Government

Town: Fourth Of July Fireworks Attendance Drops Sharply Amid Heat, Storm Forecast

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. Attendance at New Canaan’s annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Waveny Park fell dramatically from last year, with town officials estimating only 2,000 to 3,000 people attended the event, according to Parks & Recreation Commission member David Shea. Speaking during the commission’s July 8 meeting at Lapham Center, Shea said unofficial attendance figures were far below the nearly 8,000 people who attended the 2025 celebration. “The unofficial attendance was really down from 2025,” Shea said. “The estimates that we have from parking cars, somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000, which is really well off the almost 8,000 of 2025.”

News

Fencing at Irwin House Site Expected Down at Month’s End, Town Says

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. The fencing surrounding the former house at Irwin Park is expected to come down this month, Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the Board of Selectmen during a regular meeting held last week at Town Hall. Mann said the town received revised disposal pricing for the remediation work on Tuesday morning, which starts the clock on a final three week process to complete the project. “Three weeks from now you should be taking down the fencing,” he said at the July 7 selectmen meeting. The Irwin House site has been fenced off for longer than originally anticipated, the result of a series of delays from the discovery of an unexpected underground storage tank on the property. 

The tank, the third found at the site, was undocumented and went unknown until demolition of Irwin House and its garage got underway last year.

Government

‘You Do the Best You Can’: Town Addresses Waveny Fireworks Decision

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. The town’s highest elected official this week addressed the widely discussed decision to proceed with the July 4 fireworks at Waveny Park, saying the storm that cut the event short and sent thousands of attendees scrambling was not foreseeable when the go-ahead was given. First Selectman Dionna Carlson addressed the controversy at the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting at Town Hall, where she said she’s received significant feedback from residents upset about the call. 

“I’m hearing lots of Monday morning quarterbacking on the call,” Carlson said. “I think it’s important for people to understand the decision-making process.” The show, she explained, had to be approved before the town’s fireworks provider crossed the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey into New York on Friday evening.

Government

Town: Waveny House Elevator Still on Track for Completion by End of Summer

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. The long-delayed elevator project at Waveny House remains on track to be completed by the end of summer, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The elevator contractor is on site working, Mann said, and the town is having the contractor revise a railing based on a discussion held the week before. “It’s a process,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting Tuesday morning at Town Hall. “By the time we get through inspections and everything else, it’ll be operational by the end of the summer,” Mann said.

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Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban: Town Clerk’s Office Receives Petitions with 1,000-Plus Signatures

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Those seeking to overturn New Canaan’s recently adopted summertime ban on gas-powered leaf blowers last week submitted petitions to the town with more than 1,000 total signatures calling for a referendum vote on the measure, officials say. “We now begin the lengthy process of checking the validity of the signatures,” Town Clerk Claudia Weber said. In all, 701 qualifying signatures are required in order to move the referendum process forward, Weber has said. If the Town Clerk’s office is able to verify those signatures, the Town Council will have 30 days from the date of the filing of the petition—June 26—in which to set the date and hold the referendum. The number of votes required to overrule the Town Council’s action must be the majority of votes and must be equal to, or at least, 15% of the electorate as of the last completed voters’ list.