Government

‘It Looks So Wonderful’: High Praise for First-Phase Work Done in Bristow Bird Sanctuary

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The completed first phase in restoring a long-neglected and little-known bird sanctuary in New Canaan—one of the nation’s oldest—is earning high praise from town officials and visitors. Described as a quiet and beautiful wooded area, the Bristow Bird Sanctuary and Wildwood Preserve—thanks to volunteers and Department of Public Works personnel—features attractive new footbridges over meandering streams, a newly dredged pond, seating areas and varied bird feeders, officials said during last week’s meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. Responding to a presentation from Public Works Director Tiger Mann on the work that’s been done in Bristow in the past six months, Commissioner Francesca Segalas said, “It looks so wonderful.”

“I am so happy to see this,” she said during the meeting, held Jan. 13 via videoconference. 

Mann shared a photo walkthrough that he’d captured the same morning, starting at the northern end of the 17-acre bird sanctuary—accessible through Mead Park, at the back of the little league baseball fields—and following pedestrian trails toward its other entrance along Route 106. As he walked along, Mann said he found the park “very quiet.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” he said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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An attorney representing Michelle Troconis—girlfriend of accused wife-killer Fotis Dulos—on Thursday filed a motion seeking to have charges of tampering dismissed. The motion, which doesn’t address a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, focuses on police evidence that Troconis accompanied Fotis Dulos in dumping bags of items, some of which were later found to have Jennifer Dulos’s blood, at receptacles around Hartford. The body Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five who went missing May 24, 2019, has never been found. In New Canaan, rocks painted in her memory with the message “Justice for Jennifer” continue to be placed around and inside the Lapham Road entrance to Waveny Park, where police have said Fotis Dulos transferred his estranged wife’s body from her SUV to a worker’s truck after killing her at her Welles Lane home. (Fotis Dulos killed himself last January.)

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First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting that he “was on vacation the week before last when the incident occurred on the U.S. Capitol.” Moynihan added, “I did not see the video until the next day.

Government
NCPD

Police: Shotguns Stolen from Unlocked Vehicle

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Police say they’re investigating the theft of shotguns last week from an unlocked vehicle in New Canaan. Chief Leon Krolikowski said during Wednesday night’s regular meeting of the Police Commission that the theft comes one month after four firearms were stolen from a vehicle on Michigan Road. “That is a tremendous concern, safety issue for me,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “I am also reaching out to our state legislators to change the law related to the safe storage of firearms. Right now it applies only to pistols and revolvers in vehicles. It doesn’t apply to rifles and shotguns.

Government

Colonial Court Homeowner Working with Officials on Possible Preservation of Prominent House

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The owner of a Colonial Court home that’s slated for demolition is reviewing alternatives brought forward by a town committee that encourages preservation of significant local buildings, according to her daughter. Michelle Cardone, whose elderly mother Sandra owns the 1933-built home at 9 Colonial Court and now requires single-floor living, said when asked about plans for the house, “We also have a new architect reviewing all the plans as well as our specific needs to determine whether there is any way to save any part of the existing house and incorporate it into our plans.”

“He has experience with older homes,” Michelle Cardone told NewCanaanite.com in an email. “The Historical Review Committee and all our neighbors have also been made aware of this status.”

Michelle Cardone is expected to attend a meeting of the Committee at 9 a.m. Thursday. Members of the Committee started talks with the Cardones after the application to demolish the house was filed Oct. 21 with the New Canaan Building Department. 

The Committee on Nov.

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Rec Director: Summer, Fall Special Events Bookings for Waveny House ‘Strong’

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Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, people already have shown strong interest in renting out Waveny House for weddings, parties and special events later this year, officials say. The town has seen “a strong rental” interest in the historic house starting at the end of July through October, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. “We are booked every weekend for events, so hopefully we will be on the uptick and get through this pandemic and they can relax some of the restrictions they have,” Benko told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their Jan. 13 meeting, held via videoconference. The comments came during Benko’s update to the appointed body, in response to a question from Commissioner Hank Green about whether Waveny House has remained competitive as a wedding and special events venue.