Bill Oestmann

Officials: Local Dance Studio Lined Up for Outback; Finance Board Pushes for Sale of Vine Cottage

By |

A local dance studio is lined up to rent the upper level of the former Outback Teen Center on a part-time basis, town officials said Wednesday night. With the studio operating from about 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays, and restricted from putting on performances there, the town could rent out the space for the balance of the day, generating revenue that—combined with an estimated $35,000 that the studio would pay annually in rent—would help New Canaan cover its maintenance costs for the long-vacant structure, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings with the Department of Public Works. (Oestmann declined to name the specific studio, though some of what he said indicated it could be the New England Academy of Dance—see below.)

As long discussed, the lower level of the Outback could be configured into office space for the Department of Human Services, an agency that would leave its current home in Vine Cottage so that that building could be sold, Oestmann told members of the Town Council at their regular meeting. Oestmann said he could foresee parents dropping off their kids and then visiting local businesses. “My hope would be if they are waiting, they can park here and shop downtown, so with an hour or two that their children are there, they can hopefully visit the restaurants and shops in town and spend some money,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. 

By the time the dance studio would start up around 4:30 or 5 p.m., he said, Town Hall workers would be finished for the day and the parking lot there empty. 

“There is a little breathing room in that timeframe,” he said.

Selectmen Approve $100,000 Contract for Windows at Irwin Barn; Some Broken by Vandalism

By |

Town officials last week approved a $100,000 contract to restore broken windows at the 1908-built Irwin Barn, including some that resulted from vandalism. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at its regular meeting for the contract with Ridgefield-based Alden Bailey Restoration, one of two companies that put in a bid for the job. “They need a lot of health and care to get back up to par,” Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann told the selectmen at their Oct. 9 meeting, held in Town Hall. “There’s a couple that will have to be replaced.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 for $101,200 contract, which includes $9,200 in contingency.

Government

Town To Pay $20,000 To Replace Vandalized Parking Machines at Talmadge Hill Train Station

By |

Town officials on Tuesday approved a $19,508 contract with an Auburn, Mass.-based company to replace the two pay-to-park machines destroyed by vandals earlier this month at the Talmadge Hill Train Station lot. The “Parkeon Strada BNA PAL” machines from Wescor Parking Controls Inc. will take about eight to 10 weeks to arrive once approved by town funding bodies, Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting. One of the machine had its “whole insides taken out” during the vandalism, discovered Sept. 7, Miltenberg said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “They attempted to break into the other machine, but when they found, I think, that there was not much money in the first, they abandoned the idea of breaking totally into the second machine,” she said.

Government

Town Approves $14,725 Contract for Waveny Pool Work; No Competitive Bids Sought

By |

Town officials on Tuesday approved a contract with a Stamford-based painting company to spruce up Waveny Pool ahead of the 2018 season. The $14,725 contract with Alladin Services includes $1,900 in contingency and will including cleaning the main pavilion at the pool, locker rooms and cleaning around the pool, Department of Public Works Buildings Superintendent Bill Oestmann told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting. Alladin has “done a fair amount of work for the town” and has been “responsive” and “good with their pricing,” Oestmann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “We are seeking your approval to get this done and get ready for the opening day,” Oestmann said. Waveny Pool typically is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.

Animal 411

Failed Heating System Prompts Officials To Close New Canaan Animal Control Shelter

By |

The New Canaan Animal Control shelter has been closed since Dec. 31, officials say, when they had to shut off the water there because of a failed heat pump at the brick building. The sustained freezing temperatures of the last two weeks essentially rendered the small structure at the dump unusable, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings for the Department of Public Works. “When it gets down to these temperatures, it’s an old incinerator building, it’s a non-insulated building that was never designed to have heat in it and the heat they put into it cannot keep up with zero-degree temperatures consistently,” he told NewCanaanite.com when asked about the problem. Mercifully, none of the animals that typically take up residence at the shelter—primarily roaming, injured or “dumped” dogs—have lived there since the heating failed.