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‘The Town Is Very Pleased’: New Canaan Assigned Triple-A Credit Rating

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Citing New Canaan’s large tax base and conservative budgeting, Moody’s last week assigned the town a triple-A credit rating. Though the town’s tax base has “has contracted slightly” in recent years and “remains smaller than pre-recession peak,” New Canaan’s financial position “will remain healthy due to strong management, stable revenues supported by annual tax rate increases and low fixed costs,” according to a credit analysis issued Dec. 20 by Moody’s Investor Services. “The town’s long-term liabilities are low and will remain so given moderate capital needs and strong pension funding,” Moody’s said in the analysis. The credit agency added: “The town’s conservative budgeting is reflected in its multi-year trend of stable operating performance.

Around Town

New Committee To Develop Formal Purchasing Policy for the Town

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A newly formed committee will develop a formal purchasing policy to help guide the town’s process of awarding bids to contractors, New Canaan’s highest elected official said last week. The Audit Committee identified the need for such a written policy, and it will be developed soon by the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. “Right we have a policy out of [the] Finance [Department] which is not very clear to me,” Moynihan said during a regular Board of Selectmen meeting, held Dec. 17 at Town Hall. 

“This committee is going to recommend purchasing policy—a written purchasing policy that is more clear—but also a committee like this can review with [Public Works Director] Tiger [Mann] and [Buildings Superintendent] Bill [Oestmann] the lay of land we have with contractors and how realistic it is to put things to bid when we don’t want to get the lowest bigger out of Bridgeport with unreliable work and that kind of thing.”

The committee will put together a purchasing policy that the selectmen can review in February or March, Moynihan said. The matter arose as the selectmen discussed whether to approve an approximately $13,000 contract with a with a Shelton-based heating and air conditioning company to install A/C units at Lapham Community Center.

Government

New Canaan Budget Director Lunda Asmani Appointed Town CFO

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint Budget Director Lunda Asmani as CFO for the town. Hired in June 2018, Asmani will succeed Sandra Dennies in the role starting next week, and will continue to work as budget director, as well, officials said. “We are very sorry to see her [Dennies] go but are bittersweet to have a new CFO taking over on Friday,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the appointment. Prior to coming to New Canaan, Asmani had served for two years as director of management and budgets for Norwalk, according to his resume.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves Contract with Firm To Solicit Plans for Security Upgrade, Including Cameras at Waveny

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to hire a Bridgeport-based technology consulting firm to put together an RFP for updating security systems in New Canaan. The $16,000 contract with D’Agostino & Associates is a step toward security upgrades at municipal buildings, parks and other town-owned properties, officials said. “Right now, Waveny House, Waveny Pool, this building, everything is standalone,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during an interview after the Board’s meeting, held at Town Hall. “We want a system that all connects to the Police Department. But we need a backbone for that in the cloud, because right now each system is standalone.

Government

Town To Make Temporary Repair at Downgraded Ponus Ridge Bridge

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A bridge in western New Canaan recently was downgraded due to new state regulations and fire vehicles are prohibited from traversing it, officials say. New Canaan Fire Department vehicles now must go around the bridge on Ponus Bridge near Collins Pond, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

“It’s not adding much to their time but it’s still sensitive in that area since that services Dan’s Highway—they already had a structure fire there—[and] certain other areas,” Mann said during a Dec. 11 meeting of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure, held at Town Hall. 

He referred to a Nov. 16 fire that rendered a Dan’s Highway house uninhabitable, opening a discussion about installing more dry hydrants in New Canaan’s outlying areas. As a temporary fix, Mann said, the town will install a shear slab over the top of the road “that should take care of almost every single one of their vehicles.”

And a consultant is analyzing what’s required under new Connecticut Department of Transportation regulations, he said.