Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The town is seeking to settle an appeal filed by the owners of a Lukes Wood Road home after the Planning & Zoning Commission last year denied their request to allow higher-than-allowed pillars for a gate at the end of their driveway. At a special meeting of P&Z on Sept. 22, town attorney Ira Bloom said that under a “reasonable compromise” reached with the town, the pillars—which already are in place at 309 Lukes Wood Road and stand about six and seven feet above grade, given the slope of the land, against the four feet allowed by the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see Section 6.5.C.3.a on page 126 here)—will remain. However, Aris and Patricia Kekedjian have agreed to move certain trees, replant others, forego installing any fixtures atop the pillars and remove an upper piece of their driveway gate, Bloom said. P&Z commissioner Jack Flinn called the plan “more than adequate” during the meeting, held at Town Hall, and the commission voted unanimously to support it.

Government

Schedule For South School Paving Project Is ‘Tight’

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved $334,675.01 in bonding for the repaving of the parking lot at South School, however, with only three weeks left to complete the project, there was just a hint of concern that it could interfere with the opening of school on Sept. 3. The project involves taking the old pavement up, replacing it with new pavement and re-striping the lot. But as Director of Public Works Mike Pastore explained, it involves “more than paving, we’re taking out seven islands, we’re repaving sidewalks, and we’re replacing the granite curbing… “

“The schedule is tight,” Pastore told the board. “The big hold-up will be, if we have a week’s worth of rain, we’re going to have a problem.”

Looking at the positives, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said the town expected bids to come in as high as $400,000, “so this is a good number.”

Pastore said the town got two bids for the project – a third potential bidder couldn’t take the job due to schedule constraints.

Government

School Cafeterias Score High in Health Inspections; ‘Risk Factor’ Violations at NCHS, Saxe and West

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Each of New Canaan’s six public school cafeterias scored at least 95 points out of a possible 100 in recent unannounced inspections by the New Canaan Health Department. Three of the cafs were cited for more serious “risk factor” violations during inspections conducted by Sanitarian and Restaurant/Food Inspector Carla DeLucia—one each at the high school, middle school and West School. East School earned a perfect 100. The overall scores were:

East: 100
South: 99
West: 97
Saxe: 98
NCHS: 95

Here are the details, noted by the sanitarian, at the most recent inspection for each school—risk factor violations are noted with an asterisk:

East (Jan. 11)—zero violations

South (Jan.

News

Code Violation Prompts First-Grade Classroom Shift in Delayed South School Windows Project

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The delayed $2.6 million windows replacement project at South School has seen a first-grade class displaced from its planned room because of an architectural design flaw, officials said Tuesday. The project— removing part of the original 1955 glass block, long porous and out-of-code, with caulk that has PCBs—originally was to have been completed prior to the first day of school. But physically obtaining the glass and frames needed, an industry-wide problem, pushed back the work this past summer, and New Canaan’s fire marshal in September flagged a code violation where a first-grade classroom “had an egress window as required by code that was missed by the design documents,” according to Gene Torone, president of SLAM Construction Services and owner’s representative on the project. The plan now is to remove a windowpane and replace it with a frame and new egress window, though those in charge of the work are “dealing with a window company that is very uncooperative,” Torone told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday during an update on the project. “We are negotiating the change order now and there could be some remedy on the side of the architect to help support some of that cost,” Torone said during the selectmen’s regular meeting, held in a board room at Town Hall.

Around Town

‘He Is Like Sunshine’: At a Time of Need, New Canaanites Rally Around Popular Crossing Guard

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When Carolyn Vermeer Ditlevsen walks to South School to pick up her son, a second-grader there, she—like scores of others—often finds herself chatting with Terry Darden, the smiling crossing guard at South Avenue and Gower Road who has earned the respect and affection of New Canaanites for the way he carries himself, treats others and goes about his job. Last week, Ditlevsen noticed that Darden’s usual car wasn’t the one parked off to the side of Gower near his post, and she asked him about it. “He told me that his car broke down and he’d taken it to the mechanic but didn’t have an estimate yet,” Ditlevsen recalled. So when she saw Darden again on Monday and asked about the car situation—and learned that it was a major job that could have far-reaching personal consequences for this man she holds in high regard—Ditlevsen decided to start an online fundraising campaign. Launched around 3 p.m. on GoFundMe, the campaign saw some 70 well-wishing New Canaanites contribute to the cause, approaching an initial goal of $3,000 before the day was out.