Government

Selectmen Criticize Effectiveness, Aesthetics of Pedestrian-Activated Flashing Beacons

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a contract with a Newtown-based company for pedestrian-activated flashing beacons on Gower Road at South School and Elm Street at Kimberly Place. Motorists are “not necessarily paying attention to the students in the crosswalk” or crossing guards and monitors at South School trying to ensure their safety, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We put in additional ‘no parking’ signs to try to free up the area and we’re still having a problem,” Mann told the selectmen at their March 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. There also are many people on Kimberly Place who seek to cross Elm Street at the intersection, he said. “It’s been a longstanding request,” Mann said.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Remove Contingency Funding from Police HQ Design Contract

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The Board of Selectmen last week removed “contingency” dollars from a contract related to the Police Department building renovation—a change that the town’s highest elected official said she favors for certain kinds of work. The selectmen ultimately voted 3-0 in favor of the $58,650 contract extension with Jacunski Humes Architects LLC to provide professional design services for furniture, fixtures and equipment or “FF&E” design work. Yet the Board removed a $5,000 contingency that had been included in a request that town Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski brought forward for the project, which is being overseen by a volunteer committee. 

Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll raised a flag during the March 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “If this is a contract to evaluate furniture or other things, why do we have a contingency?” Murphy Carroll said. “Don’t we just have a contract to [say], ‘This is your job, to fit it out.’ And it drives me crazy when asked about the contingencies, but if this is like a professional service that we’re hiring for this phase, isn’t it inclusive?”

Zagarenski said “there might be a need” for contingency funds “if we ask them to do some of the high density storage equipment and those sort of things that are just on the fringe.”

“If you don’t want to put contingency into this, don’t put contingency in it,” he said.

Board of Selectmen

Town To Finalize Easement Agreement with Condo Association Near Mead Pond

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Town officials last week approved funds for a survey of a condominium association’s property that includes an area along the eastern edge of Mead Pond. 

The town didn’t realize when it proposed spending federal American Rescue Act funds to create a Flexi-pave walk around the pond two years ago that the abutting Park Slope condo association owns much of the property downslope from its residences, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

For decades, the town has mowed and otherwise kept up the area— which encompasses a revitalized memorial walk dedicated to the 38 New Canaan men who died while serving in World War II—as part of its Mead Park maintenance, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their March 5 meeting. Now, the condo association “would like an easement” as part of its agreement with the town. Asked by First Selectman Dionna Carlson to explain why the town is pursuing the easement, Mann said, “It’s not a question of why, it’s a question of need.”

“This came about when we were discussing placing the Flexi-pave walk through that area,” he continued at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “It was determined that their [Park Slope’s] property actually extends closer to the park than was originally anticipated or originally known. We thought we owned further back.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve $45,000 Contract for Waveny Wall Repair Work

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The Board of Selectmen last week approved a $45,200 contract with a Ridgefield-based company to reconstruct Waveny’s stone walls along Lapham Road. 

The contractor, Greg of Fallaci Masonry—a man known to many who frequent the popular park, as he has been rebuilding the fieldstone walls there in recent years—charges $900 per day for his services, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. That figure would beat what the town and its partner in many projects at the park, the Waveny Park Conservancy, would pay to a contractor if the job went out to bid, he said. “Overall he’s saving us money if we were to actually go out and bid this to another masonry contractor,” Mann told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held March 5 in Town Hall and via videoconference. “And he’s done the entire wall to date, and it looks fantastic. So we just want to finish the two ends up by the Benko Pool and then down by the leaf mulch site until they run into the trees.

Board of Selectmen

‘We May Want To Make Modifications’: Carlson Calls for Details in Security Plan

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New Canaan’s highest elected official on Tuesday called for more details of an ongoing initiative launched by the prior administration to bolster security in town. First Selectman Dionna Carlson joined fellow members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting in approving a $15,000 contract with Darien Electric to do the electrical work needed to install security cameras at undisclosed locations throughout town. Carlson also asked how many more cameras need to go up. “How much more do we have to do?” she said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“Who’s making the decision on where we’re putting the cameras?” Carlson said. She added that she’d like to schedule an executive session to discuss the matter in detail—out of the public eye, for security reasons.