Board of Selectmen

Selectmen OK Contract To Keep Geese out of Mead Park

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a $19,500 contract with a Wilton-based company that comes to Mead Park to haze Canada geese and destroy their eggs so they won’t try to nest there. New Canaan has hired Geese Relief LLC for its “goose control” program since about 2012, according to John Howe, parks superintendent with the town’s Department of Public Works. No other company in the area does the work, he told the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting. “What they basically do is harass the geese but humanely, they never touch them, the dogs never touch them,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “They also do the addling of the eggs, which is something we’ve been doing for almost 30 years in town.

Board of Selectmen

‘I Just Don’t Understand the Inconsistency’: Selectman Corbet Questions Continued Use of Pesticides on New Canaan’s Athletic Fields

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Selectman Kathleen Corbet this week questioned why New Canaan uses pesticides on some of its athletic fields, including those that serve young children who attend public schools where the chemicals are banned. The Parks Department has moved completely away from pesticides on New Canaan Public Schools grounds, so it doesn’t make sense to use the chemicals, even in a single midsummer application, at Waveny, Conner Field and Mead Park playing fields, Corbet said during Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. 

“I just don’t understand the inconsistency,” she said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “The question is: If we don’t put it on student grounds, why do we put it on the other grounds where obviously the same aged children  re playing on those grounds as well? I don’t understand why we don’t have a consistent application of pesticide-free fields.”

The comments came as the selectmen about $140,000 in contracts for the purchase and application of grass treatment products on athletic fields at New Canaan schools and parks. Parks Superintendent John Howe said it’s more cost-effective to maintain the fields with pesticides, as opposed to additional grass seeding, and that the fields themselves are better condition with the pesticide use.

Government

Town Approves $10,000 Scoreboard Replacement in Waveny

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Town officials last week approved the $10,000 purchase of a replacement scoreboard for a baseball field in Waveny. Named for Joe Coppo, one of three New Canaan men killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Coppo Field is located near the water towers and Lapham Community Center. 

The new scoreboard, which will include LED technology, is the “next-to-last scoreboard replacement we have at this time,” according to John Howe, parks superintendent with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. 

The last one is for the varsity baseball field at Mead Park, he told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held July 21 via videoconference. 

“And then the only other place where we really need to put a scoreboard in some time—but that’s a separate item, it would not be a replacement—would be up at the Water Tower, the new turf field number two,” he said. “It would be great to have a scoreboard up there.”

First Selectmen Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to approve the $10,124 purchase from East Haddam-based Northeast Scoreboards. Regarding a new scoreboard for the turf field, Moynihan said, “It would be nice to have a donation for that.”

Howe said Recreation Director Steve Benko had received money from a local charity and would earmark some for the purchase.

Government

Selectmen Approve $31,240 Contract for Weeding and Pruning at 10 Town Buildings

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Town officials last week approved a contract with a local landscaping company for pruning and weeding around 10 public buildings in New Canaan. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the $31,240 contract with Gregg’s Garden Center on Grove Street. 

The town typically does a round of spring weeding in early April, but held off this year given that nearly all municipal buildings are closed, according to John Howe, parks superintendent with the Department of Public Works. “With that said, it has increased the amounts a little bit, but it has also avoided a second springtime weeding of the beds,” Howe told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held June 2 via videoconference. He added that the $4,000 contingency included in the contract is higher than in years past “due to the fact that the weeds are growing so rapidly right now.”

Skipping the April work likely will result in a break-even for the town, Howe said. The current fiscal year’s budget includes $65,000 for this type of work, Howe said.

Government

Budget Cuts: Town To Reduce Funding for Landscaping Work Around Several Public Buildings

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Town officials are looking to cut back on landscaping work around a handful of public buildings, including Vine Cottage, Powerhouse Theater, Carriage Barn Arts Center, Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School. The proposed budget for next fiscal year removes about $15,000 paid annually to outside contractors in recent years for more frequent weeding and mulching that the Parks & Recreation Commission had pushed for, including during “spring cleanups.”

John Howe, parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works, told members of the Commission during their Jan. 8 meeting, “The hard part I see is that we have been able to have these buildings look great throughout the year.”

“And we are kind of going backwards,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “Are we in better shape now than we were five years ago? Yes, by a long shot.”

The cutbacks come as the Board of Finance guides municipal departments to reduce operating costs by 2%.