Town officials say that New Canaan is seeing an unusually high number of requests from residents who purchase honorific or memorial benches dedicated to loved ones.
Typically, the Department of Public Works receives donations from locals who purchase benches and then the town itself assembles and places them in a location that makes sense—for example, in a park.
This year, “we’ve actually had more than we normally have,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
The benches in public places—which are consistent throughout New Canaan, following a Parks & Recreation Commission initiative in 2018—cost about $1,700 each and are purchased through a Gaithersburg, Md.-based company called Country Casual Teak, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their April 15 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
Normally, the town’s highest elected official, First Selectman Dionna Carlson, approves the purchases herself because the total comes to less than $10,000.
Yet “we are actually tripping past the $10,000 mark” now, Mann said.
He asked the selectmen for an increase in available purchases from Country Casual up to $18,000
Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the increase.
Parks & Recreation Director John Howe noted that Parks & Rec addressed an issue several years ago when “we had different benches everywhere.”
The new system “works out well,” he said.
“We vet what’s going to be on the bench for engraving and also the location and having the same standard good quality bench, it works very well,” Howe said.
The selectmen asked how long the benches typically last (10-plus years) and how many benches currently are located on town property (not sure).
Howe noted that the town pressure-washes and seals each bench every three years.
“We collect them, bring them in,” he said. “We pressure wash them, usually let them sit for over a week to dry back out before we put the sealant on and then relocate.”
Carlson asked whether there’s a maximum number of benches that the town can service for the community.
“We are adding labor and time to our department, our Parks Department,” she said. “And I think it’s really lovely to do this, but at some point, it could get cluttered.”
Howe noted that some benches break to the point where they’re beyond repair and said, “So far we haven’t had a problem picking locations.”
“It’s not like we’re bringing them in all the time,” Howe said. “I don’t think in the near future—and I mean 10, 15 years—we’re going to see where we have too many benches. Every now and then we run into a problem with somebody saying, ‘No, it really can’t go there.’ But that’s rare.”