Moynihan on Superintendent’s Proposed Board of Ed Budget: ‘I Wasn’t Too Happy’

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said Tuesday night that he’s unhappy with the spending plan that the superintendent of schools has proposed for next fiscal year. The Board of Education is expected to vote later this month on Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi’s $95.7 million operating budget for fiscal year 2022. Driven mainly by salary and benefits, it includes about $460,000 for what Luizzi described Monday as a student health and wellness initiative in the form of new start times. 

The approved Board of Ed budget for the current fiscal year is $90.9 million, town finance documents show. The Town Council in making its final budget vote last April reduced the Board of Ed’s requested amount by about $1 million, effectively forestalling a change to school start times. Addressing the Board of Finance during its regular meeting, Moynihan said, “The budget numbers are coming together very nicely on the town side.

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Chair: Annual Update from Board of Finance

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As the Board of Finance does each year, this is an update on our current budget and tax projections as we close out our 2019/2020 budget on June 30th as well as an overview of our new 2020/2021 budget that begins on July 1st. As always, and especially this year, I can never thank our volunteers across the town, our town employees, our volunteers on many Boards and Commissions, our Town Council, our Board of Education, and our First Selectman enough – they make an incredible effort on our behalf in order to keep our town in great shape in every way. And while that is always true, the past 100 days have truly stressed the system. But our town response has been overwhelmingly positive, from our schools, our residents, the donations people have made, and all the volunteer help across the town. An extra grateful thank you to the volunteers and healthcare workers who have gone above and beyond to support our community and our region.

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Town ID’s $695,000 in Planned Capital Spending This Fiscal Year That Could Be Delayed

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Saying New Canaan should consider putting off some capital spending in the near term until a clearer picture of the economy emerges, town officials last week identified nearly $700,000 earmarked for the current fiscal year that could be delayed. Prepared with input from public works and district officials as well as the first selectman, the draft list of more than 75 items total $695,000 and range from small expenditures such $29 for signage and striping up to about $63,000 for a solar project at a town building, documents show. Board of Finance Chair Todd Lavieri said the main question now facing the town is whether the spending could be delayed or deferred “until we have a little more clarity.”

“You guys control this,” Lavieri told First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, Public Works Director Tiger Mann and town CFO Lunda Asmani during the finance board’s April 7 meeting, held via videoconference. “We can’t tell you what to do and how to do this. But I guess it would be our recommendation, or at least our consideration, to hold onto the spending at least for another month until we got more clarity.”

The comments came during a discussion within the finance board and no formal action has been taken on the recommendation. They also came as New Canaan and the nation grapple with a hard stop to the economy that’s seen businesses forced to slow down or shutter altogether for health reasons as unemployment claims soar.

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New Canaan Library on Rebuilding Plans: Keeping 1913 Building ‘Not Viable’

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In the 15 years that successive New Canaan Library boards have studied the prospect of a rebuilt facility, conducting focus groups and hiring architects to come up with designs, it’s become clear that the best plan for the community requires demolition of what remains of the original structure there, officials said Tuesday. Though they carefully considered a renovation or incorporation of the 1913 building into a future library, “each board came to the same conclusion,” Alicia Wyckoff, a former president of the organization, told members of the Board of Finance during a budget hearing at Town Hall. “In order to get the types of spaces and functions of a modern, 21st Century library that our community is requesting—more programming spaces, meeting and study rooms, more places for the teaching and learning that is so important to our community today—we need to build a new library on a new footprint,” Wyckoff said, speaking on behalf of the library, its board and supporters. “These considerations led to the Midcentury Modern design that pays homage to an historically important architectural movement and one for which New Canaan is well known.”

She added, “Furthermore, as these plans came into focus, it became abundantly clear that it was not viable to retain the 1913 building for a multitude of reasons. First, it is not financially feasible for us.

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Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police said Wednesday that the department has fielded just two calls related to youth parties in 2018, down from nine in 2017. During a regular meeting of the Police Commission, Chief Leon Krolikowski also shared data that family dispute calls declined year-over-year from 62 to 54, and narcotics violations calls declined from 66 to 48, while fraud calls increased from 53 to 94 and identity theft increased from 25 to 55. ***

The town on Jan. 10 issued a building permit for the widely anticipated fifth platform tennis court at Waveny. More than one-third of the estimated $100,000 cost is to be paid for by private contributions raised among users of the facility.