Town officials last week approved a modest increase to the price of a family pass to the New Canaan Fireworks set for Saturday, July 4.
The new price, $40, is for those purchasing their passes early (up from $35) and it will cost $50 to buy a pass on the day of the picnic and fireworks show at Waveny.
“This entrance pass has been in place for—I’ve gone back through the records that Tom [Stadler] has provided me for 10 years and our costs have gone up and I think it’s time that we at least increase the price from $35 to $40,” New Canaan Fireworks Committee Chair David Shea told members of the Board of Selectmen during their March 17 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “On the day of, it will go up to $50. So buy your passes early.”
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the increase.
The passes generally are used on a per-vehicle basis for those driving into Waveny for the fireworks, or on a per-group basis for those walking in, officials said.
Citing information from the Community Emergency Response Team or ‘CERT,’ which assists police in directing traffic and other public safety matters for the event, Shea said that just 10% of cars that enter Waveny for the Fourth of July celebration fail to have a pass.
“And that was based on history,” he said. “That was pretty good.”
The selectmen noted that the New Canaan Fireworks is not a town-funded event and that proceeds from the passes are used to ensure there’s enough money to pay for the fireworks display, police and facilities, among other costs.
“I think that residents have been very generous in terms of making sure they have a pass and they want to support it,” Karl said. “They know it’s privately funded and it’s worked over the years and I think it’s just a matter of getting the word out to new residents and folks that, maybe it’s their first or second time in. And making sure everybody knows where to get them [the passes] and how to get them.”
In the past, early-bird ($40) passes have been made available at Walter Stewart’s Market as well as in-person at the Recreation Department and through the Rec Department’s website, which can snail-mail the passes to residents as long as they’re purchased early enough. On July 4 itself, the only place to buy the $50 passes will be available at the Steve Benko Pool Lot at Waveny.
Shea and Parks & Recreation Director John Howe also said that, following reviews with fire officials and others, the fireworks themselves will be relocated to a different part of the open field near Waveny’s southwest corner.
“The reason we were proposing to do this is the number one complaint last year was getting out of the park,” Shea said. “Hours were spent in line with people. And what this will do is move the launch location east … That does a couple of things. Number one, it reduces the interference of trespassers into the launch area, which has been a constant problem in policing the area. Number two, it increases the view of the fireworks from the park and it will bring more people up towards Waveny [House]. And number three, the egress, it will significantly increase the speed at which cars will be leaving the park opening up Lapham road to the south.”
Howe said Waveny will be closed on the morning of the fireworks, as it has been in the past, so that organizers can safely set up.