Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve $9,000 Contract for New Furniture at Senior Center

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Town officials last week approved an approximately $9,000 contract with a Wallingford-based for new furniture at the local senior center. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the $9,166.10 contract for new chairs and tables from INSALCO Corporation. 

Recreation Director Steve Benko said the chairs in the dining area at Lapham Community Center are “have seen thousands of hours of use” and that the laminate on the tabletops has worn off in spots. The frames of the chairs in place now are OK “but the fabric seats are all stained” and unusable,” Benko told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted for the contract. The selectmen asked Benko how old the existing furniture is (10 to 20 years) and what the town intends to do with it (get rid of it).

Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Approve $23,000 Contract for Flagstone Patio at Mead Park’s Colonnade

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Town officials recently approved a $23,000 contract with a Norwalk company to improve an increasingly used gathering space at Mead Park. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 at its most recent meeting to approve the contract with Nature’s Way Landscape Association to construct a stone plaza inside the colonnade area. The project will follow the sprucing up of the columns at the colonnade and improved pedestrian access to the area, a WPA project that originally had been a wading pool that was converted into a “victory garden” following World War II. Recreation Director Steve Benko in proposing the contract said that local landscape architect Keith Simpson had put together a nice plan for the colonnade that called for a flagstone patio and seating area with chairs. “It’s going to be a big enhancement to Mead Park,” Benko said at the Board’s July 23 meeting, held in Town Hall.

Government

‘Taking Some Action’: Town Officials Move Forward with Proposal for Surveillance Cameras at Waveny Entrances

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Following an online petition signed by more than 2,000 people, and acting on the advice of police, town officials said this week that they’re looking to install cameras to record motor vehicles entering and exiting Waveny Park. 

Parks and Public Works officials said during a subcommittee meeting Tuesday that the cost of installation might be around $25,000, for which they would likely request a special appropriation. The main purpose of the cameras will be to “show visibility of activity coming in and out of our parks,” Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Rona Siegel said during a meeting of the appointed body’s Camera Subcommittee. The two-person subcommittee, which also includes Parks Commissioner Matt Konspore, discussed potential locations for the cameras, focusing on the three entrances to the park—one on South Avenue and two on Lapham Road, including near the Waveny Pool. “It would just be an extension of cameras at the entrances – not throughout the park,” Siegel said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. Those in attendance included Siegel and Konspore as well as Recreation Director Steve Benko, Public Works Director Tiger Mann and Parks Superintendent John Howe.

Nancy Busak

Summer Heat Has Locals Flocking to Waveny Pool

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With sustained humidity and high summer temperatures finally hitting New Canaan, locals are flocking to Waveny Pool. The pool opened for the summer season on Memorial Day weekend and judging by the crowds, locals are loving it. 

Recreation Director Steve Benko said the pool has been very busy. Speaking about the storm Sunday, Benko said, “It was over by quarter to three, and by three fifteen people were lining up outside the pool to go swimming.”

The Waveny Pool facility features a 50-meter pool, a kiddie pool for young children and a pavilion. A variety of activities and programs are also held at the pool. 

“We try to do an activity every day, relay races, sharks and minnows, Simon says… we’ve also worked with the library – they’ve come here to do a reading thing on a Monday and Tuesday,” Benko said. The pool also hosts swim meets, with about 70 to 75 kids in the swim team, he said. 

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the pool this year, according to Benko. 

“It was a tough winter because we never got that really cold [weather],” said Benko.

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Parks Officials Address Unusual Algae Problem at Waveny Pool

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Parks officials said last week that they opened Waveny Pool last month while battling a rare problem with algae that had made its water unclear. Fluctuating temperatures in May contributed toward an algae growth that “I have only seen once in 18 years,” according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. Addressing a question raised by Parks & Recreation Commissioner Sally Campbell at the group’s June 12 meeting, Benko said workers spent time hand-vacuuming the bottom of the popular pool to rid it of algae that “affected our water quality.”

“I think we have it back to balance, we treated it,” Benko said said at the regular meeting, held in Town Hall. Asked by Campbell whether he talked to those who oversee other large-pool facilities when such problems arise, Benko said yes and added, “This is the first time that we have had this issue.”

“It’s a matter of trial and error, what works, I did put in some algaecide on Monday [June 10],” he said. Campbell said she went swimming on the day of the meeting “and it was 100% better than it was.”

“But it still has a little ways to go,” she said.