Government

Waveny To Be Closed to Vehicular Traffic on Morning of Oct. 19 for ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Car Show 

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Waveny will be closed to vehicular traffic on a Sunday morning in October to accommodate a popular car show that benefits a nonprofit group that works with the town on the park’s behalf. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its regular meeting Tuesday in favor of closing the park to cars from 6 to 11 a.m. on Oct. 19 for Caffeine & Carburetors. (The fall car show at Waveny, and a June 22 event downtown, received unanimous approval last week from the Police Commission.)

Last year, C&C raised $24,000 for the Waveny Park Conservancy while the downtown show raised $16,000 for the New Canaan Community Foundation. During the selectmen meeting, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said that last year “due to the success of Caffeine and Carburetors, there were too many cars and you wouldn’t have been able to get a car through it a lot of times, say nothing about an ambulance or a fire truck.”

“So with the Special Events Committee, we’ve met many times to discuss how we can make Caffeine and Carburetors still work for the park and still donate to the Conservancy, but make it so that it’s safe and doable,” Howe said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

News

Putnam Road Sidewalks To Be Replaced This Summer

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Town officials on Tuesday approved the replacement of sidewalks on Putnam Road, following a discussion regarding the use of a “new” company for the municipality versus a longtime partner. Ultimately, First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of awarding the $488,543.75 contract to Stumpers LLC. The Shelton-based company bid $10,000 below Peter Lanni Inc., a New Canaan business with a long and successful track record of work here, according to Tiger Mann, director of the Department of Public Works. “Stumper is new,” Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “I did reach out to the community to find out about them.

Government

NCPD Purchases Six Ballistic Vests for $10,000

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The Board of Selectmen during its most recent meeting approved a $10,000 purchase from a Fort Collins, Col.-based company for new ballistic vests for New Canaan Police officers. The protective vests are replaced every five years, according to Capt. Joe Farenga. Referring to the vendor, Angel Armor, Farenga told the selectmen that five years is “the longest they’re willing to put their name on something being effective.”

“Over the years, we definitely at the range with our Special Response Team, have taken really old vests, and tried them and they still offer ballistic protection on a tree,” Farenga said at the March 4 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “But because they say that, they will absolutely step back if there’s a problem and it’s past that five years and an officer’s injured because they’re still wearing a vest beyond the recommended time. So we just replace them every five years per their recommendation.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the purchase.

Board of Selectmen

New Canaan Softball Funding $40,000 in Improvements at Orchard, Water Tower Fields

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New Canaan Softball is making key improvements to its two playing fields at Waveny ahead of this spring season. Following approval this week from the Board of Selectmen, the nonprofit organization is funding the estimated $40,250 cost of extending the left and right field foul ball fences on both the Orchard and Water Tower Fields, as well as improving the pitcher’s warmup area at Orchard. “They want to replace existing worn-out fencing and posts as needed and then add approximately two sections on each field of 35 feet long on the back fence of the bench area,” Parks & Recreation Director John Howe told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. He continued: “What this will allow is the young kids when they overthrow first or third, the ball goes out of play. And that’s it.

Board of Selectmen

Town To Seek $300,000 State Grant To Help Fund New Playground at Waveny

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The town is seeking a $300,000 state grant to help fund the widely anticipated new playground at Waveny. As it is, there’s no playground in New Canaan’s largest and most-visited park. For years, the siblings of those playing sports on the fields there used an all-abilities adult fitness area as though it were a playground. 

Now, the town has replaced the fitness equipment in that area, and an accessible new playground is on the horizon, with a Poured-In-Place rubberized surface. A nonprofit group, the Friends of Waveny Playground, is fundraising for the project. On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to allow the town to apply for a Small Town Economic Assistance Program or “STEAP” grant, administered by the state Office of Policy and Management.