No sewers for now

Sometimes even the best of intentions can only lead to failure. So it was with the proposal to provide sewer service to the last sections of North Canaan that remain without it, Honey Hill and Green Acres. It was voted down by a 2-to-1 margin at town meeting July 10, as Karen Bartomioli reported in the July 15 issue of this newspaper.

 North Canaan Fire District Warden Anthony Nania, who helped spearhead the effort, pointed out that several million dollars of federal stimulus funding which has been obtained to cover half the cost of the sewers could be lost if the proposal doesn’t find new life within the next six months. A real and viable concern, yet the residents of the district must also bear a portion of the cost themselves (for instance, a cost of $1,000 to remove their own septic systems once the sewers are completed). If this creates unacceptable hardship for them, small though it may seem compared to the total cost of the project, the money from Washington is not meaningful or very helpful to them.

 For the long-term value of the area’s properties, it would be better, of course, if a new, well-designed and well-constructed sewer system were in place rather than individual septic systems of varying vintages. But in the short term, such projects must be paid for before they can deliver their full value and it’s a tough time for many to make any extra and unexpected investments. There’s not much gravy around any more.

 The Great Recession, let’s call it, has taken its toll in many Northwest Corner households. For those who are on fixed incomes, or who have lost some or all of their incomes because of cutbacks or layoffs, or have lost some portion of the value of their savings or investments, difficulties remain despite stimulus money injected into the economy and a stabilization of the banking system and real estate market. A vote such as the one which nixed the Honey Hill/Green Acres sewer project serves to remind us all of this.

Latest News

Walking among the ‘Herd’

Walking among the ‘Herd’

Michel Negroponte

Betti Franceschi

"Herd,” a film by Michel Negroponte, will be screening at The Norfolk Library on Saturday April 13 at 5:30 p.m. This mesmerizing documentary investigates the relationship between humans and other sentient beings by following a herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle through a little more than a year of their lives.

Negroponte and his wife have had a second home just outside of Livingston Manor, in the southwest corner of the Catskills, for many years. Like many during the pandemic, they moved up north for what they thought would be a few weeks, and now seldom return to their city dwelling. Adjacent to their property is a privately owned farm and when a herd of Belted Galloways arrived, Negroponte realized the subject of his new film.

Keep ReadingShow less
documentaries

Fresh perspectives in Norfolk Library film series

Fresh perspectives in Norfolk Library film series

Diego Ongaro

Photo submitted

Parisian filmmaker Diego Ongaro, who has been living in Norfolk for the past 20 years, has composed a collection of films for viewing based on his unique taste.

The series, titled “Visions of Europe,” began over the winter at the Norfolk Library with a focus on under-the-radar contemporary films with unique voices, highlighting the creative richness and vitality of the European film landscape.

Keep ReadingShow less
norfolk library

New ground to cover and plenty of groundcover

New ground to cover and plenty of groundcover

Young native pachysandra from Lindera Nursery shows a variety of color and delicate flowers.

Dee Salomon

It is still too early to sow seeds outside, except for peas, both the edible and floral kind. I have transplanted a few shrubs and a dogwood tree that was root pruned in the fall. I have also moved a few hellebores that seeded in the near woods back into their garden beds near the house; they seem not to mind the few frosty mornings we have recently had. In years past I would have been cleaning up the plant beds but I now know better and will wait at least six weeks more. I have instead found the most perfect time-consuming activity for early spring: teasing out Vinca minor, also known as periwinkle and myrtle, from the ground in places it was never meant to be.

Planting the stuff in the first place is my biggest ever garden regret. It was recommended to me as a groundcover that would hold together a hillside, bare after a removal of invasive plants save for a dozen or so trees. And here we are, twelve years later; there is vinca everywhere. It blankets the hillside and has crept over the top into the woods. It has made its way left and right. I am convinced that vinca is the plastic of the plant world. The stuff won’t die. (The name Vinca comes from the Latin ‘vincire’ which means ‘to bind or fetter.’) Last year I pulled a bunch and left it strewn on the roof of the root cellar for 6 months and the leaves were still green.

Keep ReadingShow less
the ungardener

Matza Lasagne by 'The Cook and the Rabbi'

Matza Lasagne by 'The Cook and the Rabbi'

Culinary craftsmanship intersects with spiritual insights in the wonderfully collaborative book, “The Cook and the Rabbi.” On April 14 at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck (6422 Montgomery Street), the cook, Susan Simon, and the rabbi, Zoe B. Zak, will lead a conversation about food, tradition, holidays, resilience and what to cook this Passover.

Passover, marked by the traditional seder meal, holds profound significance within Jewish culture and for many carries extra meaning this year at a time of great conflict. The word seder, meaning “order” in Hebrew, unfolds in a 15-step progression intertwining prayers, blessings, stories, and songs that narrate the ancient saga of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. It’s a narrative that has endured for over two millennia, evolving with time yet retaining its essence, a theme echoed beautifully in “The Cook and the Rabbi.”

Keep ReadingShow less
books