Gene Goodman

Parks Officials: Extensive Restoration, Reimagining of Waveny Pond, Environs Is Near

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A nonprofit organization dedicated to Waveny is moving forward with plans to improve the pond at the bottom of the sledding hill and surrounding area, parks officials said last week. A centerpiece of the Waveny Park Conservancy’s master plan, the pond restoration project requires both state and federal approval, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. The town is funding a $170,000 dredge of Waveny Pond, and the Conservancy is committing an additional $150,000 “to go in and take out the understory and overgrown vines” from both sides of the pond on the approach from the main house, Benko said during a regular meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. A new trail will be installed around the left-hand side of the pond on that approach, a project that will include removal of dead trees, brush and vines, Benko said at the Dec. 12 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. 

“It will really enhance the view of the pond as you walk down that path,” he said.

FY 2020 budget

Op-Ed: Reval Reveals Tax Shock

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$1 billion of property value lost in decade-long rout
Half the town is in for a surprising tax hike in the New Year
Critical moment for staying competitive with neighboring towns

What happens when a town’s revenue base declines for a decade while the government goes on a spending spree? 

We’re about to find out. 

Home Value Rout

For revenue, New Canaan’s government relies on taxing property. That property is getting reassessed much lower—with a proposed assessment decline of more than $500 million representing a fair market value loss of almost $750 million. On average, more expensive homes have declined the most, with the assessment of homes previously assessed at between $2 million and $5 million declining by 10 percent. At the same tax rate, those property owners will pay for a smaller percentage of government spending as a result of that decline.  A majority of New Canaan homes were previously assessed at under $1 million. Their new assessment shows an average 2 percent decline.

News

Police: Drunk Driving Charge for Norwalk Man, 28, Found Asleep in Car

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Police after midnight Friday arrested a 28-year-old Norwalk man and charged him with driving under the influence. 

At about 11:15 p.m. on Dec. 13, an officer was dispatched to Kiwanis Park on a report that a suspicious vehicle was there and a man at the wheel may be drunk, police said. There, an officer found the man in the driver’s seat with keys in the ignition, according to the police report. He was reclined in the driver’s seat and was not responsive to the police officer’s attempts to wake him, it said. The man did wake up after a few minutes and police smelled alcohol on his breath, the report said.

News

Oenoke Ridge Road Colonial Sells for $1.8 Million

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The following property transfers also were recorded last week in the Town Clerk’s office. For more information about each property from the assessor, click on the street address. To get the history of a New Canaan street name, click here. ***

Dec. 12

135 Oenoke Ridge Road

$1,815,000
Dennis Perry to Dennis Manning, trustee

Dec.

Business

‘The Best Things That Anyone Could Ever Taste’: Waffle Cabin Coming To Pine Street 

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Corey Londoner had no idea when she started looking one year ago for a place to open a hot Belgian sugar waffle shop that a dream location awaited just one town away, on Pine Street in New Canaan. The Ridgefield resident had already owned one successful franchise business (a cycling studio) and, after tasting Waffle Cabin’s Liege waffles with pearl sugar on ski trips with her young family, she decided to open one herself. Two months ago, the day after a prospective location in Ridgefield fell through, Londoner heard about the available space at Pine Street Concessions in New Canaan. 

She knew immediately it was the right spot. 

“I can’t be more excited,” the mom of two told NewCanaanite.com. “It really just fell into place so perfectly. It seemed to be meant to be.”

In New Canaan, Londoner also has a leg up in that locals for the past several years have tasted Waffle Cabin waffles during the Holiday Stroll, at a pop-up space in front of the Playhouse.