Government

Parks Officials Approve New Softball Batting Cages for Waveny

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Parks officials this month approved the installation of expanded new softball batting cages at Waveny that also will include warmup mounds for pitchers. The Parks & Recreation Commission voted 9-0 in favor of the project, to be funded almost entirely by New Canaan Softball. The cages will be installed on an approximately 70-by-45-foot concrete pad, with granite curbing, east of the “Water Tower Field,” where a single softball batting cage now sits, according to Parks Superintendent John Howe. “The girls could definitely use it,” Howe told members of the Commission during their regular meeting, held Oct. 13 via videoconference.

Homepage Featured

Parks Officials Vote 11-0 To Support New Canaan Softball’s Proposal To Plant Trees by ‘Orchard Field’ at Waveny

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Parks officials last week voted unanimously in favor of a youth sports organization’s proposal to fund and help plan for the planting of trees by a softball field in Waveny. An iconic tree located behind the backstop at the “Orchard Field” at Waveny recently came down, prompting New Canaan Softball parents to plan for its replacement, according to Jeff Fortmann, a town resident and father of two children who serves on the organization’s board and who swam short-distance events in the early-1990s for the New Canaan Y team. “That tree was beloved,” Fortmann told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held Oct. 14 via videoconference. Softball parents consulted with Recreation Director Steve Benko and Parks Superintendent John Howe, and have developed a plan to raise $5,000 toward purchase of trees.

Board of Selectmen

Recreation Seeks $50,000 To Light Second Girls’ Softball Field at Waveny

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Participation in New Canaan softball has grown so much in recent years that in order to provide adequate practice time, a second field at Waveny should get lights for this coming fall season, officials said last week. The organization that runs youth programs here, New Canaan Softball, has already raised $75,000 to light what’s known as the “Water Tower field,” and the Recreation Department is requesting an additional $50,000 from the town during this budget season. New Canaan Softball is anticipating 240 girls in the program this year, up from 90 just five years ago, Recreation Director Steve Benko told members of the Board of Selectmen during a budget hearing held Thursday at Town Hall. 

Joined by Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell, Benko said girls’ softball in New Canaan “has seen a metamorphosis.”

“There’s interest in it and they need more field space,” Benko said. “And one problem is with the coaches’ availability, because they are all volunteer coaches, is the time to practice is in the evening. And we can use the Orchard Field until 9 o’clock at night, but the other field, the Water Tower field, there was approval for the lights and they are willing to raise money for the lights, and to have that second field lit to give them addition time for practices, it would help the overall program now that the numbers are going up, which is a great thing.”

The $50,000 capital request is part of the overall $271,500 that Recreation is seeking for fiscal year 2020.

Government

‘It’s a Lot of Fun’: Increasingly Popular New Canaan Softball Program Pursues Lighting Second Field at Waveny

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Saying more practice and playing time is needed to accommodate an increasingly popular program, the volunteers who run youth softball in New Canaan are proposing the installation of lights on a second field at Waveny. Lighting what’s known as the “Water Tower Field”—located alongside the milled, soon-to-be-expanded parking lot near the water towers, its outfield backs into that of the varsity “Orchard Field”—would enable New Canaan Softball and other youth sports programs to run dozens of additional practices and games for three seasons of the year, according to representatives from the nonprofit organization. “Our league is growing exponentially,” New Canaan Softball President Robin Biasotti told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Sept. 11 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “Every year, every season, it keeps getting more and more.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Town Treasurer Andrew Brooks told members of the Town Council on Wednesday night that New Canaan’s General Fund balances as of Dec. 31 were up about $8 million over the prior year—an indication, he said, that many residents prepaid their tax bills to take full advantage of a deduction to be capped now at $10,000. ***

The Police Commission on Wednesday night voted 3-0 to approve April 22 and Sept. 16 dates for Caffeine & Carburetors. Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said the auto enthusiasts’ gathering “runs very well.” The Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to vote Feb.