And so it begins. The Town Center Planning Group, chosen by the Board of Selectmen to look into necessary renovations to the library and town-owned buildings, held its first of many meetings Monday afternoon. Building project veterans Jim Beall, Christine Wagner, Mike Hobbs and Neil Budnick gathered with First Selectman Jeb Walker, other New Canaan officials and interested members of the public to begin their work.
They started by detailing their exact purpose and the scope of their duties. Per their charter, they are to focus on the New Canaan Library, town center parking and town-owned buildings, namely Town Hall, the Fire Department, the Board of Education headquarters and the police station, and possibly others. Beall reminded the town that "in fact, there is no plan," meaning it was the group's job to decide what work was needed and how to carry it out.
For these renovation projects, the group will commission studies on the needs of the town, look at how neighboring towns address similar issues and develop recommendations for town building projects. Budnick said that the other towns will be used for ideas, not definitive plans. "I think that what other people have done is certainly of interest to us," he said. "but we can certainly still think outside the box." The group will present their recommendations to the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and the Town Council for approval.
The planning group also set up a rough timeline for their first year, divided in to four periods. From June through August, they will gather existing information on the town's needs and look into how surrounding towns handled similar projects. From September to November, they'll continue to commission studies to gather hard data on traffic patterns and other factors. They'll also reach out to architects and engineers for more input.
From December 2010 to March 2011, they'll do a thorough analysis of all the data they've collected. Finally, from April to July 2011, they'll start a "two-way communication period," taking their recommendations to the town's government and the public to exchange ideas. However, they stress that they will accept opinions from New Canaanites throughout the process. "We need to get a lot of input," said Beall.
Walker told the group that the state has recently approved for a $75,000 grant to the town for traffic studies, and they will hear by the end of the week about a similar grant for another $75,000. Both would be available to them. Beall said they will also ask the Board of Finance to allot money from the town's contingency fund for them to use to commission studies and hire consultants, with the Board of Selectmen's approval of each expense.
For now, the group is operating with four members, but they hope to add a fifth in the future. They do not yet know who that person will be, but Walker said, "I am working on that as quickly as I can."
For the most part, the TCPG will hold its meetings Monday afternoons at the Lapham Community Center in Waveny Park. They've tentatively scheduled to meet every Monday, excluding holiday weeks, until late September. They invite the public to come to share ideas and will set aside time for brief comments at each meeting. They also plan to announce special meetings some evenings to specifically seek public comments.
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