David Rucci

St. Mark’s: We’re Not Ready Yet To Support ‘The Oenoke’ Senior Housing Complex

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Though supportive of Waveny LifeCare Network and of expanding local housing options for seniors, a representative from one prominent Oenoke Ridge neighbor of a proposed housing complex said the organization is not yet ready to support the project. Though Waveny asked St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for a letter of support to include in its Aug. 28 application to the Planning & Zoning Commission, the church has “some significant concerns about the CCRC project and numerous unanswered questions,” Director of Operations Jill Sautkulis said in a letter to the town planner. 

The letter, sent Aug. 22, is included in the public file for The Oenoke, a proposed 70-unit senior housing complex that would face Oenoke Ridge from part of a combined 3.5-acre parcel south of the May Fair field.

Allyson Halm

Police Bring Abandoned Bunny to ‘Blessing of the Animals’ at St. Mark’s

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Police say they found a neglected rabbit abandoned near the town dump last week. Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, said she picked up the one-year-old female bunny on Oct. 1 on Lincoln Drive. 

The animal was “found hiding behind a resident’s garbage cans, thin and matted,” Halm said. On Sunday, Animal Control Officer Jillian Bosch brought the bunny to the Blessing of the Animals at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

Around Town

PHOTOS: May Fair 2017

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Friday Night Lights proved an ideal time to attend New Canaan’s annual May Fair due to an early closure caused by rainy weather on Saturday. Children and adults of all ages gathered at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to go on rides and eat a variety of the fair’s classic foods ranging from hot dogs and pizza to cotton candy and ice cream. Kit Devereaux, one of May Fair’s organizers, said Saturday’s rain had a positive effect on the fair insofar as it brought crowds in earlier. “Friday Night Lights, in its third year, was the most successful we’ve ever had,” she told NewCanaanite.com.

Around Town

New Canaan Promotes ‘Tech-Free Family Time’ through ’30 Days of Family’

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Town and local nonprofit officials are urging New Canaan families this month to unplug their mobile devices and spend more time communicating directly with each other. The Department of Human Services-led “30 Days of Family” initiative this year has taken up “tech-free family time” as its motto. Unplugging forces family members to talk to each other “with their voices and spend quality time making eye contact and practicing listening skills,” according to Jacqueline D’Louhy, the department’s coordinator of youth and family services. “Think about how much teens ‘talk’ to each other electronically,” D’Louhy said. “Sometimes they’ll be sitting in the same room but never utter a word to one another.

Government

Town Renews Lease with St. Mark’s for Food Pantry through Year’s End; Facility May Be Relocated To Publicly Owned Building in Future

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New Canaan’s food pantry, long operated out of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, may be relocated to a town-owned building following a report due at summer’s end, officials said. A newly appointed committee is studying the condition, needs and uses of 40-plus publicly owned buildings, and the food pantry may at some point move to one of them “that may be under-utilized,” according to First Selectman Rob Mallozzi. “That will be determined as we look at our buildings and what we have,” Mallozzi said during a special meeting Tuesday of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall. “I will heave that in other hands for the time being.”

The comments came as the selectmen approved unanimously a $1,250-per-month lease with St.