Animal 411

Animal Control: Leashed Dogs Create No Problems for Birds at Bristow

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Regardless of how officials handle a renewed effort to ban leashed dogs from a 17-acre parcel that the town acquired eight decades ago, far more than disallowing canines would be needed to restore the former bird sanctuary that adjoins Mead Park to its original, deeded purpose, according to the head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control unit. The Town Council during a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday will host an informational discussion on the property commonly known as the ‘Bristow Bird Sanctuary’ (its name officially changed in 1986 to ‘The Helen and Alice Bristow Sanctuary and Wildlife Preserve’). A push to ban even leashed dogs, which goes back to at least April 2014, re-emerged in May from the Park & Recreation Commission. Advocates for the change say dogs often run off-leash in Bristow, in violation of a local ordinance, and that the property’s binding deed should be interpreted as an outright ban on dogs. (The deed itself makes no mention of dogs specfically—more on that below.)

Even so, the more pressing problem with re-introducing ground-nesting birds into Bristow is that deer have “obliterated” all ground coverage, according to Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt.

Government

Mallozzi: Town To Halt Dumping of Dredged Material in Waveny Cornfields

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Though it’s saved money for New Canaan and even generated modest revenue, concerns about aesthetics and environment are prompting town officials to end the practice of dumping the organic material dredged from Mead and Mill Ponds in the southwest corner of Waveny. First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said his swift decision follows comments from residents that even though New Canaan is recouping some money from the dredged debris because it’s been sold to a local business that’s doing the considerable leg work of converting it into topsoil, “the wear and tear is not conducive to the ultimate goal of the preservation of that beautiful area of Waveny.”

Mallozzi had high praise for New Canaan’s Peter Lanni, who in past years has carted off the material from the area of Waveny known as the “cornfields,” and more recently has been working at screening and then carting off about 1,000 cubic yards of the debris, but said that on Thursday he informed the local man that “the town is not interested in continuing further.”

“He graciously understood and agreed to work with [the Department of Public Works] to grade and restore the area. We have 250 more [cubic] yards to go on the contract and then he will leave and we will no longer be using the cornfields for dumping grounds of any organic material that we dredge up or move out of other spots. And I did that after consultation with the Park & Recreation Commission and private citizens, and just the feeling we all have that it’s a beautiful area. We’re very appreciative of the work that Mr. Lanni did in removing it, but we’ll put it back the way it was over a couple of years and there will be no more dirt disturbance in that environment.”

The matter had emerged as a major talking point at the Park & Rec Commission’s meeting Wednesday.

Around Town

Waveny Park Conservancy Seeks To Raise $2 Million, Start Work on Grounds Next Spring

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Members of a group seeking to raise money for, recommend and help oversee yet-undetermined capital projects across a big chunk of Waveny Park said Wednesday night that they’re seeking to hit $2 million in order to “break ground” after prioritizing plans through the winter. Calling itself the ‘Waveny Park Conservancy,’ the group has “some money in the bank to get us going, and I think we have pretty reasonable ideas and prospects whereby we can raise this $2 million,” its chairman, Bob Seelert, told the Park & Recreation Commission. “I know a lot of people are trying to raise money for a lot of different things in town—this, that and the other thing—so I suppose there is competition for scarce resources,” he said at the commission’s meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center. “But the reality is if you live in New Canaan, and you’ve been here a long period of time, if you ever have out-of-town guests into your home, you can do two things with them: You can take them down to Elm Street and bring them over to Waveny. And they all sit there and say, ‘Oh my god, what an iconic place this is, it’s a real gem, I wish I lived here.’ So we think there is enthusiasm for what it is we want to do because, in truth, it is for a really noble purpose.”

Inspired by the model of the Central Park Conservancy, the group incorporated on June 11 with the intention of helping Waveny “thrive in perpetuity” for all New Canaanites, according to Seelert, through a public-private partnership.

Animal 411

Parks Officials Seek To Ban Dogs from Bristow, Formerly a Bird Sanctuary

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Parks officials want to ban dogs altogether from Bristow Bird Sanctuary, a public park off of 106 that adjoins Mead Park. If the Town Council updates an ordinance that deals with dogs in public parks, then the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control Unit could ticket anyone with a dog in Bristow, even if it’s leashed, members of the Park & Recreation Commission said Wednesday night at their regular monthly meeting. “There are plenty of places for dogs to go in town on leash, so it is not like they would be denied recreational access,” the commission’s chair, Sally Campbell, said during the meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center. The commission had taken up the matter one year ago and, despite reservations from the parks superintendent about how widespread was the desire to ban dogs from Bristow, made a recommendation to the Ordinance Subcommittee of the Town Council. That effort went nowhere.

Government

Coming To Mead: ‘3-Hour Maximum’ Signs To Deter Long-Term Parking

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Commuters, some out-of-state, and guests at nearby condominiums appear to be using Mead Park for long-term parking, prompting the town to take action, officials said Wednesday. Public works has ordered up ‘3-hour maximum parking’ signs and soon will place them throughout Mead in order to empower parking enforcement officers to ticket the violators, members of the Park & Recreation Commission said at their regular monthly meeting. “The cars have three-quarters inches of that stuff coming off of the trees now,” commissioner Andrea Peterson said at the group’s meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center (“pollen,” others supplied). “There are cars that are laden with it.”

“There are cars with New York state plates, cars with Ohio plates. People must have out-of-town guests that just leave their cars there.”

She added: “One of the local condo associations says part of the spiel when you buy a condo is that yes, you can park at Mead.”

Recreation Director Steve Benko clarified that after the Park Mead Condominiums were sold, the new owner limited residents to a single car, “and some people have two cars.”

As a result, those residents at first were told to go park at Mead—a situation that the selectmen have addressed with the condos, Benko said.