Board of Finance

Library Seeks $1 Million Grant from Town To Offset Estimated $2 Million Renovation of 1913 Building

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New Canaan Library officials are seeking a $1 million grant from the town to help redevelop its legacy building —about one-half of the cost of a project that the organization is planning. Tasked by the Planning & Zoning Commission with preserving the original 1913 building—which was not part of the library’s rebuilding plans—the library spent $2.4 million, an “additional cost that we undertook with our own cash and our own endowment reserves to preserve, pick up, lift and move that building,” according to library CEO Ellen Sullivan Crovatto. “This has left us with a very big hole to fill,” Sullivan Crovatto told members of the Board of Finance at their Feb. 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. She added: “I think the building’s new position has pleased pretty much everyone.

Government

Parking Downtown: Town Weighs Changing Main Street to Paid Spaces

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Town officials say they’re thinking about installing eight more parking kiosks in downtown New Canaan, on Main Street and possibly part of Locust Avenue. An expansion of the new paid system that took effect on Elm Street and South Avenue in October, the kiosks on Main would cost $90,774, officials said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. At first, the town didn’t think it would be able to convert Main from two-hour to paid spots, according to First Selectman Dionna Carlson. “We didn’t think we could do it on Main because it’s a state road, and then in further discussions realized that you can, because it’s not part of the roadway,” Carlson said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So it’s just a discussion to start and if we even want to potentially pursue those, we’d have to have it in the budget.”

If added to the budget, the approximately $90,000 cost for the kiosks would be bonded, town Budget Manager Ryan Stacy said. 

The comments came during a discussion of capital projects in the area of “general government”—namely, the Affordable Housing Committee ($225,000 proposed for professional fees), Information Technology and Parking.

Around Town

New Canaan Library Working Toward Proposed Uses for 1913 Building

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New Canaan Library has started planning for a new use or uses of the 1913 building, a sealed structure on the western edge of the organization’s campus. Preserved and moved 115 feet from its original location as part of a Planning & Zoning Commission requirement as the “new” library building project that wrapped up three years ago, the legacy building has been used — on its exterior — as the site of a “Changemakers” art installation since 2024. (The building’s 115-foot relocation cost about $2.4 million.)

“We have formed some committees,” library CEO Ellen Sullivan Crovatto told members of the Board of Selectmen during a Jan. 20 budget presentation, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. She continued: “We have begun a lot of work around how we see using the space.

Board of Education

Superintendent Proposes 3.94% Operating Increase for FY27

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Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi on Monday night proposed a New Canaan Public Schools spending plan of $118.2 million for next academic year. The figure represents an approximately $4.5 million or 3.94% increase over current spending. 

Within the proposed operating budget increase, the single largest change is in salaries, up approximately $3.5 million, or 4.88%, over total salary costs projected for the current fiscal year. At about $98 million, salaries and benefits make up 82.8% of all operating costs in the proposed budget, Luizzi told members of the Board of Education at their regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and via videoconference. (Within the 3.94% year-over-year increase, 85% represents salaries and benefits, he said.)

“It’s important to note that the majority of our budget is dedicated to staff,” Luizzi said. 

He added: “The budget itself is an investment. Some people think of the budget as an expense. This is an investment.