Government

After Difficulty with Trash-Collecting Company, Town Turns to New Hauler 

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Municipal officials on Tuesday approved a contract with a new hauler of recyclables following months of difficulty with a company that had been charging New Canaan more than neighboring towns. 

The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Danbury-based Oak Ridge Waste and Recycling. The two-year contract calls for Oak Ridge to haul recyclables at a rate of $83.74 per ton, compared to the $85 per ton that New Canaan currently is paying Stamford’s City Carting, and the $95 per ton that City Carting offered in responding to the town’s bid for the job. “We are doing slightly better going forward than what we were paying City for this year,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting, held via videoconference. 

The estimated $215,000 annual contract also calls for a per-pull cost of $189 for recyclables. 

Officials said in November that New Canaan was paying $85 per ton while Wilton was paying $65 per ton for similar services. New Canaan Department of Public Works Assistant Superintendent of Solid Waste Don Smith said in January that he’d been unable to reach City Carting to get an explanation for the discrepancy. 

Asked about City Carting’s failure to return calls during this week’s meeting by Selectman Kit Devereaux, Smith said that the “new general manager apologized for all that.”

“But I already told him the damage is done,” Smith said. “And then they tried to negotiate after-the-fact when we put it out to bid again and I said no.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, Devereaux and Selectman Nick Williams voted in favor of the new contract with Oak Ridge. 

William asked what drives the pricing for the work.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Vote 3-0 To Defer Some Rental Payments for Tenants of Town-Owned Buildings

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Officials decided Tuesday to defer the next three months’ rent for a handful of local businesses and nonprofit organizations that rent space in town-owned buildings. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said he wanted to propose a 90-day moratorium of rent, inclusive of May, June and July, “to show that the town wants to help our downtown merchants and our nonprofits, especially.”

Noting that businesses such as Bow Tie Cinemas, which rents space from the town-owned Playhouse on Elm Street, have been forced to close, Moynihan told fellow members of the Board of Selectmen, “We ought to be generous.”

“They have no revenues, they are closed,” he said during the Board’s regular meeting, held via videoconference. “And it’s not quite fair to be charging rent in a time of crisis. We want these tenants to be in business four months or six months from now. So we are going to give up some modest amounts of revenue.  But I think it’s the right thing to do and, also, I’d like to show our community landlords that they need to perhaps look at giving some moratorium relief to their tenants.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves Easement Agreement with Property Developer

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Town officials on Tuesday approved an agreement with a private property developer that will give the public access to a 5-foot-wide sidewalk that will front townhouses planned for Forest Street just north of Locust Avenue. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of an easement agreement with 42 Forest Street LLC, which is owned by Darien-based Silver Heights Development. The real estate investment and development company is creating a new, mixed-use building and adjoining row of townhouses at the northwest corner of Forest Street and Locust Avenue. Located next to the Post Office, it’s the former site of a brick Bank of America building. 

Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting that the town and property owner “share a property line, so a portion of the project will have a sidewalk that will be on their property and then we will have a sidewalk on our property, so we are looking for a right or easement from 42 Forest Street [LLC] to have the public basically use the entire width of that sidewalk.”

“So they are granting us an easement to utilize that portion of their property for our public to walk back and forth,” Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “They will take care of the property.

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Officials Approve Contract for Design of New Sidewalk at Talmadge Hill

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a contract with a Shelton-based engineering firm to survey and design a new sidewalk at Talmadge Hill Train Station. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 at its regular meeting in favor of the $15,900 contract with Tighe & Bond. 

The sidewalk will run along the north side of Talmadge Hill Road, from the upper parking lots down the hill past the train stop to Route 106, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The construction work itself—involving the replacement of an existing sidewalk and an extension—will be paid for through a state Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program or ‘LOTCIP’ grant, Mann told the selectmen at their meeting, held in Town Hall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, participating in the meeting by phone, said the LOTCIP funds had been allocated four years ago “and we are just trying to keep them.”

“They are being directed to three different transpiration-related projects for sidewalks, and this is one of them,” Moynihan said. The others are for sidewalks on Park Street and Richmond Hill Road, officials said.

Government

Budget Cuts: Town To Reduce Funding for Landscaping Work Around Several Public Buildings

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Town officials are looking to cut back on landscaping work around a handful of public buildings, including Vine Cottage, Powerhouse Theater, Carriage Barn Arts Center, Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School. The proposed budget for next fiscal year removes about $15,000 paid annually to outside contractors in recent years for more frequent weeding and mulching that the Parks & Recreation Commission had pushed for, including during “spring cleanups.”

John Howe, parks superintendent in the Department of Public Works, told members of the Commission during their Jan. 8 meeting, “The hard part I see is that we have been able to have these buildings look great throughout the year.”

“And we are kind of going backwards,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “Are we in better shape now than we were five years ago? Yes, by a long shot.”

The cutbacks come as the Board of Finance guides municipal departments to reduce operating costs by 2%.