Upon closer inspection of the polluted soil dredged from Mill Pond one finds pieces of plastic, metal and landfill debris at every step.

It would be a challenge for someone to reveal a single square foot of the cornfield area that does not contain man-made pollutants withing the first few inches of soil. Oh well, nice try New Canaan ~ burying your trash in Waveny Park was not environmentally responsible.

The website ccrcfornc.org states:

Q: Was this the type of Waveny land usage envisioned by Mrs. Ruth Lapham Lloyd?

A: Most definitely.

Q: Are “Open Space” and a CCRC on Lapham Road mutually exclusive concepts?

A: Absolutely not

Statements like “Most definitely” and “Absolutely not” do not allow for debate, they are absolute and definitive. Statements such as these are definitively one-sided and absolutely preferential. They want this facility built on our public park solely for financial reasons and they will put forth only the information that benefits their tenacious efforts to destroy woodlands in the name of financial gain. Read the site!

On a personal level, I currently face the difficult process of transitioning my father from Home Care to a Life-Care Facility. Currently we are looking for just such a facility as a CCRC. Finding issue with the development of a CCRC in Waveny Park is something that contradicts my own personal needs. I would love nothing more than to end my interstate commute and long-distance worry and have my father here with me, at home in New Canaan.

I wouldn’t have written this post if it weren’t for this statement:

“Like the majority of projects built to-date on Waveny land, a CCRC on Lapham Road would be situated on its perimeter – allowing for the continued preservation of wide expanses of openness throughout the heart of the property.”

…the continued preservation of openness? WHAT? openness???? You mean, we had a forest, without which there would be no life on planet earth. Someone came and destroyed the abundant flora and fauna of a beautiful New England woodlands to create openness. Now we care about preserving openness? Honestly, are there any conservation organizations that preserve an empty field? You can’t breathe without trees, people!

Read the website ccrcfornc.org and you will likely be stopped short of breath by the outright deceptive perspective.

From ccrcfornc.org:

“A CCRC project built on Town-owned land would be done through a lease agreement, wherein the Town would receive annual lease payments in excess of $1M. This steady and dependable boost to the Town’s annual revenue could help launch yet-unfunded special town projects, maintain and improve park grounds, or even fund the purchase of additional land for Open Space use.”

Does this paragraph make sense to you? Destroy our park so we can have money to buy a new park?

From ccrcfornc.org:

“We are committed to a project pricing structure that reflects the economic diversity of the Town of New Canaan, with units priced well below the average/median price or assessed value of homes in town.”

According to Zillow.com that price today is; New Canaan $1,038,900. “Well below that”, could represent the information on AARP.org – Entrance fees of $400,000 with monthly dues of $2,500. Unfortunately even those costs, from existing CCRC’s in neighborhoods nowhere near the caliber of New Canaan, preclude admitting my 83 year old father; retired business executive and long-term resident of New Canaan.

From Wikipedia:

Continuing-care communities are ideal for seniors that may be living in isolation, and would like to be immersed in a hospitable environment with other people of the same age. Typically, a range of activities and amenities are provided for both recreation and resource. However, CCRCs are costly, and vary widely in entrance and recurring fees. Often, a life-care contract is required, and the stipulations within such contracts can also vary in terms of service. It is important for any considering such contracts to have anelder law attorney review its terms and ensure legitimacy.

From seniorresource.com:

“CCRCs are highly regulated in some states but no federal agency oversees retirement communities. The Continuing Care Accreditation Commisson (CCAC), a private nonprofit organizaiton, accredits these communities. ….For more information contact the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission www.ccaconline.org.”

It is questionable if my father will still be with us by the time we cut down the trees, pave over the fields, develop the earth for concrete foundations and construct so many commercial buildings in Waveny Park. What is unquestionable is the fact that a New Canaan CCRC will replace nature with an exclusive facility, according to George M. “…for 200-250 units (mostly holding 2 people in each).”

From ccrcfornc.org:

“More importantly, a CCRC on the site would be developed to fit into the hillside and not obstruct the vistas from either Waveny Park or Lapham Road. This former dairy farm pasture-turned-scrub-forest-and-mulch pile would be enhanced and beautified to increase its open space features and accommodate a CCRC.”

How are they going to hide 200 homes, administration buildings, care facilities, septic accommodations, driveways, garbage containment, massive traffic flow, vehicles and more?

Again, on a personal level, I find the ways New Canaan has changed over the past 10 years to be upsetting. I plan on moving away within the next decade, but just as I wrote the State of Connecticut almost 30 years ago pleading not to widen the Merritt Parkway, I hope you will all consider we have athe few acres of public land left in New Canaan. If the wealthy want a home, they can afford it. Without a full disclosure of proposed costs per unit, number of units, number of residents and overall environmental and economic costs, I am 100% opposed to destroying Lapham Road with traffic for hundreds of new residents.

Sunday’s howling wind, light snowfall and sub-zero temperatures didn’t stop residents from visiting Spencer’s Run dog park in Waveny.

The wind whipped across the Waveny athletic field blowing snow and a bitter chill that brought temperatures down to zero degrees Fahrenheit Sunday.

As I sorted through my closet for my warmest winter cap, the one with the fur ear flaps, I felt a tingle of anticipation at the prospect of a walk through the wintry landscape. After calling a few friends who were at home lounging Sunday away in pajamas and complaining about sub-zero temperatures outside, I thought surely I would be alone.

To my surprise Spencer’s Run had visitors! There were a dozen canines running about, their owners throwing tennis balls, frisbees and chatting as if it were any other Sunday. One of the greatest things about this day in the park; No one was complaining. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to be outside. After 20 minutes socializing in Spencer’s Run, I clipped up the leash and went for a walk over the Waveny trails with my pooch.

A friend called – the coldest moment I experienced was holding that phone without a glove – he and his daughter would meet us with their dog. …and that’s how we spent our Sunday afternoon in Waveny. We walked for almost two hours. When our conversation turned to hot chocolate and the warm fire at home, we turned back toward the cars and called it a day. A beautiful day in Waveny Park.

It was zero degrees today. We saw cross-country skiers, kids sledding, dogs playing. We saw interesting stones in an old stone wall and some neat looking trees. We kicked snow piles and crunched frozen puddles. We joked around and had a family good time. We put on a jacket and took up adventure in Waveny today.

]]> http://waveny.net/2010/01/04/spencers-run-below-zero/feed/ 0 http://waveny.net/2009/10/22/theres-no-better-place-to-witness-autumns-beauty/ http://waveny.net/2009/10/22/theres-no-better-place-to-witness-autumns-beauty/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:30:30 +0000 Administrator http://waveny.net/?p=833 Waveny has always been a retreat of sorts; a quick getaway from of our busy lifestyle located minutes from home. Here is a photograph looking out from Spencer”s Run across the driveway toward the open fields in front of the house.

As they continue to pave over more and more of Waveny Parkland in favor of asphalt parking lots, soccer parents continue to line the fields with their cars, collectively turning a blind eye.

Pictures: While paved lots remain empty, Self-righteous visitors park on the grass just yards from designated parking spaces.

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Some of these pictures are Amazing. I hope you enjoy them.

Visitors may not have been able to view images attached to posts during this maintenance. Thanks for your patience with the state of affairs. Have a peaceful Memorial Day.

Waveny Fields, May 22nd

Thanks to my fantastic .sql editing and software administration Waveny.net is a fantastic multi-user site with increasingly more features!

Special thanks today for NextGen Gallery, Waveny.net’s image management software.

If you’re curious; I had moved waveny.net to a wordpressMU install on a new server a few months back in an attempt to make updating the backend easier. There were too many issues with WPMU like:

• Remote log-in, (which would allow additional authors on Waveny.net)
• Integrating the attached forum (which is dedicated to Waveny Park Information)
• Sharing the WPMU database (full of ‘private’ websites)

Unrelated to the issues with WPMU, the gallery software stopped functioning and I was unable to create galleries for the past few months. I had been stuffiing the images into previously titled galleries but it was causing errors in older articles. It took many hours of sifting through the database files to figure out the problem after moving the site back to standalone WordPress.

Waveny.net is now looking good! – 100 articles and 400 images – All the administration software is current and working great. There are many new features to the site, like the addition of a public forum for Waveny conversations. With a few more hours of programming we should have a log-in on the homepage and profile pages for anyone interested in contributing.

Please register and log-in to the Waveny.net forum and take advantage of the opportunity to share your Waveny Park Experiences or post an upcoming game schedule. Finally I’m turning Waveny.net into an open resource for our beautiful public park.

There, you will even find quaint streams bubbling with life. There are pristine examples of local flora along the paths and many signs of fauna calling it home. A healthy Red-Tail Hawk swooped down just in front of me as I wandered a long straight section of path. It flew close to the ground and sped through the trees to a perch just out of sight.

Sometimes when I am walking in Nature with my camera, enjoying a startling moment of magnificence precludes my reaching for the camera. Trying to focus and snap a shot, I’m missing the moment on a personal level.

I stopped to take a picture of a red squirrel and just as I focused he leaped. My digital point and shoot captured it sailing 20′ above the ground to a neighboring tree! The hawk, however, flew down quickly and I watched in amazement as it powerfully navigated the thick foliage, not bothering for a blurry snapshot but prefering to absorb every split-second my senses could take in.

The less we do to alter Waveny Park while it is in our care, the more positive experiences with Nature future generations are offered. If we build driveways and drainage systems, sports facilities and recreation buildings, residences or offices, even a tool shed, we are making a costly trade.

Remember, the thick woods where Spencer’s Run is was one of the most fascinating places of my youth. A woods filled with wildlife and so Naturally overgrown it was virtually impassible on foot. So many animals used to live in there! My dog, at the time, would often spot a deer and beg to run in and chase. I watched bats fly around those trees every summer.

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Please don’t sell our Park. Please don’t cut down any more trees. Please stop encroaching on the fraction of remaining habitat. Nothing is more important than the air you breath, for without it none of this matters.

▪    Open public forum and bulletin board!
▪    New Authors of Waveny.net news articles!
▪    Photographs of Springtime in Waveny Park