Board of Selectmen

Public Works: Natural Gas Expansion on Hold

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The installation of natural gas in New Canaan, a widely anticipated project that this year enters the final piece of a three-year initial phase-in, is currently on hold, officials said Tuesday. All new natural gas services and installations are considered ‘nonessential’ as per the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, according to New Canaan Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The only work still moving forward is a “resiliency project on [Route] 123 from Little Brook and Lakeview, all the way down into Norwalk, that should be proceeding within the next couple of weeks,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting, held via videoconference. 

“They have a contractor on board. We had a pre-construction meeting last week with the state, so that should be proceeding as normal since it is resiliency and not expansion. We are waiting for news on whether or not and when we can go forward with the rest of the work in town.

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

‘Gaming the System’: Town Eyes Change to Fees at Dump

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Saying some residents take unfair advantage of a standing rule, municipal officials are considering a change to how the town charges those bringing brush and construction debris to the dump. As it is, it’s free for those with a Transfer Station sticker to dump the first 300 pounds of material, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. Yet “we have people that are gaming the system,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen at their Feb. 25 meeting in Town Hall. “[They] will come in multiple times a day—290 pounds, 275 pounds, things of that nature, where they are weighing at their house and then coming in and gaming the system,” Mann said.

Board of Selectmen

Town Hires Consulting Firm To Study Parking Use Downtown, Recommend Changes

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously to enter into a $25,000 contract with a Hartford-based consulting firm that will study the use and turnover of parking spaces throughout the downtown and make recommendations on future use. 

The work of Fitzgerald & Halliday will be divided into three separate tasks, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann: Taking an inventory of current municipal parking, studying utilization and turnover of parking over three weeks and providing guidance on how New Canaan could better serve visitors and workers who park downtown. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said New Canaan must understand how many parking spaces it has and how they’re used “so we can decide what can we do differently.”

“This parking picture has gotten so complicated with the addition of Boxcar and based on what is happening with Town Hall and Locust, we really need to make decisions over the next three months and need input,” he said at the Board’s regular meeting, held in Town Hall. Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of the contract. 

The study comes as New Canaan weighs a proposal from Williams to eliminate metered parking downtown while still enforcing time limits. Moynihan said the objective of the new study is to make it free to park up to two hours—as on-street parking already is throughout downtown New Canaan—and also to study the budget implications of doing so. 

Members of the Parking Commission have said the change would amount to a loss of about $200,000 in revenue annually. The town last year took in more than $300,000 in parking infractions, officials have said.