Around Town

‘The Best Dad Any Kid Could Ever Ask For’: Family, Friends Gather To Remember Steve Benko

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Lindsay Gardner talked to her dad, Steve Benko, for the last time just a few days before he passed away. 

The two sat in his hospital room, unsure of what to say, Gardner recalled Thursday. “So I asked him, I said, ‘Dad, what do you want us to do?’ We didn’t know what to do. Who knows what to do? This isn’t something we’re groomed for,” Gardner told hundreds of congregants gathered at First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan for Benko’s memorial service, and hundreds more watching a livestream online. “What he told me was, he just wants all of us to go out and be happy.

Board of Selectmen

‘It’s a Lifesaving Issue’: Resident Calls on Town To Increase ‘Dry Hydrant’ Installations

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In the wake of recent fires in New Canaan, including one that will result in the total loss of a home, a longtime resident and local business owner is calling on the town to do more to help firefighters do their jobs. The town in this upcoming budget season should increase the recurring $10,000 set aside annually for installing and repairing “dry hydrants” that tap water supplies such as ponds, pools and streams in areas without water mains or regular fire hydrants, according to Tim Brown. Citing recent house fires including one on Dan’s Highway that rendered a home uninhabitable, Brown told members of the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Tuesday that the town “must do more on their own” help firefighters. “It’s great to have brick sidewalks and nice clocks—I am fully supportive of that—but I think we have to look at some of the outlying areas in the town to do a better job to support taxpayers,” Brown, owner of BTS Insurance, said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I don’t think we do enough.”

He added, “I just think the town needs to address this thing seriously with the effort to give back to the townspeople what they deserve.

Government

First Selectman: New Canaan Achieves High Fire Protection Rating

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said town residents likely will see better fire-related insurance premiums following an even stronger rating of the local fire department. First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said in a press release Tuesday that the town is seeing a “significant upgrade” to its fire protection rating from the Insurance Service Office—a way to measure the emergency response agency’s performance, efficiency and effectiveness based on a set of standards, according to this FEMA-published report. “Less than 1 percent of ISO-rated communities have achieved a rating lower than 4,” he said. New Canaan formerly had been rated 6/9 by ISO, Mallozzi said. The rating company’s citation includes this paragraph, he said: “Improvements in firefighting water supply are the primary reason for the improvement.