Government

Returning Nonresident Families To Get ‘First Refusal’ for Limited Steve Benko Pool Passes

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The town is changing how out-of-town families acquire passes to the Steve Benko Pool, officials say. Nonresident families are charged far more (up to $1,450 per season this year) for passes to the popular Waveny facility than New Canaan families (at $455 as of 2020), and the number of passes issued to out-of-town families has always been capped. In the past, nonresident families also have had to reapply for a pass each year through a lottery system. This year, “we’re giving the people that were members last year first refusal,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. 

“Just so that the family comes, they have a great time, they don’t have to go back into the lottery,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their Feb. 11 meeting, held at Lapham Center and via videoconference.

Claire Drexler

Parks & Rec Approves Oct. 18 ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Show at Waveny

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Town officials last week approved the use of New Canaan’s most popular park for a car show in the fall. 

“Caffeine & Carburetors,” a locally founded auto show featuring antique and specialty cars, is on track to be held Sunday, Oct. 18 at Waveny, following a unanimous vote by the Parks & Recreation Commission. “This is a great program for New Canaan,” Commissioner Hank Green said during the appointed body’s Jan. 14 meeting, held at the Lapham Center and via videoconference. C&C Director of Business Development Claire Drexler noted that the 2025 Waveny event raised $27,000 for the Waveny Park Conservancy after netting $24,000 for the nonprofit organization the prior year.

Government

‘We Think a Lot of the Misuse Will Stop’: New Fob Entry System Coming to Spencer’s Run Jan. 6

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Parks officials are preparing to activate a new entry/exit system for the dog park in Waveny to ensure that those using the facility are registered to do so. So far this year, where a punch-in code is required to enter Spencer’s Run, the dog park has just 175 dogs who are newly registered or renewed to use it—about 53% of them New Canaan residents. That’s compared to more than 400 registered dogs in the past, according to Parks & Recreation Commissioner Susan Lione. The new system will see users scan a town-issued fob to enter and exit. “We are hoping with the new lock, we will be able to track people and people will be registered, the number of people that are actually using it,” Lione said during the Commission’s regular meeting, held Nov.

Government

‘Probably the Worst Year’: Irrigation System Failure Affects Mead Park Tennis Courts

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Town officials say an unforeseen problem with a new irrigation system left the popular clay courts at Mead Park in poor condition this summer, though they’re expected to be back up to snuff in the fall. This was “probably the worst year, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve had with conditions, barring the years we didn’t open until June,” Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said of the courts. 

Addressing the Parks & Recreation Commission at its Sept. 10 meeting, he continued: “We ran into a few problems. With the new irrigation system that went into Mead Park … when they put it in, the pump controls went down. This caused us a lot of headaches. Conditions that weren’t great.

Government

Parks & Rec Approves Design for New ‘Waveny Playground’

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The Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday night voted unanimously in favor of the proposed design and layout of a widely anticipated playground at Waveny. Funded by private donors, the town and a state grant, the Waveny Playground will be set in a rectangle in the same area the new fitness area at the park, across the lot from the soccer fields and Orchard softball field. To be constructed next spring, the new playground will feature a main component that incorporates slides, climbing objects, sensory objects, swings, railings, musical instruments and more, according to Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo, who presented to the Commission with members of the Waveny Playground Committee. “It creates a little bit of everything to be inclusive,” Restivo said at Parks & Rec’s regular meeting, held at Lapham Center and via videoconference. Waveny Playground Committee members are Monica Capela, Lauren Connolly Nussbaum, Hilary Ormond and Meredith Tobitsch.