Government

‘It Has Been Cold’: Low Temps Delay Prep, Opening of Playing Fields

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This spring’s lingering low temperatures have delayed the town’s work in preparing and opening some of New Canaan’s playing fields, the parks superintendent said Wednesday night. John Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting that he “can’t remember that we have ever been this late still painting the fields for the first time and opening them up.”

“A few warm days are going to help but next week temperatures are going to go back down,” he said. After another dip down into the 30s on Sunday, the National Weather Service is calling for temps to linger in the 50s this week during the day and dip back into the 30s at night. Even with the unseasonably cold weather, “We are getting there slowly,” Howe said at the meeting, held in Lapham Community Center. “I talked to the contractor that does our spring clean for the tennis courts and they are still slated for the beginning of May, so we should be good there,” he added, referring to the clay courts at Mead Park.

Animal 411

Local Woman To Place ‘Shame on You’ Flags on Deserted Dog Feces in Irwin Park

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Parks officials on Wednesday night heard from a New Canaan woman who has a new idea for shaming those who walk dogs in Irwin Park and leave the animals’ feces behind, a continual problem that’s reared up recently. Jean Scheidl said she would plant 4-by-6-inch vinyl ‘Shame On You’ flags on each individual pile of excrement left at the popular park in order to send a message to the irresponsible dog owners who leave them. At last count, Scheidl said she spotted and a photographed 31 such messes on and around the Flexi-pave walk around the park’s perimeter. “I think something has to be done because it is not pleasant, it really isn’t,” Scheidl told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “I think when people come back and see that it is not right then they maybe will stop doing it,” she said.

Around Town

Parks Officials: Mead Pond Now Open for Ice Skating

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Parks officials said they opened Mead Pond for skating on Monday afternoon and plan to blow snow off of the ice starting Tuesday morning. The pond now has eight inches of ice, according to Parks Superintendent John Howe—that’s more than enough to satisfy the town’s insurer that it’s safe to for skating. “We’ll go out with snowblowers [on Tuesday], and what we’ll do is keep making the skating area bigger and bigger,” Howe told NewCanaanite.com. Mill Pond, which has far faster-moving water underneath and takes longer to freeze over, will not be cleared off for skating or opened, Howe said. As reported last week, the sustained cold temperatures of recent days opened the possibility that New Canaan would see skating at Mead Pond for the first time in three years and just the third time in 10 years.

Around Town

Parks Officials Hope To Open Mead Pond for Ice Skating This Week

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Town officials say they’re hoping this week to take steps that will make it safe to skate at Mead Pond. Though the pond has just four inches of ice right now—whereas the town’s insurer requires six inches in order to open skating to the public—Parks Superintendent John Howe said he’s hoping to clear its surface of snow and add a layer of water to the top in order to create the requisite thickness. “A little bit of snow on top of the ice works as an insulating blanket, so it keeps the cold air from getting to the ice and freezing through,” Howe told NewCanaanite.com. “So our intention is to put some water on it [on Wednesday] and flood it. That will accomplish two things: We’ll get rid of the snow and let the ice form up instead of down.”

“My hope is that there will be skating by the end of the week,” he added.

Government

‘An Amazing, Amazing Six Years’: Emotional Farewell for Board of Selectmen at Final Meeting

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Wednesday morning’s Board of Selectmen meeting—typically a workmanlike affair, with approvals of tree removal contracts and reviews of how the pavement is faring on local roads—saw multiple department heads offering heartfelt thanks to the three town officials gathered at the dais for the final time. This week’s election signaled the end of the board composed for six years of First Selectman Rob Mallozzi and Selectmen Beth Jones and Nick Williams.

“Yours was my fourth administration and for the past six years, I have found your board to be the most collegial, congenial and decent one yet,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said after the selectmen approved the purchase of a pickup truck from Karl Chevrolet. “Things won’t be the same. It has been a pleasure.”

During the meeting, held at Town Hall, Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering-Jones thanked the board for “a great few years” and Parks Superintendent John Howe said, “Thank you for six years of wonderful cooperation.”

Jones and Mallozzi did not seek re-election, he after a narrow loss at the Republican caucus in July. Williams earned 3,827 votes on Tuesday and will join Kevin Moynihan and Kit Devereaux on a newly configured board, as first selectman and selectman, respectively.