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Falls Village targets firehouse sale to offset proposed budget cuts
Patrick L. Sullivan
May 20, 2026
Falls Village Town Hall
File photo
FALLS VILLAGE —During its regular meeting Monday, May 11, the Falls Village Board of Selectmen asked the Board of Finance to allow the town to replenish $50,000 in capital reserve funding through the future sale of the former firehouse at 35 Railroad St.
The request came after a Board of Finance vote on April 27 that directed the selectmen to cut $100,000 from the proposed 2026-27 budget plan.
As part of the reductions, the selectmen proposed removing $50,000 from the town’s non-recurring capital reserve accounts, which help pay for major expenses such as fire trucks, ambulances, heavy equipment and bridge repairs.
Overall, the selectmen proposed approximately $75,000 in cuts, including reducing the garden maintenance line from $3,000 to a $1 placeholder, eliminating the special events line for a savings of $1,500, trimming the town bus line by $500 and reducing contributions to the reserve accounts.
First Selectman Dave Barger said board members were reluctant to reduce reserve funding because the town has long relied on the accounts to prepare for costly future purchases and repairs.
“None of us were happy about it,” Barger said.
Selectmen said they hope the eventual sale of the former firehouse property can replace the reserve funding.
The former firehouse at 35 Railroad St. was no longer needed after the opening of the Emergency Services Center on Route 7 in September 2017.
At a referendum vote Nov. 7, 2023, the town approved the sale of the property to James Gillispie for $300,000. Gillispie planned to open a gym and wellness center.
Progress was slow, however, because of a legal dispute with the Falls Village Inn over an encroachment issue.
Gillispie withdrew his offer in Feb. 2025, citing rising costs of construction and higher interest rates.
The property has remained on the market.
Under the selectmen’s request, the $50,000 removed from the reserve accounts for 2026-27 would be replenished from the proceeds if and when the property is sold.
Following a public hearing held three days before its May 11 meeting, the Board of Finance voted to move the proposed spending plans to the town budget meeting scheduled for Friday, May 22, at 7 p.m. at the Emergency Services Center.
The proposed spending plan for municipal spending calls for $2,503,382, an increase of $80,556 or 3.32%.
The proposed spending plan for the Lee H. Kellogg School is $2,449,328, an increase of $59,063 or 2.47%.
The Region One budget, which primarily covers the operating costs of the Housatonic Valley Regional High School, passed a referendum vote last week. The town’s assessment is $1,752,589, an increase of $208,904 or 13.53%.
Falls Village was the only town in Region One to vote no on the Region One referendum.
Total education spending for 2026-27 will be $4,201,917, an increase of $267,967, or 6.81%, if the spending plan is approved.
In an extension of budget talks, Barger said that the late Richard H. Stone left $100,000 to the town for work on Main Street and the town Green.
Stone, who died in 2025, was an architect and long-time Falls Village resident with a special interest in the downtown area.
Barger said some of the bequest will be used to replace the $3,000 the selectmen removed from the garden maintenance line in their proposed spending plan.
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Bunny Williams’ Manor House Garden Tour
Christine Bates
May 20, 2026
A view of Bunny Williams’ garden.
Christine Bates
FALLS VILLAGE – In addition to the annual plant sale at Lime Rock Park, Trade Secrets weekend is known for its private garden tours, attracting design and garden enthusiasts from across the region. This year, tours were offered in Connecticut and New York.
Acclaimed designer and author Bunny Williams — who founded Trade Secrets more than twenty-five years ago as a way to support Project SAGE — opened her garden in Falls Village for two days over the weekend. The coveted tickets to step inside Williams’ expansive property sold out as soon as they were posted. The interest warranted an additional Sunday tour, with an estimated 900 total visitors between Saturday and Sunday.
Visitors wandered through Williams’ property, featuring a Greek Revival pool house, a modern studio and library with an expansive view of the Litchfield Hills, and woodland shade gardens leading to tall tulips in bloom.
Guests were thrilled to be greeted by Williams herself. The final stop was the greenhouse, filled with tropical plants beside the vegetable and cutting garden with neat rows of lettuce and tulips.
“Like any good garden, Trade Secrets thrives because it’s cared for,” Williams said. “Trade Secrets has always been about more than plants and antiques. It’s about what can grow when people come together for a purpose.”
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Fishing derby reels in younger set
John Coston
May 20, 2026
A young angler finds some shade as she casts into the pond at the Northwest Connecticut Rod and Gun Club May 17.
John Coston
NORTH CANAAN – The sun beamed down on more than three dozen young anglers on Sunday, May 17, at the Northwest Connecticut Rod and Gun Club’s annual junior fishing derby.
Bicycles lined up as prizes for winners in various age categories, while a table overflowed with smaller prizes for everyone who came out to fish.
Jim’s Bait & Tackle in East Canaan donated the bait, with more than 1,000 worms and 36 dozen minnows.
As the morning fishing got underway, there were hoots and hollers from across the pond whenever anyone hooked a fish, which included bass, trout, perch and blue gill. The occasional turtle found itself at the end of the line.
“I caught a turtle,” said Kelsey Barth, 6, of Torrington. When asked which bait she preferred, the answer came quickly and in brief. “Worm.”
Many of the 15-and-under competitors preferred worms, based on an informal survey.
Families lined the pond at the club’s location just south of the Becton Dickinson & Co. plant on Route 7 South. Parents and grandparents bounced in and out of lawn chairs to lend a hand when a line got entangled, or when a minnow wouldn’t comply with the hook.
Many young anglers took the hint and parked in a folding chair to wait it out in between casts.
“We love to do this every year,” said Holly Hunt, a member of the club who ran the event with many other volunteers. “It’s our future,” she said. “These children will keep coming back.”
Volunteers cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and some circled the pond to take fish measurements whenever there was a successful catch and release.
Winners by age groups were: Ellie Dionne, age 4 (bass, 15 inches); Oliver Ralph, age 3 (bass, 14.5 inches); Fiona Pattison, age 7, (bass, 13.5 inches); Lucas Treadeaux, age 9 (bass, 14.5 inches); Destini Hiller, age 15 (base, 10 inches); and Ben Sprague, age 11 (bass, 15 inches).
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Salisbury home prices decline while sales activity rises
Christine Bates
May 20, 2026
235 Main St., an apartment building on .93 acres next to Salisbury Central School that was built around 1900, sold for $745,300 in April 2026 in a private transaction.
Christine Bates
SALISBURY – The 12-month trailing median price for a single-family home in Salisbury, excluding condos, fell to $806,500 for the period ending April 30, 2026, down 28% from a year earlier.
The latest median was down from $1,127,000 for the 12 months ending April 30, 2025, and 10% below the $892,000 recorded for the comparable period ending April 30, 2024.
The number of single-family home salesfor the 12-month period ending April 30, 2026, rose to 50, up from 42 for the previous 12-month period in 2025.
Inventory was stable in mid-May, with 18 properties on the market compared with 19 a month earlier. The market continued to skew toward the high end, with 11 homes listed above $1 million and five below the median of $806,500.
Rentals were plentiful in mid-May, with 16 furnished summer homes still available. Similar to last year, four homes had been rented through realtors since January, with prices ranging from $5,600 per month to $37,000 for the summer season.
Salisbury Transfers in April
27 Robin Hill Lane -3 bedroom/2 bath home built in 1974 transferred by 27 Robin Hill Lane to Lemon Properties LLC in a private transfer recorded on April 10, 2026, for $310,000
235 Main Street – Apartment building with 9.5 baths sold by Wells Hill LLC to Lemon Properties LLC in a private transfer recorded on April 10, 2026, for $754,300
48 Long Pond Road – 3 bedroom/3 bath home sold by Gay Morris Trustee Gay Morris 2024 Revocable Living Trust to Joshua Halpert and Runnan Zhong for $1,150,000
60 White Hollow Road – Garage Unit 9 sold by LRP Garages LLC to Rabin Ephramin a private transfer recorded on April 20, 2026 for $350,000
Undermountain Road – 3.52 acres sold by William Halsch, Mary Elizabeth Howard and Peter Halsch to Christopher Lancto and Kathleen Devaney for $298,000
125 Washinee Heights Road – 3.29 acres sold by Donald Ronchi and Jane Ross to 127 WHR LLC in a private transfer recorded on April 24, 2026, for $2,702,000
99 Washinee Heights Road – 3 bedroom/3 bath on 3.2 acres sold by Estate of Patricia Medvecky to Donald Ronchi and Jane Ross for $2,702,000
11 Conklin Street – 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .65 acres sold by the Estate of John Michael Walsh to Kristine Jennings for $395,000
87 Canaan Road, Unit 2F – 2 bedroom/3 bath condo sold by Emily Vail to Peter and Sandra Oliver for $377,000
* Town of Salisbury real estate transfers recorded between April 1, 2026, and April 30, 2026, provided by Salisbury Town Clerk. Transfers without consideration are not included. Current market listings from Smart MLS and market statistics from InfoSparks. Note that recorded transfers may lag sales by a number of days. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in CT and NY.
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Falls Village Report warns of ‘Imminent Failure’ of Cobble Rd. bridge
Patrick L. Sullivan
May 20, 2026
FALLS VILLAGE – The Falls Village Board of Selectmen discussed several infrastructure issues during its May 11 meeting, including a newly released state report on the now-closed Cobble Road bridge.
First Selectman David Barger said the state Department of Transportation recently delivered a 66-page report to Town Hall.
“It’s quite extensive,” Barger said. “What it came down to is the bridge is buckling.”
The report is available for public review at Town Hall.
On page five of the report, the bridge’s superstructure received its lowest rating.
“IMMINENT FAILURE,” it reads. “Bridge is closed to traffic due to component condition. Repair or rehabilitation may return the bridge to service.”
The bridge bearings were rated “poor,” defined in the report as “widespread moderate or isolated defects; strength and/or performance of the component is affected.”
The bridge was closed indefinitely on March 30 following a state DOT inspection. At the time, Barger said the replacement project is eligible for full federal funding because the bridge is 120 feet long or more, which is the primary criterion for federal funding.
The current timeline calls for the bridge to reopen in 2030.
The town also has six additional bridges and culverts requiring work: Undermountain Road over Ledgy Brook, Undermountain Road over Deming Brook, Barnes Road over Wangum Lake Brook, Canaan Mountain Road over Wangum Lake Brook, Canaan Mountain Road over unnamed stream, and Music Mountain Road over Flat Brook.
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Kent BOF sends $16.9 million budget to voters after public hearing
Alec Linden
May 20, 2026
Kent Town Hall
Leila Hawken
May 29 vote would set mill rate at 17.34, an increase of 2.78%
KENT — The Kent Board of Finance has approved a proposed $16.9 million budget and sent it to voters for consideration at the town’s annual budget meeting on May 29, following a public hearing Friday, May 15.
If approved, the spending plan would set the fiscal year 2027 mill rate at 17.34, up 2.78% from the current rate of 16.87. For a property assessed at $350,000, the projected tax bill for fiscal year 2027 would be $6,069, up about $200.
The only change made following roughly an hour of public comment was the restoration of funding for a proposed boat decontamination station at Lake Waramaug, an initiative aimed at preventing hydrilla — an aggressive invasive aquatic weed — from entering the lake.
Under a long-standing agreement, Kent pays half of what Washington and Warren contribute toward lakewide projects. Kent’s share for the station was originally budgeted at $13,000, but the Board of Finance reduced it to $4,500 during an April 14 meeting after some members questioned the expense given that only three shoreline properties are located in Kent. Following Friday’s hearing, the BOF voted to restore the funding to the original amount.
The future of the historic Swift House also sparked debate during the hearing. The town has allocated capital funds toward the property for several years, drawing criticism from some residents who see it as a taxpayer burden and support from others who view it as a valuable community asset.
Earlier this spring, the BOF moved $200,000 in taxable funds tied to the project to 2032, removing the impact from this year’s tax bills, while another $225,000 remains in the five-year capital plan. After additional discussion Friday, the board chose not to make any further changes.
There were no comments or questions regarding the Board of Education budget, which totals $5,307,470 for Kent Center School, a 2.12% increase over the current year.
Regional education spending for Housatonic Valley Regional High School, approved separately in the May 5 Region One vote, totals $2,783,359 — a 6.57% increase. Combined, the town’s total education spending would rise to $8,090,829 under the proposed budget, up just over 3.5% from fiscal year 2026.
The Board of Selectmen’s proposed municipal operating budget totals $5,277,965, a 5.08% increase from the current year.
Kent taxpayers can vote on the spending plans at 6 p.m. at Town Hall on Friday, May 29.
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