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The 1974 AgreementNew Canaan’s Board of Selectmen and Board of Education agree that the wooded buffer along South avenue is to be maintained for “nature study and general conservation only.” In 1974, New Canaan’s Board of Selectmen clarified the language regarding Waveny property and the new (1971) high school. Of particular interest in this Agreement is the buffer of land created when it was decided not to build the new high school directly on South Avenue but further back -- the buffer had proven unbuildable due to its mixture of trees and wetlands. The Agreement simply put down on paper what had already occurred in fact, and it has been honored for the past 28 years. But today, the building committee’s “Site 1” proposal falls within this wooded buffer. Here is the 1974 Agreement as found in the New Canaan Land Records book: THIS AGREEMENT, made this 5th day of February, A.D., 1974, by and between the TOWN OF NEW CANAAN, a municipal corporation located in the County of Fairfield ands State of Connecticut, acting herein by HENRY S. NOBLE, JENNIFER W. DELAGE and NANCY Z. WALWORTH, its Board of Selectmen, hereinafter referred to as the TOWN, and the BOARD OF EDUCATION of said Town of New Canaan, Connecticut, acting herein by HENRY S. COLEMAN, its Chairman, and JUDITH P. PERRON, its Secretary, hereunto duly authorized, hereinafter referred to as the BOARD. W I T N E S S E T H: WHEREAS the TOWN acquired title to a parcel of land 31.133 acres in area from Ruth L. Lloyd as a gift by instrument dated December 18, 1964 and recorded in Book 172 at Page 361 of the New Canaan Land records (hereinafter referred to as the “first parcel”), the deed evidencing such gift restricting the use of said parcel of land for school purposes only, and WHEREAS, the TOWN acquired title to a parcel of land 15.005 acres in area from Ruth L. Lloyd as a gift by instrument dated December 22, 1966 and recorded in Book 185 at Page 256 of the New Canaan Land Records (hereinafter referred to as the “second parcel”), the deed evidencing such gift restricting the use of said parcel of land for school purposes only, and WHEREAS, the TOWN acquired title to a parcel of land 182.486 acres in area from Ruth L. Lloyd by means of purchase by instrument dated July 22, 1967 and recorded in Book 188 at Page 575 of the New Canaan Land records (hereinafter referred to as the “third parcel”), the deed evidencing such purchase restricting the use of said parcel of land for recreation, health, horticulture, public park and gardens, and WHEREAS, the BOARD has heretofore been designated as the proper Town agency to administer full control over the first two mentioned parcels of land and upon portions of which a new high school has been constructed, and WHEREAS, 19.809 acres thereof has been found to be low-lying land, swampy in character for the most part, and requiring great amounts of fill and the need to cut down many old and invaluable trees and both the TOWN and the BOARD desire to conserve the natural state and beauty of the said 19.809 acres and WHEREAS, the TOWN has allocated and set aside an area of 10.339 acres to be used by the said new high school in conjunction with the recreational and sports activities of said high school, and WHEREAS, the TOWN is desirous of taking over and maintaining as a public highway a strip of land 66.00 feet in horizontal width running westerly from South Avenue, so-called, through the 31.133 acres above referred to, and WHEREAS, certain agreements were heretofore arrived at relative to all of the above described premises, NOW, THEREFORE, it is mutually agreed by and between the TOWN of NEW CANAAN and the BOARD OF EDUCATION as follows: 1. By appropriate action and Resolution by the Board of Selectmen of the Town, the TOWN has allocated a parcel of land in area 19.809 acres, and being portions of the first and second parcels hereinabove described, to be placed under the control and supervision of the BOARD, and the BOARD has agreed to maintain the same, by appropriate action and Resolution, in its present state and to use the same for purposes of nature study and general conservation only. 2. By appropriate action and Resolution of the Board of Selectmen of the TOWN, the TOWN has allocated a parcel of land, 23.689 acres, and being portions of the first and second parcels hereinabove described, to be placed under the control and supervision of the BOARD for the construction, maintenance and continued use thereof for the purpose of a high school and for school recreational and sports purposes in conjunction with said school, and the BOARD has agreed by appropriate action and Resolution to accept this use and maintain the same solely for said purposes. 3. By appropriate action and Resolution of the Board of Selectmen of the TOWN, the TOWN has allocated a parcel of land in area 10.339 acres, and being a portion of the third parcel hereinabove described to be placed under the control and supervision of the BOARD and to be used for recreational purposes only, and the BOARD has agreed by appropriate action and Resolution to accept this use and maintain the same solely for said purposes. 4. By appropriate action and Resolution of the BOARD, the BOARD has released to the TOWN any interest it may have for school or other purposes in a strip of land known as Farm Road referred to and as shown as Parcel “D” and Parcel “C” on the aforementioned Map 5601 and the TOWN, acting by its Board of Selectmen by appropriate action and Resolution has agreed to maintain the said Farm Road as a public highway to and from South Avenue on the East, also known as Connecticut State Highway Route 124 and Old Stamford Road, also known as Connecticut State Highway No. 106 on the West. 5. By appropriate action and Resolution the BOARD has released to the TOWN any interest it may have for school, recreational or other purposes the two parcels of land designated in the aforementioned Map No. 5601 as ‘Parcel “A”’ and ‘Parcel “D”’ but only if the same shall be set aside and hereafter used in their entirety only for park purposes and with no access or walkways crossing the same to and from any privately owned premises or to and from the public highway known as Southwood Drive to Farm Road, except as to any areas of land owned by the Town of New Canaan and in use in conjunction with the South School, so-called. Access may be had to said Farm Road but only if formal agreement has been reached between the Town of New Canaan and the Board of Education. 6. A prior agreement dated February 5, 1968, a copy of which is to be filed on the New Canaan Land Records simultaneously with herewith for purposes of identification only, has been fully abrogated and nullified by appropriate action and Resolution of the TOWN and of the BOARD, and this instrument comprises the full and complete understanding of the parties relative to the premises herein described as heretofore adapted by Resolutions of the said TOWN and the said BOARD OF EDUCATION. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have hereinto set their respective hands and seals and the seal of the Town the day and year first above written. Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of: Edwin P. Gutt Mildred H. Dade As to the Board of Selectmen TOWN OF NEW CANAAN Henry S. Noble Jennifer W. Delage Nancy Z. Walworth Its Board of Selectmen Lillian Olson I. David Maier As to the Board of Education BOARD OF EDUCATION By Henry S. Coleman, Chairman By Judith P. Perron, Secretary STATE OF CONNECTICUT … |