Parks board approves Beautification League's Irwin Park parking plan

Parks and Recreation · Meeting of June 10, 2026

New Canaan parks board approves Irwin Park parking for a Beautification League donor tour, 6-1. Kathleen Murphy told the Parks and Recreation Commission the New Canaan Beautification League wants to shuttle major donors, those giving $500 or more, by van from Irwin Park to a private garden tour at Peter Selden's Ponus Ridge Road home on September 22. One commissioner, identified only as Jim, cast the dissenting vote after another member raised precedent concerns; Murphy countered, "The precedent was set by them, not by us." Staff also reported tennis passes down 37 and pickleball down four from last year, resident pool memberships at 643, and a Friday ribbon-cutting for the Wave Hill Park elevator project, delayed by tempered-glass remanufacturing but still on track for a July finish.

Resident Betty Connick raised concerns in public comment about the town's chlorine-free pond treatment and beach pass tracking.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,932 words

Source: the Parks and Recreation meeting of June 10, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

New Canaan Beautification League Seeks Irwin Park Parking For Donor Garden Tour

The item came to the commission because the Beautification League wanted to lock in a hard-copy invitation before its organizer left town for two weeks in June, and because using a public parking lot as a shuttle staging point requires the commission's sign-off. Kathleen Murphy, who chairs the League's fundraising and development committee, told commissioners this is the group's first time requesting this kind of arrangement.

The question before the commission was straightforward: may the League use the Irwin Park parking lot as a pickup and drop-off point for van shuttles to a private garden tour at 1000 Ponus Ridge Road, the home of Peter Selden, on Tuesday, September 22, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Murphy laid out the specifics in detail. The tour honors major donors, defined as those giving $500 or more, with a private walk through a garden she and others on the commission described as among the finest in town. The garden belonged to Carol, a former Beautification League president who died several years ago; Selden, a former Saint Luke's School trustee, has hosted similar tours before. Parking on Ponus Ridge Road itself is prohibited, and Selden's driveway is too long and narrow to accommodate guest parking, so the League's plan routes attendees through Irwin Park starting around 1 p.m., with vans running guests to and from the Selden property until the tour concludes at 4 p.m. Murphy said she chose the September 22 date, a Tuesday, specifically because it falls in the window between the Yom Kippur holiday on the 21st and the return of school bus traffic, and she is hoping the timing will let attendees avoid bus congestion near Irwin Park. Rain will not cancel the event, though a rain date is available. Murphy said she had already spoken with the League's treasurer, Dave Contessa, about insurance coverage, and he told her it would not be a problem.

The deliberation centered on precedent. One commissioner asked directly whether approving the request would open the door to other organizations seeking similar parking accommodations for their own fundraising events, saying the commission would need "more of like a policy" rather than case-by-case approvals. The chair acknowledged the concern but distinguished the League's request by pointing to the volume of unpaid landscaping and beautification work the group already performs around town. Murphy pushed back on the framing that this was a fundraiser at all: "This is a donation," she said, and noted that a comparable, larger event, the Beautification League's own Lee Garden, cannot host activities because of its parking constraints. She also said the shuttle-from-a-remote-lot model was not something the League invented; New Canaan Newcomers, a separate group, recommended the approach to her after facing the same parking problem for house tours. "The precedent was set by them, not by us," Murphy said. The chair separately praised Murphy's preparation, contrasting it with past requests the commission has fielded with less than 24 hours' notice.

Commissioners pressed Murphy on logistics: how many of the up to 50 invitees might actually attend (she said she could not estimate, though she plans to encourage carpooling on the RSVP), whether attendees should be directed to a specific section of the Irwin Park lot (the front lot, nearest the road, was preferred since vans would pick guests up there), and whether police assistance would be needed (Murphy said no, based on her experience running similar events at Saint Luke's, where school-based garden tours used campus parking and a police presence only because of driveway traffic concerns that don't apply here).

Doug Murphy moved to approve the request; Bridget seconded. The vote carried 6-1, with a commissioner identified on the recording only as Jim casting the sole opposing vote; his reasoning was not stated on the record. The approval clears the League to proceed with securing van transportation, which Murphy said she had deliberately not yet booked, and to mail invitations in June ahead of the event.

The approval lets a first-of-its-kind private event proceed on town parkland this fall, and it puts on the record a rationale, the League's community contributions and the precedent set by another local nonprofit, that the commission may lean on if similar requests follow.

Independence Day Preparations: Fireworks Relocation, Pass Sales and an Inclusive Partnership

Staff member Dave Shay used his report to walk commissioners through several operational changes ahead of the town's Fourth of July programming. Town services met recently and reached agreement on the sequence of work needed before the holiday. The most significant physical change is moving the fireworks launch location so that the South Lapham Road egress remains open, which Shay said should speed up the exit of traffic after the display ends.

Shay also described a new notification system going onto every entrance pass sold this season: a QR code or text-alert option that will tell pass holders in real time if an entrance gate is closed, addressing a recurring complaint from prior years. And he announced a new partnership with Inclusive Together to open the farm-road soccer fields as a sensory-friendly space for attendees sensitive to noise who still want to participate in the town's Independence Day event. The commission plans to formalize the arrangement by providing lighting, garbage cans and a portable toilet for the area.

Shay asked commission members to sign up for entrance-pass sales shifts on three dates: Saturday, June 27; Thursday, July 2; and Friday, July 3, in three two-hour shifts per day, ideally staffed in two-person teams. Several commissioners signed up on the spot. No formal vote was required for this item; it was presented as a staff report and a volunteer call.

May 13 Minutes Approved

The commission approved the minutes of its May 13 meeting on a motion that passed 6-0 with one abstention, from a commissioner who said they had missed that meeting. Before the vote, the chair asked a staff member to state her name for the record: Lindsay Heron.

Mead Tennis and Pickleball Courts: Maintenance Updates and a Membership Mystery

Commissioners Doug Murphy and Jeff, joined by a staff member identified as John, presented the season's court report, comparing membership figures through June 1 against the same period last year using a handout distributed at the meeting.

On design and construction, the planned pickleball courts at Waveny Park remain in the design phase with the town's Public Works department; cost estimates that were expected earlier have not yet arrived. At Mead Park, pickleball court repairs completed by Public Works have not held up. "Unfortunately, the paint hasn't stuck very well, so it keeps peeling," Doug Murphy said, adding that the commission will need to revisit the issue. John said future construction at Waveny is likely to use coated asphalt rather than the post-tension concrete used at Mead, because the concrete surface has shown the same paint-adhesion problems previously seen on the tennis courts at New Canaan High School. "If I knew, I'd fix it," John said of the underlying cause, speculating it may relate to the acid-etching process used before painting.

Tennis courts at Mead, by contrast, are "off to a great start," Doug Murphy said, crediting consistent rolling, new court tape and irrigation work for resolving a tape-loop problem that alarmed players last year. A staff member noted the courts were recently treated with calcium chloride to keep the clay moist and prevent it from turning to dust.

On membership, tennis passes are down 37 from the same date last year, driven mainly by a 25-pass decline among adults, with senior passes actually up six. Jeff noted that last year 74 passes were added to the rolls after June 1, and if a similar pattern holds this year the season could finish near 239 total passes, versus 276 last year. Pickleball passes are down four, with adult declines offset by senior gains; last year's biggest pickleball gains came from adults and seniors, up 24 and 16, respectively, and if that trend repeats, the season could land near 334 passes versus 330 last year.

Asked what might explain the tennis decline, John pointed to weather, noting an unusually fickle May and a hot spell that arrived before students were out of school, but said nothing else "jumps out" as a clear cause; the commission has not lost any adult leagues that would explain the drop. One commissioner offered an alternative theory during the discussion, suggesting older players may be shifting from tennis to pickleball, a pattern the group agreed would be worth tracking "if there was a trend over multiple years." No vote was taken on this item; it was an informational report. Commissioners also noted continued demand for more pickleball courts town-wide.

Pool Report

A commissioner identified as Tim gave the pool update, covering a facility named on the recording as "Banquo Pool" (the spelling was not independently confirmed and should be verified before republication). Non-resident memberships for the season have already sold out. Resident memberships stood at 643 as of last week, which Tim said was on schedule for this point in the season. The pool is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through Labor Day, with a shortened schedule of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July Fourth to accommodate the evening fireworks. Tim also credited the town's IT department with upgrading the check-in process to reduce lines at the gate. No vote was taken; the report was informational.

Cochituate Park: Pond Treatment Overhaul and the Quannapowitt Master Plan

A commissioner identified as Hank Green presented on a town pond property referred to throughout the meeting as "Cochituate Park," a name that should be verified against town records before publication, along with a related "Quannapowitt Park Master Plan" that commissioners said would come up for review, likely by videoconference, at a future meeting.

Two open issues are pending at this park. The first is the performance of a new chlorine-free treatment method for the pond, which staff said cannot be evaluated until later in the summer. "We're right now we're just filling the pond. We're not even testing," a staff member said, adding that testing will not begin until swimming is under way there. The second is the long-planned master plan for the park, which has not yet come before the commission for substantive review.

Green said he visited the park in person the Tuesday before the meeting and offered three observations: the grounds appeared to be in "terrific condition"; the playground was busier than expected, drawing young families and grandparents, which staff attributed partly to recent safety and equipment upgrades; and the basketball court needs weeding, with grass growing through the cracks, before the summer camp season begins. Season pass sales stood at 31 as of the meeting, against a full-season 2025 total of 108, though Green and staff cautioned it is too early in the season to draw a comparison. No capital projects are planned for the park this year. The pond itself was drained, cleaned and is being refilled; as of the meeting it was not yet known whether it would overflow. No vote was taken.

Summer Camps, Concerts and the Wave Hill Park Elevator

A staff member identified as John reported that summer camps begin the Monday after next. Because an elevator installation project has closed part of the building, the commission's usual inclement-weather site, Wave Hill (Waveny) House, is currently unavailable; staff arranged to use the New Canaan High School cafeteria as a substitute, an accommodation John said the high school agreed to readily. Programs run by the Y that had previously used the same space have relocated to Saxe School for inclement weather.

The summer concert series begins next Wednesday with a folk-rock act identified on the recording as "Kenmore," running weekly through September with Thursday rain dates.

A staff member identified as Brian gave the elevator project's status: a ribbon-cutting and grand opening is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m., with town officials, Connecticut state grant representatives and project vendors expected to attend. Brian said most of the project's glass has been installed on the building's exterior surround, though several tempered-glass panes failed testing this week and require remanufacturing; he said the delay would not push the overall timeline back because the replacement panes move to the front of the manufacturer's queue. All remaining glass is expected within two weeks, and the project remains on track for completion in July. A black protective covering has been placed over the elevator opening in the interim, which Brian said has not disrupted any weddings or events at the venue. The finished elevator will make upstairs office space, including ADA-compliant bathrooms currently inaccessible, usable for the first time.

Commissioners credited a person identified only as Kevin with pushing through the project's initial funding, and noted the effort traces back roughly five years, to when a commissioner referred to as Ronald served as chair, placing the project's origin around 2021. The commission thanked a speaker identified as Justin, whose role was not made clear on the recording, for support throughout the project. No vote was taken; this was an informational update.

Meeting Calendar and the Ice Rink Item

The chair announced the commission will not meet in August. The next regular meeting is set for Wednesday, July 8, followed by a September meeting on Wednesday, September 9. The chair said a special meeting could be called between July and September if a time-sensitive matter arises, noting the commission had to do so last fall for an ice-rink-related item. Tim's request for approval related to the ice rink was continued to the July 8 meeting rather than taken up Wednesday. No vote was taken on this item.

Public Comment

Resident Betty Connick, whose surname the chair supplied after she introduced herself only as "Betty," raised three points during public comment. First, on the chlorine-free pond treatment discussed earlier in the meeting, she said a neighboring town uses a company called Solitude Lake Management to maintain a public swimming pond without chlorinating it, suggesting concerns about the town's approach may be overstated. A staff member responded that the town intends to establish a baseline through weekly water testing, increasing to daily testing whenever rainfall exceeds a half-inch, until conditions clear. Second, Connick suggested the town send an e-blast promoting beach passes, noting she received a promotional e-blast for the pool but not for the beach program, and said better outreach could increase sales. Third, she asked whether beach pass check-in would receive the same IT upgrade recently applied to pool check-in, citing a past instance where a family beach pass covered only the registered parent while accompanying children had no passes of their own, understating actual attendance until the discrepancy was caught midseason. No vote followed; the meeting proceeded to a motion to adjourn, which was made and seconded, though the recording ends before the vote was completed.

Commission members present, based on roll call and later remarks (roles could not be confirmed against a roster and should be verified): Hank Green; Doug Murphy; George Baker, who appears to have chaired the meeting based on how proceedings were run, though this was not stated explicitly; a member referred to only as Jeff; Tim, whose surname was given at roll call as Klumper; a member referred to only as Bridget; and a member referred to only as Jim, who cast the meeting's one recorded opposing vote. No information on absent members was available; no roster was supplied with this transcript.

Staff in attendance: Dave Shay, referred to once as "Mr. Shay," title not stated; a staff member identified only as John, who spoke extensively on court maintenance, pond treatment and camp logistics; a staff member identified only as Brian, who led the Wave Hill Park elevator update; a staff member identified only as Ryan, credited with applying calcium chloride to the Mead Park tennis courts; and Lindsay Heron, who stated her name for the record ahead of the minutes vote.

Public commenters: Betty Connick, a resident who raised questions about pond chlorination, beach pass marketing and beach pass check-in accuracy.

Outside parties: Kathleen Murphy, chair of the New Canaan Beautification League's fundraising and development committee, presenting the League's Irwin Park request; Dave Contessa, the League's treasurer, referenced by Murphy regarding event insurance but not present; Peter Selden, whose Ponus Ridge Road home and garden are the site of the September tour, referenced but not present.

New Canaan Beautification League — the nonprofit requesting Irwin Park parking access for its September 22 major-donor garden tour.

New Canaan Newcomers — cited by Kathleen Murphy as the group that first recommended shuttling event guests from a remote parking lot, establishing what she described as the relevant precedent.

Inclusive Together — an organization partnering with the town to create a sensory-friendly area at the farm-road soccer fields for the Independence Day event.

Solitude Lake Management — a pond-management company cited by resident Betty Connick as an example of a neighboring town maintaining a public swimming pond without chlorination.

State of Connecticut (grant program) — referenced by staff member Brian as a funding source and expected attendee at Friday's Wave Hill Park elevator ribbon-cutting.

Saint Luke's School — referenced by a commissioner who recalled Peter Selden's prior garden events there as a comparison point for parking and logistics planning.

May 13, 2026 meeting minutes — approved by the commission 6-0 with one abstention.