Government

Selectman Williams Raises Questions About Fees Collected in Town Property Deals

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During the most recent Board of Selectmen meeting, Selectman Nick Williams questioned New Canaan’s highest elected official regarding fees collected when the town buys or sells real property. Williams told First Selectman Moynihan during the Board’s June 27 meeting that he’s had several Realtors come to him asking how they could participate in the town’s real estate deals. 

 “This is not coming from me,” Williams said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “This is coming from real estate brokers.”

Referring to the town attorney’s law firm, Moynihan responded, “I think the advice from Berchem Moses is that we always issue an RFP for town property.”

An RFP, or Request for Proposal, is a business document announcing and describing a project, which is released to the public for the purpose of finding the best price. 

Williams brought up the topic during a section of the meeting devoted to general matters before the town. He cited the town’s purchase of 220 Elm St. for $6.1 million in 2022, and two subsequent sales of different parts of the building for about $2.5 million and $1.7 million, according to tax records.

Dionna Carlson

Election 2023: Letters of Endorsement

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NewCanaanite.com received the following letter(s) ahead of the July 25 Republican caucus. Please send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here. We will not publish caucus endorsements after July 11. Letters received through July 11 will be appended to this post. ***

Over my 7 terms on the Town Council and service with 6 First Selectmen, I’ve witnessed the dramatic changes which have evolved in municipal governance and which proscribe the activities and responsibilities of a First Selectman.

Addie Cannon

‘Go Out Into the World and Have Fun’: Class of 2023 Graduates from NCHS

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Michael LeDuc, a science teacher and department chair at New Canaan High School, once heard a colleague draw an important distinction that has stayed with him, between mere entertainment and the true fun that results from diligence. On Wednesday morning, he urged members of the NCHS senior class to make time for entertainment in their lives, but to understand that “there is a difference between entertainment and true, meaningful, lasting fun.”

“Don’t mistake entertainment for the good stuff—the meaningful and lasting fun that you earn through hard work,” LeDuc told the class of 2023 during its graduation ceremony, held at Dunning Field under overcast and comfortably warm skies. 

“Look at your high school experience,” he continued. “You worked really hard to be where you are today, on this beautiful day. You took on many challenges, some out of necessity. You navigated high school through some of the most challenging educational obstacles in the last 100 years.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Corbet, Williams Nix Cell-Related Contracts as Utilities Commission Is Appointed

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After residents voiced concerns, the Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday to forgo approval of two contracts related to a widely discussed proposal to erect a cell tower in the woods behind West School. Reiterating what citizens have been saying for months regarding plans to study cell coverage in New Canaan and to survey residents about their service, Selectman Kathleen Corbet said during the Board’s regular meeting that a newly appointed Utilities Commission should decide which companies will help the town. “I’m not going to approve this because I really want to see the Utilities Commission be able to step up and decide what the community survey is going to look like and how the coverage analysis is going to be done,” Corbet said during the selectmen’s meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Selectman Nick Williams, long wary of First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s push for the town’s selected partner in improving cell service, Homeland Towers, to pursue the West School option, said he would prefer to “table” the two contracts—with V-Comm Telecommunications Engineering (coverage) and Great Blue Research, Inc. (survey)—indefinitely. 

Yet Corbet said she wanted to discuss the items first, and in doing so she cited comments from the public. 

During a public comments section at the top of the meeting, New Canaan resident Barbara Wills said she was excited about the prospect of appointing members of a Utilities Commission (see below). “And I would respectfully like to request that no actions about cell service or the evaluation of it be taken until the Utilities Commission is seated,” Wills said.

Election 2023

Election 2023: First Selectman Kevin Moynihan Announces Re-Election Bid [Q&A]

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New Canaan’s highest elected official will seek the backing of the Republican Party and re-election this fall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, elected as head of the town in 2017 following four years on the Town Council, announced Wednesday that he’s seeking a fourth term. He joins GOPers Dionna Carlson and Kimberly Norton, both of whom announced their intention to seek backing from New Canaan Republicans at the July 25 caucus. We put some questions to Moynihan. Here’s our exchange.