Government

Selectmen Vote 2-1 in Favor of Inland Wetlands Commission Appointment

By |

In what is typically a quick approval, the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday cast a divided vote in appointing a resident as a regular member of one of the municipality’s volunteer commissions. First Selectman Dionna Carlson, while introducing an item to appoint Don Mastronardi to the Inland Wetlands Commission, noted that she had spoken with the candidate “because he has been unable to attend regularly as an alternate member.”

“And he said that he was having some staffing issues at his businesses, but that that issue has been resolved,” Carlson said during the selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And I explained to him that attendance is mandatory. That if you miss too many meetings that this Board can take you up to say that we would like you to step down.”

Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll said she wasn’t comfortable voting in favor of Mastronardi’s appointment as a regular member because of his attendance record as an alternate on the Commission. “People in this town are very generous with their time and we appreciate it, but when people raise their hand to be on a board, even as an alternate, it is the expectation that you participate,” Murphy Carroll said.

Government

‘GI Johns’: Selectmen Hire New Contractor for Porta-Potty Cleaning

By |

Saying some portable public toilets in New Canaan need to be cleaned more than once per week, the town on Tuesday approved an approximately $20,000 contract with a Monroe-based company. The town had been using the same company for the cleaning for “many, many years,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. However, “we need a second cleaning of them during the week, during busy times, like this time a year with the fall sports programs,” Howe told the Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So when they [the prior contractor] gave us pricing for that, it was rather high. So we went out looking at other companies.

Government

Town Adding ParkMobile, Passport to Mobile Parking App Options

By |

Town officials last week approved contracts with two companies that have popular mobile parking apps. The decision to offer motorists ParkMobile and Passport in addition to the town’s current mobile app for parking, PayByPhone, comes as the town prepares to change over to paid parking on the one-way stretch of Elm Street and sections of South Avenue downtown. 

The town hopes to have the changeover completed by the end of this month, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Under the town’s plan, which is designed to free up coveted spaces for shoppers and diners, the Park Street Lot will switch to free parking. Bringing in two more mobile apps to pay for parking “gives the consumer a choice,” Miltenberg told the Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting, held Sept. 16 at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Decorative Crosswalks To Be Installed on Elm Street

By |

Town officials last week approved an approximately $46,000 contract for the installation of six decorative crosswalks on the newly repaved one-way stretch of Elm Street. The crosswalks, to be installed between Main Street and Park Street—one at Main, two at South, one at The Playhouse and one at Park—will be “an 8-foot-wide durable thermal plastic-impressed surface system called ‘Traffic Patterns XD’ by Ennis Flint,” Town Engineer Maria Coplait told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Sept. 16 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“The thermal traffic surface will be heat-stamped at each crosswalk, embedding it into the pavement, similar to the installation that was done at the library. Once the impressed surface system installation is complete, retro reflective lines will be striped on either side of the crosswalk installations. Rocco Iadarola is one of the two certified installers for Traffic Patterns XD in the state, and they perform 95% to 98% of all the installations.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $46,264 contract with Waterbury-based Rocco Iadarola Co.

Government

Town Approves $700,000 Contract To Demolish ‘Irwin House’

By |

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved an approximately $700,000 contract to demolish Irwin House, the disused former residence in the Weed Street park of the same name. The contract with Stamford Wrecking Company will cover “the abatement and demolition of the Irwin House,” according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. “It was determined that the Irwin House and garage would be demolished in May of this year,” he told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “An 8-24 review was conducted and approved by P&Z to demolish the structures. The work performed under this contract will abate and remove all the structures.