Government

Town Pursues Mandatory $20 Per-Player ‘Fields Usage’ Fee from Private Youth Sports Groups

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Seeking insight into the true membership numbers and financials of private organizations that run youth sports in New Canaan, town officials plan next year to make mandatory a $20 per-player “fields usage” fee. Led by Park & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell and Selectman Nick Williams and launched through the Youth Sports Committee, the move is designed, in part, to usher New Canaan toward a system where basic upkeep of playing fields is accounted for through above-the-line payments rather than private contributions. In the past, the town had no oversight of the financials of groups that oversee sports such as youth football, lacrosse, baseball, soccer and field hockey, Campbell said during the committee’s Jan. 29 meeting. As a result, she said, “we had groups that ended up having big cash reserves because they were collecting fees way in excess of what they needed to use.”

“So our point to them was, look, you know parents aren’t going to question the fee—because they want their kid to participate, they want them to make the A team and nobody would question it,” Campbell said at the meeting, held in the Art Room at Lapham Community Center.

Around Town

Parks Officials Set Proposed Fees, Plan Upgrades to Waveny Pool

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Hoping more residents buy family (versus individual) passes for Waveny Pool as officials plan several new features and upgrades at the facility, the Park & Recreation Commission on Wednesday voted in favor of a new slate of fees for the 2015 season. The fee for regular family passes will come down from $475 to $425, under the proposed structure, while passes that allow for daily use and guests will go up, under the commission’s plan. The changes are designed to lure families to purchase season passes rather than mixing and matching daily and guest passes to save money. “It sounds by looking at everything that people were gaming the system by buying this [individual daily pass] and then bringing in people as guests for $5,” Commission Chair Sally Campbell said at the group’s meeting, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. Here’s a look at the proposed fee schedule, compared to last year:

 

The Waveny Pool financially must self-sustain, and the commission all through last summer had believed that revenues, though up from the prior year, still fell short of projections—a difficult prospect, given what recreation officials have called a sorely needed plaster replacement job.

Government

Rec Director on Waveny Caffeine & Carburetors: ‘It Went Very Well’

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The first New Canaan gathering of classic and specialty auto enthusiasts to be held somewhere other than the downtown—the Oct. 19 event at Waveny—went “very well” and “people seemed to enjoy themselves,” the head of the Recreation Department said Wednesday night. Caffeine & Carburetors’ debut at New Canaan’s treasured park saw cars “in a nice orderly manner on the roads, the parking lot, around the front circle of the house,” Steve Benko said at the regular meeting of the Park & Recreation Commission meeting, during the first public postmortem of the 3.5-hour event. “I didn’t see any issues or problems,” he said at the meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center. “Doug [Zumbach] and his crew stayed after to pick up signs and pick up garbage.

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.

News

Expanding, Popular Youth Sports Programs Vie for Time on Lighted Fields

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So many sports teams in New Canaan use the town’s playing fields—including increasingly diversified and popular rec, private and multi-town travel programs—that it’s hard to accommodate every group seeking time under the lights in the evening, officials say. The difficulty is exacerbated with shorter days in the fall, according to members of a Board of Selectmen-appointed panel responsible for oversight of youth sports in town. For example, the dads who coach in the youth football and flag football programs often can’t get to New Canaan High School’s fields until after work, about 6 p.m., less than one hour before sunset, Recreation Director Steve Benko said during Monday’s meeting of the Youth Sports Committee. That its coaches are dads gives a football program less flexibility than, say, the New Canaan Soccer Association teams, which are coached by professionals with more availability earlier in the day, Benko said. “We cannot accommodate their [the NCSA’s] whole program” after dark, Benko said during the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.