Sewage and cyclists hold future for town’s economy

FALLS VILLAGE — Wastewater treatment, the economic potential of bicyclists and better collaboration between town and merchants emerged as the main themes of a meeting Monday, July 11, sponsored by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Northwestern Connecticut Regional Planning Collaborative.Engineer Kurt Mailman of Fuss and O’Neill went through the various funding options for building wastewater treatment systems, and described two instances — one in Tolland and one in Old Lyme — in which municipalities maneuvered their way through regulatory and financial hurdles and addressed their sewer needs.Mailman emphasized the importance of wastewater treatment as vital infrastructure for any economic growth.Falls Village has town water in the downtown area, but no sewer system.Any solution is going to be expensive, Mailman said, but with funding arrangements — part grant, part bonding — from either the state Department of Environmental Protection of the federal Department of Agriculture — a viable solution can be found.Dan Bolognani is director of sales and marketing for the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville and executive director of the federal Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, chairman of the board of directors of the Western Connecticut Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and an executive committee member of the Berkshire Visitor’s Bureau.He summed up the many hats he wears by saying, “I create visitor experiences and work to attract people into the area.“I am always scouring the landscape for that authentic experience. How do you get [tourists] to slow down and stop?”Bolognani said he has worked on promoting the region — with a recent emphasis on the Northwest Corner from Bulls Bridge in Kent north into Berkshire County, as a destination for serious bicyclists — the sort who routinely ride 50 to 100 miles at a clip.There is a push on to get them off the main roads and encourage exploring the towns of the Regional Planning Collaborative — Barkhamsted, Cornwall, Falls Village, Goshen, Kent, North Canaan, Norfolk, Salisbury and Sharon. The Bulls Bridge to Lanesboro, Mass., route is being promoted as a cycling destination. To get the cyclists to make detours, a series of maps detailing shorter routes in the various towns is in the works. The first map, of routes in Kent, has been out for a year, and Bolognani said it has been a success.“They are not afraid to spend money,” he said.“Bicyclists love the roads,” he continued. “What they need is guidance.”Chris Wood, the Collaborative’s planning director (and a cyclist himself), spoke about marketing existing business opporunities in Falls Village — whether by attracting businesses to vacant storefronts or helping existing businesses to expand — and of attracting visitors to the town. The Collaborative and the nine member towns are expecting a state Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant from the state to help move this process along.Colin Chambers of the Falls Village Inn then spoke up.He said when he started out last year he and partner Sue Sweetapple “fell in love with the town.”He said the business has grown, from 10 customers at first to the inn’s biggest weekend yet last week.But in trying to put together a list of activities and suggestions for his visitors, he found himself frustrated.“I feel like we’re alone in this.”He urged forming some kind of downtown business association, even if it is as informal “as sitting on the porch once a month and putting our heads together.”At meeting’s end, the group of business owners, members of the zoning commission and residents (plus First Selectman Pat Mechare) reached an informal consensus on the need to create some sort of Falls Village business group or economic development commission; to improve signs (“People don’t even know we’re here,” said Greg Bidou of the Toymaker’s Cafe); to support the development of a Falls Village bike loop branching off from the Route 7 corridor; and to do a study of public wastewater treatment options for the village center.

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