News

South School Rebounds with Near-Perfect Score on Health Inspection

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After failing its most recent health inspection, the food services staff at South School earned a near-perfect score following an unannounced visit from a town sanitarian this month. The school during an unannounced May 2, 2017 inspection had been cited by the New Canaan Health Department for a major violation—the first such problem found there through dozens of inspections in more than five years. Specifically, a health inspector found that a 2-door Hobart cooler was at 63.7 degrees—far higher than required, according to records obtained by NewCanaanite.com. In surprise inspections, municipal health officials note any violation on a form that categorizes and grades each of them from one to four, with four being the most serious. A total of 100 points are possible, and each violation is deducted from that score.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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A New Canaan woman who made headlines last fall for her unabashed violation of the town’s leash law at Waveny on Tuesday was fined $272 for running two dogs at Kiwanis Park, officials said. The $136 ticket for having an off-leash dog in a park—a violation of local ordinances—includes a $90 fine and $46 in state processing fees. ***

The town’s 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony is to be held on the front lawn of Town Hall on Monday, Sept. 11. The community will start to gather at 9:30 a.m. with a ceremony that officially starts at 9:59 a.m.

***

Town officials on Aug.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The town is seeking to settle an appeal filed by the owners of a Lukes Wood Road home after the Planning & Zoning Commission last year denied their request to allow higher-than-allowed pillars for a gate at the end of their driveway. At a special meeting of P&Z on Sept. 22, town attorney Ira Bloom said that under a “reasonable compromise” reached with the town, the pillars—which already are in place at 309 Lukes Wood Road and stand about six and seven feet above grade, given the slope of the land, against the four feet allowed by the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see Section 6.5.C.3.a on page 126 here)—will remain. However, Aris and Patricia Kekedjian have agreed to move certain trees, replant others, forego installing any fixtures atop the pillars and remove an upper piece of their driveway gate, Bloom said. P&Z commissioner Jack Flinn called the plan “more than adequate” during the meeting, held at Town Hall, and the commission voted unanimously to support it.

Government

Schedule For South School Paving Project Is ‘Tight’

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved $334,675.01 in bonding for the repaving of the parking lot at South School, however, with only three weeks left to complete the project, there was just a hint of concern that it could interfere with the opening of school on Sept. 3. The project involves taking the old pavement up, replacing it with new pavement and re-striping the lot. But as Director of Public Works Mike Pastore explained, it involves “more than paving, we’re taking out seven islands, we’re repaving sidewalks, and we’re replacing the granite curbing… “

“The schedule is tight,” Pastore told the board. “The big hold-up will be, if we have a week’s worth of rain, we’re going to have a problem.”

Looking at the positives, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said the town expected bids to come in as high as $400,000, “so this is a good number.”

Pastore said the town got two bids for the project – a third potential bidder couldn’t take the job due to schedule constraints.

Government

School Cafeterias Score High in Health Inspections; ‘Risk Factor’ Violations at NCHS, Saxe and West

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Each of New Canaan’s six public school cafeterias scored at least 95 points out of a possible 100 in recent unannounced inspections by the New Canaan Health Department. Three of the cafs were cited for more serious “risk factor” violations during inspections conducted by Sanitarian and Restaurant/Food Inspector Carla DeLucia—one each at the high school, middle school and West School. East School earned a perfect 100. The overall scores were:

East: 100
South: 99
West: 97
Saxe: 98
NCHS: 95

Here are the details, noted by the sanitarian, at the most recent inspection for each school—risk factor violations are noted with an asterisk:

East (Jan. 11)—zero violations

South (Jan.