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.

Government

Town To Knock Down Gazebo Behind Lapham

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The Board of Selectmen last week voted 3-0 in favor of a contract with a Norwalk-based company to remove a gazebo behind the Lapham Community Center. Located near a planned baseball stadium, the structure is “past its useful life,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “The benches on the inside are rotted out,” Mann told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held April 16 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We’ve got some other issues working on it. And it’ll either require some additional work to maintain or we should necessarily remove it.”

He added, “It is quite close to the work at Coppo Field and will probably be impacted by that work.

Government

‘Our Flagpole Should Not Be a Speech Mechanism’: Selectmen Pass New ‘Flag Policy’ for Town Buildings

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New Canaan’s highest elected official this week instituted a new “flag policy” for town buildings. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson in introducing a draft policy Tuesday for the full Board of Selectmen to review noted that it wouldn’t apply to school buildings. Carlson said that during her first week in office she “had an individual come up to me and asked to fly another country’s liberation flag.”

“And I guess my predecessor allowed a week of flying that flag,” Carlson said at a regular Board meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“And I feel very strongly that the only flags that should be flown in municipal buildings are the American flag, the state of Connecticut flag and any town flag,” she continued. “I was thinking about school flags, and I really do believe that those should be reserved for the schools. The other thing that I’m trying to avoid is who gets to fly what flag when?…  If we did the school flags at the municipality, do we fly it for a football win? Then do we fly it for every debate [team] win?