Board of Finance

‘That’s In Motion’: Moynihan Lays Out Approvals Schedule for West School Cell Tower

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Though residents and town officials this summer called for more community input regarding the plan, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Tuesday laid out a schedule for municipal bodies to take up a proposed cell tower behind West School. Verizon “has come forward wanting to put a tower on the west side of town,” Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“Specifically, in the town property of the 47 acres on Ponus Ridge,” Moynihan continued, referring to 769 Ponus Ridge. “We are going to come back with two proposals and this will go to P&Z at the end of the month. One would be 1,000 feet behind West School. The other would be at the other end of the property at Llewelyn [Drive], which is a cul-de-sac, in the woods.

Berchem Moses

Op-Ed: ‘Unethical Conduct’ and ‘Flagrant Misstatements’ from Town Attorney’s Firm

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After watching Town Attorney Ira Bloom’s presentation to the Board of Selectman this past Tuesday, it is important to correct the record with respect to the 2021 FOIA complaint that I had lodged against the Town. 

The gravamen of my complaint related to 129 responsive public records that were withheld from production. To obtain access to those public records, I was required as a matter of administrative law to file a complaint with the FOI Commission and attend a public hearing. One of the principal outputs of that public hearing was the FOI Commission hearing officer ordering the Town to produce those withheld records for in camera review. After completing her independent review of those public records, as the New Canaanite has accurately reported, the hearing officer publicly issued a proposed final decision to the FOI Commission finding that the Town failed to prove that 15 of those 129 withheld records were exempt from public disclosure and that “[a]ccordingly, it is concluded that the respondents violated the FOI Act by withholding such records from the complainant.”
As the next step in the administrative law process to obtain those improperly withheld public records, I then attended a public hearing before the entire FOI Commission where the hearing officer’s proposed final decision was reviewed and discussed. During that public hearing, Attorney Nicholas Bamonte with Bercham Moses made a series of flagrant misstatements and mischaracterizations to the FOI Commission regarding the gravamen of my complaint, discussions with the FOI Ombudsman, and substance of the earlier FOI Commission hearing officer proceedings.

Berchem Moses

Objections Filed to Town’s Application for Relief from State Affordable Housing Law

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A prominent Connecticut attorney specializing in housing law last week filed comments with the state that are critical of New Canaan’s recent application for relief from a widely discussed affordable housing law. Raphael L. Podolsky of New Britain-based Connecticut Legal Services, who served on the first Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing from 1987 to 1989—the panel that drafted the proposal that was adopted in 1989 and codified as Section 8-30g of the Connecticut General Statutes—said New Canaan’s moratorium application has two major shortcomings. 
They are the counting of “holdover points” and “the subtraction for demolished affordable housing,” Podolsky wrote in an Aug. 31 letter to Connecticut Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno. “I believe that New Canaan’s interpretation of the statute on these issues is contrary to the letter of the law and undercuts the underlying purpose of those sections of the statute,” Podolsky wrote in the letter, obtained by NewCanaanite.com. “In effect, it produces a moratorium when the required point minimum has not been achieved.

Berchem Moses

Town Hasn’t Issued RFP for Legal Services Since 2012

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The town hasn’t issued an RFP for legal services in a full decade, officials told NewCanaanite.com in response to a public information request. New Canaan issued for legal services in May 2012, according to Mimi Pitt, the project coordinator for the town who fields requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. The last time RFPs were issued for internal and external auditing services were June 2016 and March 2012, respectively, Pitt said. The three RFP issuances all date to the administration of former First Selectman Rob Mallozzi. The current first selectman, Kevin Moynihan, was elected in 2017.

Berchem Moses

Town Exceeds Legal Budget by 32%

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The town exceeded its budget for legal fees by 32% in the fiscal year that ended June 30, documents show. The total spent in legal fees—$395,947.42 against a budget of $300,000—does not include expenses incurred as part of the town’s purchase of an Elm Street building earlier this year, according to a legal bill approved July 26 by the Board of Selectmen. (Those fees, which the Board of Finance later “re-classified,” had already exceeded $43,000 by January, past bills show.)

During the Board’s meeting, Selectman Kathleen Corbet asked about the $8,000 monthly retainer that New Canaan pays to Berchem Moses PC, the town attorney’s firm. “Relative to the full amount of the budget, about 20%, is that similar to what other towns are?” Corbet asked during the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “Is that typically what we should expect in terms of the overall budget, the retainer cost?”

Referring to Town Attorney Ira Bloom, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan responded, “I don’t know exactly what other towns pay but I’m told by Ira that we are in the ballpark.