Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The five firefighters that had been in isolation due to exposure to COVID-19 are all healthy and have returned to work, Fire Chief Jack Hennessey told members of the Board of Selectmen Tuesday.. ***

New Canaan Police fielded seven reports of larcenies from motor vehicles in the first two months of 2020, compared to zero in the same period last year, according to data reviewed at Monday’s regular meeting of the Police Commission. Car crashes with injuries increased from four to nine in the same period, data show, while radar-related incidents declined from 173 to 83. ***

The Town Council on Tuesday voted to reappoint Mike Sweeney and Bernard Simpkin to the New Canaan Housing Authority. ***

Here’s a CNN video of anchor Brianna Keilar interviewing the Rev. Peter Walsh of New Canaan, who performed last rites over the phone for a local man and parishioner who had contracted COVID-19. 

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New Canaan’s Alessia Miller—together with Meghan D. Hely Walsh as well as Dana Cifone and chef Stephen Lewandowski of the Townhouse Restaurant in Greenwich—received a great boost in efforts to support her sister, Tania Mariani, an Emergency Room attending physician at Greenwich Hospital. Asked if they would donate food to the Emergency Department staff, New Canaan moms and other residents of the town and surrounding area donated more than $800, according to Miller, and the restaurant matched the donation in food.

Business

Local Restaurants and COVID-19: Club Sandwich

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Downtown New Canaan mainstay Club Sandwich is open for pickup 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. For today’s Q&A, we hear from owner Leo Gaspar about how the Cherry Street deli is managing through the COVID-19 emergency and related changes. Here’s our exchange. 

New Canaanite: What has this past week been like for you? Leo Gaspar: It was a really busy week trying to navigate all the information we were receiving from the government. Our Health Department has been great as always.

Board of Selectmen

First Selectman: ‘I Really Don’t Want To Have To Close the Parks’

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said Tuesday that he wants to keep public parks open for residents, though that could change if those using the open spaces violate health guidelines or if new guidance comes down regarding COVID-19. Town officials kept parks such as Waveny and Mead open “because the parks are such a vital resource, to be able to get out into the fresh air” according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. “It’s important that people have access to the parks, in my mind,” he said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held via videoconference. 

“They closed the parks in cities around us, Norwalk and Stamford. It’s very important—and we opened up the turf fields—it’s very important that the young people realize that they can get out and throw the ball around with a friend or two or three. But we cannot have any group activities, especially contact sports, something like basketball and things that put people too closely in touch with each other.

Government

Town Calls for Volunteers To Help New Canaan Seniors Stay Home During COVID-19 Emergency

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Town officials are calling for volunteers to help run errands for New Canaan residents 75-and-older so that those individuals most at-risk to COVID-19 are able to stay home. A list of some 1,434 residents in the age bracket has been pared down to about 900 after those already receiving care and services through local organizations such as Waveny LifeCare Network and Staying Put in New Canaan were removed, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. 

Volunteers are needed to help “order meals from restaurants, get their groceries, pick up prescriptions at the pharmacies,” Moynihan said during a regular Board of Selectmen meeting held Tuesday via videoconference. 

“We would like to have a 1-on-1 relationship where a volunteer takes on a couple or a few seniors to be able to go to the grocery store instead of having them go,” he said. Many of the 900 people identified are “very active and vital people” who do not require assistance themselves, “but the key is they could stay home, given their age they are the most vulnerable, so ideally we want to get to a point where we get as many volunteers as possible.”

Those interested in volunteering should contact Interim Director of Human Services Bethany Zaro, Moynihan said. Her email is Bethany.Zaro@newcanaanct.gov, according to the municipal website. 

“All of our town employees and our volunteers are doing a terrific job,” Moynihan said. He said that Emergency Management Director Mike Handler and Health Director Jen Eielson especially have been doing “an absolutely tremendous job” during the COVID-19 emergency. 

Moynihan announced Sunday that Town Hall is closed to the public and that the “most essential” municipal workers are reachable via phone and email to respond as best they could.

COVID-19 New Canaan

District: School Buses Are On Roads To Improve Routes

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The school buses traveling local roads and even making stops as though children would board them are testing routes in order to make drive-times more efficient, district officials say. New Canaan Public Schools rarely gets an opportunity to drive-test routing improvements, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi. “The bus drivers are still working for us—they are still employed by DATTCO as part of the contract—and so we thought, let’s get the buses driven and see if we can make the routes more efficient,” Luizzi told NewCanaanite.com. 

“We have an opportunity to have them drive the runs and have them look at the new runs for the [proposed new] school start times, as well,” he added. With COVID-19 drive-thru testing launched Friday outside Saxe Middle School, the school buses have suspended the test-runs for now and they’ll be “sporadic” in the future, Luizzi said. Public schools have been closed since March 12 and the district the following day launched a remote “e-learning” program to keep students learning and connected to their educators.