Government

‘Very Poor Condition’: Playground Upgrades Sought for Public Parks

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Saying heavily used playground equipment at Dixon, Kiwanis and Mead Parks is old and in need of replacement, recreation officials are seeking $115,000 in taxpayer funds for next fiscal year. Some of the equipment is now 17 years old and the federal Consumer Protection Safety Commission has new standards regarding heights, surfaces, handicapped access and space between pieces, Recreation Director Steve Benko said Friday while presenting his department’s operating and capital budget requests for next fiscal year to the Board of Selectmen. “Stuff is worn out, things are beyond maintenance, you have metal pipes sticking out, paint is chipping off and they’re rusting—I think it’s time to start looking at replacing some of this equipment,” Benko said at the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “It gets a lot of use.”

The Rec Department in the spring applied for $103,750 in STEAP grant funds from the state—it didn’t come through. The breakdown of funds sought for next fiscal year is as follows:

Ed Dixon Park: $12,500
Kiwanis Park: $52,500
Mead Park: $50,000

Mead “probably gets the most use,” Benko said. “Mead park is packed every single day,” he said.

Around Town

Keeping Up the ‘Gold Star Walk’: Citizen-Led Campaign for Little-Known World War II Memorial Path at Mead Park

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Standing at what is perhaps the least-traversed edge of Mead Pond on a recent morning, town native Jim Bach, a 1947 New Canaan High School graduate who served as a U.S. Army sergeant from 1952 to 1954, picks lichen from the branch of an apple tree whose trunk is twisted in prickly weeds. “I don’t know what this stuff is, and you see how the vines have grown up?” Bach said on this cool, clear December day. “That shouldn’t be. That is the lack of maintenance, and a lot of those lower branches should be taken off and also, you know, it has gotten spindly too. That’s the attention that these types of trees need.”

Dedicated at the close of World War II to the 38 New Canaan men who lost their lives while serving during the war, the area dubbed “Gold Star Walk” starts just inside the gate at Mead Park’s entrance and runs along the eastern and northern edges of the pond.

Government

Once a Skating Rink, Practice Tennis Court at Mead Park To Be Repaired

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Good news for tennis players in town: Just as the town finishes painting the “new” the public courts at New Canaan High School—they’ve been redone with a post-tensioned concrete surface and a seventh court has been added—a practice facility at Mead Park is getting a much-needed overhaul. At the request of the Recreation Department, the Board of Selectmen at its Oct. 7 meeting approved 3-0 a $6,500 spend (part of the department’s capital budget) to fix the practice court. It’s located behind the colonnade (installed originally as children’s wading pool during a WPA Project overhaul of the park). “Its asphalt is cracked,” Recreation Director Steve Benko said during the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.

Animal 411

Raccoon on the Ball Field Stops Play at Mead

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Police at 6:10 p.m. on Oct. 5 received a report of a raccoon lying in the main baseball field at Mead Park. Arriving, police found that the raccoon appeared healthy and had no problems, according to Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt. “We had no issue and it moved along,” she said. ***

On 1:57 p.m. on Oct.

Around Town

(Trying To) Walk To Mead Park: Connecting New Canaan’s Sidewalks

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A maple tree (and some funding) stands between New Canaan and kickstarting what officials have designated the Number 2 sidewalk priority for the town. Though the extension itself is only several feet long, bringing the sidewalk that already runs along nearly all of the south side of Mead Street, down to the striped pedestrian crossing at Park, requires the removal of a tree at the corner there. As it is now, pedestrians approaching that corner are forced into the road in order to get to the crosswalk, said Department of Public Works Assistant Director Tiger Mann. “What you have is the majority of people come down that side of the street because the crosswalk is there, and then walk into the street and there’s no place to stand, really, you have to stand in the travelway to cross Park Street and get down to Mead Park,” Mann said. “It’s a tiny little stretch that was omitted, I’m not sure just when.”

For a couple of years, officials have eyed a plan to remove the tree on the corner—those in the home on Mead closest to the corner “aren’t thrilled but understand the reasoning for it [the removal],” Mann said—and then extend the sidewalk all the way down.