Board of Selectmen

‘A Dump Within a Dump’: Selectman Williams Calls for Improved Animal Shelter

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The town’s Animal Control shelter—which occupies about 800 square feet in a non-insulated former incinerator building at the dump—is not suitable to house dogs and other animals, Selectman Nick Williams said Tuesday. Given that the shelter soon will need a new roof, which officials estimate will cost $75,000 to $80,000, New Canaan should plan for an improved future facility or to outsource the care of lost or dumped animals, Williams said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting. “To be clear, we are talking about maybe 50, 60, 70 animals a year going in there—it’s not high usage but it’s also not a great place to keep animals,” Williams said. The building’s “only use is as an animal shelter, which is a dump,” he said. “A dump within a dump—I’m sorry, a dump within a ‘Transfer Station,’ ” Williams said.

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Officials Vote 3-0 To Install Flashing Stop Sign at for Michigan Road Motorists at Route 123

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The Police Commission voted 3-0 last week to install a stop sign with flashing lights at Michigan and Smith Ridge Roads to alert westbound traffic seeking to cross or turn onto Route 123 of the dangerous intersection. The move is one measure town officials are taking while they wait for the state to address concerns raised months ago regarding the intersection, site of “multiple serious accidents,” Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said during the Commission’s Oct. 16 meeting, held at police headquarters. 

“We just had another one,” Krolikowski said. He referred to an Oct. 15 crash in the area.

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Anonymous Complaint to DOJ Leads to Creation of 12 Disabled Parking Spaces Downtown

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Officials said last week that they’ve re-designated 12 parking spaces in metered lots downtown for disabled motorists following an anonymous complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice. The town had been “deficient in number,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann said, and quickly addressed the problem by installing three disabled spaces in Morse Court, six in Locust Avenue Lot and three in Park Street Lot. “We had someone contact the Department of Justice and they came down and said that we needed to amend our number of handicapped spaces in three separate parking lots,” Mann told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting, held Oct. 16 at the New Canaan Police Department. The complaint “fell on the heels pretty much right after the original thing for Main Street,” he said, referring to a complaint that had been made to the state that could see New Canaan lose even more parking spaces near crosswalks.

Government

Town To Net $14,400 for Selling Excess Composted Leaf Mulch

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Town officials last week approve the sale of New Canaan’s surplus composted leaf mulch to a local construction company. Selling 1,600 cubic yards of the mulch to Lanni Construction at $9 per yard will net the town $14,400 in revenue, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. Since putting its program of selling extra mulch into place in 2009, New Canaan has received about $128,000, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at at their Oct. 8 meeting. “It’s that time of year again to clear out our leaf mulch area,” Mann said during the meeting, held in Town Hall. 

Lanni Construction’s price is the same as last year, he said.

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‘No Parking’ Signs Installed To Improve Safety at Marshall Ridge and Richmond Hill Roads

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Town officials have installed new parking signs in a residential neighborhood just south of the downtown following concerns from residents there that increased on-street parking has created a safety hazard. At the recommendation of the Traffic Calming Work Group, ‘No Parking Here To Corner’ signs have been installed toward the northern end of Marshall Ridge Road, where it intersects with Richmond Hill Road. 

An administrative team that includes members of the Police, Fire, Parking and Public Works Departments, the Work Group fielded a Marshall Ridge Road resident’s request for traffic-calming following what she described as a car crash during the morning school and work rush. According to Dawn Belles, a vehicle traveling eastbound on Richmond Hill Road at about 8:10 a.m. on a recent morning struck a vehicle with a mom driving her son toward school as that car tried to exit from Marshall Ridge. “Its very lucky kids weren’t around crossing to get to the bus stop on [Marshall] Ridge,” Belles wrote in her email to traffic officials, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. With motorists, possibly commuters, parking on both sides of the road in the morning, that end of Marshall Ridge becomes dangerously narrow, to the point where school buses sometimes have difficulty getting through, Belles said in the letter.