Library Asks Board of Finance for $1 Million for Legacy Building
Board of Finance · Meeting of February 5, 2026
New Canaan library seeks $1 million from Board of Finance for legacy building renovation. CEO Ellen Cravado told the board the $2 million project needs town backing before a June 1 state deadline that could unlock a matching Connecticut State Library grant of up to $1 million. Director of Health Amy Leah presented a budget down 6 percent, citing a hybrid staffing restructure and a state certification backlog slowing restaurant inspections.
Director of Human Services Marcy Rand reported spending down 8.9 percent and detailed outside-agency awards including $50,000 for GetAbout and $18,000 for New Canaan Cares, funded partly through the town's opioid settlement account, which has taken in $193,000 toward a projected $516,000 through 2039. "We are very, very lucky to have an amazingly generous town," Rand said. Board members voted to push the financial update to next week's meeting to include January figures.
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Source: the Board of Finance meeting of February 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — February 5, 2026 — The Board of Finance reviewed proposed fiscal year 2027 budgets from the Health Department, Human Services and the New Canaan Library on Thursday, and library leaders formally asked the town for a $1 million grant to help renovate the library's relocated legacy building.
Library CEO Ellen Cravado told the board the library wants to pair a town commitment with a possible matching Connecticut State Library grant of up to $1 million, which would cover half the estimated $2 million cost of converting the small historic structure into flexible meeting and program space. Board members did not vote on the request Thursday but discussed splitting it into $500,000 in the current budget and $500,000 the following year to satisfy state grant timing requirements. The board also heard budget presentations from Director of Health Amy Leah and Director of Human Services Marcy Rand, both of whom reported year-over-year spending decreases, and voted to push a routine financial update to next week's meeting so it could include January figures.
The Full Story
The Board of Finance opened Thursday's meeting with a roll call showing all members present except Diana Carlson, who arrived shortly after. The chair noted two scheduling items: a Feb. 24 information-only session on health insurance, to be attended by Joe Spurgeon and Brian, with no votes to be taken, and confirmation that a Feb. 26 meeting remains on the calendar. Members then voted to move a routine financial update, which only covered data through December, to the board's regular Feb. 10 meeting so it could instead include January actuals.
Amy Leah, who became director of health in June, presented a health department budget that is down 6 percent from the current year, driven largely by savings from converting a registered sanitarian position into a hybrid role that also handles community health education. The department currently oversees 106 licensed food establishments, issues about 60 well permits and 90 septic permits a year, and licenses 43 salons and 22 public pools. Board members questioned a jump in projected restaurant inspections and were told it stemmed from a backlog in state certification of inspectors, not from staffing changes in New Canaan.
Marcy Rand, director of human services, reported a budget decrease of about 8.9 percent, driven mainly by eliminating a part-time position the department said it no longer needs. Her office's caseload includes 228 adults and seniors, 169 families and 178 children served through youth and family services, and 17 domestic violence cases so far this year, below the 30 recorded in 2024. The town's food pantry has served 945 individuals and 740 households so far this fiscal year. Rand also detailed outside agency funding: GetAbout requested $65,000 and will receive $50,000; the Domestic Violence Crisis Center requested and will receive $10,000; New Canaan Cares requested $22,000 and will receive $18,000, funded through town, youth services bureau and opioid settlement dollars; and Meals on Wheels will receive its full $5,000 request. Board members also discussed the town's opioid settlement account, which has received $193,000 to date toward a projected total of about $516,000 through fiscal year 2039, and confirmed that funding previously earmarked for the outside counseling program Kids in Crisis has been redirected to pay for a school-based clinician.
Ellen Cravado and Library Director Cheryl Capatani presented the library's budget, a 3.5 percent, $105,000 increase they attributed mainly to cost-of-living salary adjustments. The library reported more than 1 million visitors since the current building opened, 5 percent year-over-year growth, and status as a finalist for the International Federation of Library Associations' public library of the year award. Cravado's central ask concerned the legacy building, a historic structure preserved and relocated during the library's original construction at a cost of $2.4 million paid from the library's own cash and endowment reserves. Cravado told the board a letter of intent to the state is due June 1 to pursue matching state construction grant funds, and that visible town support is required to qualify.
"I think it's appropriate that we come before the town and ask today for a town grant of about a million dollars, which would be 50 percent of the cost of that going forward." — Ellen Cravado, CEO, New Canaan Library
"That's due to the state of Connecticut not finishing certifying people in a timely manner." — Amy Leah, Director of Health
"We are very, very lucky to have an amazingly generous town and our residents have been fantastic." — Marcy Rand, Director of Human Services
Why It Matters
The library's request puts a concrete number, $1 million from the town toward a $2 million project, in front of the Board of Finance ahead of a June 1 state deadline that could unlock up to $1 million in matching state construction grants. Library officials hope the renovated legacy building could open in 2027, coinciding with the library's 150th anniversary, and say the added space would let them expand meeting-room rentals, a growing but constrained revenue source. Separately, the reallocation of Kids in Crisis funding toward a school-based clinician, and the town's growing opioid settlement account, show ongoing shifts in how New Canaan funds youth mental health and social services.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Move the financial update agenda item to the Feb. 10 meeting Tally: Approved unanimously
- Action: Library's $1 million legacy building capital request — Referred to the board's five-year capital plan for continued discussion in coming weeks
- Vote: Motion to adjourn Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Board of Finance meeting, February 5, 2026