Government

‘It Won’t Be Visible To Anybody’: Town Pursues Public Safety Antenna on Oenoke Ridge Road Property

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Longstanding efforts to improve public safety radio communications in northwestern New Canaan are poised to take a major step forward, as the owners of an Oenoke Ridge Road property have agreed to seek permission for an inconspicuous antenna to be placed on an existing barn around the back of their house, officials say. The antenna that would be placed on the four-acre upper Oenoke Ridge Road property would be just 20 feet high and three inches in diameter, officials say—used strictly for public safety communications (as opposed to, say, the type of “cell tower” that has been proposed for Soundview Lane and has drawn concern from some neighbors). The Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting April 10 voted unanimously to approve a $1,500 contract for a “building location survey” on the property. The work, to be done by New Canaan-based RKW Land Surveying, is part of an early-stage effort to determine for certain whether the location is viable. Additional engineering work must be done prior to applying to the Planning & Zoning Commission for a special permit.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Something must’ve happened out front of the 1850-built commercial building on the corner of Main Street and East Avenue, home to a gift shop, swimwear store and tailor. The town on Wednesday received a Freedom of Information Act request from a Stamford-based law firm for all New Canaan Police Department incident reports this month concerning snow or ice at 102 Main St., including abutting sidewalks. The request, from Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky, also seeks info on falls, complaints, fines, blight citations, 911 calls and building permit applications related to gutters, downspouts, roofs or sidewalks there. ***

Now that we’re in budget season, here’s a look at what the highest elected official is paid in New Canaan and nearby towns:

 

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The developer who earned high praise recently from historic preservationists for his design of a new house on Forest Street said throughout the process that it was important to him to be respectful of the neighborhood’s history. In fact, Tom Sturges is the great-grandson of Imogene Seymour, who had been curator for the New Canaan Historical Society from 1959 to 1968.

News

Officials Clear Way To Reintroduce ‘Deputy Chief’ Position at New Canaan Police Department

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Town officials on Wednesday night voted unanimously to support an effort designed to change the structure of the New Canaan Police Department’s command staff. Currently, NCPD has a chief and two captains at the top. Police Chief Leon Krolikowski during the Police Commission’s regular meeting recommended that the agency’s general orders preserve that structure as an option, but change the command staff for now to a police chief with a deputy chief and captain. Asked whether change would come with a pay increase, Krolikowski said only that it would represent a promotion in rank. “We do have a history—probably 40 years ago, we had the deputy chief as part of the complement,” he said at the meeting, held in the training room at NCPD.

Government

New Canaan Police Pursue Extensive Renovation of Department Headquarters

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A proposal to renovate the New Canaan Police Headquarters building may be executed in the near future, officials say. A renovation has been listed on New Canaan’s 5-year capital plan for years—right now a $2 million item is earmarked for fiscal year 2021 (see page 62 here)—but never launched. “We may be close to getting a good plan in place and working toward renovation,” Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said at the July 25 meeting of the Police Commission, held at the headquarters building. The first and second floors of the building have not received any serious upgrades since 1981, according to the chief. “It is sorely in need of a renovation,” Krolikowski said.

Business

Officials Wary of Proposal for Nonprofit, Community Organizations To Use ‘Pop Up Park’ for Sales

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Town officials on Tuesday night voiced objections to a proposal that nonprofit and community organizations be allowed to sell fundraiser tickets or items such as Girl Scout cookies in the Pop Up Park downtown, saying the popular pedestrian area should remain entirely solicitation-free. When the cordoned-off park launched five years ago, New Canaan’s traffic authority specified that nothing be sold there “mostly because we did not want to have in any way reactions by the merchants that the Pop Up Park would compete with them,” according to Police Commission member Sperry DeCew. “I am not particularly happy about this [idea],” DeCew said at the group’s regular meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. “I do not particularly want people in there being solicited by anybody to do anything—Lobsterfest or Girl Scout cookies. I think it’s inappropriate and there should be no solicitation whatsoever.”

DeCew and fellow Commissioner Paul Foley—together with Chairman Stuart Sawabini, who participated in the meeting on speakerphone—referred to a draft set of “sales guidelines” from the volunteer committee that organizes the Pop Up Park.