Government

Selectmen Approve Mosquito Larvicide Contract 3-0

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The Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting Tuesday unanimously approved a $9,960 contract with a Branford-based ecological management firm to put mosquito larvicide in New Canaan’s storm drains. Representatives from All Habitat Services LLC dump a product called Vectolex into catch basins in town, Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the Board. The method is designed to control the spread of West Nile Virus. “You will see a couple of guys on scooters, driving from basin to basin and putting the Vectolex in the basins themselves,” Mann said during the meeting, held via videoconference. 

“We had a fourth application for last year for [Eastern Equine Encephalitis], but we reduced that since we were asked to reduce our budget, we reduced it down to the standard three that we have had. If conditions arise whereby we have a concern with EEE, we will find a way to find that additional [funding] to do a fourth application.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves $45,000 for Design of New Access Road Between Waveny and NCHS, Parking Areas

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Town officials last week approved a pair of contracts totaling about $45,000 for the design of a new access road connecting Waveny to New Canaan High School. 

The area east of the water towers will be converted from a milled lot to a proper parking area that will expand when the smaller tower comes down this fall, according to the Board of Selectmen. The access road itself will follow along the former footpath to the Summer Theatre of New Canaan tent, and also will be flanked with new parking spaces. The project will yield approximately 90 total spaces, more than twice what’s available there now, according to Town Engineer Maria Coplit. 

The two firms selected for design services and construction documents—Avon-based Richter & Cegan and Wilton-based McChord Engineering Associates—have been involved in the project since its conception, Copliet told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held June 23 via videoconference. 

The area is “currently disturbed for paths and haphazard parking,” Coplit said. First Selectmen Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contracts. They total $27,140 for Richter & Cegan and $16,790 for McChord.

Planet New Canaan

Reducing and Recycling During the Pandemic

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On a typical day recycling can be confusing, but in a pandemic it can feel downright discouraging. Evolving health and safety guidelines plus heavy increases in household waste fuel doubts about what’s in, what’s out, and whether it’s possible to safely reduce and reuse. New Canaan recently contracted a new waste management company from Danbury, Oak Ridge Waste and Recycling, further impacting our recycling routine. How is COVID-19 disrupting U.S. waste and recycling? How can I safely reduce and reuse?

Around Town

Town: Some Condos in Town on Track To Get Natural Gas This Year

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The utility company that started bringing natural gas into New Canaan two years ago now is looking to expand into condominium developments in town, officials said Monday. Eversource’s plans for this year include the 18-unit King’s Grant complex on Main Street, as well as Canaan Parish at Lakeview Avenue and Route 123 and “a couple of other areas where they are heavily served by condominiums,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “And there are some interior mains that have to be installed there, quite substantial main installations in the property itself, so in King’s Grant they have several hundred feet to do,” Mann told members of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure during their regular meeting, held via videoconference. 

“We are hoping that they will continue to go down Locust to get to the Board of Ed building and the other large brick buildings that are on the corner of Cherry and Locust. We have asked them to look at the expansion on Pine Street, Grove Street and upper Elm Street.”

Many residential streets off of the gas main that comes into New Canaan through Old Stamford Road already have natural gas service as a result of the long-sought Eversource expansion, as do larger complexes such as The Vue at Park and Maple Streets, formerly known as ‘Merritt Village.’

Mann said that Eversource has a list of businesses in downtown New Canaan that are seeking to seeking to get natural gas, including Karl Chevrolet and Walter Stewart’s. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said that the building at Elm and Grove Streets that Bankwell is to use for its headquarters also could get natural gas. 

“My feeling is that unless we push Eversource to do as much as they can while they’re still under this three-year commitment, they are going to go away and we will never get them back,” Moynihan said.

Government

Town To Fix Problem Where Foul Balls Strike Vehicles at Mead Park

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Town officials last week voted in favor of a $6,735 contract for a design improvement at Mead Park that’s expected to address the decades-old problem of baseball striking parked cars. The work of redoing the backstop on the varsity baseball field and some fencing around it is expected to cost a total of about $80,000, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. During its regular meeting May 19, the Board of Selectmen approved a contract with Avon-base Richter & Cegan Inc. to “give us a design to help us with the layout of that area, of the backstop itself and the fencing to try and protect and prevent balls from leaving the playing field,” Mann said. “It’s been a problem for a very long time with the layout of this backstop,” Mann told the selectmen at the meeting, held via videoconference. 

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contract. 

Foul balls struck down the right-field line at the large field often fly over a fence and onto cars in Mead’s main lot—a problem that was mitigated somewhat though not entirely with a new parking configuration.  

The selectmen asked Mann whether the project had been discussed during budget season (in years past, yes), whether funds for the work were in this year’s budget (yes), in which direction the balls are flying (toward the parking lot) and whether the concern was vehicles.