Government

Town Officials Look To Help Motorists Navigate Confusing Traffic Island in Mead Park

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Town officials want to install some type of traffic control measure in Mead Park—signage or possibly painting the road—to help motorists navigate the hugely confusing island near the pond. A ‘Keep Right’ sign should be installed on the traffic island, and ‘Slow’ or ‘15 mph’ should be painted on the road through Mead, according to members of the Park & Recreation Commission subcommittee that helps oversee the popular spot. “I’m not sure what the traffic flow is supposed to be, and I’m pretty sure nobody else does, either,” commissioner Katie Owsley said during the group’s May 11 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. Owsley said she observed numerous cars negotiating the traffic island differently during a recent visit. According to Recreation Director Steve Benko, Mead allowed for two-way traffic up until about 25 years ago, when the town made it one way.

Around Town

New Bocce Courts at Mead Park Receive First Town Approval

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A citizen-led campaign to create public bocce courts in New Canaan received its first formal approval this week, as parks officials green-lighted a plan to install two of them in a largely unused area past the little league fields and kids’ playgrounds at Mead Park. The Park & Recreation Commission voted unanimously to approve the plan first proposed last fall by New Canaanites John Buzzeo and Len Paglialunga, anchors of the morning crew at Dunkin Donuts. “In general it’s a nice social gathering,” John Howe, superintendent of parks for the New Canaan Department of Public Works, told members of the Park & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting Wednesday. The 76-by-13-foot courts are “a good size bocce court for recreational use,” Howe said at the meeting, held in the Lapham Community Center. “They’ll put two of them in, with a five-foot walkway between them and they’d be raised up some.”

The area in question, roughly beyond the left-field fence of Mellick Field and the right-field fence of Gamble Field—formerly site of the horseshoe pits, New Canaanites will recall—slopes somewhat and by raising the courts six inches or so, “we wouldn’t have any drainage issues,” Howe said.

Government

‘It Is An Asset That Sits There Empty’: Parks Officials Eye Expanded Use of Paddle Hut at Waveny

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Calling the “paddle hut” at Waveny a beautiful and underutilized town-owned building that could meet rising demand for special events rental space, parks officials are recommending a cost-benefit analysis of expanding the structure’s use. Available now on weekends only at $25 per hour, new rates for greater use of the renovated building could account for increased staffing and wear-and-tear, according to Park and Recreation Commission Chairman Sally Campbell. “I think it is something that is worth exploring, because it is a town facility and the town would like to use it and if it is priced properly, I think it could be a nice amenity for people in town,” Campbell said during the group’s regular meeting on Nov. 11, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center. “It is a nice building, it is an asset that sits there empty six months of the year and even during the season,” she added.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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We’re hearing that the wonderful New Canaan Beautification League hosted its second annual Mead Park Breakfast on a recent sunny morning, as a way to say ‘Thank You’ to town employees including many DPW crewmen for their support and partnership in making our village lovely throughout the year (see gallery above). The event was held in the colonnade at Mead Park (a popular spot that had been WPA-era children’s wading pool, originally). Recognized at a recent Town Council meeting for its effective local work, the nonprofit organization creates the hanging baskets downtown and manages many of the traffic triangles around New Canaan. “This non-profit organization of volunteers is open to all, whether for social, civic-minded or educational purposes,” league memberts tell us. “No green thumb is necessary.