Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Put Off Vote on Redo of ‘Bridegroom’s Room’ at Waveny

By |

Saying they need more information, members of the Board of Selectmen this week put off voting on contracts for a future “bridegroom’s room” at Waveny House. Building officials came to the Board at its regular meeting Tuesday seeking approval for two contracts that would see a chandelier installed in a former IT Department office that the town now wants to convert into the groom’s room for weddings at Waveny. The room also would be painted, but the selectmen said they first need to understand how many lower wall electrical outlets are in it, and also what color it will be. “I don’t think we’re ready,” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said of voting on the contracts, totaling about $15,000. “I don’t think we’re ready for this one.

Government

Town Approves Contracts for Demo of ‘Audubon House’ at Nature Center

By |

Town officials this week approved two contracts for the demolition of a long-disused town-owned building at the New Canaan Nature Center. The “Audubon House” is a deteriorating 15-by-30-foot structure located across from the Oenoke Ridge nonprofit organization’s Visitor Center and it’s “at the end of its usable life and is being removed so as not to create a hazardous condition,” according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. “We have completed the required ‘alternative work practice plan’ and it’s been filed and approved with the Connecticut DPH [Department of Public Health] because there’s hazardous materials in the building,” Zagarenski told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday in Town Hall and via videoconference. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of contracts with Stamford Wrecking ($26,400) and Darien Electric ($3,000). The second contract is to “go in and just safe off the electrical at the source,” Zagarenski said.

Government

‘This Is a Big Milestone’: NCPD To Move Back into South Avenue HQ in June

By |

The New Canaan Police Department is expected to move back into its permanent home on South Avenue during the first week of June following a widely anticipated renovation and expansion, about six months ahead of schedule, officials say. The $20 million renovation of the police station at 174 South Ave.—about $29 million with soft costs such as insurance and creating a temporary police headquarters downtown—long has been pegged to wrap up around Thanksgiving 2025. Yet the project, which includes a complete gut and renovation of the existing 1927-built police station—the original New Canaan High School—with an addition of a new sallyport at the southeastern corner of the building, is now on track for NCPD to move back in June 3, according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Pubilc Works. In requesting about $30,000 from the Board of Selectmen to move dispatch consoles and radio equipment out of the temporary police station downtown, Zagarenski said Tuesday, “This is the last thing we have to do before the PD moves back to 174 South Avenue.”

“This is a big milestone for the project,” he told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Town officials had discussed the need to renovate the Police Department for many years.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve $20,000 for More ‘Bumpout’ Curbing on Elm Street

By |

The Board of Selectmen during its most recent meeting approved an approximately $20,0000 contract for more “bumpouts” on Elm Street. The elected body voted 3-0 in favor of the $19,943.75 with Williams Stone Co. for the purchase of granite curbing. The material will be used for sidewalk widenings or “bumpouts” on the southern side of Elm Street, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The new bumpouts will be located in two areas on that side of Elm.

Around Town

‘It’s a Really Nice Event’: Selectmen Approve 2025 Season for New Canaan Farmers Market

By |

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved the dates for the upcoming New Canaan Farmers Market downtown. The Farmers Market will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays from April 26 to Dec. 20 in the Lumberyard Lot by the train station. “I am constantly told how great it is,” Selectman Steve Karl said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “You get over there and it’s like its own little microcosm.