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.

Government

Cell Tower Developer: We Can Present Two Possible West School Locations to the State

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A cell tower developer said last week that, with the town’s support, he could present state officials with two locations for erecting monopoles behind West School if his own preferred location is, in fact, “off the table” as New Canaan’s legislative body has asserted. Homeland Towers Regional Manager Ray Vergati told members of the Board of Selectmen during their March 21 meeting that he still would prefer to go with what’s known as “Option A” for the new tower serving the west side of town (about 900 feet behind West School and 600 feet from its playing fields). Two alternative tower locations deeper into the woods behind the school, toward Llewelyn Drive and Carriage Lane—dubbed “Option B” and “Option C”—would need to be even taller towers to make up for a loss in elevation, and the latter may well trigger concerns about environmental impact because of designated wetlands. “Look, do I want to be in [Option] B and C? No,” Vergati said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Amy Murphy Carroll

‘This Is Disappointing’: Playhouse Renovation Estimate Up to $7.9 Million, Double Original Budget

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Due primarily to the unexpected expense of a new HVAC system, the widely anticipated renovation of the town-owned movie theater on Elm Street is now projected to cost about $7.9 million, more than twice the initial budget of $3.9 million, officials say. The town originally anticipated re-using the existing HVAC system in the Playhouse, and budgeted about $400,000 for that part of the project, but due to new Code requirements and the need for better air circulation, the cost has risen by nearly $2 million, to $2.3 million, according to Department of Public Works officials. In addition, the town and its contractors found, after starting the interior demolition of the 1923-built Playhouse, that more structural work was needed than they’d anticipated, Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday. “We noticed that during previous work in the building they actually did some damage to the structure itself, taking out some bearing items, some of the girders are separating, some of the areas that needed to be replaced were refashioned,” Mann said during the selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“So the structural engineers mentioned things that we’ve got to do on the structural side to make the building whole again. And then, given the fact of, after the eight separate design iterations that we went through to try and fit everything into the building and make it compliant with current standards and make it accessible throughout.

Board of Selectmen

Town Council Pushes Back on West School Cell Tower; ‘Option B’ Proposal Coming

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Members of New Canaan’s legislative body say they will not support a plan to erect a cell tower about 900 feet behind West School (and 600 feet from its playing fields), though they’re expecting the town’s highest elected official to come forward with an alternative proposal in the area. Town Council Chair Steve Karl noted in comments during the elected body’s March 14 meeting that “the Council is definitely exhausted on ‘Option A’ at the West tower.”

“We’ve sent that message loud and clear,” Karl said. “I think we’re all in agreement that Option A is a non-starter. But we are told that there may be an ‘Option B’ coming our way. That could be discussed as early as the end of April, so we’ll wait for that to come our way.