Grant will help repair 120-year-old pipe system


SHARON — It was a Good Friday that proved to be absolutely divine for the Sewer and Water Commission.

On that day the commission received a telephone call from United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Area Director Mary Grasso saying that the town had been approved for a $1.6-million grant to improve the sewer system.

"It was unexpected," First Selectman Malcolm Brown said. "The Connecticut office, under last-minute pressure to get out a certain number of grants, squeezed us in. Grasso said, ‘Guess what? You got the money.’"

Under the Rural Development Grant, $700,000 is grant money and the remaining $900,000 is a loan with a 4-percent interest rate. The money will help the town to rehabilitate and upgrade an aging sewer system, portions of which are more than 120 years old, according to Brown.

"Some of the piping was laid in the 1880s and ’90s," Brown said. "They’re made of clay and are cracked and breaking."

The money will also go toward refurbishing the sand filtration plant and replacing two septic tanks there, Brown said.

The town applied for the grant, as well as one with through the state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Clear Water Fund, in 2003, after engineers conducted a study and found the current sewer system to be in need of repairs.

The town was "too far down" the DEP’s list to be eligible for funds, Brown said, and the commission had all but given up hope on a USDA grant until Grasso called.

"I’m not sure when the first spade will drop," Brown said. "But it will be much needed."

USDA Rural Development State Director David Tuttle will be at the town green on Tuesday, July 3, to present a check to Brown and members of the Sewer and Water Commission at 10:30 a.m.

"I’ll be in the back row," Brown said of the scheduled ceremony. "Members of the commission will be up front. After all, they’re the ones most responsible for this."

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less