Aaron Lefland

Land Trust Preps for New Wildflower Meadow at Silvermine-Fowler Preserve

By |

Aaron Lefland stepped into a hilltop clearing amid beech, chestnut oak and American holly trees in Silvermine on Wednesday morning, and began to unroll about 80 feet of plastic tarp in a strip over the cold, hard ground. Together with local volunteers Susan Bergen, Catharine Sturgess and Peter Bergen, Lefland—executive director of the New Canaan Land Trust—laid the plastic over the footprint of a house that had stood here until about 18 months ago. That’s when the nonprofit organization acquired this 6.35-acre property from award-winning zoologist and longtime New Canaanite Jim Fowler, and began transforming the property into a publicly accessible piece of open space that features trails, seating, pond views and connection to an abutting 40-acre property that collectively form what’s being called the “Silvermine-Still Pond Preserve.”

The purpose of the plastic is to rid the site of invasive and other plant species without using herbicides or chemicals, so that a wildflower meadow may sprout there. “We tore down the house, and now we want to convert it really into prime wildlife habitat,” Lefland said on a crisp, cool morning, the “counsel ring” seating area created by Gus Larson of Troop 70 for his Eagle Scout project, and Still Pond itself, behind him. “So we are going to be planting native wildflowers and grasses that promote bee, butterfly and bird populations.”

An effort that honors the legacy of Fowler, a Georgia native who earned wide fame as TV host of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” and called the sylvan property home for nearly 35 years.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

New Canaan High School’s former assistant food director, Marie Wilson, appeared Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford before Judge Richard Comerford in connection with the felony larceny charges in what has become known as the “lunch ladies” case. An attorney representing Wilton said she’s still in the discovery phase of the case, and the matter was continued to Nov. 27. No formal plea has been entered on Wilson’s behalf. Her sister, Joanne Pascarelli, who had overseen the food services program at Saxe Middle School, has pleaded not guilty.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

Officials said Wednesday that New Canaan is on track by year’s end to qualify for its first four-year moratorium from the Affordable Housing Appeals Act—a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning officials if a project designates a certain number of units as “affordable,” under a definition that’s extremely difficult for the town to achieve. Scott Hobbs, chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority, said during a regular meeting of the Town Council that the first phase of a project at Millport Avenue is a “little bit ahead of schedule.”

***

At the suggestion of New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, the Police Commission at the start of its meeting Wednesday night opened with a moment of silence. It was “for all of the violence that is happening and for officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” the chief said during the meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. ***

A pair of highway workers for the state walked the median of the Merritt Parkway for about two miles in the oppressive heat last Friday afternoon to find an injured red-tailed hawk there, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the NCPD’s Animal Control section. That hawk—and another that was found injured on a Southwood Drive home’s deck on the same day—went to a rehab group in Wilton but unfortunately were too far gone to cure, and had to be put down, Halm said.

News

State Approves Controversial Aquarion Land Sale Under Draft Decision; Final Decision Expected Wednesday

By |

Over the objections of the town’s elected officials, open space advocates, conservation experts and a group of neighbors, the state agency that oversees utilities in Connecticut has said it supports the water company’s plan to sell off a large piece of untouched land in southwestern New Canaan, including to developers, under a draft decision issued this month. The non-binding decision from the Connecticut Pubilc Utilities Regulatory Authority, or ‘PURA,’ is expected to be made final on Wednesday (visit this page after 9 a.m. to listen to the agency’s hearing live). According to PURA, Aquarion’s approximately 18.7-acre parcel—it’s tucked behind Weed Street and Frogtown Road west of Thurton Drive dead-ends—“has never been used for water utility purposes.”

“It has always remained in its natural state since it was acquired by Noroton Water Company in 1907,” according to PURA’s findings. “The land is considered to be excess land and is not located within an aquifer protection area or any public water supply watershed. In September 2015, the Company received Class III land verification from the Department of Public Health confirming that the property is located outside watershed or aquifer protection areas.”

Plans call for the property—assessed at $167,720 in 2014 (fair market value of $239,600) after New Canaan in 2002 had agreed to designate it as “forest land”—to be divided into three separate pieces.

Around Town

Lack of Growth at Route 123-Side Wildflower Meadow Puzzles Highway Chief

By |

Two summers after a wildflower meadow that bloomed just off of Route 123 generated high praise and frequent stops from passersby, the town worker responsible for it said he’s puzzled by this season’s lack of growth. Mose Saccary, highway superintendent with the New Canaan Department of Public Works, said he’s “a little disappointed” at the no-show flowers at 123 and Parade Hill Road, but willing to “give it some time and hopefully we’ll see some color.”

“I don’t know why” the wildflower meadow hasn’t bloomed, Saccary, a Center School alumnus, told NewCanaanite.com when asked about it. “I used the same seeds, did everything the same.”

The problem might be the acidity levels of the soil, he said. “It also may be that we’re just not giving it enough time,” Saccary said. “We did the work in April so maybe it just needs some time.