During a meeting with Millport Apartments residents last week, members of the New Canaan Housing Authority noted that the locals could watch them present to the Town Council meeting on Wednesday on a big building project planned for the public housing complex on Channel 79. A man who lives in a Housing Authority property advised those in attendance: “I’ve seen those Town Council meetings on TV. If you can’t get to sleep, watch five or 10 minutes of those and it will knock you out.”
The Town Council at a July 16 special meeting, held in the Douglas Room at Lapham Community Center. Bill Walbert is third from the right. Credit: Michael Dinan
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Speaking of the Town Council, the group’s gregarious chairman, Bill Walbert, was among those honored Thursday in Stamford as an “influential local community leader” by the Boy Scouts of America at the annual Greater Stamford Good Scout Dinner. We’re hearing that New Canaan had a strong showing at the dinner, anchored in part by longtime Boy Scouts supporter Karl Chevrolet.
Waveny Park on the morning of Oct. 28, 2014. Credit: Michael Dinan
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The Park & Recreation Commission on Wednesday voted 6-1 with one abstention in favor of expanding its support for listing Waveny on the National Register of Historic Places from just Waveny House to the entire park, including grounds and outbuildings. The sole vote against was cast by commissioner Jason Milligan, who said he wanted more information before supporting it. Preservationists had come before Park & Rec in May seeking support for their effort to secure the listing, and got it, though at the time the scope included just Waveny House, not the entire park. A public hearing on the proposed listing was held Nov. 6, and the Town Council is expected to take up the matter at its regular meeting Wednesday.
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A nonprofit group Citizens Campaign for the Environment is canvassing in New Canaan. The organization has notified local police and the Town Clerk’s office about its planned activities, so they may show up in your neighborhood. You can read more about them here.
Top: The nurses from the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, Ward 3 ( Surgical ICU /Recovery)
on Easter 1969. Captain Mary Halverson, is sitting,
from the left, Linda Custer, Dolly Polito, Anne Voigt, Carol Armstrong, and
Linda Lansford. Bottom: Larry Sudweeks in the hospital bed with Linda and Captain
Mary standing by him. Photos courtesy of Anne Voigt
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One of the most moving parts of the Veterans Day ceremony at God’s Acre last week was the story relayed by New Canaan’s Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution Regent Diane Wells (see full text at the bottom of this article), of a Vietnam War veteran reunited with one of the nurses who saved his life during a long stay at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital. The nurse mentioned in the article posted a comment on the story and sent us photos of herself and other nurses as well as the wounded soldier, Larry Sudweeks.
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More contractor signs, in clear violation of New Canaan’s Zoning Regulations, are popping up on Country Club Road (builder) and East Avenue (painter).
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The public hearing for a new accessway—really, the first step in a proposed subdivision—of a Weed Street lot, a project that’s drawn concern from several neighbors, continues at the Inland Wetlands Commission meeting to be held 7 p.m. Monday at the New Canaan Nature Center.
Revised plans submitted Oct. 29—including a revised drainage report—have come into the commission. The revised plans address most of what was raised in a peer review pulled together by a consultant that the neighbors retained. It isn’t clear whether the commission will take up a vote at the end of Monday’s public hearing. In any case, the developers likely face a special condition in their application that would mandate testing for drainage suitability before any construction can start.