Coalition discusses CT farmland resilience

Governor Ned Lamont (D) underscored the importance of Connecticut’s agricultural heritage at the Working Lans Alliance annual meeting Nov. 13.
Taylor Plett
Governor Ned Lamont (D) underscored the importance of Connecticut’s agricultural heritage at the Working Lans Alliance annual meeting Nov. 13.
HARTFORD — Farmers, advocates, and public officials peppering the political scale gathered over lunch Wednesday, Nov. 13, to discuss the future of Connecticut farming at the Working Lands Alliance (WLA) annual meeting. The perspective they seemed to share: the conditions for farmers and farmland are critical, and they signal a need for strategies beyond traditional preservation.
“One of the things I’m focused on this year is resiliency,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) in a speech at the meeting. “We’ve had some devastating storms in Connecticut that really hurt our farms [...] and we have to be clear about the fact that the systems of support that we have today are just not sufficient.”
Murphy emphasized the mounting impacts of “climate shock” while other speakers highlighted the difficulties of farmland access, an aging farmer population, and a dearth of federal support for small and mid-sized farms.
While the litany of challenges may look unique in 2024, Connecticut farmland has faced precarity for decades. WLA was formed in 1999 to address the rapid loss of farmland to burgeoning development in the Connecticut River Valley.
At its inception, the idea was to keep farmland preservation at the forefront of policymakers’ agendas through cooperative lobbying efforts.
“This group of advocates came together and said, we need to make the farmland preservation program in the state more nimble and have more funding,” said Chelsea Gazillo, WLA director and American Farmland Trust (AFT) senior New England policy manager.
Today, that group has grown into a broad-based statewide coalition.
The breadth and vitality of this coalition was on display at the meeting, as Gov. Ned Lamont (D) shared laughs with Keith Bishop, the fifth-generation farmer of Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford, whose apple cider adorned the meeting’s luncheon tables.
Lamont, who recently oversaw a State Bond allocation of $9.39 million to farmland preservation efforts, underscored the importance of Connecticut’s agricultural heritage.
“I want young people in particular to remember that this is what Connecticut is and was: a great farming community,” said Lamont, who hails from a Connecticut farming family himself.
As Lamont and other commenters noted the growing pressures of real estate prices and weather events – “[Connecticut] went from floods to fires in the course of literally three months,” said Mason Trumble, deputy commissioner of the CT Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection – keystone speaker Julia Freedgood argued for solutions that do more than conserve land.
Freedgood, a senior fellow and senior program advisor for AFT, drew from her new book, Planning Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems: From Soil to Soil, emphasizing the need for “a new policy paradigm” that takes an active role in planning more resilient food systems.
“There has to be a vision of the future, and there has to be a way to manifest that future,” she said.
For its part in that vision, WLA proposed a number of policy priorities for the 2025 state legislative cycle.
Gazillo highlighted two in particular: increase the Community Investment Act fee, a real estate transaction fee that supports dairy farm viability, and direct state money to a number of farmland access programs, including down payment assistance for historically marginalized and first-time producers.
“We’re optimistic,” said Gazillo of WLA’s initiatives, though she noted that the upcoming transition in national governance could mean a loss of federal support for farmland protection.
Still, Gazillo maintained that “true change” happens at a smaller scale.
“I still think we can get a lot done at the state level, I still think we can get a lot done locally, and I would just encourage us to not lose hope,” she said.
Club Getaway is located in New Milford, but arriving tour buses often enter through Kent.
KENT/NEW MILFORD — A years-long push by South Kent Road residents to ban Club Getaway-bound tour buses from the winding country road is finally seeing headway, and David Schreiber, who owns the all-ages resort, is thrilled.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, and we do have to work together, but it’s moving in the right direction, which is beautiful,” said Schreiber on July 3, a week and a half after the New Milford Town Council agreed to work with the town of Kent towards effective regulation for large commercial vehicles on the roadway.
Schreiber said he’s heard complaints from neighbors for fifteen years regarding buses shortcutting down the narrow lane and has tried “everything” to get the bus companies to reroute via larger roads, but his lack of jurisdiction outside the resort’s boundaries, as well as the fact that the affected road lies in two separate towns (with the state owning the Kent section), has made things difficult.
Club Getaway is a woodsy retreat center that offers youth programs, family stays and adult camps. It sits on South Kent Road just below its intersection with Route 341.
Buses coming from the south often choose South Kent Road for the final stretch of the journey, despite a recent adjustment to Google Maps – requested by Club Getaway – so that it no longer recommends the stretch of the road between Gaylordsville and Spooner Hill Road in Kent as a route.
Schreiber said that he was “touched” that Kent First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer turned up to the June 23 New Milford Town Council meeting to commit to finding a solution that keeps buses off that section of the road, where residents have complained about tight or impossible vehicle passes and scary moments walking the dog.
Schreiber said the recent progress has been largely due to a May 30 Facebook post in the Kent community group by South Kent Road resident Kristin Barese, who initiated communication between Lindenmayer and New Milford Mayor Pete Bass and presented the Town Council with a 145-signature petition calling for action, and one of his employees getting yelled at the Kent Station Pharmacy.
On June 26, Lindenmayer explained steps were already being taken towards that end: “Mayor Bass and I will work with our legislators to ensure we get the right routes marked appropriately while our two Public Works departments will work with CTDOT to mark roads and keep our local residents safe and the buses on track.”
“Shouting at one of my employees in public, especially, when they are not on the clock, is disgraceful,” Schreiber said in his own post in the Kent group, dated June 10. He also noted the employee, like anyone else working at the resort, had nothing to do with what routes the bus companies decided to take.
Reflecting on July 23, he described the incident as a boiling point due to “built up frustration,” but that the behavior was still unacceptable. “I want this to work, and I’ll do anything to make it happen, right?” he said, “but really, there’s a time and a place, you know — call me.”
Despite the ugliness, Schreiber said that he’s glad the issue “is all out in the open now,” and that progress is being made.
When all this is over, he hopes both the bus drivers and passengers alike will be glad to avoid the country-lane pace of South Kent Road. “It’s gonna be great for the community, it’s gonna be great for Club Getaway, and it’s gonna be great for Club Getaway clients,” he said. “It says on a GPS it’s four minutes shorter going down South Kent Road, until a bus actually gets on South Kent Road, and it’s ten minutes longer.”
Restored antique house on 0.98 acres built in 1730 at 3 Dunbar Road sold for $1,175,000,
SHARON — The Sharon town clerk recorded six property transfers in May and June.
Transactions
12 White Hollow Road — 3 bedroom/1.5 bath home on 40.12 acres sold by Peter R. Palmer to William Betts for $1,200,000 recorded on May 8.
5 Surdan Mountain Road — 3.77 acres sold by Ann Adele Prindle to Michelle Deblois-Purdy for $41,240 recorded on May 21.
3 Dunbar Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home sold by Dana Jennings Rohn and Frederick W. Rohn to Michael Riebling and Stephen Czeck for $1,175,000 recorded on June 9.
West Cornwall Road — 1.06 acres of vacant land with outbuildings sold by Kim Preston Dube to Pamela Helen Jarvis for $100,000 recorded on June 20.
165 East Street — 4 bedroom/3.5 bath brick house on 9.3 acres sold by Robert A. and Ellen M. Calinoff to Todd Sharinn and Kerry Santantonio for $925,000 recorded on June 24.
106 Jackson Road — 2 bedroom/1.5 bath home on 1.9 acres sold by Linda D. Wenkert to Diane B. Mattes for $595,000 recorded on June 24.
* Town of Sharon real estate transfers recorded as transferred/sold between May 1 and June 30, 2025, provided by the Sharon Town Clerk. Transfers without consideration are not included. Current market listings from Smart MLS. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Lifeguard Melody Matsudaira keeps a watchful eye on Cream Hill Lake swimmers.
CORNWALL — After an incident regarding raised levels of E. coli, Cream Hill Lake in Cornwall has been deemed safe to swim.
In June, water testing revealed slightly elevated levels of E. coli bacteria in the waters of the Cream Hill Lake Association and Hammond Beach.
Swimmers in the lake were advised to refrain from submerging their heads in the water, ingesting water and to shower promptly after swimming.
The Board of Selectmen reviewed the situation at a regular meeting July 1. First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said the heavy rains that fell in the spring were likely the cause of the E. coli spike.
Ridgway said the bacteria is found “on the forest floor, it moves around.” Rain likely caused excessive run off, he said, “It’s definitely important to monitor.”
Selectman Rocco Botto said the tests that caused the scare showed relatively elevated levels, but did not enter the danger zone.
“A concentration less or equal to 235 per 100 milliliters is considered satisfactory and those first tests were at like 75 and 31,” said Botto. “It puts us well within the threshold of safe swimming.”
Since this initial tests, Torrington Area Health District has stated the levels have decreased.
“We do have a little sign out as far as what the recommendations are about keeping your head out of the water,” said Ridgway. “Don’t be drinking a lot of the water... It is a pond.”
Position changes
At the July 1 meeting, the selectmen accepted a series of position changes.
Selectman Jennifer Markow will be stepping down as director of Parks and Recreation. She served in the role for about 10 years and will resign after the completion of summer events in town.
She will continue to serve on the commission as an alternate.
“I had a great time working with the Parks and Rec,” said Markow. “I had an awesome commission over the years.”
The search for a new director is underway.
Spencer Mussulman began his role as the new Zoning Enforcement Officer. His officer hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 to 10 a.m. and by appointment on Friday.
Rebecca Juchert-Derungs was appointed by the selectmen to become the new tax collector. She also works as tax collector in Falls Village and Goshen and will assume the job in Cornwall at the end of outgoing Tax Collector Jean Bouteiller’s current term in November.
The following information was provided by the Connecticut State Police at Troop B. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Trailer detachment
On the afternoon of June 28, Gary Schoonmaker, 61, of Sheffield, Massachusetts was hauling a trailer behind a Ford 150 down Old Turnpike Road North in East Canaan when the trailer detached, colliding with a utility pole. Schoonmaker was found at fault, and was issued a written warning for operating with an unsecured load.
Disorderly conduct and restraint arrest
On June 29, Brian McDermott, 53, of Sandisfield, Massachusetts, was arrested on an active warrant for an incident dating to the late evening of June 4 on Joray Road in Sharon. McDermott was processed for disorderly conduct and unlawful restraint in the second degree, and was released on a $2,000 cash bond. He was scheduled to appear at Torrington Superior Court on June 30.
Trespassing Arrest
On July 1, Steven Knox, 49, of Norfolk was arrested on first degree trespassing charges for an incident that occurred on June 21 at a Grant Street residence in Norfolk. Investigation yielded that no threats were made, although Knox had entered the residence without permission. Knox was released on a $1,500 surety bond and is scheduled to appear at Torrington Superior Court on July 15.
Vehicle scratched and dented at Town Grove
Between noon and approximately 2 p.m. on July 3, Samantha Zappia, 37, of Amenia had parked her 2019 Chrysler Pacifica in the Lakeville Town Grove parking lot, where it was scratched and dented by an unidentified party. Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Begley #868 at the Troop B barracks at Kathleen.Begley@ct.gov of Troop B Routine Line (860) 626-1820.
Thunderstorm crash
Late in the afternoon on July 3, Steve Zacarias, 23, of Torrington lost control of his Honda Civic EX on Route 272 in Norfolk during heavy rain and hail. The vehicle slid from the roadway and collided with a utility pole, causing damage to both the pole and car. Zacarias was uninjured in the accident, but was issued a written warning for traveling too fast for conditions.
Domestic disturbance arrest
On the evening of July 3, Troopers were dispatched to a High Street residence in North Canaan on the report of a verbal altercation between a boyfriend and girlfriend. Upon investigation, troopers determined that Sarah Rakowski, 35, of Prospect, Connecticut, was the primary aggressor in the dispute and was transported to Troop B. Rakowski was charged for disorderly conduct and was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond. She was scheduled to appear at Torrington Superior Court on July 7.
Patient steals car from hospital parking lot
At about 1:30 a.m. on July 6, Sharon Hospital phoned Troop B to report a missing patient who had left the hospital. Just after 3 a.m., another report notified troopers of a 2020 Red Chevrolet Silverado that had disappeared from the hospital’s parking lot. It was later determined that the patient, Chace Jones, 25, of Kent, had taken the car and drove it to the Cumberland Farms gas station in Amenia where he abandoned it, subsequently finding other means of travel back to the High Watch Recovery Center in Kent where he was located by troopers. He was processed for larceny of a motor vehicle, and was unable to post a $5,000 cash bond, after which he was transferred to New Haven Correctional Facility. He was scheduled to appear at Torrington Superior Court on July 7.
The Lakeville Journal will publish the outcome of police charges. Contact us by mail at P.O. Box 1688, Lakeville, CT 06039, Attn: Police Blotter, or send an email, with “police blotter” in subject, to editor@lakevillejournal.com