First Selectman Kevin Moynihan during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting congratulated Caroline Garrity on being named chairman of the Waveny Park Conservancy. Garrity is known to many for her volunteer work with the New Canaan Garden Club.
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New Canaan Police at 12:05 a.m. Tuesday cited a 21-year-old Waterbury man for possession of less than .5 ounces of marijuana after stopping him at Lakeview and Millport Avenues for driving with a defective headline and marker light.
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The selectmen on Tuesday voted 3-0 to appoint Dave Hunt to serve on the Board of Assessment Appeals. Bob Avery resigned from the post, Moynihan said.
Darlene Pianka, the newly appointed Director of Human Resources for New Canaan Public Schools.
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New Canaan Public Schools announced Thursday that Darlene Pianka, the district’s assistant superintendent of pupil and family services, will succeed the retiring Gary Kass in the role of human resources director. Pianka earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Southern Connecticut State University, a master’s in professional improvement from Fairfield University and a sixth-year educational leadership degree from UConn’s Administrators Preparation Program.
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Moynihan on Tuesday issued a corrected summary of the selectmen’s adopted budget that shows a year-over-year reduction of .14 percent.
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Saying they hadn’t read the language yet, three members of the Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday night abstained from voting in support of a proposed ordinance that would prevent local retailers from using thin plastic bags. Though all commissioners said they support lessening the use of plastic generally, one of those who abstained, Jack Hawkins, when told that merchants would be required to charge 10 cents for paper bags, said he didn’t like the idea of regulating prices in stores. During the meeting, Amy Murphy Carroll, a member of “BYO New Canaan,” a group that has advocated for the ban, presented the ordinance to the Commission. Parks & Rec Chair Sally Campbell, who typically insists that the Commission take a full month between presentations and votes, said she “was hoping to get a vote of support” that very night for it. Though Campbell noted during the meeting that one commissioner, Carl Mason, is married to a member of BYO New Canaan, she didn’t mention that Murphy Carroll is her own sister.
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Several members of the New Canaan Police Department earned awards during a ceremony held Wednesday at New Canaan High School:
- Officer Michael O’Sullivan earned the Lt. Steven W. Wood Memorial 2018 Officer of the Year Award
- Officer Roberto Lopez earned the Perkin & Commissioners Award for Shooting
- Officer Chris Dewey earned the Chief’s Award for Physical Fitness
- Officer Thomas Callinan earned the 2018 Commissioners Award for Physical Fitness
Town Planner Lynn Brooks Avni. Credit: Michael Dinan
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The selectmen on Tuesday voted 3-0 to take Town Planner Lynn Brooks Avni off of probation and become a full-time town employee (she started July 23). The town’s human resources director, Cheryl Pickering-Jones, said that Brooks Avni is “respected by her peers and colleagues,” that she has done high-quality work and that she’s had “great feedback” from contractors and land use attorneys.
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The town on Feb. 7 issued a permit to build a new 4,100-square-foot home at 539 Main St. It will cost about $680,000 to build, the permit said.
Anna Lysenko
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Congratulations to 2017 NCHS graduate Anna Lysenko who will serve an eighteen-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Concepcion, Chile. Lysenko entered the Missionary Training Center in Mexico, on February 12th, 2019 where she will spend six weeks in training before departing to her field of service. At NCHS, she was co-captain of the Track & Field team, and a member of the National Honor Society. Lysenko recently completed her freshman year of college at Brigham Young University, where she is majoring in advertising. Anna follows in the footsteps of three of her siblings who have also served missions in Indiana and Brazil.
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Moynihan said during Tuesday’s selectmen meeting that the waitlist for coveted parking permits at Lumberyard Lot is down to 373.
L-R: Megan Couch, Susan Barr, Lori Mercede, Shiva Sarram (Founder and Executive Director), Lauren Stone and Deena Youngs attend the annual Blossom Hill Luncheon.
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Finally, the annual Blossom Hill Luncheon was held Feb. 7 at Woodway Country Club. Founder and Executive Director (and longtime New Canaan resident) Shiva Sarram held a fireside chat with Blossom Hill Fellow Lexi Shereshewsky, who opened a school for refugees in Azraq, Jordan. With support from Blossom Hill, Shereshewsky is helping refugee children using Montessori inspired teaching methods. Blossom Hill promotes peace through innovation by awarding fellowships to social entrepreneurs who have solution-driven ideas for improving the lives of child refugees.