Government

‘I Don’t Understand What It Takes’: Selectmen Push Back on Registrar’s Request for Higher Pay

By |

The Board of Selectmen following a strained discussion at its most recent meeting voted 2-1 to increase the compensation for each of New Canaan’s registrars of voters by 3%, to $41,200. 

The figure is far less than the $52,000 that one of the registrars, Joan McLaughlin, had been seeking. In addressing the selectmen at their Jan. 7 meeting, McLaughlin said her work doubled with the introduction of early voting in Connecticut last year, as well as a recent shakeup of state legislature districts that resulted in three more for New Canaan. McLaughlin, who serves two-year terms as the Republican registrar in New Canaan, said during the meeting that she worked an average of 32 hours per week last year (up from 20 to 22 hours per week in the past) and that the higher figure was due to 14 days of early voting. “I have 14 days of early voting that starts at 10 o’clock in the morning and ends at 6 o’clock at night,” McLaughlin said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Town To Impose Fee for EV Charging Station Use in Town Hall Lot

By |

Town officials last week approved a fee of 53 cents per kilowatt hour for the electric vehicle or ‘EV’ charging stations in the Town Hall parking lot. The figure is expected to cover the cost of electricity for the town at the stations, according to Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski. The Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting also approved what Zagarenski called a “parking fee equivalent” of $1.25 per hour. “I say ‘equivalent’ because it’s calculated based on a charge rate of 7.2 kilowatts per hour divided by $1.25 an hour,” he said during the Board’s regular meeting, held Nov. 4 at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Selectmen Approve Contract for New ‘Bumpout,’ Expanded Brick Sidewalk in front of Playhouse

By |

Town officials this week approved an approximately $38,000 contract with a New Canaan-based company to create a new sidewalk “bumpout” in front of The Playhouse. The contract with Peter Lanni Inc. will also see bricks installed in the area in front of the movie theater where there’s a patchwork of asphalt and concrete at present, officials said during Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. “What this will do is continue the granite curb past The Playhouse, and then it’ll come back into our existing curb in between The Playhouse and Solé,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. He continued: “And then we’ll have brick sidewalk leading all the way from the platform out, at that point in time, to the granite curbing and a new pedestrian ramp associated with it. So it’ll give a nice, big, large platform area similar to what we have down the street.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $38,450 contract. 

Lanni, who did the original sidewalk work in front of the movie theater, has held his brickwork pricing since 2020, Mann said.

Government

Town Approves Waveny Ice Rink for Winter Season, Postpones Food Truck Decision

By |

Town officials this week approved installation of the temporary ice rink at Waveny for the upcoming season while putting off a decision with respect to allowing food trucks there. 

Located on the lot serving the Orchard Field with its two softball diamonds, the open-air rink launched two years ago. The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting on Tuesday took up a request to green-light the 2024-25 season as well as a separate request to allow food trucks there to serve skaters and their families. Saying more information is needed regarding the trucks’ hours of operation in the public park, the selectmen postponed a decision on them. “We’re approving food trucks a lot these days,” Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And they [food trucks] can be really additive.

Government

Town OK’s Sale of T-Shirts at FCIAC X-Country Championships in Waveny

By |

Town officials on Tuesday approved the sale at Waveny this week of commemorative T-shirts benefiting the county’s high school athletics organization. The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting voted 3-0 in favor of allowing the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference or ‘FCIAC’ to sell the T-shirts at its cross-country finals, to be held Wednesday. “The FCIAC likes to sell commemorative T-shirts for this event,” Parks and Recreation Director John Howe told members of the Board at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of allowing the sales. Carlson noted that New Canaan likely is one of the few communities that doesn’t allow that type of commerce in its parks by right. She asked whether money earned through T-shirt sales goes back to the FCIAC.