Selectmen take stock, make plans for 2011

SALISBURY— The Board of Selectmen has approved a resolution confirming its support for the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for zoning changes. The board also took a look at the issues facing Salisbury in the new year. All this was done at the first meeting of 2011, on Monday, Jan. 3.

Selectman Jim Dresser said some two dozen nominations for the new Affordable Housing Commission had been received and the interviewing process had begun.

He then brought up the resolution, which Selectman Bob Riva and First Selectman Curtis Rand swiftly approved. (Dresser and other members of the now-disbanded Affordable Housing Committee presented the recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission the following night.)

Rand reported on a meeting in December with representatives from Falls Village and Bucknell University professor of engineering (emeritus) Jai Kim at the bridge in Amesville. Kim was the engineer who worked on the bridge some 25 years ago. Lou Timolat of Falls Village reported that Kim returned to take a look at the ailing bridge for no charge.

Rand said that the immediate problems are with the deck and the underside of the bridge, which links Falls Village and the Amesville section of Salisbury and spans the Housatonic River just upstream of the power plant and downstream of the Great Falls.

Riva noted that an informal count during the hour or so he was there had about 60 cars using the one-lane bridge.

Looking ahead to budget season, Rand said, “These are trying times. We will maintain a conservative budget, but not underfund things that will catch up with us later.�

“The rub is a lot of spending goes to organizations that provide services to taxpayers,� said Dresser.

Rand continued: “On the plus side, the cost of borrowing has been low, we don’t have much debt, we’ve been able to get grant money and package projects so that locals could bid on them.�

“The things we’ve done have built equity in the town,� added Riva.

Rand said with the firehouse complete, “We can shift the focus back to the transfer station.� The town has until July 1 to commit to a new contract with the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority to dispose of the town’s waste.

“The good news,� Rand said, “is the prices shouldn’t be any higher and could be lower.�

In the works for 2011

• Appointing  a building committee for the new transfer station

• Work on the route 44/41 intersection in Lakeville (expect a public meeting on this topic later this winter)

• The results of the Academy Street traffic study

• Improvements to the town website, especially in terms of linking to merchants.

Rand also called the new ski jump on Satre Hill “a magnificent structure.� When the Junior Olympics come to town next month, “it will be quite a week.�

 

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less