Government

‘We’ve Drastically Reduced the Population’: Town OKs Contract To Keep Geese Out of Mead, Kiwanis

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Town officials last week approved a $25,000 contract with a Greenwich-based company that visits Mead Park every day of the year to keep the Canada geese out. The Board of Selectmen during its July 9 meeting voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Geese Relief, which also works for a fixed period each summer in Kiwanis Park. Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said the company “comes to Mead Park twice a day, every day of the year.”

“And we’ve drastically reduced the population of Canada geese in Mead Park,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted in favor of the contract. Geese Relief brings border collies to Mead and also paddles out to the island in the park to “addle” Canada goose eggs there.

Amy Murphy Caroll

Broken Column on White Birch Road To Be Repaired

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. After six months, New Canaan officials are bringing to a conclusion the repair of the conspicuously broken column at the top of White Birch Road. As previously reported, one of the two columns located at the start of White Birch Road (opposite the off-ramp from Merritt Parkway Exit 37 northbound) was struck and damaged by a vehicle last December, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

Last Tuesday, during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Mann discussed a check he had acquired from the driver’s insurance company. Mann sought the approval of a request from the Department of Public Works to enter into a contract with a repair company to fix the column. “We received a check for the entire amount of $5,350,” Mann said.

Amy Murphy Carroll

‘It Frightens Me’: Selectmen Consider ‘Elevated’ Crosswalk Near Saxe Middle School

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Citing children’s safety concerns, town officials said last week that they’re thinking of creating a “bump” for motorists at a pedestrian crossing to Saxe Middle School. Many Saxe students use the crosswalk near Farm Road and Village Drive to get to and from school. Yet, despite signage and striping in the roadway, drivers regularly blow through the pedestrian crosswalk, Director of Public Works Tiger Mann said during the Board of Selectmen meeting last Tuesday. “We’ve put in flags and they have a monitor that is actually bent in the middle of the road and cars have still passed,” Mann said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Board of Selectmen

First Selectman Pushes for ‘Zero-Based Budgeting’ [Correction]

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. New Canaan’s highest elected official this week called for the town to be even more fiscally conservative in its approach to contractors and vendors hired by the municipality. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson said Tuesday that the town should move toward “zero-based budgeting” versus “carry-forward budgeting.”

“We’ll continue to get better at this process, but the way it should be done is we go out to our vendors and get an estimate for the year based on what we’ve made and what we buy,” Carlson said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The comments came during a discussion of a blanket purchase order request from Public Works Director Tiger Mann regarding the town’s Water Pollution Control Facility. The purchase order includes 18 items totaling $532,667.50. 

Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll asked Mann whether the listed prices were “working off of last year.”

“Are you doing any inflation adjustments on this stuff?” Murphy Carroll asked. Mann said no, that DPW is “working strictly off of last year’s number.”

“We’re not making an adjustment per se,” Mann said.

Government

Town To Offer Pickleball Instruction and Programming at Mead

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The Board of Selectmen during its most recent meeting approved a contract for pickleball instruction and programming at Mead Park. The elected body during its May 21 meeting voted 3-0 to compensate Steve O’Connell for pickleball instruction, following heavy use of Mead Park’s courts since opening in 2021. “This $13,164 will cover us through the springtime for our programs,” Parks and Recreation Director John Howe said. “With these programs, they’re all cash positive. We bring in a little bit more than we pay.