Amy Murphy Carroll

‘I’ve Had Great People Around Me’: Mose Saccary To Retire After 44 Years with the DPW

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Mose Saccary, East Avenue-raised son of a Nova Scotian coal miner, graduated from New Canaan High School in 1978 after coming up through Center School and Saxe. He worked several jobs out of school, including for the architect Dinyar Wadia, at Grand Union and at Walter Stewart’s (“We actually lived on Seminary Street by then, so I could jump the wall,” Saccary recalled.)

“Before that, I worked for Joe’s Pizza when I was about 10,” he told NewCanaanite.com. On graduating NCHS, he learned that two buddies—Joey Lucas, a ‘78 classmate, and Walt Jaykus, one year below—had taken jobs with the town’s Department of Public Works. “I got interested in it and came on board and never looked back,” Saccary said. That was April 1980, and he started as a laborer.

Government

Selectmen, Commission ID Wages Issue within NCPD

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Town officials this month discussed what they described as an ongoing salary issue among New Canaan’s finest. 

During the Ag. 6 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, members of the Police Commission asked the selectmen for percentage salary increases for the highest-ranking members of the New Canaan Police Department. Paul Foley, a member of the appointed body, asked the Board to increase the deputy chief and captain’s salary from 2.75% to 3%, and the chief’s from 2.75% to 3.5%. During the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference, Foley said these increases aren’t “quite where other departments are, but it gets them bumped up a bit.”

Foley said the increases would send a message to the rest of the staff that “there is some room for compensation increase.”

Foley said the department has been dealing with an issue where there’s a lack of individuals moving into administration positions.

Government

Town Officials Approve Request To Demo ‘Audubon House’ at Nature Center

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Town officials last week approved a request to demolish a long-disused town-owned building at the New Canaan Nature Center. During the Aug. 6 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, officials discussed the future of the “Audubon House,” a deteriorating 15-by-30-foot structure located across from the Oenoke Ridge nonprofit organization’s Visitor Center. 

Department of Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski asked the Board of Selectmen for authorization to enter into a contract with Fuss & O’Neill, a civil and environmental engineering company. 

The contract, in the amount of $4,355 plus a contingency of $800 (a total of $5,155), is required to perform the demolition of the rectangular structure, Zagarenski told the Board at its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Director of Public Works Tiger Mann said the cost is funded in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget in a $50,000 line item. The building originally served as a laundry facility for the late Susan Dwight Bliss, a New Canaan resident and philanthropist.

Amy Murphy Caroll

Broken Column on White Birch Road To Be Repaired

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. After six months, New Canaan officials are bringing to a conclusion the repair of the conspicuously broken column at the top of White Birch Road. As previously reported, one of the two columns located at the start of White Birch Road (opposite the off-ramp from Merritt Parkway Exit 37 northbound) was struck and damaged by a vehicle last December, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

Last Tuesday, during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Mann discussed a check he had acquired from the driver’s insurance company. Mann sought the approval of a request from the Department of Public Works to enter into a contract with a repair company to fix the column. “We received a check for the entire amount of $5,350,” Mann said.

Around Town

‘You Can’t Miss It’: Summer Concerts at Waveny Kick Off Wednesday Night

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. One of New Canaan’s highly anticipated summer traditions is kicking off this week. The annual Summer Concert Series in Waveny starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. 

“It’s a summer must here in New Canaan,” said Steve Karl of Karl Chevrolet, a longtime sponsor of the series. “We have always supported the New Canaan Rec Department’s efforts to bring New Canaan residents together.”

Held each Wednesday evening on the lawn behind Waveny House, the concert series draws hundreds of New Canaan families who come prepared with picnic blankets, foldout chairs, food and beverages. Featuring a multitude of musical genres, from country and ‘50s doo wop to today’s hits, the concert series is sponsored by local businesses and organizations that include Kaster Moving Co.