Public Works: Town Workers Here To Help Those Seeking To Use New ‘Swap Shop’ Apply for Transfer Station Permit Online

Town officials say residents seeking to use the recently launched Swap Shop at the Transfer Station can get help obtaining a permit for the facility in multiple ways. For New Canaanites unable to access or use the online system through the town’s website for a Transfer Station permit—a requirement to use the Swap Shop at the Lakeview Avenue facility—there are municipal workers ready to help. “If you can’t access it online, and perform it online, I have three people—one in my office, one in our special projects office and then Donnie Smith down at the Transfer Station—that will actually walk you through the process and help you fill it out online in front of him,” according to Tiger Mann. “We do ask that you have it only because we’re trying to make sure that the Station is used correctly and that we monitor goods coming and going,” Mann told members of the Conservation Commission at their regular meeting, held Feb. 9 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

His comments came in response to remarks from Commissioner Ann Silvio, who said she’s seen chatter on Facebook about the “difficulty of getting a pass.”

Silvio noted that residents pay the same annual fee regardless of when during the fiscal year they purchase a pass.

Town Approves $13,800 Contract for Boiler Replacement at Nature Center

The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a $13,800 contract with a Danbury-based company for the emergency replacement of a boiler at the New Canaan Nature Center. The selectmen during its Feb. 7 meeting voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Eastern Mechanical Services, which installed a new “Navien Combi Boiler” in the Animal Care Center at the Oenoke Ridge organization. The boiler had failed in mid- to late-December “and we had to replace it obviously since we were in the middle of winter,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

“We changed over from an oil to a propane, so we can actually remove the oil tanks,” Mann said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And we had [First Selectman] Kevin [Moynihan] sign it since it was an emergency basis, and then we are bringing it here for your approval.

Town Approves $12,000 Contract for Design of Wetland Boardwalk at Irwin

Town officials this month approved a $12,000 contract with an Avon-based firm to design a proposed new boardwalk in Irwin Park. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Richter & Cegan at its Feb. 7 meeting. 

The company had done “the original master plan and did the original Flexi-pave trail so they’re intimately involved or aware of the park itself,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. He added that the boardwalk—planned for the southwest corner of the Weed Street park—had been part of the original larger plan but was removed for monetary reasons. “This was actually in the first part of the master plan that was there, and then when we did the trail work initially, we took that out as a ‘value engineering’ portion of the project,” Mann said.