Three-Week Road Closure Planned for Downtown

Parts of Locust Avenue and Main Street will be closed at night as part of a three-week project slated for April, officials say. Eversource’s work on Locust from the area of Forest up to Main, and then down Main to East Avenue, is expected to start around 9 p.m. and continue until about 5 a.m., according to Project Manager Charlie Frangis. “Since it’s at night it will be less of an imposition but we just want to detour traffic, including trucks, either through or around the construction site,” Frangis told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting, held Jan. 20 via videoconference. 

The state requires a letter from the town’s local traffic authority (the Commission) for Eversource to do its work. Commission Chair Paul Foley, Secretary Jim McLaughlin and member Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 to approve the necessary road closures and detours, contingent on including New Canaan Fire Department officials being included in the planning.

NCPD

Police: Shotguns Stolen from Unlocked Vehicle

Police say they’re investigating the theft of shotguns last week from an unlocked vehicle in New Canaan. Chief Leon Krolikowski said during Wednesday night’s regular meeting of the Police Commission that the theft comes one month after four firearms were stolen from a vehicle on Michigan Road. “That is a tremendous concern, safety issue for me,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “I am also reaching out to our state legislators to change the law related to the safe storage of firearms. Right now it applies only to pistols and revolvers in vehicles. It doesn’t apply to rifles and shotguns.

Town Officials Approve Christmas Eve Road Closure by Congregational Church

Town officials voted unanimously Wednesday night to close Park Street in front of the Congregational Church to motor vehicle traffic for five hours on Christmas Eve. Though traditional caroling at God’s Acre is canceled this year amid the COVID-19 virus pandemic, the church is holding four outdoor worship services starting at 4 p.m. Congregants will gather under a tent, observing six feet of social distancing and wearing masks. The Police Commission voted 3-0 in favor of closing the street there starting at 3:30 p.m. for the safety of attendees. “There will be no caroling, no singing, we are all going to stay in line with the governor’s requests and keep the crowds down, keep the social distancing up,” Chair Paul Foley said during the Commission’s meeting, held via videoconference. “But when you are kind of milling around there in the dark it will be nice to have that street closed so that no one gets clipped by a car coming through too fast.”

Foley and Commissioners Jim McLaughlin and Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 in favor of the road closure.

Police Commission Votes 3-0 To Extend Outdoor Dining Set-Ups Through Dec. 31

Members of the Police Commission voted unanimously this month to allow restaurants to keep their altered outdoor dining set-ups—where tables are pushed out onto sidewalks and new pedestrian access ways are created in the street—through year’s end. Created in May and extended periodically since then, the temporary sidewalk and parking configurations on Main, Elm and Forest Streets are designed to give additional outdoor dining space to restaurants that have been under changing capacity restrictions since the onset of COVID-19 virus. (Currently, under the governor’s order, they’re allowed no more than 50% capacity total between indoor and outdoor dining.)

Police Commission Chair Paul Foley, Secretary Jim McLaughlin and member Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 in favor of the extension during the Nov. 18 meeting, held via videoconference. Chef Luke Venner of elm restaurant, a guest at the meeting, said “anything helps at this point for us.”

“I think we had looked into the idea of having some sort of enclosure but at this point in the game I don’t know if that makes sense,” he said.

New Canaan Police Commissioner Pushes for Hardline Prosecution of Car Thieves

Those caught after breaking into or stealing cars from New Canaan typically get off easy since their cases are classified as property rather than violent crimes, officials said this week. It’s rare for car thieves to go to jail, New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said Wednesday. “Usually they’ll get released and it’s kind of a revolving door,” Krolikowski said during a regular meeting of the Police Commission, in response to a question about the thefts. “Lots of times they get arrested multiple times. I’ve heard of cases where people have been arrested dozens of times and the people still aren’t in jail.