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.

Around Town

DPW: Swap Shop at Transfer Station ‘A Successful Program’

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A public-private partnership at the Transfer Station is saving the town money, officials say. The Swap Shop, organized and operated by Planet New Canaan with support from the Department of Public Works, has helped New Canaan become more green-friendly by keeping many items out of the municipal waste stream. That also has helped reduce the town’s bill for disposing of waste, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We feel this is a successful program,” Mann said during the May 21 Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “I still think it’s saving money.”

Although some donated Swap Shop items ultimately become garbage because they’re not claimed, “it’s less than what we would have received having not had the Swap Shop,” Mann said.

Amy Murphy Carroll

The Playhouse: Town Approves Contract for Delivery of New Theater Seats

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a purchase order with a Stamford-based company for the delivery of new theater seats for the Playhouse. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously during its regular meeting to approve the $6,000 contract with Kaster Moving for the delivery. The new seats are currently being stored at Kaster in Norwalk, and will be brought to the Playhouse on May 31, according to Department of Public Works Director Tiger Mann. Mann presented to the selectmen the cost and process of delivering the chairs, which includes “storing the old seats in case we didn’t get the new seats.”

“Now they’re storing the new seats and they’ll bring them to the theater,” he said during the regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So we’ll be bringing in the chairs for each theater separately, and then we’ll go to the installation on May 31st.”

It isn’t clear how many seats there are or what they look like.

Government

‘It’s a Complicated Building’: Water Is Infiltrating Waveny House’s Walls

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Municipal officials are calling for a study of Waveny House after it was discovered that the iconic town-owned building is suffering from water infiltration in its walls. Town residents should “know the scope of the seriousness of this,” according to Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll. “I don’t think people realize, it’s a complicated building,” Murphy Carroll said at the May 1 Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The ADA stuff’s complicated. It’s old.