Caffeine & Carburetors

Parks & Rec Chair: We Need a Formal Parking Plan Before Approving October ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ at Waveny

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Saying they’re concerned about pedestrian safety, town officials on Wednesday night called for the organizer of a popular car enthusiast gathering to be held Oct. 20 at Waveny to ensure that a footpath running along the main road through the park is clear. 

If the Caffeine & Carburetors exhibitor cars are parked on one side of the footpath only, then visitors who wander through the popular show that Sunday will be less likely to walk in the road, according to members of the Parks & Recreation Commission. “If you can get the cars to park so that the path accessible that would be great, because that would change entirely what happened with all the pedestrians in the road,” Commissioner Francesca Segalas said at the group’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. It isn’t clear which side of the pedestrian path is to be left clear—parks officials couldn’t agree on that—but Caffeine & Carburetors founder Doug Zumbach agreed to work with Recreation Director Steve Benko, Parks Superintendent John Howe and Commissioner Matt Konspore on a parking plan. Parks & Rec Chair Sally Campbell said the Commission would take a vote on whether to recommend the Oct.

Government

Selectmen Approve New Slate of Fees for 2019 Waveny Pool Passes

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday unanimously approved a new slate of fees for the Waveny Pool. While rates for season passes will hold at $455 for New Canaan families, the out-of-town rate will increase $25 to $1,225 for nonresident families, under the new slate. As in years past, a total of 100 nonresident family passes will be sold following a lottery. 

Here’s a look at the fees:

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted in favor of the slate during their regular Board meeting, held at Town Hall. Recreation Director Steve Benko said one change to pool passes will be that a 10-ticket book of guest cards will be sold to residents for $80 versus a 15-ticket book, because it appeared at the end of the 2018 season that most people who purchased the book did not use all 15 tickets. 

The town-owned, self-sustaining Waveny Pool is open each year from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Williams called the pool “a great story” and said Benko and Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell “deserve a lot of credit” for coming to the town with a plan to put it on firm financial footing.

Board of Selectmen

Recreation Seeks $50,000 To Light Second Girls’ Softball Field at Waveny

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Participation in New Canaan softball has grown so much in recent years that in order to provide adequate practice time, a second field at Waveny should get lights for this coming fall season, officials said last week. The organization that runs youth programs here, New Canaan Softball, has already raised $75,000 to light what’s known as the “Water Tower field,” and the Recreation Department is requesting an additional $50,000 from the town during this budget season. New Canaan Softball is anticipating 240 girls in the program this year, up from 90 just five years ago, Recreation Director Steve Benko told members of the Board of Selectmen during a budget hearing held Thursday at Town Hall. 

Joined by Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell, Benko said girls’ softball in New Canaan “has seen a metamorphosis.”

“There’s interest in it and they need more field space,” Benko said. “And one problem is with the coaches’ availability, because they are all volunteer coaches, is the time to practice is in the evening. And we can use the Orchard Field until 9 o’clock at night, but the other field, the Water Tower field, there was approval for the lights and they are willing to raise money for the lights, and to have that second field lit to give them addition time for practices, it would help the overall program now that the numbers are going up, which is a great thing.”

The $50,000 capital request is part of the overall $271,500 that Recreation is seeking for fiscal year 2020.

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Meet Jack Hawkins, the Newest Member of the Parks & Recreation Commission

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The newest member of the town body responsible for advising on public parks and recreational facilities is a commissioned officer with the Army National Guard who has lived in New Canaan for three years. Jack Hawkins introduced himself during the Parks & Recreation Commission’s most recent meeting, noting that he has “moved all around throughout my entire life” between the military and school, though his wife is native of the region. “She is from Manhattan and we have a daughter, she is three years old and we moved to town three years ago,” Hawkins said during the Commission’s Dec. 12 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. 

“So we were looking around—I am kind of analytical, a finance guy—and we were looking around and studying different towns, and we found New Canaan, and the more and more we got to know it, the more we loved it. I’m a frequent user of the parks and recreation, especially with young kids and being in the military and having to live up to our physical fitness standards.”

Hawkins has been appointed to a seat that had been held by longtime Commissioner Jason Milligan, who stepped down, Chair Sally Campbell said.

Gene Goodman

Parks Officials: Extensive Restoration, Reimagining of Waveny Pond, Environs Is Near

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A nonprofit organization dedicated to Waveny is moving forward with plans to improve the pond at the bottom of the sledding hill and surrounding area, parks officials said last week. A centerpiece of the Waveny Park Conservancy’s master plan, the pond restoration project requires both state and federal approval, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. The town is funding a $170,000 dredge of Waveny Pond, and the Conservancy is committing an additional $150,000 “to go in and take out the understory and overgrown vines” from both sides of the pond on the approach from the main house, Benko said during a regular meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. A new trail will be installed around the left-hand side of the pond on that approach, a project that will include removal of dead trees, brush and vines, Benko said at the Dec. 12 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. 

“It will really enhance the view of the pond as you walk down that path,” he said.