Government

Parks Officials Weigh Plan To Restrict Drone Operators To Mulch Area Off Lapham Road

By |

Saying that drone flying at Waveny is growing more popular and intense, parks officials are considering further restrictions on just where and when people can use of the remote controlled devices there. Last summer, the town adopted a recommendation from the Parks & Recreation Commission to permit drones at Waveny Park only, and to require that users join the venerable New Canaan Radio Controlled Society or ‘NCRCS.’ Under that group’s rules, drone flying is relegated to an approximately 50-by-90-yard area near where Lapham Road comes to the main road through Waveny, and hours vary by season. Yet since requiring that drone operators join the NCRCS, 25 people have signed up—all but five of them nonresidents—and they’re now racing and flying the propeller-powered aircraft through gates staked in the grass, commissioners said at their most recent meeting. Chairman Sally Campbell said she and commissioner Kit Devereaux have spent the past few months trying to answer this question: “Is there a site in town that we could designate just for drone-specific activity?”

“I feel very strongly that part of the park we have always felt it was the passive part of the park,” Campbell said at the April 19 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “The active part of the park is on one side, where the fields are and the playground and whatever, and that side has always been passive and we never allow games there, we do not have tournaments.

Government

Town To Vote Tuesday on Contract for Elm-to-Irwin Sidewalk; Dog Waste a Persistent Problem at Park

By |

Town officials on Tuesday will vote on whether to approve a $127,748 contract with a Norwalk-based construction company to create a long-discussed new sidewalk that will run from the top of Elm Street to the entrance of Irwin Park. Approved by the Town Council in the fall, the sidewalk will be anchored by crosswalks at either end and run about 5,000 feet along the west side of Weed Street. About six trees fronting the road have been tagged for removal. The Board of Selectmen at its March 21 meeting will vote on a contract between the town’s Department of Public Works and M. Rondano Construction. Meanwhile, parks officials say they’re facing a recurring and persistent problem at Irwin: Dog waste.

Around Town

Facility, Furniture and Landscaping Improvements Coming to Waveny Pool This Summer

By |

Waveny Pool in the 2017 season will see facility upgrades, new furniture, improved landscaping and schedule adjustments designed to meet the wishes of permit-holders who go there through the summer months, officials said. Town officials are addressing concerns about muggy locker rooms and privacy in bathrooms, and the fees generated by the sale of permits also are funding the purchase of new umbrellas and chairs, according to Sally Campbell, chair of the Parks & Recreation Commission. A committee that helps oversee Waveny Pool has met five times since last season and “we have made extensive list and I think we have made huge progress and it’s just going to be great,” Campbell said during the group’s regular meeting, held March 8 at Lapham Community Center. “The big complaints were that the bathroom doors didn’t close, it was too muggy in the locker room and they felt it should be cleaned more. And Steve [Benko] was able to address all of those, and so I think this year people are going to be able to have a much better experience.