Selectmen share updates on plans, projects

SALISBURY — The Board of Selectmen gave an overview of issues facing the town in the new year during the first regular monthly meeting of the year, on Monday, Jan. 4.

First Selectman Curtis Rand began what he called “the musings� by noting that the Salis-bury-Sharon Resource Recovery Authority — a new entity created to oversee the new transfer station — would begin meeting later this month. The initial steps will be organizational, he said, such as writing by-laws.

The town’s contract with the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority expires in 2012, but “we’re not going to wait to decide� how solid waste will be handled in the future.

“We will provide the most economically viable way for our residents to dispose of their trash,� Rand said. “It’s almost bigger than designing the new transfer station.�

Selectman Bob Riva said that construction on both the new firehouse and the new Town Grove building is proceeding, albeit with a few delays due to extremely cold weather. He said that rafters have been ordered for the firehouse truck bays. Once those are installed, “we can start looking at enclosing the space and getting the masons working.�

Riva said the foundation at the Grove is complete and that the walls were being framed as he spoke. He also praised the contractors for taking pains (and incurring additional expense) to avoid damaging tree roots at the site.

Selectman Jim Dresser, talking about housing, noted that the Salisbury Housing Trust has begun a duplex on Indian Cave Road and that the Salisbury Housing Committee, which runs Sarum Village, is planning an additional building.

Dresser, who represents the selectmen on the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, plans to have a report ready by the end of February.

He praised the group’s work and said the final report would have “camera-ready recommendations that are easy to implement and won’t surprise Planning and Zoning.� (Marty Whalen of the the Planning and Zoning Commission is also on the committee.)

“It’s clearly something we could study for five years,� added Dresser. “But you can’t live in a study.�

Talking about downtown and commercial areas, Rand said that the Northwestern Connecticut Planning Collaborative, armed with a grant from the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, is beginning work on a Village Center Vitality project.

“Opportunities need to exist for young people to work — and live — in Salisbury,� he said.

Rand praised the work of Elaine Hecht, editor of the Natural Resource Inventory book that was unveiled last month, saying it would be invaluable for the town in formulating the Town Plan of Conservation and Development. (Copies are available at the Academy Building.)

And he said that consultant Donald Poland, who submitted a report last month on the town’s land-use administration, boards, procedures and regulations, would be available in a few weeks for a meeting with all the land-use boards and the selectmen. “We should probably get the Board of Finance there, too,� he added.

In housekeepng business, the regular February meeting was changed from Monday, Feb. 1, to Monday, Feb. 8, 4 p.m. at Town Hall.

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