Board of Selectmen

Garden Club Funding $80,000 Flexi-Pave Path Installation at Irwin Park

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Town officials last week approved an approximately $80,000 contract with a Danbury-based company in order to complete a final section of pedestrian-friendly footpath surfacing at a popular Weed Street park. The Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting Tuesday voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Tri-State Flexi Pave, which is to surface the footpath that traverses the southeastern part of Irwin Park. The funds will be paid by the New Canaan Garden Club, officials said. “We were one of the first installations in this area and in the country, as well,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “The material has held up very, very well.”

He added, “It doesn’t seem to be falling apart, it’s not getting brittle, it’s not having any repair issues.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of the $79,360.40 contract, which includes $5,000 in contingency funding.

Government

Selectman Williams: Concerns About Waveny Park Safety Have Been ‘Politicized’

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A town official on Tuesday voiced concerns about the characterization of New Canaan’s most heavily used park as unsafe. Saying he believed that some of the talk around town about the safety of Waveny Park was “misguided a bit,” Selectman Nick Williams raised the issue during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. While saying that he was “in favor of safety,” Williams asserted that “Waveny is one of the best parks in America and one of the safest parks in America.” Speaking during a section of the Board’s agenda dedicated to general town matters, Williams said that suggestions to the contrary were “perhaps politicized,” but was not specific about how. “I think it’s unfortunate that people are talking about Waveny as if it’s Central Park in the 1970s,” Williams said.

Irwin Park

Police: ‘Vast Majority’ of Incidents at New Canaan Parks Occur at Waveny

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The “vast majority” of police incidents in town parks occur in Waveny, with 376 incidents reported there over the five-year period ending June 15, officials say. The figure is far higher than citizen-reported and police-initiated incidents at Irwin (62), Kiwanis (31), and Mead (89) Parks, according to data cited by Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. Though most of the incidents that police responded to at Waveny “were service-related, medical assists, animal complaints and suspicious vehicles,” Krolikowski said in a July 22 report to the head of the Parks & Recreation Commission, there were numerous criminal incidents as well. These include reports of a male masturbating in a vehicle and a fight during a wedding at Waveny House. Furthermore, on several occasions, the report said that “nationally organized gangs” were responsible for crimes committed in Waveny.

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Letter: New Canaan Garden Club Seeks Support to Complete Flexi-Pave Path at Irwin Park

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As you are probably aware, the New Canaan Garden Club along with the Town, is charged with maintaining and enhancing the beauty and accessibility of Irwin Park for all.  A survey conducted in the fall of 2018 by the Garden Club emphasized that Irwin is beloved by walkers who appreciate the safety offered by the Flexi-Pave path. However, the Flexi-Pave path was never completed on one side of the Park. Consequently, in bad weather, this area can be icy, muddy, and hard to navigate due to its uneven terrain. I am asking for your help to close the Flexi-Pave trail loop and restore the Irwin Endowment. Please join me in support of this $75,000 project, approved by the Board of Finance and Town Council.

Ellen Zumbach

Have You ‘Herd’? Local Group Eyes Bringing Goats to Irwin Park To Clear Invasives

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A local nonprofit group is looking to bring goats to a popular park in order to clear an invasive species without using chemicals. The New Canaan Garden Club has proposed a monthslong project inside Irwin Park, according to information disclosed Tuesday during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. Asked about the project, Garden Club President Ellen Zumbach said Irwin has “a significant invasive problem” with plants, “particularly with Japanese Knotweed, where it’s encroaching on the Flexi pave path,” Zumbach said. “It’s called the bully of invasives—it really spreads a lot.”

According to Zumbach, the goats would be confined to an area near the gazebo and would be corralled in some fashion. “They’re very sociable and friendly animals,” she said.