Auction of ‘good stuff’ from town garage is Sept. 9

NORTH CANAAN — “Good stuff” —or make that “well-used, good stuff” — is going up for auction as the town clears out surplus equipment from the highway department garage.

The auction is set for Sept. 9; details will be announced at a later date. The Board of Selectmen talked about some of the available items at its Aug. 1 meeting. On the list is a four-wheel drive dump truck, a dump bed with spreader and an assortment of old plows. All will be sold “as is.”

“What doesn’t sell will go to the scrap yard,” First Selectman Doug Humes said, “so one way or another we’ll make a couple of bucks on stuff we don’t use anymore.”

Other business

• Selectman Charlie Perotti reported a fire hydrant at Lawrence Field had been tampered with. It was found partially open, leaking about 10 gallons of water per minute. He installed a padlock to prevent future vandalism.

• A standing agenda item is the ongoing renovations at Canaan Union Station. October will mark 10 years since a large part of the registered historic landmark was destroyed by fire. It has been owned by the Connecticut Railroad Historical Association (CRHA) most of that time.

It was once a large part of the commercial district, with a restaurant and retail and office spaces. CRHA has been working on returning it to that form, and adding a railroad museum. But working with donations and state and federal grants has made it a slow process.

There is always talk around town from people fearing the worst  — that the rebuilding will never be complete.

But architectural plans for the last step — finishing the interior — are in the last stages of approval. The state and the CRHA board have been passing the plans back and forth in an effort to fine-tune them. Since considerable grant money and federal budget allocations are involved, there are prescribed time periods for each entity to review changes.

The upshot is the funding and motivation are there, but the actual work is not expected to begin until sometime in the early part of next year.