Government

Town Ups Contract with Provider After Rise in Bench Donations

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Town officials say that New Canaan is seeing an unusually high number of requests from residents who purchase honorific or memorial benches dedicated to loved ones. Typically, the Department of Public Works receives donations from locals who purchase benches and then the town itself assembles and places them in a location that makes sense—for example, in a park. This year, “we’ve actually had more than we normally have,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The benches in public places—which are consistent throughout New Canaan, following a Parks & Recreation Commission initiative in 2018—cost about $1,700 each and are purchased through a Gaithersburg, Md.-based company called Country Casual Teak, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their April 15 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Normally, the town’s highest elected official, First Selectman Dionna Carlson, approves the purchases herself because the total comes to less than $10,000.

Government

New Facial Recognition Mini-Lockers at ‘Steve Benko Pool’: Parks & Rec Roundup

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Residents who take advantage of the Steve Benko Pool at Waveny this summer have a new amenity waiting for them. 

About 20 facial recognition-activated mini-lockers will be made available in a single unit outside the locker rooms for those who want to store something small such as a wallet and/or cellphone, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “When you use them you’ll go up and put your face there and then you go back and can get in and once you’re back in your face is gone, and it goes to whoever is next,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission last week. “So they’re very simple to use. And they also have USB charging ports. So if you wanted to charge your phone while you were swimming, you could.

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.

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.

Government

Town Approves $50,000 To Install Second Pump at ‘Steve Benko Pool’

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Municipal officials last week approved an approximately $50,000 contract with a Bethel-based company to help assure the continuous operation of the popular town pool at Waveny Park. Purchase of a second main pump for the Steve Benko Pool will make the facility “a much better place as far as I’m concerned,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. 

“It will allow me to sleep,” Howe told members of the Board of Selectmen at their Feb 25 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

He continued: “What this is, a few years ago, we were able to buy a second main pump. We have one pump that filters all the water. If that goes offline for any reason, we have to close the pool. We have to have constant filtration in order for the pool to stay open.