Government

Town Adds ‘Veterans’ Category to Discounts at Popular Facilities

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Municipal officials are adding a new category to those who get discounted fees for using popular town facilities such as the Steve Benko Pool at Waveny and pickleball courts at Mead Park. Following a unanimous vote by the Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting, veterans will now enjoy the same discounts as seniors, including free access to Kiwanis Park and $80 season passes to the pool, Mead Park pickleball and tennis courts and Waveny paddle tennis courts. Parks & Recreation Director John Howe, in proposing an updated slate of fees to the selectmen at the Nov. 18 meeting, called it “the biggest change” to the rates. “We added a ‘veterans pass’ where we’ll give veterans a discount to the regular individual rates,” Howe told the selectmen at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Town Approves Annual Lease for Food Pantry at St. Mark’s

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The Board of Selectmen last week approved the annual lease with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to host the New Canaan Food Pantry. 

Supported by donations, the Food Pantry provides non-perishable items to qualified individuals and families living in New Canaan. The lease, at $1,000 per month or $12,000 for the year, includes the pantry itself and two storage rooms for non-perishables in a church building. 

“It is one of the community’s best resources and it’s really used,” Selectman Steve Karl said at the Board’s regular meeting, held Nov. 18 at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Thank you to St.

Board of Selectmen

New Handheld License Plate Readers To Help with Parking Enforcement on Elm and South

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Town officials last week approved a free month-long trial and possibly longer contract with a Charlotte, N.C.-based company that will see parking enforcement officers get new handheld license plate readers or ‘LPRs.’

As it is, the enforcement officers are required to manually enter license plate numbers as they patrol the newly designated paid parking areas of Elm Street and South Avenue and “it’s getting very time-consuming,” according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. 

“If they have this handheld and they’re just scanning it as they’re walking, they’re not blocking anything—they’re not causing any kind of traffic,” Miltenberg told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Nov. 18 at Town Hall and via videoconference. She added that the town’s parking enforcement officers are “finding that by the time they get to one end of the street, they have to go back to the other end because [new] people are parking and it’s just not efficient.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of an amendment to the Parking Bureau’s contract with Passport Labs Inc. The company currently provides the town with its parking software program and equipment for enforcement and ticketing and permitting. After a free one-month trial, it would cost $500 per month to continue with the devices, and the selectmen vote allows the town to move into the paid plan. The selectmen asked how many license plate readers the Parking Bureau currently has (two but they’re on the vehicles), whether the contract is for $500 per handheld device or total (total), how long it will switch over (about one week), what’s the cancellation policy (cancel any time), whether the town is getting new devices or if Passport Labs is just opening up its software (both, the Parking Bureau is due for a device upgrade regardless), whether other towns are using the handheld LPRs (no but Darien is interested) and whether the handheld readers are storing data (no, it will work like the current LPRs, scrubbed every 30 days).

Government

Selectmen Approve $14,000 Contract for Bleacher Repairs Throughout Town

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved an approximately $14,000 contract with a North Berwick, Maine-based company to make repairs to bleachers at athletic fields throughout town. The bleachers in need of repair are located at Mead Park, Waveny, Dunning Stadium, Conner Field, Saxe Middle School and the turf fields at New Canaan High School, according to Ryan Restivo, superintendent of parks. “Hussey Seating recently inspected all of our bleachers, and upon approval, will complete all identified repairs,” he told the selectmen at their Nov. 3 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “The scope of work includes materials and labor.”

First Selectmen Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $13,945 contract with Hussey Seating Company.

News

Police Adding More Cameras to Downtown New Canaan

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New Canaan Police say they’re adding more cameras downtown that will capture car crashes such as the one that stopped traffic at Main and Elm Streets two weeks ago. Specifically, the department is adding more ‘pan tilt zoom’ cameras to downtown streets such as Elm “to document and capture things like what occurred yesterday [Oct. 20],” according to Police Chief John DiFederico. “They’re video camera systems that are better equipped at capturing and documenting events rather than license plate cameras,” DiFederico told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Oct. 21 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

The chief’s comments came during the Board’s discussion before approving a $28,000 annual service contract with an Atlanta-based company for license plate recognition hardware and software.