase ‘Dry Hydrant’ Installations

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In the wake of recent fires in New Canaan, including one that will result in the total loss of a home, a longtime resident and local business owner is calling on the town to do more to help firefighters do their jobs. The town in this upcoming budget season should increase the recurring $10,000 set aside annually for installing and repairing “dry hydrants” that tap water supplies such as ponds, pools and streams in areas without water mains or regular fire hydrants, according to Tim Brown. Citing recent house fires including one on Dan’s Highway that rendered a home uninhabitable, Brown told members of the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Tuesday that the town “must do more on their own” help firefighters. “It’s great to have brick sidewalks and nice clocks—I am fully supportive of that—but I think we have to look at some of the outlying areas in the town to do a better job to support taxpayers,” Brown, owner of BTS Insurance, said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I don’t think we do enough.”

He added, “I just think the town needs to address this thing seriously with the effort to give back to the townspeople what they deserve.

Board of Selectmen

Officials: Trash Collector Charging New Canaan 30% More Than Neighboring Wilton

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New Canaan since July 1 has been working without a contract with a Stamford-based garbage and recycling collection company that’s charging the town about 30% more than neighboring Wilton for a similar service, officials said last week. The town had put its contract for pickup and disposal out to bid and City Carting was the only company that responded “and the prices went up from last time,” according to Department of Public Works Assistant Superintendent of Solid Waste Don Smith. “They are charging us $85 [per ton] right now wilton is being charged $65,” Smith told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Nov. 19 at Town Hall. “The other are towns have long-term [contracts] for different reasons so their prices may be better, or probably probably are better than ours.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Push for All-Way Stop at Weed and Elm

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Though police have said installing additional stop signs at Weed and Elm Streets would be dangerous, unnecessary and otherwise problematic, the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved $6,000 for a study to determine the feasibility of doing so. In voicing support for installation of stop signs for northbound and southbound Weed Street motorists, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said the intersection has seen “a great deal of additional traffic” from pedestrians using a sidewalk that went in two springs ago connecting the top of Elm to Irwin Park and a “greenlink” footpath beyond the park that opened last summer. State Traffic Administration regulations developed under Connecticut law require that a proposed stop sign must be justified by a traffic engineering study in order to be installed a major street, and that stop signs never be used for speed control, among other provisions. Moynihan said that even if New Canaan weren’t required to commission such a study, “to me it is an obvious location for stop signs, not so much safety but regulating traffic because people don’t have the opportunity to alternate turns.”

“I’m not sure I know another intersection in town that is like this right now,” he said during the selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall. Moynihan added that Public Works Director Tiger Mann had relayed to him prior to the meeting that, under the federal document that informs state statute—the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices—municipalities must have a stop sign warranter’s or engineering study performed in order to put in a stop sign.

Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

First Selectman Moynihan Proposes Standing Committee To Advise on Town Building and Infrastructure Projects

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New Canaan’s highest elected official on Tuesday proposed creation a committee that would advise the Board of Selectmen on town building and infrastructure projects. Composed of five or seven members, the committee would advise the Board of Selectman on projects including major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. Though for major capital projects a dedicated building committee still would be formed, a standing committee that includes one representative from each of the Town Council, Board of Finance and Board of Education, as well as specialists such as contractors and architects, could meet monthly to review projects that now are handled on an ad hoc basis, Moynihan said during the selectmen’s regular meeting. “There have been a couple of recent examples where a project has come out and we said, ‘Oh, have we thought about maybe if we oversaw that more or reviewed it more,’ ” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. 

“A project is proposed and funded, and then the oversight of the execution of that project is something we sometimes have been a little surprised by. Do we have enough public input?