Town Approves Contract for NCPD Elevator Work

Town officials last week approved an approximately $14,000 contract for work done as part of the recently completed New Canaan Police Department renovation and addition project. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Trumbull-based KONE Elevators during its regular meeting, held Jan. 6 at Town Hall and via videoconference. As part of the project, the building’s elevator was “taken out of service,” according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. “The elevator’s power, telephone and fire alarm connections were disconnected, and then it was treated like a new elevator, so we had to bring in the new services,” Zagarenski said.

Town Approves $700,000 Contract To Demolish ‘Irwin House’

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved an approximately $700,000 contract to demolish Irwin House, the disused former residence in the Weed Street park of the same name. The contract with Stamford Wrecking Company will cover “the abatement and demolition of the Irwin House,” according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. “It was determined that the Irwin House and garage would be demolished in May of this year,” he told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “An 8-24 review was conducted and approved by P&Z to demolish the structures. The work performed under this contract will abate and remove all the structures.

Motorists To Pay for EV Charger Use at Morse Court

The Board of Selectmen last week voted in favor of a $15,500 contract with a local electrician to replace an EV charger in a municipal lot downtown with a new model that can charge motorists for its use. New Canaan-based Santella Electric will install the new EV charger in Morse Court so that it operates the same way as the two chargers in the Town Hall Lot. The town originally thought that Eversource, the power company, was eating the electricity bill generated from the Morse Court charger “but they weren’t,” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said during the elected body’s regular meeting, held Aug. 19 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She added: “So ee had that disengage and then we found out that we couldn’t with the existing EV charger charge, like we do here at the [Town Hall] Annex. And so this is the request to have a charger that we can actually charge residents or whoever wants to use them to use the electricity.”

Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contract, presented by Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works.

Selectmen Approve Maintenance Contract for Town Energy Source

Town officials on Tuesday approved a maintenance contract for the town’s four Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units. A reason for the approval is that “when the units are running, they save [the town] money,” according to Department of Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski. “They also take power off the grid. They’re greener and work towards the town’s clean energy goals,” Zagarenski told the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. CHP systems generate electricity and capture the heat that would otherwise be wasted to provide useful thermal energy, such as steam or hot water, according to the CHP Alliance.