Business

New Canaan’s 10 Most Popular Cars

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The two oldest automobiles registered in New Canaan are from 1915, tax records show—a Ford Model T and a Harley Davidson Twin. After that, the oldest autos are a 1922 Seagrave Pumper, 1923 Model T, 1923 Alfa Romeo and 1927 Rolls Royce, according to the recently completed Grand List, which includes taxable real and motor vehicle property. Once again in New Canaan—host of the popular Caffeine & Carburetors car show and home to 92-year-old dealership in Karl Chevrolet, one of the best-established companies in town—two makes of cars stand out atop the list of the most commonly owned vehicles. Both BMW and Chevrolet cracked the 1,500 mark, whereas no other single car company reached 1,200 locally registered vehicles. 

Here’s a look at the the top-10 most popular car makes:

 

Other notable makes that didn’t crack the top-10 include Land Rover (511), Porsche (473), Volkswagen (464), Volvo (427), Acura (387) and Nissan (345). Asked how he’d describe the tastes of local auto enthusiasts, Caffeine & Carburetors founder Doug Zumbach said “Porsches top the list.”

Around Town

‘It’s Just Not Possible’: Public Works on Belgian Block Patterns Around Trees Downtown

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Responding to an inquiry about a lack of uniformity, officials said the reason Belgian blocks laid around sidewalk trees in downtown New Canaan have different patterns is because the trees themselves grow at different rates. Some trees also have roots that rise from the ground, which leads town workers to remove the blocks and open up the tree well, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “It’s very difficult to keep it as a uniform three-by-three-by-three,” Mann said during a recent meeting of a Planning & Zoning Commission subcommittee. “It’s just not possible.”

“The original design was made for the brick and then inside the tree well there was going to be small Belgian blocks, the little squares. Basically they were designed to be tucked up against the tree trunk, and then as the tree grows, you start to remove the Belgian block to open up the tree well.

Government

‘Follow Them, Look at Their Car, Get the License Plate’: Parks Commissioner Calls for Self-Policing at Irwin

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A town official on Wednesday night called for a renewed effort to self-police Irwin Park, which she said has seen a resurgence in abandoned dog feces. 

Parks & Recreation Commission member Francesca Segalas said during the group’s regular meeting that reporting offenders to police and having them ticketed has worked in the past. Tickets issued to irresponsible dog walkers last year led to less dog waste left behind, Segalas said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. “And the tickets happened from two citizens reporting, not from the cops stopping them,” she said. “The dog warden caught them but she caught them on information from the citizen. So we need people to go and kind of look and see and if you see somebody who leaves dog poo behind, follow them, look at their car, get the license plate and text it to me and I’ll take care of it.”

The comments come one year after Parks & Rec formed a committee to tackle the problem and one local woman launched a widely discussed public shaming campaign at Irwin, placing ‘Shame On You’ flags on individual piles of excrement left at the popular park.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Did You Hear … ?

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First Selectman Kevin Moynihan during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting congratulated Caroline Garrity on being named chairman of the Waveny Park Conservancy. Garrity is known to many for her volunteer work with the New Canaan Garden Club. ***

New Canaan Police at 12:05 a.m. Tuesday cited a 21-year-old Waterbury man for possession of less than .5 ounces of marijuana after stopping him at Lakeview and Millport Avenues for driving with a defective headline and marker light. ***

The selectmen on Tuesday voted 3-0 to appoint Dave Hunt to serve on the Board of Assessment Appeals. Bob Avery resigned from the post, Moynihan said. 

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New Canaan Public Schools announced Thursday that Darlene Pianka, the district’s assistant superintendent of pupil and family services, will succeed the retiring Gary Kass in the role of human resources director.

Around Town

State Inspections: Compliance Issues Flagged at Child Care Centers in New Canaan

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State officials flagged compliance issues at child care centers in New Canaan following unannounced inspections this month and last. Corrective action plans from Toddlertime Nursery School and The Tot’s Spot are due Feb. 19, according to documents filed by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood. 

During a Feb. 5 inspection at Toddlertime on Park Street, inspector Terri Ruducha-Roberts found that a rabies certificate for an animal named ‘Bandit’ was not available for review and also found “entrapment hazards” at a gate and near stairs, with a fence screw protruding and “rust on gate accessible,” according to Child Care Center/Group inspection form filled out by Ruducha-Roberts. As with local health inspections of restaurants and hair and nail salons, the reports are on file at Town Hall.