Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Push Back on Town Clerk’s Request for Part-Time Help

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The Board of Selectmen, following a pointed discussion, voted during a recent meeting to approve three months of pay for two part-time workers in the Town Clerk’s office. The quarterly approval is less than the full year of pay that Town Clerk Claudia Weber asked the selectmen for during their regular meeting, held July 22 at Town Hall and via videoconference. As Assistant Town Clerk Janet Donohue recently retired, Weber was seeking the additional help for an extended period because she “needs more hands,”she said. The requested hirings were of John Amarilios and Debra Lyon at up to 19 hours each through next June. “Historically, we’ve had a group of people that we can call upon on an as-needed basis,” Weber said.

Government

Town Approves Funds To Repaint the Historic ‘Gores Pavilion’ at Irwin

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Town officials this month approved funds to power-wash and repaint the exterior of a historic structure in Irwin Park. The Gores Pavilion—designed by Harvard Five architect Landis Gores as a winter lodge and summer pool house—was dedicated in 1960 at a grand surprise party arranged by Philip Johnson in honor of Gores himself. During their June 3 meeting, members of the Board of Selectmen approved an $8,690 contract with a Stamford company to power-wash, scrape, prepare and paint the building’s exterior. 

The building was painted about eight years ago, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings in the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “It requires overall maintenance on the painting end because of the type of materials that are on that building,” Oestmann said during the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And it’s historic in nature, so we have to keep up with the maintenance on it.

Government

Town Approves Contracts for Fencing Upgrades at Mead, Saxe

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Town officials last week approved a pair of contracts for sports facility fencing at Mead Park and Saxe Middle School. The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting June 3 approved about $82,000 in contracts for fencing at the Mead Park pickleball courts and large baseball field, as well as a replacement fence at the Saxe baseball field near the YMCA and South Avenue. A major part of the projects is upgrading the fence gauge from nine millimeter to six millimeter, according to Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo. 

“This change provides a thicker, more durable coated material that will enhance longevity and durability of the new fencing installations,” Restivo told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contracts with New Canaan-based Gannon Rustic Fence ($14,680) and P&C Fence of Bridgeport ($67,390). The fencing at the Mead pickleball courts is failing, Restivo said, and two baseball fences—the perimeter at Mead Park’s large field and the backstop and dugout at Saxe—both need replacement.

Bill Walbert

‘A Symbol of Our Town’s Commitment to Public Safety’: Officials Cut Ribbon on Renovated Police Station

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More than 50 town officials and community members gathered at the entrance of the New Canaan Police Station on South Avenue on Wednesday morning to mark the re-opening of the renovated building. The updated station at 174 South Ave.—a $20 million project, $29 million with soft costs such as insurance and the temporary headquarters downtown—includes new office space, locker rooms, and much more. “The improved space enhances our ability to carry out daily operations, strengthen teamwork, and continue serving New Canaan with the highest standards of professionalism and care,” Police Chief John DiFederico said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, held on a sunny, breezy day. Those in attendance included First Selectman Dionna Carlson, Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll, Public Works Director Tiger Mann and Police Capt. Joseph Farenga. The chair of the Police Department Building Committee, Bill Walbert, opened the ceremony by expressing his pride and admiration for the new station.

Around Town

PHOTOS: New Canaan Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony

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For U.S. Marines Major Charles Paksi—a decorated veteran with three combat deployments to Somalia and Afghanistan—there’s one word that captures what motivated his friend Domingo Arroyo Jr. on Jan. 12th, 1993. The men were part of an 11-member patrol near the Mogadishu airport in Somalia as part of an effort to feed the hungry there, and Arroyo, a 21-year-old private and already a veteran of The Gulf War, had about four months left before his discharge. 

“An hour into the patrol, the children and civilians dispersed, creating an uneasy silence,” Paksi told about 250 people gathered Monday in Lakeview Cemetery on a sunny and comfortable morning. He continued: “The enemy subsequently executed a textbook ambush—gunfire erupted from the buildings to our left and right and our rear. We were being baited into the obvious action: Move through the intersection to the front.