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The New Canaan Conservation Committee recently released a survey of community conservation practices.
Cameron Hutchins, a member of the committee, spoke to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday morning to encourage everyone to take the survey.
The survey is designed to assess the environmental priorities of residents.
“Your actions will help steer environmental action and policies for our town,” the survey reads.
Take it here: Town Green Survey
Town Council Secretary Kit Devereaux (D) announced at Wednesday night’s meeting that after eight years, she would not seek reelection this fall.
Below is the text of the speech she made:
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Town of New Canaan for going-on 16 years: 8 years on the Board of Finance as an Alternate and then as a regular member; and this November will round-up my 8 years serving on the Town Council.
I have always tried very hard to listen, to be fair, to be unbiased, and to vote in what I hoped was the best interest of the Town of New Canaan.
I am announcing tonight that I will not be running for the Town Council for another term in the Fall… and here is why:
It used to be a great pleasure to serve on Town Council. Although I certainly have not agreed with every decision the Council made, I think it is important to respect differences of opinion, and to honor the will of the majority.
It seems like since the last election cycle, the quality of discourse, although polite, is often laden with implication. As a friend of mine observed, we have entered a phase of “gotcha” politics. And while New Canaan has saved some money in certain matters, which is really important, the atmosphere has deteriorated significantly.
And the Town Council is no longer the collegial body it once was. And now a member of the Council has threatened the Council with legal action in order to achieve a goal — rather than allowing the Council to vote on the matter and set its own policy.
It was bad enough when a resident saw fit to threaten the Council with legal action in order to achieve his objectives, but now we actually have a member of the Council doing the same thing.
In this light, I remind everyone that, while service on the Council is a privilege and a responsibility, this is also a volunteer position.
I believe that the investigative work that has been done has been productive, but the methods have often been ruthless and sometimes demeaning to the people who are in the crosshairs – both volunteers and Town employees. I believe that sometimes the results seem to be more about a game of being “right” or “getting even”, rather than a genuine wish to serve the Town.
I would like to say that I love New Canaan. That I think it offers one of the highest qualities of life available in the United States. And I think we have much to be proud of and thankful for. Yes, things can be improved. Yes, things have happened which should not have happened. But I think we risk losing sight of the treasure our Town is, and of the privilege it is to live here.
When you read commentary condemning this or that about New Canaan, I challenge you to look around and ask yourselves if what you see is corruption and evildoing, or a phenomenal town that obviously must have been doing something “right” all these years.
It’s been an honor to serve as a member of the Town Council’s leadership team. I would particularly like to thank Mark DeWaele, our Chair, for the intellect, grace and dignity with which he has worked to guide us through these roughening waters – and to the ever even-handed Steve Karl, our Vice Chair. Gentlemen it’s been my great pleasure to work with you.
And to New Canaan, thank you. It’s been my privilege to serve.
Downtown New Canaan will host the annual outdoor festival for dogs and their human companions from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 9.
Contests with prizes, demonstrations, a dress-up photo area sponsored by Venture Photography of Greenwich, a show for children, dog makeovers by The Hairy Barker of Darien, and a pet-oriented scavenger hunt with the exhibitors are among the highlights.
Village Critter Outfitter, New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and Bow Wow Day Camp of Stamford sponsor the event, which will benefit Pet Animal Welfare Society of Norwalk. Shirleen Dubuque of Village Critter Outfitter and Beth McCarthy, owner of Aetheria Relaxation Spa, both in New Canaan, are the event co-chairmen. PAWS will be on site with adoptable pets.
Additional shelters and area rescue groups will also be present.
The PAWS shelter in Norwalk is primarily operated and supported by volunteers. PAWS, a 50-year-old organization, also provides community education, outreach programs and funding for animal medical care.
Admission is free. Participants will gather in Village Critter Outfitter’s parking lot at 107 Cherry St. For information, visit www.newcanaandogdays.com or www.pawsct.org.
In response to the findings of the Town Council audit meeting Tuesday evening, First Selectman Robert Mallozzi issued a press release (below) Wednesday afternoon explaining his role and in and concerns about town finances. According to Mallozzi:
Historically, financial management, oversight and reporting in New Canaan has not been commensurate with what the public should expect from our Town; the control and policies that should have been in place simply were not in existence. As positivie as the audited numbers look today (revenues exceeding expenditures, Fund Balance higher than previously noted, tax collections greater than budgeted), there are underlying issues that this administration is working hard to address. Policies that employ best practices are being implemented, accounting issues being reviewed and corrected where necessary, and personnel evaluated.
Audit Press Release May 1 2013 (click for .pdf)
The new film “Copperhead,” a historical drama about a northern family that opposes the Civil War, will make its national premiere in a red carpet event at Bowtie Theater on Elm Street, in New Canaan.
Directed by Ron Maxwell (“Gettysburg”) and written by political commentator Bill Kauffman, the film, which had its inception in New Canaan, has sold out the event.
The premiere event will start at 6:30 p.m. at Bow tie Cinemas Playhouse, with a reception following the screening. Proceeds from the $50-$100 tickets will go toward repairs on the New Canaan Historical Society’s Revolutionary War-era Hanford-Silliman House.
Known as the Next Station to Heaven, New Canaan has a rich history. The bedroom community, known for its top-notch school district and a penchant for Lilly Pulitzer and Nantucket reds, is steeped in tradition.
But that hasn’t stopped one company from offering the town $9.8 million to change its name.
According to a press release, SugarDaddie.com, a dating site that connects wealthy men to “attractive, single” women, contacted First Selectman Robert Mallozzi claiming the company would fork over nearly $10 million if the town changes its name to SugarDaddie.com, USA.
While we doubt anyone in town would ever agree to such a gimmick, no matter how much money was involved, the thought of writing “SugarDaddie.com” as a return address had us cracking up.
Mallozzi, however, said he never received an offer from the site.
“For the record, no one has approached me,” he said Monday.
He said he received an email from NBC News asking for comment, but moved it to his junk folder, assuming it was spam. “I literally thought it was junk and deleted it,” he said.
New Canaan isn’t the first town the site has had its eyes on. Over the past few months, the company contacted Sugar Land, Texas, and Woodside, Calif., in an attempt to gain naming rights.
However, in both cases, SugarDaddie.com only offered half the amount, thinking it could convince the towns to give up their names for a mere $4.65 million. And in both cases, the site was denied.
So let’s say our town officials decided to take the cash. They’d be required to officially change the name of New Canaan to SugarDaddie.com for 10 years. According to the press release, which outlined the terms, all official government correspondence, institutions and street signs must be changed to reflect the new name, including renaming Mead Park to SugarDaddie.com Park.
The New Canaan Town Hall, currently under renovation, would be renamed SugarDaddie Town Hall and “all city marketing resources must be made to reflect the city’s official new name and must be fully implemented within six months.”
You think that’s bad? That’s nothing compared to the Hugh Hefner statue that must be erected near town hall for at least 12 years. Somehow, I don’t see that happening.
A call to SugarDaddie.com hasn’t been returned yet. Perhaps its moved on to Darien or Greenwich.
Better them than us.
“Law & Order’s” Detective Elliot Stabler left the Special Victims Unit in New York City a few years ago and now he’s leaving New Canaan.
Actor Christopher Meloni and his wife, Sherman Williams, are selling their Oenoke Ridge home for $4,750,000.
The 8,063-square-foot home, which has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms and four fireplaces and was built in 1987, “has seasonal views of New York City and stunning sunrises/sunsets,” according to the listing on the Prudential Connecticut Realty website, which can be viewed here.
According to The Huffington Post, Meloni and his wife have only lived there for eight months.
“This warm and inviting home has undergone a complete interior transformation including staining and refinishing of floors, painting of the interior, new custom home office, hard-wire generator and many architectural details which further enhance the beauty and functionality of this home,” the listing continues.
Also on the 4-acre property of this private estate is a “large barn with storage for six cars and a full second floor perfect for a studio/office or large gatherings. Mature plantings and stone patios flank the gorgeous free form in-ground pool and spa.”
The 14-room Colonial is assessed at $4,144,910, with yearly taxes of $58,360.
“The Huffington Post” also reported that “the couple is also in the process of selling their Manhattan apartment with jaw-dropping views of Central Park that was once featured in Architectural Digest. And according to Business Insider, Meloni tried to sweeten that transaction by including a brand new 2013 Porsche Panamera with the purchase.”
By this point, complaining about cell service in town might seem like old hat, but that doesn’t mean reception has gotten any better.
Toward that end, a public meeting to discuss the state of cell service in New Canaan will take place May 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Wagner room of New Canaan High Schoool.
A map provided by Verizon at the Jan. 9 information session showing existing cell coverage (dark blue), anticipated cell coverage due to projects in Wilton and Stamford (yellow) and proposed coverage from the proposed 82 Puddin Hill Road site (magenta).
The meeting was organized by Utilities Commission member Geoff Pickard, who has led the campaign for more towers in town.
“The purpose of this meeting to apprise the residents of New Canaan about the current status of our wireless improvement initiative, and to invite residents to ask questions about what the Utilities Commission has planned as we strive for better and faster cell coverage. No question will go unanswered,” the press release for the meeting states.
Recently, plans were unveiled to install a cell tower in the transfer station. This would improve cell coverage in the southern part of town, but would not reach to the rural north. The tower is expected to be up and functional within two years.
Below is the full press release for the meeting.
4/8/13
Town Utilities Commission Calls for Town-wide Meeting to Review Our Wireless Coverage Today and Discuss how We’re Working to Improve the Coverage with the Help of Town Residents
To: Members of the Area Broadcast,On-line & Print Media:
The Town of New Canaan Utilities Commission has scheduled a public meeting for May 9, 2013 at 7:30pm in the Wagner Room of the New Canaan high school. The high school is at 11 Farm Road off South Avenue in the Town of New Canaan, CT – Zip 06840
The purpose of this meeting to apprise the residents of New Canaan about the current status of our wireless improvement initiative, and to invite residents to ask questions about what the Utilities Commission has planned as we strive for better and faster cell coverage. No question will go unanswered.
One of the points of emphasis will be to highlight the safety issues we believe exist because too many 911 emergency calls fail. Parts of New Canaan have little or no coverage – especially in the northern part of town.
The area media has often written about examples of missed 911 calls. . .including the family who’s home caught fire during Storm Sandy and had to drive miles before they could get a cell signal and call the fire department. When the firemen arrived, the roof of the home had been destroyed. That same storm found a Town worker trapped in his truck by live power lines. He called 911 but his call also failed and he was only rescued when other town workers saw the problem and called CL&P who turned off the power.
Other examples of missed 911 calls involve residents who have been involved in car related accidents. Nice people stopped at the accident scenes and dialed 911 on their cell phones. In several cases the 911 calls were answered but by emergency sites outside of New Canaan and messages had to be relayed back to the New Canaan 911 call center to initiate a response. Two of these accidents resulted in deaths. We ask could it have made a difference if the calls had been directly received by NC 911? We’ll never know. Precious time was lost.
Interestingly where we have weak or poor cell coverage, our Town police and fire departments report they also have poor radio coverage. Any new cell tower will have the option of having both police and fire radio antennas installed on the same tower.
In reviewing the Town Cell Phone Survey results ( enter this address in your computer browser to take the survey: http://surveymonkey.com/s/m2rl8f2 ) we see many references by residents who have also experienced missed 911 calls. One missed 911 call is too many!
The Commission believes that no one should be denied the ability to reach emergency personnel in our Town if their power has been cut or if they are in their car, at home or on the street and need help. This is why the Town has emergency 911 service but to be effective during all kinds of situations, our wireless phone system also needs to work reliably. Our long range goal is to raise our coverage reliability from about 25% today, up into the 80%+ range. Why is our coverage poor in many areas? Because our 22 sq mile town has a topography of many ridges and valleys and cell signals don’t do well over this kind of terrain. Yes we will need more cell towers!
Neither the Town nor the Utilities Commission select new cell tower sites. This decision is made by the major cell providers who use RF mapping techniques to add a new tower which they know will help to fill in the coverage holes. It’s no secret that we are running out of new siting choices. The cell providers are always open to hearing from residents who may have a new tower site recommendation. All new possible sites brought to our attention are evaluated.
The meeting format on May 9th will be straight forward. UC Commissioner Dan Welch will open the meeting, introduce people from the Town government, reps from the three major cell providers, hopefully a representative from the CT Siting Council, Jim Lisher the Town Health & Human Resources Commissioner will discuss the Town wireless Senior Home Health Care monitoring program plus other members of the Commission. Then the meeting will be opened to questions from the floor. We are describing this meeting as a good old fashion information exchange.
Please join us on May 9th at 7:30pm and come prepared to ask your own questions. Thanks for your support.
Geoffrey Pickard – Member
Town of New Canaan Utilities Commission
203-273-1047 – mobile
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