I praised the Advertiser coffees as the place where a town comes together. In June I took a break from this weekly fret over New Canaan’s short-term concerns. In June we graduate, marry, retire, reflect and recharge. In 1914, at 73 years old, Claude Monet had established himself among the greatest artists of all time. […]

New Canaan was just named one of the “15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2019” by Smithsonian magazine. Every year their editors search the entire country for places that sing to our imaginations and offer a distinct sense of place. New Canaan is now recognized as the best of small town America. That’s some […]

Chairman’s View: Honing our zoning MAY 23, 2019 BY NEW CANAAN TOWN COUNCIL CHAIRMAN JOHN ENGEL In 1982, New Canaan matriarch Mabel Lamb is quoted in The New York Times as saying, “There are two reasons why people want to live in New Canaan — zoning and schools.” We talk a good deal about schools, but zoning […]

We have a special thing going on in New Canaan that no other town has. It’s a conversation by the people, about the town, that penetrates every decision made at Town Hall and more than a few decisions in Hartford. I’m taking about the Advertiser Coffee. Every Friday morning for the last 20 years the […]

Chairman’s View: Bike New Canaan APRIL 22, 2019 BY NEW CANAAN TOWN COUNCIL CHAIRMAN JOHN ENGEL It’s Earth Day. I am reminded we really need bike lanes in New Canaan. We need to begin with a bike lane down South Avenue that connects Waveny Park, the YMCA, our schools and the New Canaan Village. I wrote about […]

Chairman’s View: Spoiler alert APRIL 11, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL Spoiler alert: I really like New Canaan’s prospects. Here are five observations taken from the revaluation, the Town budget, the State election, and the first quarter real estate sales. There is a happy ending. 1. The uncertainty coming from Hartford is probably worse than […]

  Chairman’s View: Cap town spending for three years MARCH 28, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL   Town income is dependent on real estate values and the taxes they generate. Our revenues currently grow at 1% per year. I propose that we cap spending at 1.50% per year for three years, beginning now. We must […]

Op-Ed: New Canaan’s Fourth Estate NOVEMBER 15, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL AND ROBERT DORAN We live in challenging times for news. The Internet and the information age, professional pundits, fake news and 24-hour news cycles disrupted the old paradigm of trust and integrity in news organizations. Morley Safer of ‘60 Minutes’ said, “So much crap passes as […]

Op-Ed: Advertiser, Hersams served New Canaan for a century NOVEMBER 21, 2018 BY BY JOHN ENGEL ‘A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself — Arthur Miller The New Canaan Advertiser has certainly come to embody that ideal. We are a community talking to itself through our local newspaper. Whether you see evidence of […]

Chairman’s View: Picking priorities DECEMBER 6, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL. CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL “I do have to pick my priorities. Nobody can do everything.” — Ray Kurzweil We held the first joint offsite meeting among the four funding bodies (Board of Selectmen, Town Council, Board of Education, Board of Finance) in over 10 years, an important step toward […]

Chairman’s View: Revaluation DECEMBER 20, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL. CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL New Canaan’s real estate grand list fell by $570 million (7.15%) compared to 2017.In the recent revaluation: 4,861 parcels saw average decreases of 11%. 2,308 saw average increases of 13%. For homes worth more than $3 million, the average decrease was 14%. For $2 million […]

Chairman’s View: 11 resolutions for 2019 DECEMBER 31, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL. CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL When Advertiser reporter Grace Duffield asked for a New Canaan resolution, I could hardly stop at one. Here’s 10 more. We have much to do in 2019. Bike paths from New Canaan to the Darien beaches. Darien suggested this. Get state permission […]

Chairman’s View: ‘Not to eliminate buildings, but to eliminate expense’ JANUARY 22, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL In the fourth week of a federal government shutdown, it’s a good time to reflect on the state of Connecticut and town government. There is cause for optimism. Newly elected State Sen. Alex Bergstein announced the State is […]

Chairman’s View: Revaluation and the condo market FEBRUARY 28, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL Condominiums rose 9% in value in a 5-year total revaluation that was down 7.19% The average condo owner will see a double-digit increase in their taxes, Specifically, 955 condos will see average increases in taxes of $1,137. Many condo owners are […]

Spoiler alert. I really like New Canaan’s prospects. Here are 5 observations taken from the revaluation, the town budget, the state election, and the first quarter real estate sales. There is a happy ending. 1. The uncertainty coming from Hartford is probably worse than anything Hartford will actually do to us. We accept a certain […]

Chairman’s View: On bags and budgets FEBRUARY 7, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL The Town Council is considering a proposed townwide ban of supermarket plastic bags. Letters are starting to pour in. Supporters of the ban cite the environmental impact. Opponents of a ban say we are chipping away at freedom and personal choice. Greenwich, […]

Mead Park barn demolition plan remains in place after Council hears pitch to save it SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 BY GREG REILLY The brick barn at Richmond Hill Road and Mead Park.— Greg Reilly photo Even though the Town Council had no authority to take any action, they spent an hour-and-a-half of their four-hour meeting Wednesday night revisiting […]

New Canaan’s real estate grand list fell by $570 million dollars (7.15%) compared to 2017. 4861 parcels saw average decreases of 11%.  2308 saw average increases of 13%. For $3+ million homes the average decrease was 14%. For $2-$3 million homes the average decrease was 10%. For $1-$2 million the average decrease was 7%. Below […]

Chairman’s View: Improve our planning for Town building maintenance OCTOBER 18, 2018 BY NEW CANAAN ADVERTISER New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel’s weekly guest column. New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel First, let’s talk about the 100-point Pavement Condition Index (PCI). When a road scores above 86% PCI it’s excellent, requiring only corrective maintenance: crack […]

Chairman’s View: Council faces cost of debt, capital projects and lower property values OCTOBER 4, 2018 BY NEW CANAAN ADVERTISER A guest column from New Canaan Town Council Chairman John Engel. New Canaan has the highest per-capita debt in Connecticut at $5,800, double that of Darien because we are a larger town with many more miles of […]