Town agrees to join regional planning group

SALISBURY — At a town meeting Dec. 12, voters unanimously endorsed a "Regional Performance Incentive Program" pertaining to a regional planning collaborative spearheaded by two Falls Village officials: First Selectman Pat Mechare and Planning and Zoning Commission member Ruth Skovron.

During the state budget process earlier this year, the General Assembly approved and set aside $8.6 million for a regional planning initiative. The local collaborative is applying for a grant from those funds. The application was due Dec. 1, with the announcement of awards likely in February. But taxpayers in the eight member towns in the Northwest Corner must approve their towns’ involvement in the grant process by Dec. 31.

A total of 20 towns are part of the collaborative.

The collaborative requested a state grant totaling $175,000 over the two years of the program, whose goal is to show how shared land use planning services can be delivered effectively in small communities.

If secured, those funds will be used to hire a planner to deliver services to the Litchfield County towns within the two small regional agencies that already exist: the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments (COG), which serves nine Northwest Corner towns, and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials, which serves 11 other Litchfield County towns.

The resolution endorsing the regional planning collaborative passed 24-0, First Selectman Curtis Rand said in an interview. At the meeting, Rand also gave brief updates on two ongoing projects.

The Luke-Fitting Advisory Committee, which is investigating possibilities for a new Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station, has recessed for the holidays and will not meet again until Jan. 2.

And the search for a new firehouse for the Lakeville Hose Company is still in the negotiating phase between the town and Illinois Tool Works (ITW), the corporation that owns the Route 44 plant the hose company would like to purchase for a new facility. Rand said he was not at liberty to provide details on the discussions.

"I wished everyone a happy holiday and told them to take a break from thinking about this stuff for awhile," Rand said.