Board of Selectmen

Health Director: Department’s Permit Revenues Up 30% in Early Months of Online Platform

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The online permitting system that the town put in place just a few months ago appears to already be paying dividends, officials say. Revenues taken in by the New Canaan Health Department since the town began switching to the OpenGov platform in November are up 30%, according to Health Director Jenn Eielson. The reasons for the increase include that “I’m collecting the money right off the bat” and “nothing’s sneaking by anymore,” Eielson told members of the Board of Selectmen during a regular meeting Tuesday that was dedicated to the municipal budget. “You see everything,” she said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And again, collecting the fee up front is huge because you’re doing the work, where before they were collecting on the back end.

Government

‘We’re Excited To Finally Leap into the ‘90s’: Town Switching to Digital Permitting Platform

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Addressing problems that Town Hall has had for years as New Canaan has fallen behind surrounding towns, officials said last week that the municipality is finally switching over to a system where residents and business owners can apply for, purchase and receive various permits online. New Canaan Health Director Jenn Eielson for about six months has served as co-project manager to phase in a new platform that’s expected to start a test phase Nov. 1, she said at Thursday’s regular meeting of the Health & Human Services Commission. “We’re excited about that,” Eielson said of the OpenGov Permitting & Licensing platform during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “That’s for all the various different health permits—restaurants, salons, wells, septic, pools,” she continued.

Government

Town To Purchase Third EV for Municipal Use

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Town officials last week approved funds to purchase an electric vehicle from a New Canaan-based dealership. The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV for the New Canaan Health Department will be the third EV in the municipal fleet, officials say. Health Director Jenn Eielson told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting Aug. 15 that it’s very difficult to get such a vehicle in the town’s price range. “You can’t find them,” Eielson said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

New Canaan Health Department: Record-High Number of Ticks Submitted in May

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The New Canaan Health Department saw a record-high number of ticks submitted last month, officials say. In all, 51 ticks were submitted to the town in May, according to Health Director Jenn Eielson. 

Of those, seven tested positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Eielson said during the June 1 meeting of the Health and Human Services Commission. 

“It’s a topic that is [top of mind] right now because of the amount of ticks, because it wasn’t cold enough this winter,” Eielson said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “It was too mild. They didn’t die off. In fact, the opposite.

Board of Selectmen

Lead Contamination Found in Soil of Nature Center’s ‘Community Garden’

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Officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $19,000 with a Norwalk-based company following the discovery of lead in the soil of a community garden on a town-owned property. The discovery of elevated levels of lead at in the New Canaan Nature Center’s community herb garden requires the removal and disposal of existing wood from raised beds, the spreading and grading of existing soils, placement of a filter fabric on top of the soils and capping the entire area with two inches of stone, officials said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting. “We recently had the gardens tested and unfortunately they came in with lead levels that were elevated, so that they were no longer able to be utilized for a community garden,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “They weren’t to the point where they need to be removed or they need to be permanently capped,” he continued. “The direction from the Health Department was that we can close the area, place a filter fabric over the top of it and then two inches of stone and then reutilize the area for other purposes.