Around Town

Wildflower Power: New Canaan Garden Club Plans a ‘Mose Meadow’ for Irwin Park

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New Canaanites will recall how the town received a wonderful gift of pink, yellow, purple and blue this past summer. By the end of July, cars were pulling over on Parade Hill Road to photograph the wildflower meadow (see slideshow above) planted in a disused patch of land off of Route 123. A creation of DPW Highway Superintendent Mose Saccary (a Center School alumnus) and his crew, the suddenly and dramatically transformed roadside parcel earned high praise from New Canaan’s experts in lovely plants. This week, some of those same experts—notably, Caroline Garrity, president of the New Canaan Garden Club and Katie Stewart, a member—received permission from parks officials to create what hopefully will be a similarly spectacular and deeply appreciated wildflower meadow at Irwin Park. “Mose has tried different things there [at Route 123 and Parade Hill Road], and this summer he had great success,” Stewart told the Park & Recreation Commission Wednesday at the group’s regular meeting, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center.

Government

New Canaan Y Proposes ‘Bubbling’ Waveny Pool for Use Next Winter

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Saying the “bubbling” of Waveny Pool for winter use next year would serve high school as well as New Canaan YMCA swimmers, minimize schedule disruptions and keep competitive swim team families here in town, Y officials on Wednesday night formally introduced the idea of installing a heated temporary dome over the outdoor pool while their South Avenue facility undergoes major renovation. The Y would cover all capital costs associated with the “bubble” and provide for heated locker room and bathroom/shower facilities—whether by winterizing the Waveny Pool’s existing locker rooms or through trailers, Executive Director Craig Panzano told the Park & Recreation Commission at its regular monthly meeting. “I think the key word here tonight is ‘temporary,’ ” Panzano said at the meeting, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. “We are not trying to do anything permanent. We just want a temporary solution.”

The Y plans to break ground on its renovation project (details here) next September.

Around Town

Y Exploring Options for Displaced Swimmers-To-Be, including Waveny Pool

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One option that the New Canaan YMCA is exploring for its high-performing swimmers next winter (that’s 2015-16)—as a widely anticipated expansion project gets underway and the facility’s pools are not usable—is having the team work out of the nearby outdoor pool at Waveny, town parks officials say. Temporarily “bubbling” and otherwise cold weather-proofing the Waveny Pool during its usual offseason is something the Y is starting to look into, Park & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell said at the group’s most recent meeting. “They’re good citizens of the town, they serve a lot of people in the town and I think we owe it to them [to hear them out],” Campbell said the July 9 meeting, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. Asked about the idea, YMCA Vice President of Financial Development, Marketing, and Strategic Initiatives Kristina Barrett said in an email: “Yes, we are exploring options for where swimmers, including the high school team, will go during construction. We are taking every effort to minimize any inconvenience to our members and would be happy to work with Parks & Rec to explore any solutions they might have.”

Town planning officials in April approved the Y’s expansion plans (on 33 conditions).

Around Town

Resident Family Passes for Waveny Pool Down, Revenue Shortfall Projected

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New Canaan this summer has seen far more residents purchase daily passes for the Waveny Pool than in years past, yet fewer are buying the more expensive season passes, prompting parks officials to look at ways they might boost revenue for the self-sustaining facility. Members of the Park and Recreation Commission at the group’s regular meeting Wednesday night agreed that they must plan to have enough money in reserve to pay for a new plaster lining for the pool. One estimate puts that project at $140,000. What isn’t clear yet is just what condition the Waveny Pool’s plaster is in—in other words, how soon it absolutely must be replaced—or whether it could be done less expensively. Recreation Director Steve Benko said the life of a marble-like plaster pool surface is eight to 10 years, noting that the Waveny Pool lining is 13 years old.

Around Town

Town: Some Still Taking Mulch from Lapham Road

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Though New Canaan last year relocated the town’s mulch pile from Lapham Road to the Transfer Station (to prevent contractors from hauling off with the valuable material), some residents are still ducking into the original site to take pails of it home, officials say. There haven’t been any complaints about the practice and it hasn’t gotten out of hand—likely because it’s physically very demanding, said Tiger Mann, assistant director of the Department of Public Works. “They’re carrying trashcans full of compost in and out because there’s a gate, and that gets old after a while, so you can imagine they’re not carrying much,” Mann said. “It’s a 5-gallon pail kind of thing, no big deal.”

The town carts mulch from Lapham up to the Lakeview Avenue facility—where officials can ensure that only New Canaanites are getting at it—and the change has worked out well. Contractors are no longer taking it.