Town Council to Vote on Water Safety Project at Kiwanis

Officials are pushing to get a green light from the Town Council on a water safety project at Kiwanis in time for the summer camp and recreation season there.

Each May, DPW and Recreation workers drain and spruce up the dark-water swimming hole at Kiwanis. This year, Recreation Director Steve Benko and other advocates are hoping that—before the water is pumped back in—a Redding-based company can install a system on the floor of the pond that’s designed to prevent drowning.

The so-called “Wahooo Swim Monitor System” from Redding-based Aquatic Safety Concepts LLC is designed to use sonar-like detection and to alert lifeguards when someone is submerged for 20 seconds or more. Swimmer wear headbands on entering the water and lifeguards are armed not only with a dryland unit as well as handhelds that help them locate someone underwater.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday supported a project that would see the New Canaan YMCA foot the approximately $30,000 installment of the system at Kiwanis.

Selectman Beth Jones thanked the Y for offering to fund the project. First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said: “It’s a wonderful gesture because we did not have this in the budget.”

Benko described the safety system as a “great tool.”

“It would just give an extra tool for lifeguards as they scan the water,” he said.
The Town Council is scheduled to meet May 15 at the New Canaan Nature Center.