Town officials on Tuesday approved a $382,470 contract for irrigation work at two New Canaan Public Schools playing fields.
The irrigation system that serves Saxe and Conner fields uses the same well for its water, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe.
The work will involve replacing “all the sprinklers, pipes, and the control system of both safe and Connor,” Howe told the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with White Plains, N.Y.-based National Lawn Sprinklers.
The company also has been awarded a Mead Park irrigation project, Howe said. All aspects of that remodeling have already been approved by the town’s irrigation designer, he said.
Parts of the Saxe fields’ irrigation system are 24 and 35 years old, and Conner Field’s is 10-12 years old, Howe said. Because the fields feed off of the same well, the system replacements will be performed at the same time, he said.
Conner Field, on May 20, 2025. Credit: Donovan West
Funds for the project are available via 2025 budget approvals and extra money from previous years’ approvals, Howe said.
“The systems have rain sensors and will automatically shut down from a certain amount of rain,” Howe said. “We will have control through phone apps and a computer control system to do the programming and anything else required from anywhere.”
The irrigation lines will be “high-density poly for the mainlines, and the rest will be PVC piping,” he said.
In response to Carlson’s questions about the length of the project, which will start on June 23, Howe said the hope is to be done by Aug. 1.
“They will start with Saxe school, which is the most important one for the start of the school year,” he said.
At the same selectmen meeting, a request for a $14,305 irrigation construction supervision contract with Northern Designs for Mead Park and Saxe and Conner Fields was unanimously approved.
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