Government

Police Chief: Cameras at Waveny’s Entrances Would Help Deter Crime, ID Perpetrators

By |

Though criminal activity at Waveny is rare and the 300-acre park doesn’t need surveillance throughout, it would help investigators to have cameras at entrances and exits that capture images of license plates and people in vehicles, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said last week. Such video camera systems have already helped deter crime at the New Canaan YMCA, located across South Avenue from Waveny, Krolikowski told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting Wednesday. “The YMCA had a big problem with people coming into their parking lot and breaking into their cars, and at our recommendation they installed camera systems that captured license plates, and that dropped off dramatically,” the chief said at the meeting, held in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department. “So it helps in that regard.”

Nearly 2,000 people have signed an online petition calling for video surveillance cameras at the park. Launched in the wake of revelations that a missing New Canaan woman’s car was found parked along Waveny on Lapham Road the day she went missing, the petition calls for cameras on specific trails as well as at the Lapham entrance. 

After Waveny user, trial lawyer and New Canaan mom Hilary Ormond presented the petition this month to the Parks & Recreation Commission, that appointed body called for a detailed proposal from police.

Footer Featured Widget

Town To Consider New Approval Process for Naming Rights

By |

Members of New Canaan’s legislative body said last week that they’ll consider adopting a formal process for naming public property after individuals—for example, to honor local philanthropists. No such process currently exists, according to Town Council Chairman John Engel. “There is no formal price, there is no formal criteria,” he said during the elected body’s regular meeting, held June 19 at Town Hall. “How we feel about naming Mead Park, an enormous asset, versus a smaller asset may be different. So one set of criteria might not fit every eventuality.”

He referred to a former swamp on Park Street that the town in 1915 designated as a park named for Benjamin P. Mead, who had died two years earlier.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

Three more Connecticut companies this month placed mechanic’s liens on the New Canaan home being built by the estranged husband of a missing local mom of five. O&G Industries ($13,654.33), Peter Kupchick Heating & Cooling Inc. ($10,000) and plumber Richard Belonick ($26,250) all filed liens in state Superior Court in connection with materials and services provided at 61 Sturbridge Hill Road. Fotis Dulos’s Fore Group Inc. construction company is nearly finished building a 7,300-square-foot home there. A Meriden-based lumber company earlier this year filed a $19,000 lien. Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, are out on $500,000 bond each after New Canaan Police charged them with tampering and hindering in the case of Jennifer Dulos, missing since May 24.

Around Town

‘A Greater Sense of Solidarity’: Letters of Appreciation for New Canaan Police

By |

New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski shared the following letters of appreciation for department members during Wednesday night’s Police Commission meeting. ***

Christine Brown, Officer Shane Gibson, Officer Sebastian Obando

“Dear Chief Krolikowski, I would like to take this opportunity to make you aware of a job well done, by [Christine Brown, Officer Shane Gibson and Officer Sebastian Obando]. During a recent bench trial, [they] did an excellent job, [were] very professional and [were] available when needed on short notice. [Their] efforts were very important to the successful prosecution of this case and I would like to express sincere appreciation on behalf of this office and the complainant. With [their] assistance, the State was able to secure a conviction for Criminal Violation of a Protective Order, in a complicated case.

Footer Featured Widget

Utility Poles Throughout New Canaan Getting ‘Braces’ To Strengthen Them; Work To Conclude Next Week

By |

Work crews are installing “braces” on utility poles throughout New Canaan, an effort designed to make the them sturdier, officials say. Spray-painted brown to blend in with the poles themselves, the braces and their installation is being paid for by Frontier, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The braces are designed to make the poles more durable during storms and to help them carry extra weight as 5G gear is added. Nearly 400 poles in New Canaan are getting the braces and two Frontier-subcontracted work crews have about 150 left to do—at a pace of 25 to 45 installations per day, the work should be completed by the end of next week, Mann said. The installations require pile-driving the brace into the ground and strapping the device onto the pole—work that tends to be loud and could take up to 90 minutes depending on whether the crews run into rocks in the process, Mann said.