News

Forum with Yankee Gas in New Canaan: ‘Get Them the Concrete Numbers’

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New Canaanites are calling for harder numbers and timetables behind projected cost-savings in natural gas conversion—for example, how much it will cost to convert a home of X square feet that lays Y feet from a main line, and exactly when service will come to each property—prior to committing to Yankee Gas to the degree that the utility needs in order to put a shovel in the ground here. Yankee Gas said during a panel discussion at New Canaan Library Monday evening that it wants to have natural gas service available in New Canaan starting this fall. That service would start by following a roughly 5-mile main up from Stamford along Ponus Ridge, running the length of Frogtown Road, jogging down Weed, running from the top of Elm to South Avenue and then out to the high school. At first, the line would serve many New Canaan businesses in the heart of our downtown, as well as a lot of big town buildings near the route (Town Hall, Police Department, South, Saxe and the high school) and possibly the YMCA. Yet even those buildings no longer carry enough of the natural gas load to reasonably offset, in the eyes of state regulators, the cost of doing the infrastructure work here, according to Paul Zohorsky, vice president of gas operations at Northeast Utilities (which owns Berlin, CT-based Yankee Gas).

Board of Selectmen

Five Years On: New Canaan Chamber’s Tucker Murphy Shepherds Community, Commerce with ‘Positive High Energy’

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Here’s a word that lifelong New Canaanite Beth Jones—a 1974 New Canaan High School graduate who serves on the Board of Selectmen and belongs to the Kiwanis Club of New Canaan and League of Women Voters—used Friday to describe the positive changes brought to our community by the Chamber of Commerce these past five years: “Unbelievable.”

Splintered at the time Tucker Murphy took over as executive director, with a business-led group that called itself the “New Canaan Village Association” breaking off to create the now-annual Holiday Stroll and push for more activity, the chamber today is credited not only with mending the rift and boosting the visibility of local businesses through new events, but also with creating something that’s difficult to describe—a kind of inclusiveness, feeling of shared mission and connection among not just businesses but also nonprofit groups, community organizations, individuals and the town itself. Thursday marked exactly five years since Murphy took over as executive director at the chamber—bringing in marketing associate Laura Soper Budd along the way. Asked to describe what they’ve seen happen in that time, business and town leaders credit Murphy’s enthusiasm, vitality, creativity and sense of community in forging an enviably active, mutually supportive membership. “She’s just a fabulous spokesperson for the businesses, the community, the town itself,” Jones said. “She just loves New Canaan.”

Asked about the change herself, Murphy said one touchstone for what’s happening is the fact that one new business here, Mrs. Green’s, contacted the chamber itself (and joined) entirely on its own.

Around Town

Double-Check Your Mail, New Canaan: Info on Your Representatives

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A New Canaan organization that seeks to improve government and engage citizens is urging town residents this week to double-check before throwing away what may appear to be junk mail delivered to their homes. The “Know Your Representative” brochure (held in the photo at right by First Selectman Rob Mallozzi) from the League of Women Voters of New Canaan lists the town’s representatives on the local, state and federal levels. It’s been mailed out this week. Asked to describe the New Canaan constituency’s awareness and interest in the activities of elected officials, league member Eloise Killeffer gave New Canaanites “high marks” based on turnout at some of the organization’s annual events (including Candidate Night forums and, when there’s a race, Election Candidate debates). “We do debates only when there are contested elections at local and state levels,” Killeffer said.

Government

Coming to New Canaan Mailboxes: Info on Your Representatives

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A New Canaan organization that seeks to improve government and engage citizens is urging town residents this week to double-check before throwing away what may appear to be junk mail delivered to their homes. The “Know Your Representative” brochure (held in the photo at right by First Selectman Rob Mallozzi) from the League of Women Voters of New Canaan lists the town’s representatives on the local, state and federal levels. Asked to describe the New Canaan constituency’s awareness and interest in the activities of elected officials, league member Eloise Killeffer gave New Canaanites “high marks” based on turnout at some of the organization’s annual events (including Candidate Night forums and, when there’s a race, Election Candidate debates). “We do debates only when there are contested elections at local and state levels,” Killeffer said. “Otherwise, it is a way for candidates in contested elections to make themselves better known to voters.”

Copies of the Know Your Representatives brochure will be available at the first selectman’s office and New Canaan Library, among other places, according to a press release from the league.