Government

Town Approves $75,000 for Baseball and Softball Field Renovations

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Town officials this month approved about $75,000 in contracts for fall renovations on New Canaan’s baseball and softball fields. The Parks Department maintains 11 fields that range from T-ball to adult leagues and “our main priority is to ensure safe and playable field conditions,” Assistant Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo told the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Oct. 18 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

The selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of a $50,523 contract with Bridgeport-based Athletic Field Services and a $26,004 contract with Grove City, Penn.-based DuraEdge Products. Athletic Field Services “has done work on our ball fields for many years and they were able to keep their pricing in line with last year’s renovations,” Restivo said. Parks selected DuraEdge’s “Recreation Premium Infield Mix” product “because it contains 75% sand which is actually very beneficial for drainage, helps us maintain the ball fields and provides exceptional player safety,” he said.

First Selectman Questions Whether Town Videoconferencing Tool Used ‘Appropriately’

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First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Thursday questioned whether a videoconferencing service purchased by the town to bolster communications during the COVID-19 public health emergency is being employed appropriately by one elected official behind its regular use. The town in March began reserving Zoom accounts with participant limits ranging from 100 to 500, and they’re used not only to run and broadcast public meetings but also for a daily afternoon video call moderated by Town Council Chair John Engel, Moynihan said during a press briefing attended by NewCanaanite.com and Hearst Connecticut. Engel, a Realtor, on Tuesday used the town account to host a real estate-focused panel during the regular 4 p.m. time slot—an event teased and promoted in email blasts through his Halstead account. “We aren’t clear on how he is using it,” Moynihan said in reference to the town Zoom account when asked about it during the briefing, itself held via videoconference. The daily call started out “as a community service,” Moynihan said.