Government

Selectmen Postpone Funding for ADA Ramp Between Town Hall, Vine Cottage

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Saying they need more information, municipal officials this week postponed the approval of $250,000 in construction work at the Town Hall campus. After the federal government cited the town for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act—citing dozens of barriers to access at public facilities throughout New Canaan—the municipality and U.S. Department of Justice reached an agreement. 

Part of that agreement calls for the town to improve access between Town Hall and Vine Cottage, where the New Canaan Department of Health is located. 

An additional accessible route needs to be built, Public Works Director Tiger Mann said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, held at The Town Hall and via videoconference. Mann said a site plan from local firm Architectural Preservation Studios would locate the new ramp on part of an existing staircase from the access road through the campus up to Vine Cottage. “The far right side of the staircase will be separated, and that will become a ramp which will turn left towards the parking space,” Mann said. “We’ll remove one slot of the parking lot which will put us in the correct position to then head to the Vine Cottage.”

Installing the ramp will require removing part of the WPA-era retaining wall there, and is estimated to cost $258,583.11, including a 10% contingency, Mann said.

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‘It Only Took 15 Minutes To Get the First Complaint’: South Avenue Closure Underway

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The summer-long closure of a major north-south artery into New Canaan is off to a so-so start, officials said Tuesday. This week, the water company began installing a 36-inch pipe along South Avenue, between Harrison Avenue and Farm Road. The work will continue up until school starts again. According to Public Works Director Tiger Mann, municipal officials started receiving feedback immediately from motorists. “It only took 15 minutes to get the first complaint,” Mann said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Within 10 feet, Aquarion “had to go underneath the waterline, which was unanticipated,” Mann said.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve Water-Related Repairs at Waveny House, Work To Start in June

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Repairs for moisture and water infiltration problems at Waveny House will start in June, with the hope of finishing “phase one” of the project in October, officials say. On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen approved a $653,775 contract with New Haven-based G.L. Capasso Inc. to address Waveny’s ongoing leakage issues. The selectmen also approved $14,400 for interior kitchen repairs within the contract. “This approach will fix 95% of the leaks, and we will be able to reassess and do a deeper dive if further repairs are necessary,” Department of Public Works Senior Engineer Joe Zagarenski told the selectmen 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 the contract.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves $195,000 Contract To Dredge Pond at Nature Center

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Town officials this week approved an approximately $195,000 contract to dredge a pond at the New Canaan Nature Center. A build-up of material can be seen beneath the surface of the “Kiwanis Pond” at the town-owned Oenoke Ridge property, located down a short path from the Visitors Center, so it’s time for a dredge, according to Tiger Mann, director of the Department of Public Works. “That starts to affect the flora and fauna that are around it,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “This has been on our radar for quite some time, and we’ve been pushing it a little bit. Now it’s to the point where we need to bring it forward.”

First Selectman Dionn Carlson and Selectman Steve Karl voted 2-0 in favor of a $195,456 contract with New Canaan-based Peter Lanni Inc. to do the work.

Government

Selectmen Approve Contract for Maintenance of Paddle Tennis Courts at Waveny

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved an approximately $11,700 contract with an Orange-based company to make maintenance repairs on the town’s platform or “paddle” tennis courts at Waveny. The off-season summer work will include painting one court, tightening the screens, patching them and fixing some of the wood that surrounds them, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. The contracted company, Reilly Green Mountain Platform Tennis Courts, “actually built the courts and they maintain them for us,” Howe told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“We rotate it around and paint one court each year,” he said. The woodwork involves the courts’ lower walls that are removed for snow “and also the ‘texture 111’ [plywood siding panels] that goes down the side,” Howe said. First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectman Steve Karl voted 2-0 in favor of the $11,714 contract.