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Family members from Spirit Horse Farm in Kent setting up their picnic Aug. 22.
There was an informal “picnic set-up” contest held during the Kent Concert Series show Aug. 22. Tablecloths, stemware, flowers and food ware were all part of the party with the ever-popular Wanda Houston. Everyone was a winner.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Selectmen approved three grant-funded projects totaling $47,700 at a special meeting Thursday, Oct. 22, including painting and new flooring at the Peter G. Lawson Senior Center and electrical work at the transfer station.
Value Restorations will paint the senior center for $32,500, using funds from a state Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant.
Laigle Flooring will install new flooring at the center for $9,940, paid for through a federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant.
At the transfer station, Sharon Electric will wire a new trash compactor for $5,260, also funded through a STEAP grant.
The selectmen also appointed Susan Kelsey as an alternate on the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Patrick Stachniak
SHARON — The resignation of Zoning Board of Appeals member Theodore Coulombe was announced at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting last month.
The Selectmen are now actively searching for a new volunteer to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in 2027.
Coulombe, a local artist and gallery owner, did not respond to a request for comment on his resignation, but still serves as an alternate for the Historic District Commission.
According to First Selectman Casey Flanagan, finding volunteers to serve on any board can be difficult due to the time commitment and fears over potential conflicts with their small town neighbors.
“[But] we rely heavily on volunteers in this town,” said Flanagan. “We’re looking for people who are interested in volunteering and giving their time to the town. People who have a good head on their shoulders, who can work well with others, and have an interest in helping.”
Interested applicants must write a brief letter of intent explaining why they’d be a good fit and submit it to 1stselectman@sharonct.gov. The Board of Selectmen will review the letters and appoint the best candidate.
Lakeville Journal
The Sharon Woman’s Club revived its traditional chili supper at the Sharon firehouse Saturday, Oct. 24, bringing neighbors together for the first time since the pandemic interrupted the event six years ago.
Club volunteers hosted the supper, with eighth-grade students from Sharon Center School providing table service. Guests shared a meal and took part in a raffle, with proceeds benefiting a variety of local nonprofit organizations.
The club has served the Sharon community since 1910.
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Ruth Epstein
Matthew and Theresa Freund have signed an agreement adding another layer of farmland preservation protection to this 199-acre parcel in East Canaan.
NORTH CANAAN — Ensuring the legacy left to them by their parents, Benjamin and Matthew Freund, along with Matthew’s wife, Theresa, have signed an agreement for continued and strengthened farmland preservation.
The move adds an additional layer of protection on 199 acres in East Canaan that stretches between Elm Knoll and Freund’s farms along both sides of Route 44.
The Freunds purchased the acreage in 1986 upon which they placed a Department of Agriculture easement to maintain its agricultural use. But they have seen examples on other properties that have skirted such easements to allow for the construction of large estates and other amenities.
“These easements are not sufficient to prevent large homes on these sites,” said Ben Freund. “To honor our original intent of the easement, we donated the land to what is called Option to Purchase at Agricultural Value, or OPAV, to Connecticut Farmland Trust.”
While the fields were already protected from development, this additional agreement helps keep them affordable and available to farmers for generations to come, as well as imposing certain restrictions.
The agreement stipulates that whoever buys the property in the future must make half of his or her income from agricultural production. It further designates where and what size house can be placed on the parcel.
Ben Freund has been working for a few years to accomplish the agreement. “This serves as a legacy to my parents.” Esther and Eugene Freund farmed for decades and were strong advocates for farmland preservation. The two sons came back after college to work the farm with their father and continued after his retirement.
“I hope this sets an example for how some easements can be protected,” he said.
Theirs is the first of 45 farms in Connecticut that have easements which can seek further protection. “Besides preserving agricultural opportunities, this sets an example to others across the state to emulate.”
Alec Linden
A rendering of the proposed 80-unit housing development south of Kent Town Hall. The Inland Wetlands Commission will hold a public hearing on the project Monday, Nov. 16.
KENT — The public will get another chance to comment on a proposed 80-unit downtown housing development when the Inland Wetlands Commission hosts a public hearing on Monday, Nov. 16.
At its regular meeting in late October, the IWC scheduled the hearing in response to a petition signed by 31 residents and organized by local real estate agent Bonnie Bevans, who opposes the project.
Bevans has said the development is too large, and a consultant speaking on her behalf has questioned whether the town’s sewer system can handle the additional wastewater.
Jim Millstein, managing partner of Kent Housing Development Associates, the developer proposing the project, has said the Sewer Commission indicated the system has sufficient capacity for the development.
Connecticut law allows an inland wetlands agency to hold a public hearing if a proposal may significantly affect wetlands or watercourses, if it receives a qualifying petition, or if it determines a hearing would be in the public interest.
The hearing, which will take place online via Zoom at 7 p.m., will focus on the proposal’s potential effects on wetlands and watercourses.
It will be the first public hearing on the project since the Planning and Zoning Commission’s hearings this spring.
Those hearings drew mixed reactions, with residents praising the prospect of more housing options in Kent while raising concerns about the project’s size, traffic and effects on town services.
That process eventually led to the establishment of a Planned Development District, or PDD, on a 12.5-acre parcel of meadowland south of Town Hall, meaning the land is now restricted to the uses described in the application.
P&Z approved the district April 9, allowing 80 mixed-income housing units in townhouse and apartment-style buildings, including 16 designated as affordable. Five acres at the southern end of the property will be preserved as open space.
Introducing the project during the spring hearings, Millstein described the vision as “a village-scale residential neighborhood that fits naturally in Kent while addressing the town’s documented housing needs.”
The PDD approval was not a go-ahead for the project itself, but rather an initial permitting step. The site plan for the development is now under review by P&Z; however, that process will not feature additional public hearings.
The primary concern for the IWC is a drainage ditch that runs the length of the property from north to south. The development team has stated it will utilize the channel as a feature of the property and “beautify” it with native plants.
The IWC has also questioned a section of the southern meadow that collects standing water intermittently. The applicant’s engineer has said soil testing showed generally well-drained soils across the property. These findings and others are currently under review by the IWC’s consulting engineer.
Alongside information from Millstein and his development team, the Nov. 16 hearing will also feature input from Bevans and her consultants. Bevans has formally intervened in the application process to raise environmental concerns.
During the late-October IWC meeting, Bevans requested that the hearing be hosted either fully in person at Town Hall or in a hybrid format allowing residents to participate from Town Hall via Zoom. She stated that she and others were uncomfortable and felt underrepresented with the online format of P&Z and IWC hearings, which has been standard practice for years in Kent.
IWC Chair Lynn Werner said that she was uneasy breaking that precedent for the sake of one application, and that she preferred the online format to ensure presentations and testimony are captured in the meeting record.
“I think participating via Zoom is the fairest way to do it as long as we’re enabling people who are uncomfortable with Zoom to participate,” she said, “because it captures everything, online, for the record.”
Land Use Administrator Tai Kern said that residents who have difficulty accessing the meetings via Zoom should contact her office before the hearing to arrange access to a laptop and instructions on how to participate. She also welcomed those with materials to share, such as maps, to submit them to her office before the hearing so she can help present them.
Patrick Stachniak
SALISBURY — Salisbury Central School’s chorus will perform at Radio City Music Hall Nov. 12, with preparations continuing despite the recent departure of music teacher and chorus director Jennifer Moros.
The chorus will perform a medley of holiday favorites before the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes. Students announced the trip during their Fall Festival performance.
Principal Stephanie Magyarinformed families that Moros was no longer at the school in an email sent Oct. 28. Neither Magyar nor Moros commented on the reasons.
Magyar said the Nov. 12 performance will proceed and tickets remain available. She will oversee trip logistics, and Salisbury Band member Lee Sohl will direct the chorus.
Moros joined Salisbury Central in 2024 after nearly two decades as an educator. Working with Magyar, she expanded music opportunities for younger students and introduced a musical for fourth and fifth graders. The chorus grew to 38 students.
“I love what I do, I love making music and I love working with kids,” Moros said in an Oct. 23 interview with The Lakeville Journal.
“The program is growing really fast. The kids are training, and they’re pretty amazing,” she said.
Preparing for Radio City also brought support from the wider community. Michael Baldwin and Sarah Cuoco of Sharon Playhouse volunteered to help students develop their stage presence.
Students and community members helped raise money for the trip, selling $1,000 worth of popcorn at concerts with a machine borrowed from the local fire department.
Magyar said the program’s growth has given students more opportunities to perform and made the chorus more visible in the community.
“It’s been great. Our numbers are up, and not just the kids are responding well, but the community is getting to see us far more than they did before,” Magyar said.
The chorus is also scheduled to perform its holiday medley Dec. 6 at Salisbury’s tree lighting at the White Hart Inn.
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