Government

After Devereaux Raises Concerns, Selectmen Vote 3-0 to Postpone Approval of Contract for Local Taxpayer Survey

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After one member voiced concerns that the town had talked to just one company about administering a survey to identify taxpayer priorities, the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to postpone approval of an approximately $20,000 contract for the project. In creating, running and analyzing something as consequential as the town-wide survey, gathering data that likely would inform future funding decisions, “we have a duty to talk to more than one provider and we have not done that,” Selectman Kit Devereaux said during a regular Board meeting. 

“This may be the best possible solution,” she said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “But unless we talk to others, we have no way of knowing.”

After some discussion, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, Selectman Nick Williams and Devereaux voted 3-0 to table its approval of a contract with Glastonbury-based GreatBlue Research. Moynihan said there’s a “very limited market” in Connecticut research firms that conduct surveys of this kind, that he had obtained positive references for GreatBlue from area municipalities such as Greenwich and that the company came back with a number that falls within the $20,000 project budget. 

“We wanted to stay with a Connecticut firm which does a national practice,” Moynihan said. 

He later added, “I am very pleased now that we have checked the references.”

Under the draft agreement, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a formal request, GreatBlue would conduct 400 telephone interviews as well as “an unlimited number of digital surveys” to be completed during a set timeframe not to exceed three weeks. The survey would include no more than 40 questions and would take no more than 10 minutes to complete, under the draft agreement.

Government

Selectmen Vote 2-1 To Solicit Proposals for Sale of Vine Cottage

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The Board of Selectmen voted 2-1 Tuesday to solicit proposals from those interested in acquiring a prominent antique building on Main Street from the town. The request for proposals for Vine Cottage, a turreted ca.-1859 structure located opposite the firehouse, would allow for a sale or ground lease to a prospective buyer. Among other requirements, the Town Council would need to hold a public hearing prior to any sale. Though Selectman Kit Devereaux voted against issuing the RFP, saying it was short-sighted since no one knows what New Canaan’s future needs for such a building would be, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectman Nick Williams voted in favor of it. Williams noted that the New Canaan Department of Human Services is leaving Vine Cottage for the former Outback Teen Center.

Allyson Mahoney

Selectmen Approve Contract with New Canaan Company for Fencing Around Toddler Playground at Mead

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As part of a larger Mead Park playground project, officials voted last week to approve a contract with a New Canaan-based company to replace a fence at the site. A joint effort of the town and a nonprofit organization to replace the main playground structure as well as introducing a new rubberized surface is “well underway,” according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. The adjacent toddler playground at Mead also got new equipment, and the committee overseeing the project “has recommended that we replace the old fence with a new fence” there, Benko told members of the Board of Selectmen at their June 4 meeting, held in Town Hall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectman Kit Devereaux voted 2-0 to approve a request from Benko to enter into a contract with Gannon Rustic Fence for $6,370. Selectman Nick Williams was absent.

Kevin Moynihan

Devereaux Asks Town to Include ‘Our Most Local Bank’ in Future Bidding Opportunities

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Saying that Bankwell is a truly local bank, Selectman Kit Devereaux last week urged town officials to take greater efforts to include the company in soliciting bids for the municipality’s business. In reviewing a proposed $600,000 agreement between the town and a New Jersey-based bank, Devereaux asked New Canaan CFO Sandra Dennies whether local banks had an opportunity to bid on the project (an IT equipment lease-purchase agreement for the district). Told that banks who received an email on it included People’s United Bank, First County Bank and Chase—but that Dennies was “not certain” if Bankwell received the offer—Devereaux urged the town to include Bankwell and other local banks in the future. “I would like to request that when we make that list that, for instance, Bankwell—which is probably our most local bank—is included for the opportunity,” Devereaux said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “It could be something that local banks can’t compete on unless they have the opportunity.”

Devereaux and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan voted 2-0 to approve the agreement, with Ringoes, N.J.-based U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. Selectman Nick Williams was absent.

Don Smith

Town To Weigh Increase in Transfer Station Permit Fees

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Municipal officials last week discussed charging residents more for a permit required to bring garbage, recyclable materials, household and yard waste to a town facility for processing. Right now, a Transfer Station sticker costs $40 per year, according to the Board of Selectmen. Under a proposal that came before the Board during its regular meeting June 4, the fee would increase to $45 per household with a private hauler or $75 without. Don Smith, assistant superintendent of solid waste in the New Canaan Department of Public Works, brought the proposal before the Board at the meeting, held in Town Hall. Selectman Kit Devereaux noted that some families in New Canaan may have difficulty paying the increased fee.