Government

‘People Are Really Upset About This’: Town Council Pushes Back on Snub of VFW’s Funding Request

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Members of the Town Council are pushing back on decisions made by other municipal bodies that deny a request from local veterans for funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. The Boards of Selectmen and Finance both voted in support of a $582,600 ARPA package for nonprofit organizations that left out a $15,000 request from the local VFW. During their own July 20 meeting, Town Councilmen tried to get answers as to why the snub occurred and to urge the selectmen and finance board to fill the funding request. “If it wasn’t for our veterans this town would not exist,” Councilman Kimberly Norton said during the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “So I think it’s of paramount importance that we take this seriously, and all of these people are volunteers that volunteered their service to our country, and then volunteered in our parade, and mapping the graves of the veterans in the cemetery.

Government

ARPA: Health and Human Services Commission Should Advise Town on Future Allocations, Members Say

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An appointed body that oversees New Canaan’s Health and Human Services departments should be doing more to help the town set priorities on spending what remains of $6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, its members say. The Town Council last month approved about $2 million in “ARPA” spending, including allocations for “premium pay” for school and town workers, greenlink sidewalks, year-round public bathrooms, a generator and marketing. Yet the Health and Human Services Commission “should be giving more assistance and support to our elected officials on priority funding,” Russ Barksdale Jr., a member of the Commission, said at its Jan. 6 meeting. “I did not see any priority funding given to our local or town Health Department, as an example,” Barksdale said at the meeting, held via videoconference.

Dan Bennett

Republicans Back New Slate of Board of Ed Candidates for November Election; Complete Caucus Results

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In a dramatic vote Tuesday night, New Canaan Republicans endorsed a new slate of Board of Education candidates who are seeking to reset the priorities of the influential elected body and how it interacts with district administrators. The incumbent chair and secretary of the Board of Ed both fell short of securing party backing at the GOP caucus, held at New Canaan High School. The high vote-getter among school board candidates, Dan Bennett, said during the 2.5-hour caucus that the campaign he, Hugo Alves, Philip Hogan and Julie Toal ran has been “focused on improved transparency, a more accessible Board, accountability to the community and parents and better communication to the community and engaged oversight.”

“Our platform has had a few things—kids come first, and that means in everything,” Bennett said. “In academic excellence, in school start times implementation, in block scheduling, in trying to keep schools open full-time for kids heading into next year and certainly trying to get masks off kids so that they can have the most normal learning experience possible in this great school system. Secondly, it is transparency, accessibility, accountability and oversight.

Election 2021

Election 2021 Republican Caucus: Town Council Candidate Kimberly Norton

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New Canaan resident Kimberly Norton is seeking the endorsement of the Republican Party for a seat on the elected Town Council. We put some questions to Norton about her candidacy. Our exchange follows. New Canaanite: Tell us about yourself—how long have you lived in New Canaan, what have you been involved with here in town and what has led you to seek elected office? Kimberly Norton: My husband, Bill, and I moved to New Canaan from New York City 12 years ago.

Library Attorney: Decision on Fate of 1913 Building Must Come During P&Z Process

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Though a clause inserted last week into a draft agreement between the town and New Canaan Library would appear to forestall a decision on whether to demolish the original 1913 library building for at least two years during construction, the fate of that structure must be decided far sooner, an attorney said Tuesday. While it’s true that the library will operate out of its existing building until the new one is completed and ready for move-in, the Planning & Zoning Commission must approve the library’s full plan for the site even before construction starts, including for the century-old structure overlooking Main and Cherry Streets, according to Ted O’Hanlan, a longtime partner at Stamford-based Robinson + Cole who was nominated last week as a state Superior Court judge (the class of nominees awaits confirmation by the General Assembly). P&Z “has to approve a plan before we can start anything, so this will be resolved by then,”” O’Hanlan told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting, held via videoconference. “I don’t believe it can be an open issue,” O’Hanlan added, where construction can commence without a final plan for the 1913 library. “The library plans to put forward a very articulated reason why it’s not proposing to save the 1913 building,” he said.