Board of Selectmen

Three Crosswalks on Heritage Hill Road To Get Accessible Ramps

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Residents of Heritage Hill Road can anticipate safer pedestrian routes because of the Department of Public Works’ decision to move forward with installing new concrete curb ramps at crosswalks there. 

Those living on Heritage Hill Road—a popular cut-through to Route 123—asked for the crosswalks, and the project has since been given the green light by the Police Commission, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We had a residential request for mid-block crosswalks on Heritage Hill Road,” Mann said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. “The intention is to address safety concerns, especially during school bus pickup times and facilitate easier crossing for residents.” The comments came as Mann presented a contract with a New Canaan-based company to do the work. Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams, and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, voted 3-0 to approve the $19,925 contract with Peter Lanni, Inc. The figure includes $10,000 for police to oversee motor vehicle traffic during the ramp construction.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves Contract for ‘Neglected Cemetery’ Cleanup

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a contract to clean up cemeteries in New Canaan. The Board of Selectmen approved a $7,650 contract with a local company for maintenance at nine cemeteries in town. The cemeteries, which are spread throughout town, will undergo a spring and fall cleanup and then two summer mowings, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “Leaves, branches, and further debris removal,” Mann said at the May 16 selectmen meeting. 

Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams, and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Rosati Landscaping. There are 27 cemeteries in New Canaan, Mann said.

Board of Selectmen

Upper Ponus Ridge To Close from July to November for Bridge Construction 

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Ponus Ridge will be closed north of the Greenley Road intersection from July through November for a bridge replacement project, officials say. The Board of Selectmen last week approved about $1.4 million in contracts—80% of which is to be paid by the federal government—for work in constructing and inspecting the Ponus Ridge Bridge at Collins Pond. According to town Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski, the official detour routes will be Greenley to West Road south of the work, and Dan’s Highway to West Road to the north. “That is official route,” Zagarenski told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held May 2 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “People are going to find other routes.”

Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan voted 3-0 in favor of a $1,125,937 contract with NJR Construction and $272,950 contract with M&J Engineering.

Board of Selectmen

Fellow Selectmen Pooh-Pooh Moynihan’s Proposed ‘Committee’ for Studying Cell Service

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Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams last week scuttled a plan from New Canaan’s highest elected official to appoint a new committee that would study cell service in town. As he’d signaled the prior week, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan during an April 4 Board of Selectmen meeting said he wanted to appoint a new committee to work on improving service on the west side of town. Corbet and Williams responded that there’s no need to form a brand-new committee for such work, since it rightly should be handled by a soon-to-be-reconstituted Utilities Commission. Referring to Moynihan’s suggestion, Corbet said, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

A reactivated Utilities Commission would include residents “with expertise and knowledgeable backgrounds and information about all aspects of public utilities, including cell service, including issues such as electricity and water,” Corbet said at the selectmen meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“So there is a broad remit, if you will, in terms of the responsibilities of the Utilities Commission,” she said. “The first of which is to address cellular service in town.

Board of Selectmen

Officials: Legacy Library Building To Be Moved in June (Regardless of the Town’s Future Land Acquisitions)

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The remnants of the legacy library building, which is currently undergoing asbestos abatement, will be moved to a slab near the Gulf station in June, as widely anticipated new features of the campus come online, officials said Tuesday. Approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission in November—during a meeting where that appointed body’s chair noted that preservation doesn’t necessarily mean the building in question remains in place—plans call for the so-called “1913 library” to be secured and moved out of the way of a town green. Asked for an update on that part of the library project, Bob Butman, president of the organization’s Board of Trustees, told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting that “at this point in time we have been working with our architects and with various construction planners and obviously Turner to build all the plans to move the 1913 building to the location that was approved by P&Z, which is up the hill, sort of backing up against the Gulf station.”

“That will not happen until such time as we finish the demolition of the surrounding parts of the library, which includes an effort underway right  now for abatement of asbestos and other work associated with preparing that 1913 building to be moved,” he said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We would anticipate that that would occur roughly in the June timeframe, but can’t be held to specifics because it’s going to be all dependent on weather, it’s going to be dependent on what else they find as part of the abatement process and how long it takes Turner and their team to finish their work.”

The comments came during a wider discussion and approval of the first tranche of the town’s long-planned library construction loan. During the legacy library discussion, Selectman Kathleen Corbet appeared to ask whether, should the town purchase the Gulf station property at South Avenue and Cherry Street, the old building still would need to be moved.