FALLS VILLAGE — First Selectman Dave Barger will continue handling local firearm permit applications, although Connecticut law allows him to delegate that responsibility to state police, he told the Board of Selectmen Monday, Nov. 9.
Barger, a retired state police master sergeant, said that in municipalities like Falls Village, which have neither a local police force nor a resident state trooper, the first selectman handles permit applications but may turn that duty over to state police.
For now, Barger said, he will retain the responsibility, even though each application takes four to five hours to process. “I do a little more than most,” he said.
He said he knows the people applying for permits and that some townspeople would be more comfortable working with him than going to the Troop B barracks.
Barger wanted selectmen Judy Jacobs and Chris Kinsella to be aware of the option, adding that a future first selectman might want to revisit the matter.
Barger also reported that the state Department of Transportation recently put a one-inch layer of pavement on Route 126 between Routes 7 and 63.
He said the work was a stopgap measure to alleviate rough patches. The DOT plans to fully mill and repave that stretch within the next two years.
In the meantime, he added, the ambulance squad “doesn’t have to worry about driving down Route 126.”
Barger thanked the Recreation Commission for the success of the Autumn at the Town Farm event Oct. 17, which drew 252 people, and the Halloween Trunk or Treat event downtown Oct. 31.
He also thanked those involved in designing, building and installing the new cupola on the poolhouse at the Recreation Center.
The Falls Village Sawmill donated the materials, Tom Brashares designed and built the cupola, and North Canaan First Selectman Jesse Bunce helped install it using his crane.
Barger also thanked Denny Jacobs and Bill Beebe for repairing and repainting the historic marker on the town Green.
“It’s one of the first things visitors see,” Barger said. “You’ve brought back a sense of civic pride.”
