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.

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New Canaan Volunteer Fire, EMS Leaders Seek Town’s Help To Bolster Recruitment, Retention 

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Saying they need to improve recruitment and retention, leaders from New Canaan Fire Co. No. 1 and New Canaan Emergency Medical Services are asking the town to offer members incentives such as tax abatement, Waveny Pool membership and use of the Transfer Station. Surrounding towns already offer plusses such as property tax relief, pool passes and fuel reimbursement to volunteer emergency responders, according to New Canaan Fire Co. Assistant Chief Russ Kimes and New Canaan EMS Capt. Phil Sheibley. 

The volunteer ranks of their organizations have declined, as they have elsewhere, and now stand at record or near-record lows, Kimes and Sheibley told members of the Town Council at their March 24 meeting.

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‘The Change in Our Community’: Facing Criticism of Sewer Fee Proposal, Finance Board Postpones Vote

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Russ Barksdale, president and CEO of Waveny LifeCare Network, received notification this week about $8,5000 in annual sewer usage fees that the nonprofit organization would be expected to pay for the fiscal year starting July 1. A proposal from Town Hall that’s designed to more fairly distribute sewer-related costs among residential and commercial property owners, the fee ultimately would see both for-profit and nonprofit businesses—including churches, charitable organizations and municipal buildings—taxed for water usage for the first time. 

Barksdale in addressing the Board of Finance on Tuesday night during a public hearing on the proposal said he found that his organization, which includes both the Waveny Care Center on Farm Road and The Inn on Oenoke Ridge, would be “hit more than any other nonprofit in our area, sizably more than any other nonprofit.”

“I went to then think of the pebble effect, the pebble effect that it would have for that usage fee to be placed on us as a nonprofit, to be placed upon the other churches and other nonprofits that enrich the culture of this great community that we have in New Canaan,” Barksdale said during the well-attended hearing, held at Town Hall. 

Noting that Waveny has provided some $10 million in charity care in the past two years in ways that saves government spending, Barksdale added, “We have a very fragile, very large group of seniors that come to us who cannot afford or find themselves at the end of being able to afford the highest level of care that we provide. And so I applaud our charity care to provide that. Who do we bill that usage fee to?”

Medicare and Medicaid are not options, he said, and there’s “really no place to pass that fee on to others to be able to incorporate, so we have to as a nonprofit be able to absorb that expense.”

“We would just ask that, similarly to the $15 minimum wage, that you give us an opportunity and all the nonprofits that are here the opportunity to build it within our budget. Right?