Government

Affordable Housing: New Judge on Hill Street Appeal

By |

The state Superior Court judge assigned to the closely followed affordable housing appeal at Weed and Elm Streets recently was assigned a criminal case that has pushed back the New Canaan decision a further month, officials say. The parties in the case—the town and developer Arnold Karp—had been expecting to get a decision this week from Judge Edward O’Hanlan on the proposed 120-unit development at 751 Weed St. but “it has now been delayed till May 7th,” according to First Selectman Dionna Carlson. “The judge on this case was assigned a criminal case, and so he’s even more backlogged,” Carlson told members of the Board of Finance during their regular meeting Tuesday night. In fact, Carlson said, O’Hanlan got so backed up that the state assigned another affordable housing appeal—a 93-unit development proposed for Hill Street—to a different judge, Carlson said.

Government

Selectmen OK Funds for Work at Transfer Station Incinerator Building

By |

The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved about $28,000 to work on a former incinerator building at the Transfer Station, including removal of one stack. The selectmen at their March 25 meeting also approved funds to patch the roof of the building and relocate a radio antenna used by Department of Public Works vehicle operators. “We have two incinerator buildings,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “This is the one that houses the salt area and the Swap Shop. It was decommissioned in the ‘90s.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve Funds for Four More Sidewalk ‘Bumpouts’ on Elm; Timing of Project Uncertain

By |

Municipal officials last week approved funds for the creation of four more “bumpouts” on Elm Street—a project that will see the town regain five parking spaces. It isn’t clear just when the work will begin at the intersections of Elm Street and South Avenue (bumpouts are planned for the southeast southwest corners of the intersection) and Elm Street at the Bank of America (bumpouts are planned for each side of the crosswalk there—the Playhouse side is already done). 

Though Public Works Director Tiger Mann planned to get the project done over approximately three weeks in April-May, working on one bumpout at a time, First Selectman Dionna Carlson called for more information before committing to a start date. Specifically, Carlson said she “would like to have the least disruption to the downtown merchants” and asked if it would be better to do it in August. “Because that’s going to disrupt that [south] side of the street for three weeks at least,” Carlson said during a regular Board of Selectmen meeting, held March 25 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And if it’s raining, it’s going to be more than three weeks because you’re going to have to extend the project… I want to approve this project, but let’s talk about what’s the best timing for this?

Government

Selectmen OK Demolition of Town-Owned 1900-Built House on Grove Street

By |

The Board of Selectmen last week approved an approximately $54,000 contract to demolish a town-owned house on Grove Street. The town two years ago purchased the 1900-built house at 28 Grove St. for about $1 million, calling the .15-acre parcel a “strategic” property in that it backs up to the Lumberyard Lot. 

At their regular meeting on March 25, the selectmen voted 3-0 to approve $54,198 in contracts to raze the house and a shed and remove contaminants from the site. “The demolition would include the foundation of the building,” Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer with the Department of Public Works, said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And then we would just level it off to make it safe.

Government

Waveny To Be Closed to Vehicular Traffic on Morning of Oct. 19 for ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Car Show 

By |

Waveny will be closed to vehicular traffic on a Sunday morning in October to accommodate a popular car show that benefits a nonprofit group that works with the town on the park’s behalf. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its regular meeting Tuesday in favor of closing the park to cars from 6 to 11 a.m. on Oct. 19 for Caffeine & Carburetors. (The fall car show at Waveny, and a June 22 event downtown, received unanimous approval last week from the Police Commission.)

Last year, C&C raised $24,000 for the Waveny Park Conservancy while the downtown show raised $16,000 for the New Canaan Community Foundation. During the selectmen meeting, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said that last year “due to the success of Caffeine and Carburetors, there were too many cars and you wouldn’t have been able to get a car through it a lot of times, say nothing about an ambulance or a fire truck.”

“So with the Special Events Committee, we’ve met many times to discuss how we can make Caffeine and Carburetors still work for the park and still donate to the Conservancy, but make it so that it’s safe and doable,” Howe said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.