Board of Selectmen

Town Approves Contract To Repave Dunning Road, Gerrish Lane and Part of Summer Street

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $290,000 contract to repave three New Canaan roads. 

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a contract for the repaving of Dunning Road, Gerrish Lane and the southern half of Summer Street, between Lakeview and East Avenues. 

The work will be paid for by Aquarion, which broke up the roads while installing water mains last year, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The contractor is expected to do the work in May “right after these parking lots here,” Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, referring to the Park Street and Playhouse Lots (a month-long job expected to start April 15), as well as the long-awaited repaving of Pine Street. “Once he [the contractor] mobilizes, he wants to stay, finish what he’s got,” Mann said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Once we get this, I’ll talk to him about his timing.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 to approve the $293,650 contract with Norwalk-based FGB Construction. The Board asked whether Aquarion’s check to the town will include $26,500 in contingency funds built into the project estimate (the plan was to bill for $267,150 and have the water company hold the contingency), whether the transactions could be set up so that the contingency fee is set aside separately, such as in escrow, and then Aquarion is reimbursed for anything left over (yes) and whether the three roads in question have any striping (no, just stop bars).

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves $485,000 Contract To Replace Sidewalks on Butler, Danvers and Whiffle Tree Lanes

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $485,000 contract with a Shelton-based company to replace aging sidewalks on Butler, Danvers and Whiffle Tree Lanes. The old asphalt sidewalks in the “South of the Y” neighborhood are at least 30 years old, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “There’s no new installation, just the replacement of existing sidewalks,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“It’s basically phase two of the project of the behind the Y,” he said. “We did Putnam [Road] last year. And then that was approximately $500,000.”

Selectman Steve Karl, a 25-year resident of the neighborhood, said sidewalks there are “all sunk and they’re all broken up and everything.”

“But I will say, Sunday when the weather turned two, I think it was two weeks ago when we had that really warm Sunday, I walked the neighborhood and I counted at least 56 people using the sidewalk, the new sidewalks that were there,” Karl said.

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DPW: Playhouse, Park Streets Lots To Be Repaved Next Month

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Town officials say they’re expecting to repave two municipal lots in downtown New Canaan next month. The Park Street (free for three hours) and Playhouse Lots are out to bid now and work is expected to start around March 15 “when the weather clears,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “And I can pave those lots in conjunction with finishing touches on the allée ramp, we’re doing final pour today,” Mann said during a Town Council and Board of Finance Infrastructure & Utilities Subcommittee meeting, held Monday at Town Hall and via videoconference. He referred to a new ramp in the recently renovated alley between The Playhouse and Le Pain Quotidien. Mann added: “All we’re waiting on is for it [the concrete] to be cured and then we’ll put the railing up and we can open it up temporarily while we finish the parking lots.

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The Playhouse: P&Z Issues Favorable Report for New Lease/Operator

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The Planning & Zoning Commission this week voted unanimously to make a favorable referral for the town to enter into a new lease for The Playhouse—a key step ahead of the Feb. 9 public hearing where details about the prospective new operator are expected to come out. Under state law, the local P&Z is required to weigh in when there’s a proposed new lease of a public building before the town’s legislative body votes on the lease itself. Following a discussion where P&Z received very limited information about the lease itself—the Commission’s role is to decide whether leasing the building to a new operator is in line with the town’s long-term planning—members voted 9-0 in favor during their regular meeting Tuesday night. Prior to the vote, some commissioners voiced concern that they had no details about the draft lease’s contents. 

“The challenge is we don’t know the particulars of the lease, nor the term,” Commissioner John Engel said.

Government

Rebuilt Staircase Opens at Top of Alley Between Playhouse, LPQ

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The town this week opened a rebuilt staircase at the top of the alley that runs between The Playhouse and Le Pain Quotidien, a major step forward in a closely followed downtown project. Opened Monday, the staircase includes a temporary railing, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “So you’ll actually be able to use the staircase—instead of the temporary walkway—to access the sidewalk on Elm Street and Playhouse Lot,” Mann told NewCanaanite.com during an interview. Public Works had put in a temporary walkway just before Christmas after shutting down the alley in October in order to redo it, rebuild the stairs and install a new accessible ramp. The project, which involved working in a very tight area, has seen materials- and weather-related delays, a frustration for some merchants downtown as well as the town.