West Cornwall restaurant to open

CORNWALL — A new American cuisine restaurant will open in September at the former location of the Wandering Moose restaurant, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway told the selectmen at their Aug. 22 meeting.

The new tenants will be moving to Cornwall from Marlborough, Mass., hoping to renovate the restaurant to offer “comfort food” throughout the day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

“It sounds very positive,” Ridgway said, adding that he hopes that the town will turn out to support the business when it opens.

Town Hall intern Dean Saccardi has made progress on his summer research assignments, Ridgway said.  Gathering information about communication through fiber optics, Saccardi met with Sharon Selectman Jessica Fowler, a member of NWCONNect, who provided preliminary information and then suggested a meeting with Felicia Jones of Falls Village. These meetings are part of a study to improve internet connections in area towns.  

The 21 member towns of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (COG) are benefiting from a grant to search for ways to work together to enhance individual towns’ connectivity.

“Every town is unique. There is no county government in Connecticut. There is huge variation among towns in regard to individual needs,” Ridgway said.

In the fall, COG will chart a proposal for a low-budget option to determine which towns are willing to support an upgrade.  The proposals will unfold over the coming year. “They are working on it,” Ridgway said.

Saccardi has also been interviewing younger populations to study what is important to them in decisions to move from town or to stay in town. 

Recalling the impressive rainstorm of Aug. 2, dubbed a “rain bomb,” that washed out driveways along Route 125, Ridgway reported that it was due to an unusual weather pattern.  West Cornwall received a modest half inch of rain, but the Town Hall measured 6 inches from the same storm.