Government

Town to Spend $275K for a Truck that Sucks: Replaces Vacuum Truck

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For many years, New Canaan’s Department of Public Works has been using a vacuum truck consisting of an old plow truck built in 1980 with a vacuum engine built in 1967. Soon, that will be replaced. In its stead, the town is getting a 2016 stainless steel, “top of the line” vacuum truck, said Mose Saccary, the town highway superintendent. The new truck costs $276,121.88, with a trade-in of the current truck of $1,121.88, with the town paying $275,000. The Board of Selectmen at its Tuesday meeting approved the purchase.

Government

Carriage Barn Gets a New Roof; Lapham Next, Waveny House on Horizon

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Contractors are nearly finished re-roofing the 1895-built Carriage Barn at Waveny and soon will begin replacing the old slate roofing at Lapham Community Center, officials say. The town projects both are being paid out of the fiscal year 2015 capital budget, with the Carriage Barn job pegged at $225,000 and Lapham at $340,000 (see page 39 of the adopted budget here). The Lapham roof sections in need of replacement will get the same slate as the original, with identical colors and design, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. With a bid opening Thursday, the process of getting major capital repairs done at Waveny House also will begin, Oestmann said. The town for the current fiscal year approved $50,000 for an engineering and architectural renovation plan at the cherished town-owned structure.

Government

Public Works: New Parking Deck at Locust Avenue Lot Could Be in Place by Thanksgiving 2016

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Town officials said Wednesday that they could start construction on a widely anticipated parking deck at the Locust Avenue Lot next summer with a plan to have it finished and open by Thanksgiving 2016. The new parking deck would add about 86 spaces to the now 150-space lot, and would be well-lit, with a pocket park up alongside it, good traffic flow and an aesthetically pleasing appearance, members of the New Canaan Department of Public Works told the Town Council at that group’s regular meeting. Conceptual plans have been drawn up for a structure that would cost about $3.75 million to build, a traffic study is in hand and the property presents no environmental issues, DPW Director Michael Pastore said at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. The structure would have two independent levels, with an at-grade level accessible by Locust Avenue and a deck that is fed by a leg coming off of Heritage Hill Road, Pastore said. “The big thing with structure is that it would be open, and the whole design is to keep with the P&Z Village District Guidelines for the aesthetics and appearance of this,” he said.

Government

Town to Switch to Single-Stream Recycling July 1

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Starting July 1, the Department of Public Works will switch over to single-stream recycling for New Canaanites who drop off their recyclables at the Transfer Station at Lakeview Avenue. Many other towns in the Fairfield County area such Darien, Norwalk and Stamford have already switched to single-stream to make it easier on residents. New Canaan is now trying to do the same, officials say. Right now, residents sign on with private haulers to collect trash and (many) bring their own recyclables to the Transfer Station to sort them. In single-stream recycling, a contracted company could send a collection truck to pick up from a designated, distributed bin commingled paper, plastic, glass and other recyclable materials.

Around Town

An Even More Beautiful New Canaan: 150 Hanging Baskets Go Up Downtown on Wednesday

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A cherished addition will grace the village center of New Canaan starting Wednesday, thanks to a partnership between the town and one of its most venerable nonprofit organizations. Members of the New Canaan Beautification League this week put together 160 hanging baskets that the Department of Public Works are scheduled to place on lampposts on Main, Elm and other streets in the downtown. “They do a fabulous job,” Libby Butterworth, a member of the NCBL for four years, said of the DPW workers. Of the Beautification League, she said: “It is a wonderful, very friendly and hands-on group, and everybody is welcome.”

The baskets themselves, which the DPW fertilizes and Walt Jaykus of the public works department waters in the mornings, include angel wing begonias, white wave petunias and blue petunias, Butterworth said. (The white wave petunias do very well in both shade and sun, she said, while the angel wing begonias, which are red, start out very small in June but by August take over the basket.)

The Beautification League itself was founded in 1939 and parts of its work in town also involves caring for the landscaping on traffic triangles throughout New Canaan.