Government

‘I Don’t Understand What It Takes’: Selectmen Push Back on Registrar’s Request for Higher Pay

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The Board of Selectmen following a strained discussion at its most recent meeting voted 2-1 to increase the compensation for each of New Canaan’s registrars of voters by 3%, to $41,200. 

The figure is far less than the $52,000 that one of the registrars, Joan McLaughlin, had been seeking. In addressing the selectmen at their Jan. 7 meeting, McLaughlin said her work doubled with the introduction of early voting in Connecticut last year, as well as a recent shakeup of state legislature districts that resulted in three more for New Canaan. McLaughlin, who serves two-year terms as the Republican registrar in New Canaan, said during the meeting that she worked an average of 32 hours per week last year (up from 20 to 22 hours per week in the past) and that the higher figure was due to 14 days of early voting. “I have 14 days of early voting that starts at 10 o’clock in the morning and ends at 6 o’clock at night,” McLaughlin said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Town Seeks Credits for EV and CHP Initiatives 

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The town is preparing to spend $35,000 with Deloitte Global to prepare documents to receive government credits and incentives related to the municipality’s electric vehicle and combined heat-and-power initiatives. 

The town stands to get back $100,000 to $131,000 for CHP initiatives and $7,500 per EV, according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. Deloitte “will prepare and help submit under the Internal Revenue Code, Section 48, for an investment tax credit for the CHP at Lapham [Community Center],” Zagarenski told the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting Tuesday, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. He continued: “This requires them basically to submit a zero dollar tax return on behalf of the town, and then we get a credit against that for a certain percentage of what we spent on the CHP units. And then there’s a second effort that they will actually submit for commercial clean vehicle credits for our fleet of EVs. And these are just another incentive that’s out there that they’ll help us to obtain.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contract.

Government

Town: Aquarion To Shut Down South Avenue in July and August for Water Main Installation

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The water company is planning to shut down South Avenue during weekday work hours between Harrison Avenue and Farm Road in July and August as part of a multi-year water main installation that is cutting across New Canaan, officials say. A project that started three years ago, the installation of the 36-inch pipe has already seen road closures and detours in eastern New Canaan, where the main comes in from Wilton and ultimately will feed toward Stamford and Greenwich. Public Works Director Tiger Mann said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting that his department is meeting this week with Aquarion to discuss bids for the job. 

Selectman Steve Karl, noting that New Canaan itself is not benefiting from the disruptive project, asked during the regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference: “They’re not planning on doing Farm Road during the school year, right?”

Mann said no, it should wrap up during the summer months. The discussion emerged while the selectmen were approving a separate contract for sidewalk work along South Avenue from Cherry Street to Surrey Road. The selectmen voted 3-0 to approve a pair of contracts—for $18,000 and $20,000—to get surveying and design work to replace pedestrian ramps, where needed, along that route.

Government

Selectmen OK Contract for Asbestos Removal in Waveny House Basement

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $27,000 contract with a Hartford-based company to remove asbestos from water pipes located in the basement of Waveny House. 

Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent with the Department of Public Works, said the town is approaching the work as “a phased project because of the sensitivity and the age of the building and what we’re handling.”

“We don’t want to open up a big can of worms here,” Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of a $27,300 contract with Haz-Pros Inc. 

Oestmann said the company will “come in and remove the asbestos piping and around the areas where we’re going to make the transition from all the new piping we’re putting in to all the elaborate piping going up to the bathrooms and what have you,” 

Each pipe is about 10 feet long and there are some 200 total feet of piping that require asbestos abatement, he said. “Once we get all that done and the pipes hooked up, the whole system will actually then be replaced and then we can take our time, sit back and say, ‘OK, how do we want to abate the rest of the basement?’ ” he said. “It buys us some time and we get what we need. We have all new water lines now.”

The abatement is one piece of approximately $200,000 in asbestos removal that officials anticipate at the iconic town-owned mansion in Waveny, officials said. 

The selectmen asked for clarification on the total feet of piping now requiring abatement (about 200) and whether the $200,000 budgeted for the overall project includes abatement as well as installation or just abatement (the latter). Asbestos does not have to be removed from pipes if it goes undisturbed in any new work, officials said.

Government

August Rain Storm Caused $16,000 in Damage to Bristow Park

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The major rain and flooding that hit New Canaan in August, causing property damage throughout town, also required nearly $16,000 in repair to a public park that marked its centennial this year. The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a $15,665 contract with a New Canaan-based company that provided emergency work to address the extensive damage done to Bristow Park during the Aug. 18 storm. “All the trails got washed out,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Peter Lanni Inc. The funds are available in DPW’s storm account.