Town officials this week approved installation of the temporary ice rink at Waveny for the upcoming season while putting off a decision with respect to allowing food trucks there.
Located on the lot serving the Orchard Field with its two softball diamonds, the open-air rink launched two years ago.
The Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting on Tuesday took up a request to green-light the 2024-25 season as well as a separate request to allow food trucks there to serve skaters and their families.
Saying more information is needed regarding the trucks’ hours of operation in the public park, the selectmen postponed a decision on them.
“We’re approving food trucks a lot these days,” Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And they [food trucks] can be really additive. It’s, ‘What tone do we want?’ We’re not necessarily in [favor of] a restaurant in Waveny.”
First Selectman Dionna Carlson said, “I really don’t feel like we have the information to make a decision.”
Ultimately, the selectmen agreed to set a future special meeting, as needed, to decide on the food trucks. The ice rink’s private organizing group wasn’t at the meeting.
The Board also approved the ice rink group for a Nov. 1 setup.
Parks and Recreation Director John Howe said the group was concerned because last year’s wet fall weather extended the softball season—and attendant use of the lot where the rink sits—by two weeks.
But “softball will be done by November 1st” this year, Howe said.
Carlson, Murphy Carroll and Selectman Steve Karl voted in favor of the rink getting set up.
Karl said the rink “ran well last year.”
“I don’t think we had a lot of complaints last year,” he said. “And, it was a great thing for the community.” Karl added that “the food trucks will allow people to stay longer and have something to eat.”
Yet Howe and Carlson said that recent emails from the ice rink group made no mention of food trucks. (Food trucks have been used in Waveny in the past, though for one-day special events such as the recent Arts Festival or Fourth of July fireworks.)
The selectmen asked whether the ice rink requires a certain temperature to operate (no they could be running now), whether the Department of Public Works provides in-kind support for it (minimal, such as storage) and where the rink is stored in the offseason (Talmadge Hill lot).
Regarding the recent resurfacing of the Orchard Field parking lot—which was made flatter, making it better for the rink—Public Works Director Tiger Mann said that project’s cost to the town didn’t change because of the ice rink.
“It’s pretty much self-sustaining,” Mann said.
I feel we, as a town, could use more of the good flavors, vibes and social magnetic powers of food trucks throughout the year. Pound Ridge has a great thing going all summer long with Food Truck Fridays, and every time we go we can’t help but wonder, in between delicious bites of empanadas and sips of artsy beers and sodas, why not us? With the Library Green, Nature Center, Lumberyard lot, New Canaan Museum & History Society lawn, Pine Street, Irwin Park, Kiwanis, etc, etc, etc., we have plenty of primo locations to have our own food truck party scene anytime we want. Throw in some face painting and live music and you’ve got the modern-day version of a “happening.” The ice rink is a great spot to start. Let’s see where else we can have a wonderful time eating outside.
I agree with Andrew and being at Waveny won’t make the downtown establishments feel like we are taking anything away from them (or I hope they won’t)
Thought Waveny was supposed to be a place without vendors. Slippery slope here with recent approval of TShirt sales, no matter how well-intentioned, to support FCIAC.