Government

Parks Officials Propose New Rental Rates for Waveny House

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Saying rental rates at Waveny House have fallen out-of-line with similar area facilities and require seasonal flexibility, parks officials last week voted unanimously to recommend a new slate of fees. Whereas rates for several years have been fixed at $2,650 for non-residents and $1,500 for residents, the Parks & Recreation Commission at its Jan. 11 meeting voted I favor of the following schedule:

 

In addition to those fees, a rental of the “walled garden” area would be available for $350 under the proposed rates, up from $250. The town should be drawing as much money as possible in renting out the facility, according to Gene Goodman, who drew up the proposed rates with help from fellow Parks & Rec commissioner Katie Owsley. “We should be maximizing the revenue,” Goodman said at the meeting, held at Lapham Community Center.

Around Town

‘A Marvelous Destination’: Waveny Park Conservancy Pursues Project at Cornfields; Tailgate Fundraiser To Be Held Saturday

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An unsightly clearing in the southeastern corner of Waveny, laden with an invasive grass species grown out of the dredged material that in recent years has been piled there, is to be transformed into a newly landscaped and inviting destination, according to a nonprofit organization that’s taken on the restoration and beautification of the park. Known as “the cornfields”—a name that recalls Waveny’s pre-Lapham agricultural roots—the long-untouched area in recent years and until last summer had served as a sort of storage and staging ground for what had been dredged from Mill and Mead Ponds. Under a new plan developed by the Waveny Park Conservancy—and backed financially by a foundation established by a generous, recently deceased New Canaanite—the area “will become more of a meadow,” said Bob Seelert, chairman of the conservancy’s board. “It will be a marvelous destination spot, and in that regard, quite frankly, when you talk about continuing to inspire and serve the people of New Canaan forever, this is a transformational kind of destination spot.”

One of the first five projects taken on by the conservancy—projects that undergo the required town approval process prior to any physical work, though they’re funded through the nonprofit organization—the reimagining of the cornfields complements and is tied inextricably to a major plan to restore and beautify the Waveny Pond nearby (at the bottom of the sledding hill). In order to do that work, the conservancy is relying on New Canaanites who enjoy Waveny to support the organization through donations—see details below of its first major fundraiser, to be held Saturday.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Fire Company #1 recognized members of the volunteer company as well as career staff for excellence in service to their community at the 135th Annual Dinner, held Friday night at Waveny House. Scroll through the gallery above for photos of award recipients, and other photos, in this week’s DYH gallery. ***

In opinions published this week in the Connecticut Law Journal, the state Supreme Court reinstated a second-degree breach of peace charge against Teri Buhl, a New Canaan woman who had been convicted of the misdemeanor offense (as well as a second-degree harassment charge), and later had it overturned in a state appellate court. Briefly, police arrested Buhl after determining that she had harassed a New Canaan teen—the daughter of a man she was dating at the time—in part through use of a fake Facebook account. An Appellate Court in initially overturning the breach of peace conviction “concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support her breach of the peace conviction because the state had not proven that the Facebook posts were publicly exhibited.” Yet the state Supreme Court disagreed with that assessment. Its opinion states: “We further conclude that the breach of the peace conviction must be reinstated because the trial court reasonably could have found that the state had met its burden of proving the other elements of the crime at trial, namely, that: (1) the defendant was the person who posted M’s diary entries on Facebook; and (2) the defendant intended to ‘inconvenience, [annoy] or alarm’ [the teenage girl] by posting her diary entries on Facebook.” See PDF below for the court’s full decision.

Government

Town Commissions Study To Determine Levels of Pollutants in Waveny House

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Officials on Tuesday approved about $6,000 for tests that will help make clear the extent of pollutants such as asbestos and lead in Waveny House. Most of the pollutants at Waveny are relegated to the basement because of its heating system and pipes, where “huge water tanks” are wrapped in asbestos, according to Bill Oestmann, buildings superintendent with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. The town as it looks at restoring the infrastructure at Waveny House should consider alternative heating sources to the steam pipes used now so that there’s no need to trigger abatement work by entering an area with contaminants, Oestmann told the Board of Selectmen during the group’s regular meeting. “As far as dollars go, this study will hopefully get us some estimates,” Oestmann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. The study, from Meriden-based EnviroMed Services, will cost about $5,520 and the selectman approved a contract for it 3-0 with $800 contingency.

Government

Town Approves $120,500 Contract for Waveny House Roof Repair

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New Canaan is entering a $120,500 contract with a White Plains, N.Y.-based architectural firm as it pursues a much-needed repair of the roof at Waveny House. The 14,000-square-foot roof has been leaking, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings and fleet with the town’s Department of Public Works. “Replacing the concrete that the roof is made of would be very difficult and expensive,” Oestmann told the Board of Selectmen at their regular monthly meeting on May 17. “We’re actually going to be using lumber to repair failed sections of the roof.”

The town is retaining the services of KSQ Architects—the same firm that worked on the Town Hall renovation and expansion—for the job. The $120,500 figure covers plans, specifications, administrative fees and $10,500 in contingency.