Board of Selectmen

Officials: Trash Collector Charging New Canaan 30% More Than Neighboring Wilton

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New Canaan since July 1 has been working without a contract with a Stamford-based garbage and recycling collection company that’s charging the town about 30% more than neighboring Wilton for a similar service, officials said last week. The town had put its contract for pickup and disposal out to bid and City Carting was the only company that responded “and the prices went up from last time,” according to Department of Public Works Assistant Superintendent of Solid Waste Don Smith. “They are charging us $85 [per ton] right now, Wilton is being charged $65,” Smith told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Nov. 19 at Town Hall. “The other towns have long-term [contracts] for different reasons so their prices may be better, or probably are better than ours.

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Push for All-Way Stop at Weed and Elm

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Though police have said installing additional stop signs at Weed and Elm Streets would be dangerous, unnecessary and otherwise problematic, the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved $6,000 for a study to determine the feasibility of doing so. In voicing support for installation of stop signs for northbound and southbound Weed Street motorists, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said the intersection has seen “a great deal of additional traffic” from pedestrians using a sidewalk that went in two springs ago connecting the top of Elm to Irwin Park and a “greenlink” footpath beyond the park that opened last summer. State Traffic Administration regulations developed under Connecticut law require that a proposed stop sign must be justified by a traffic engineering study in order to be installed a major street, and that stop signs never be used for speed control, among other provisions. Moynihan said that even if New Canaan weren’t required to commission such a study, “to me it is an obvious location for stop signs, not so much safety but regulating traffic because people don’t have the opportunity to alternate turns.”

“I’m not sure I know another intersection in town that is like this right now,” he said during the selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall. Moynihan added that Public Works Director Tiger Mann had relayed to him prior to the meeting that, under the federal document that informs state statute—the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices—municipalities must have a stop sign warranter’s or engineering study performed in order to put in a stop sign.

Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

First Selectman Moynihan Proposes Standing Committee To Advise on Town Building and Infrastructure Projects

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New Canaan’s highest elected official on Tuesday proposed creation a committee that would advise the Board of Selectmen on town building and infrastructure projects. Composed of five or seven members, the committee would advise the Board of Selectman on projects including major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. Though for major capital projects a dedicated building committee still would be formed, a standing committee that includes one representative from each of the Town Council, Board of Finance and Board of Education, as well as specialists such as contractors and architects, could meet monthly to review projects that now are handled on an ad hoc basis, Moynihan said during the selectmen’s regular meeting. “There have been a couple of recent examples where a project has come out and we said, ‘Oh, have we thought about maybe if we oversaw that more or reviewed it more,’ ” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. 

“A project is proposed and funded, and then the oversight of the execution of that project is something we sometimes have been a little surprised by. Do we have enough public input?

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Vote 3-0 To Delete Kiwanis Park from Food Concession Operator’s Lease

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The Board of Selectmen on Monday voted unanimously to remove Kiwanis Park from a lease held by a local business that’s been operating the food concession at the Old Norwalk Road facility in recent summers. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to amend the lease with Emad Aziz’s Apple Cart Food Company LLC. It wasn’t immediately clear why the selectmen made the change. Williams said at the special meeting, “My understanding is that this is because there is no business there.”

Moynihan said that Aziz “didn’t feel it was worthy of his efforts because of the low amount of business.”

“But there is some discussion about possibly some other vendors,” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall, referring to discussions within the Parks & Recreation Commission. (Apple Cart will continue to operate at the seasonal Mead Park Lodge.)

A town committee two years ago in reviewing and making recommendations on the future use of publicly owned buildings in New Canaan Recent noted that “improvements to [Kiwanis] Park have provided significant upgrades to the swimming area, beach, and playground.

Animal 411

Selectmen Divided on Future of Animal Shelter in New Canaan 

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Members of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voiced support for two different ways to move forward with the town’s Animal Control shelter, which long has been occupied in a former incinerator building at the dump. That brick structure soon will need a new roof, which two officials say would cost about $75,000 to $80,000 to replace. Selectman Nick Williams raised the issue recently, calling for New Canaan to find better quarters for the lost or abandoned animals that end up in the shelter. During the Board’s special meeting at Town Hall, Selectman Kit Devereaux said response to the issue has generated strong support from concerned residents, and that creation of a new shelter “would be a really great public-private partnership.”

“I want to know if there would be support for that,” Devereaux said. Williams said he agreed, and that he received several calls and emails from residents who want to help.