Around Town

Police Commission Approves Use of Former ‘Pop Up Park’ for June 4 ‘Art in the Windows’ Kickoff

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The appointed municipal body that oversees road closures in New Canaan this month voted unanimously to approve use of the former “Pop Up Park” area at Elm Street and South Avenue for an all-day art celebration in June. The Police Commission voted 3-0 to approve use of the Pop Up Park from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 4 as a kickoff for the annual Art in the Windows event (rain date June 11). Presented by the Carriage Barn Arts Center and organized in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, the annual exhibit sees dozens of pieces of art work displayed in the windows of downtown stores. 

“It’s just a fabulous event for the town,” Commissioner Shekaiba Bennett said at the group’s March 16 meeting, held via videoconference. 

Bennett, Commission Chair Paul Foley and Secretary Jim McLaughlin voted in favor of the road closure. The event will run through 4 p.m., and will require about one hour for cleanup, according to the organization’s executive director, Hilary Wittmann. Art in the Windows is the Carriage Barn Arts Center’s one big event that’s not at the organization’s headquarters in Waveny “that we do downtown,” Wittmann said.

Chris Hodgson

Police Commission Denies Officer’s Grievance Regarding Compensation

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Town officials during a special meeting last month voted unanimously to deny a grievance brought forward by a police officer regarding compensation. 

Under the contract between the police union and town, “each permanent employee of the department who is injured or disabled in the performance of his or her duties shall be entitled to injury leave with pay less workers’ compensation, from the date of the injury until such time as he or she is able to return to work,” according to a provision cited during a Feb. 23 grievance hearing before the New Canaan Police Commission. According to  John Parlon, a labor specialist for the police union, an injury sustained by Officer David Rivera “has never been disputed.”

“We agree collectively that David was out injured. So what happens when you are out injured, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement? The employer is responsible to make up the difference between the workmen’s comp insurance and his base pay.

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Police Commission: ’There Would be a Lot of Dissent’ To Relocate NCPD Headquarters

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The head of the appointed body that oversees the New Canaan Police Department said at the group’s most recent meeting that its members are eager to move forward with a building project at the current police station site. The Police Commission is aware of significant deficiencies in the current building as-is and “we’re not seeing any other location that makes sense to us, where it should be,” according to Chair Paul Foley said. “And I think there would be a lot of dissent in town to move it onto another location—into the woods or onto a field at Saxe—and the neighbors would like to see it stay where it is, as well,” Foley said during the Commission’s Feb. 16 meeting, held at police headquarters and via videoconference. “And as we suggested in our memo to the town bodies, we would like to keep it in place and then get a deeper dive, a further study, as to either renovate the current building or to tear it down and build a new structure.

Billy MacLeod

Town Rejects Proposed Trial Run for Valet Stand on Forest Street

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Saying they’d heard some voices of opposition from neighbors, members of the Police Commission at their most recent meeting voted unanimously against a proposal to allow a trial-run valet stand on Forest Street. Residents of the Heritage Square condominiums wrote letters opposing a proposal from New Canaan Valet Services to operate a three-space valet stand on the west side of the street, between numbers 20 and 26 Forest St., according to members of the Commission. “I am uncomfortable giving up public property on a public street to a private enterprise,” Chair Paul Foley said during the appointed body’s Nov. 17 meeting. He joined Commissioner Shekaiba Bennett and Secretary Jim McLaughlin in voting 3-0 against a proposal from New Canaan resident Billy MacLeod.

Around Town

‘Good To See It Back’: New Canaan Holiday Stroll Returns Dec. 3 To Elm Street

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Town officials last week voted in favor of closing parts of Elm Street to motor vehicle traffic on Friday, Dec. 3 for the return of a popular kickoff event for the holidays and local shopping. The New Canaan Holiday Stroll returns this year after taking 2020 off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Good to see it back,” Police Commission Chair Paul Foley said during  the appointed body’s Nov. 17 meeting, held at New Canaan Police Department headquarters and via videoconference.