Rand sets the record straighton Community Field rumors

SALISBURY — At the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting Monday, Feb. 5, First Selectman Curtis Rand pushed back on recent social media posts regarding Community Field in Lakeville.

“There is no plan to pave 30% of Community Field,” he said. “It’s absurd.”

As for the idea of building a sidewalk alongside Factory Pond to the town Grove and Lake Wononscopomuc, Rand said that and other ideas, including creating a parking area at Community Field, were discussed at length during a well-attended meeting in March of 2023.

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Rand also took issue with reports about the status of a future parking lot at the Pope property, with lighting and room for 100 cars.

“That’s patently untrue,” Rand said. He pointed out that on a typical summer weekend day, with Little League baseball at the existing ball field, there are already 60-80 cars parking “all over the place.”

At the Pope Land Design Committee’s Feb. 1 meeting, member Lisa McAuliffe said that a parking area next to the Housatonic Child Care Center had been removed from the current concept plan.

Selectman Kitty Kiefer observed that for any or all of these projects, “the permitting process hasn’t begun.”

The selectmen voted to approve advertising for a consultant to work on yet another affordable housing proposal, the Dresser Woods property in Salisbury.

This is a 5-acre parcel located in Salisbury village that was donated by Jim Dresser to the nonprofit — and private — Salisbury Housing Committee (SHC) as a potential site for affordable housing.

The property is situated on East Railroad Street along the Rail Trail, about 200 yards northeast of LaBonne’s Market.

The donation occurred in May 2022. At a town meeting July 28, 2022, a proposal to use town-owned property for access to a proposed affordable housing development on the property was approved by a vote of 291-50, allowing the project to move forward.

The SHC’s application for Dresser Woods is on the Planning and Zoning commission’s agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 20.