Government

Skeptical Historical Review Committee Member Calls for Access to Library To Gauge Problems with Facility 

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Saying she didn’t believe that New Canaan Library’s building and systems are failing, a town resident and preservation architect on Tuesday called for the town to direct a municipal committee to gain access to records and study the reported problems. 

A review and assessment by the Historical Review Committee “would provide the town with objective, professional information on the status of the existing facility,” Rose Scott Long-Rothbart told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. A member of the appointed five-member Committee herself, Long-Rothbart continued, “This information, in conjunction with a full accounting by the library of what has been spent in the last 10 to 15 years on maintaining its facility, will give the taxpayers a better picture of what they are being asked to support.”

She referred to the library’s request for $10 million in town funding for its $30 million rebuilding project, unveiled last week. Plans call for demolition of the current facility, including an original 1913-built fieldstone-exterior section overlooking Main and Cherry Street, to make way for a town green. Long-Rothbart said she and others don’t believe the original structure cannot be incorporated into the library’s plans. “I appreciate being invited by the library to view those plans, although at the eleventh hour,” she said.

‘I Am Concerned’: Selectman Williams Addresses New Canaan Historical Society’s Financial Woes

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One of New Canaan’s most venerable nonprofit organizations is running at a significant deficit, concerning some in town government, officials said last week. Asked about the New Canaan Historical Society’s financial situation during a Board of Selectmen meeting held Dec. 17 at Town Hall, the organization’s executive director, Nancy Geary, said its projected deficient this year is about $60,000. “We are a member-supported organization,” Geary said in response to a question from Selectman Nick Williams. “I apply for as many grants as I can find. Oftentimes the one thing about grants, though, is that they’re for very specific projects, so it’s hard to find general operating grants.

Government

Town Pursues State Grant To Help Pay for Roof Restoration at Gores Pavilion 

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The Board of Selectmen last week voted 3-0 to apply for a state grant that would help fund the restoration of a roof on a historic building in Irwin Park. If awarded, the Historic Restoration Fund Grant would provide matching funds for the estimated $100,000 roof job at Gores Pavilion, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. “If all things go well, we will have mostly like a spring project to get that roof up and on that building,” Oestmann told the Board at its Dec. 3 meeting at Town Hall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of the town applying for the grant.

Board of Selectmen

Six Appointed to Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint six members to a newly conceived committee that will advise the executive branch of local government on building and infrastructure projects. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan will serve as chairman of the committee, which is to meet monthly and “provide expertise and financial oversight on an ongoing basis for major decisions and plans such as town-owned buildings and infrastructure projects including but not limited to major capital projects that are part of the Five-Year Capital Plan,” according to a draft resolution read out at the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “Right now I am the oversight over Public Works, and some other towns have standing commissions,” Moynihan said. “I have discovered that I sometimes do not have the bandwidth to be on top of all projects and this is an opportunity for us to have people on Board of Finance who have a continuing interest, making sure that projects are on budget, so a sort of standing building committee in that regard, and also it gives us the opportunity to better coordinate with the Board of Education on their projects, like solar.”

The appointees to the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure include Moynihan, George Blauvelt (a Board of Finance member), Neil Budnick (Board of Finance), Penny Young (Town Council), Penny Rashin (Board of Education) and Stuart Sawabini, former Police Commission chair. Moynihan said he’s still looking for a seventh member to nominate, a “contractor type.”

Under the resolution, committee members will serve two-year terms.

Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to make the appointments. 

The first selectman introduced the concept of the committee two weeks ago, saying it would include specialists such as contractors and architects and would advise the Board on projects such as major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations.

Board of Selectmen

‘It’s a Lifesaving Issue’: Resident Calls on Town To Increase ‘Dry Hydrant’ Installations

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In the wake of recent fires in New Canaan, including one that will result in the total loss of a home, a longtime resident and local business owner is calling on the town to do more to help firefighters do their jobs. The town in this upcoming budget season should increase the recurring $10,000 set aside annually for installing and repairing “dry hydrants” that tap water supplies such as ponds, pools and streams in areas without water mains or regular fire hydrants, according to Tim Brown. Citing recent house fires including one on Dan’s Highway that rendered a home uninhabitable, Brown told members of the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Tuesday that the town “must do more on their own” help firefighters. “It’s great to have brick sidewalks and nice clocks—I am fully supportive of that—but I think we have to look at some of the outlying areas in the town to do a better job to support taxpayers,” Brown, owner of BTS Insurance, said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I don’t think we do enough.”

He added, “I just think the town needs to address this thing seriously with the effort to give back to the townspeople what they deserve.