Board of Selectmen

Moynihan Cites ‘Surrounding Towns’ in Creating New Full-Time Job

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The Board of Selectmen last week voted in favor of making New Canaan’s emergency management director role—an unpaid, volunteer role just two years ago—a full-time, paid job. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during the Board’s regular meeting May 17 that “many surrounding towns are beginning to hire full-time emergency management directors.”

“The preparedness for events, that only requires being there when the event occurs,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “But also there’s a lot of preparation and a lot of planning and a lot of drilling that’s required. So the past few months I’ve been thinking that we really ought to look at what our surrounding towns are doing and take the opportunity to create a full-time position.”

The salary range for the job hasn’t been finalized yet, according to New Canaan Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering-Jones. It wasn’t clear which “surrounding towns” Moynihan referred to—neither of New Canaan’s similarly sized neighbors, Darien and Wilton, have a full-time emergency management director, officials say.

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Gentle Feathering of Soft Rainwater Hub: Henri ‘Not Showing Concerning Weather Scenarios’ for New Canaan [UPDATED]

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Update 2:10 p.m. Sunday

Saying no “concerning weather scenarios” are predicted here, the town is shutting down its Emergency Operations Center, New Canaan Emergency Management Director Russ Kimes said in a 2 p.m. town-wide outcall. The EOC “will monitor conditions and forecasts and will re-activate if warranted,” Kimes said. “Substantial rainfall is still expected but over the next several days,” he said. New Canaan and all of lower Fairfield County remain under Tropical Storm and Storm Surge warnings, the National Weather Service said in a 12:22 p.m. update. “The main threats from Henri continue to be heavy rain capable of producing flash flooding and river flooding, tropical storm force winds, and potentially life-threatening storm surge,” the NWS said.

News

New Canaan Fire Co. Practices Water Rescue Drills at Mead Pond

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New Canaan firefighters on Saturday practiced water rescues at Mead Park, rehearsing drills that save the lives of people, pets and wildlife. Firefighters execute water rescues from one to five times per year, according to Russ Kimes III, assistant chief of the New Canaan Fire Company No. 1. “Obviously, New Canaan has a fair number of bodies of water,” Kimes told NewCanaanite.com. “We ended up getting called out just after doing that drill,” he added.

Around Town

‘We Would All Do Right by Remaining Committed to Our Veterans’: Town Holds Annual Ceremony on God’s Acre

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For Tyler Nash, a former U.S. Army infantry officer who served for nearly seven years, primarily with the 75th Ranger Regiment and 10th Mountain Division, the two things that make the contributions of veterans so special are conviction and love. Citing a 1906 quote from President Teddy Roosevelt, that “a just war is in the long run far better for a man’s soul than the most prosperous peace,” Nash on Wednesday morning told a crowd of more than 100 people gathered at God’s Acre for the town’s annual Veterans Day ceremony, “This isn’t a quote that advocates for violence or war.”

Roosevelt followed by saying, “We should as a nation do everything in our power for the cause of honorable peace,” Nash said, addressing residents, town officials, police, firefighters and EMTs wearing masks and spaced apart before the Wayside Cross (itself a WWI memorial) on a warm, overcast day. “But it is a a quote about conviction,” Nash said. “The United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We were created as a nation to face and overcome obstacles head-on as a unified people, and whether known or not, we represent the hopes and dreams of people all over the world.

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Selectmen Appoint Two To Lead Emergency Management in New Canaan

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday appointed Russ Kimes and Phil Sheibley as the new volunteer director and deputy director of emergency management in New Canaan, respectively. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan thanked Fire Chief Jack Hennessy for stepping into the leadership role after longtime Emergency Management Director Mike Handler’s June 3 ouster during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Especially through Tropical Storm Isaias, Jack, I really appreciated and the town appreciated your service and leadership during the storm,” Moynihan said during the Board’s regular meeting, held via videoconference. “That was quite a ride for a week.” 

He referred to last month’s storm that knocked out power to more than three-quarters of the town, many for several days. Kimes is a lifelong town resident, U.S. Marine veteran and commander of VFW Post 653.