Town Council

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Did You Hear … ?

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A northern New Canaan family on Thursday made a gruesome discovery: A raccoon saddled with a “body-gripping” Conibear-brand trap lay drowned at the bottom of its swimming pool. The trap had not been set by the Hunters Creek Lane family and the raccoon’s front foot had been broken by it, according to Officer Allyson Halm of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. ***

The town on Aug. 9 issued a permit for a New Canaan homeowner to demolish a greenhouse and bomb shelter on the property. Purchased in March, the 4-acre property at 734 Oenoke Ridge Road includes a 1770-built Colonial, tax records show. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Around Town, News, Allyson Halm, Animal Control, Did You Hear, Jaafar Tazi, Jaafar Tazi Salon, Jelani Alladin

Town Councilman Pushes To Resolve Beetle Infestation at Former Outback Teen Center Building

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A member of the Town Council on Wednesday night called for the legislative body to push officials to address a documented “powder post beetle” infestation at the former Outback Teen Center Building. Told that the town likely won’t address the problem until a more comprehensive report on the building’s capital needs and possible future use is in hand, Councilman Cristina A. Ross said that it’s been “slightly over one year” since the infestation was identified and “I am really surprised and concerned that this just keeps going and now we are waiting for another report and no action has been taken.”

“So I think it’s within our [Town Council Infrastructure & Utilities] subcommittee to be able to recommend to the Board of Selectmen to act on [an RFP for remediation] and to take care of the infestation at this point,” she said at the group’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. No one knows what’s going to happen with the cavernous structure behind town hall. It’s been two years since the Outback Teen Center closed, unable either to make enough money to run itself or convince town officials to support a re-imagined, broad program that went beyond serving just teens. It reverted to town ownership last July and the vacant building has been vandalized since then. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, News, Bill Walbert, Cristina A. Ross, Outback Teen Center, Rob Mallozzi, Town Council

Eversource: New Canaan Residents Can Influence Natural Gas Expansion Plan In Out Years

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Following an initial roll-out of natural gas in New Canaan through 2020—a three-phase project starting next year that will see a trunk line come into town from Stamford, up South Avenue to the business district and then out to East School, with nearby residences along the way—property owners themselves can influence just where the utility brings natural gas, officials say. For Eversource—at least through 2024, under a state-backed expansion plan—the question of where in New Canaan the gas lines will go is in some ways a math equation, according to John Ferrelli, the company’s Waterbury-based supervisor of business account services: The cost of installation must be offset by the load delivered. “Customer demand will dictate the path of opportunity beyond the initial outline, as well as new construction and conversions,” Ferrelli told members of the Town Council at their regular meeting. “Future growth potential will be driven by customer interest, customer demand,” Ferrelli said at the July 19 meeting, held at Town Hall. “And that’s where the company will look to expand [starting in 2020]. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Around Town, News, Country Club of New Canaan, John Engel, Kevin Moynihan, natural gas, New Canaan Country School, Penny Young

‘Anonymous Complaints Can Be Vindictively Filed’: Town Officials Review Guiding Principles in Revising Ethics Code

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The head of a newly formed town body that’s charged with fielding written complaints of ethics violations by local public officials, among other important tasks, said Wednesday night that he has a “confidentiality concern” with respect to the idea of those seeking to file a complaint sending communications to New Canaan’s town attorney. According to Ethics Board Chairman Tucker Clauss, a communication that goes from a complainant to the town attorney is not privileged, just as it’s not privileged if the town attorney then sends it along to someone else. “Because he’s the town attorney, not the Ethics Board attorney,” Clauss told members of the Town Council at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. “And the Ethics Board does not retain any attorneys at that point. So under state law, confidentiality adheres when it comes into the Ethics Board and it stays confidential until there is a probable cause finding, and probable cause proceeds to a public hearing.”

He added: “Notwithstanding the concept of client-attorney privilege, it does not apply in this context.”

The comments came during an update on New Canaan’s Code of Ethics, which is undergoing revision. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, News, Ethics Board, John Engel, Pat Calanca, Peggy Jay, Steve Simon, Tammie Garner