Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Traffic concerns cause selectmen to consider solutions

SALISBURY — First Selectman Curtis Rand raised the issue of speedy drivers in town at a meeting of the Board of Selectman July 1.

The Board had received a petition about traffic that cited speeding, asked for more police enforcement, more speed limit signs, and a ban on “Jake brakes,” or compression release engine brakes used on 18-wheeler trucks. When deployed the Jake brakes make a loud sound.

Rand said it’s been eight years since the state Department of Transportation did a traffic audit in Salisbury and suggested it is time for a new one.

Selectman Chris Williams said once the audit is completed, the resulting study would give the town some leverage in asking the state DOT to take action. “Hold their feet to the fire,” he said.

The selectmen approved a request from the Affordable Housing Commission for $13,800 from the Affordable Housing Fund. The money will be used to hire an energy efficiency consultant for the Dresser Woods affordable housing development.

“While we’re on housing,” Rand began.

He said that limiting possible affordable housing sites to places that are or can be served by town water and sewer is “pretty onerous.”

“Yet there are locals who rent affordably and get no recognition” he said, adding “We have 38,000 acres and we scramble over a tiny amount of it because we need water and sewer or town-owned. “

He asked why, if a piece of land became available for affordable housing, a well and septic system couldn’t be installed.

“I agree completely” said Selectman Kitty Kiefer.

“We have to think outside the box,” said Williams.

The Board announced the brush dump on Hammertown Road is closed temporarily.

Rand said the dump is for leaves only, and people were putting invasive plants in the pile.

The selectmen thanked Jean McMillen, who is retiring as town historian but will continue to keep tabs on the town’s cemeteries.

“You’ve been a force for good in keeping the historical stones up to date” Rand said.

McMillen reported that all the cemeteries are in “good or excellent” cognition at the moment.

What needs work in the short term is the granite pillars and iron rods in the graveyard behind Town Hall. McMillen said these items are the only fencing of historical significance among the cemeteries.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.

Latest News

The art of getting into art school

The art of getting into art school

Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day returns to Poughkeepsie.

Provided

For a young artist considering college, the question isn’t simply whether the work is good enough. It’s which work to show, which school might be the right fit and even whether a creative life can lead to a sustainable career.

On Friday, Oct. 16, hundreds of aspiring artists will have the opportunity to explore those questions at Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day, presented by The Art Effect at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie.

Keep ReadingShow less
education

A colorful life together at Atelier Valla

A colorful life together at Atelier Valla

Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.

L. Tomaino
I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.
— Justine Valla

Husband and wife Victor and Justine Valla share a lavender and pink studio, Atelier Valla, across the driveway from their pink house, nestled into a hillside in Salisbury. The colors, said Justine, “were inspired by Monet’s house at Giverny.”

Creating art has been a lifelong pursuit for both.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

David Ruchman’s “Acquired Taste”

David Ruchman’s “Acquired Taste”

Filmmaker David Ruchman

Bleacher and Everard Photography

In a region known for its vibrant but geographically scattered arts community, discovering something new can require a little effort. The same might be said for finding a new place for an extraordinary meal. While the Northwest Corner, Berkshires and Hudson Valley have no shortage of creative talent, opportunities to experience it — whether on a stage, in a gallery or on a plate — aren’t always just around the corner.

In David Ruchman’s short film “Acquired Taste,” that challenge becomes the premise for an unlikely friendship between Nick, an aspiring young food critic living in an area with limited dining options, and a gruff New York City master chef.

Keep ReadingShow less
film
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Follow the Clay Way for ceramic delights

Follow the Clay Way for ceramic delights

Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.

Provided

As the leaves across Litchfield and Dutchess counties rush to make it to the ground, your last chance to peep autumn is fast approaching. On Oct.17 and 18, the 10th annual Clay Way offers peepers a route to follow lined with unique art that rivals the area’s natural beauty.

The two-day event is a ceramics-focused open studio tour through northwestern Connecticut, with a few studios peppered in just over the border in Dutchess County. Featuring nine open studios and 25 participating artists, the tour promises a wide variety of work, from decorative objects to grand vessels and a whole world in between.

Keep ReadingShow less
open-studio

A new home for the unexpected at Kent Fine Art

A new home for the unexpected at Kent Fine Art

CAMERON (1922-1995) is on view at Kent Fine Art in Pine Plains through Nov. 14.

Provided

Where can one find the work of an artist associated with occult rituals, surrealist visions and the underground California art scene? In a beautifully renovated former carriage house in Pine Plains, of course.

Unexpected discoveries are, after all, part of what Doug Walla has spent his career making possible. The longtime New York City art dealer and founder of Kent Fine Art, has brought the work of Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel, known simply as Cameron, to his new gallery space. The exhibition, on view through Nov. 14, introduces visitors to an artist whose life and work moved between mysticism, poetry, film and the avant-garde.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

A new home for Stateline Auctions

A new home for Stateline Auctions
D.H. Callahan

If you’ve driven through North Canaan in the last month, you may have noticed that the big storefront windows at the intersection of Main and Railroad Streets, usually packed with antiques and art, are empty. Stateline Auctions has moved.

Stateline was started by Tommy Matteo and Bruce Kolbacher in 2011. Matteo had already been in the auction world for 15 years and had worked with Kalbacher, an antiques store owner, before they set up shop in North Canaan.

Keep ReadingShow less
business
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.