Hidden details, amazing tales in the town report


 

CORNWALL — Among agenda items for the Oct. 23 annual town meeting is the town report, actually a collection of reports covering all aspects of town life and regional agencies.

By chance, last year’s meeting was also held on Oct. 23, a Thursday, rather than the traditional Friday meeting to catch weekend residents.

Since then, residents have gathered to vote only once, approving a town budget in spring.

Voting aside, a look at reports from various offices, agencies and organizations shows Cornwall was not taking a wait-and-see attitude during tough economic times.

Surprisingly, the topic that garnered the most interest last year was not even on the agenda this year: the plans to replace the gym floor at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Region One school board representative Phil Hart explained at that time that work would take place within two years.

The floor was completed last month.

Of more local impact was approval for the selectmen to administer a $150,000 state grant to be used mostly toward a business facade work reimbursement program. The result was a real sprucing up of more than a dozen businesses and the Cornwall Historical Society, with exterior work that included painting, renovations, landscaping and handicap access.

The town report is enlightening, as well, about the diversity of Cornwall residents. It includes small details that often go unremarked.

Last winter, for example, 51 households receiving a total of more than $37,000 in heating fuel assistance, according to the report.

The regional Chore Service brought much-needed aid to 37 Cornwall families. Fifteen local residents found employment with the service.

Building Official Paul Prindle marked 10 years here, with a report that offers a snapshot of the last decade of Cornwall development.

The number of issued construction permits was down only slightly from a boom in the prior two years. But overall construction costs, at $9.4 million, were down by about a third. There were only two new dwellings, but many people added on and improved.

The record year was 2001-02, with nearly $17 million in new construction. The following year marked the most new homes, with 10.

A proposed hike in building fees is on the town meeting agenda, but that hike is required to cover a rise in fees that the towns pay to the state.

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) was busy with lots of extra meetings and some long agendas this past year. It approved four solar array panel installations — a tribute, in part, to the public awareness campaign launched by the Energy Task Force.

Installation of a solar voltaic system, earned by a large number of residents signing on to buy power from alternative energy sources, began at Cornwall Consolidated School.

Numerous zone changes were requested, including one that would allow the Cornwall Housing Corporation to build senior apartments in Cornwall Bridge.

P&Z also worked long and hard, in committees and special monthly meetings, to complete a proposal for a revised Town Plan of Conservation and Development. That proposal will be presented next month.


The flying ducks


Always a must-read is Animal Control Officer Rick Stone’s report.

Between farm animals and wild animals, Cornwall always presents unique challenges and surprises that Stone handles with imagination — and writes about with great humor.

Stone called it a "strange" year, weather aside, with animals not following their usual patterns. Bears seem to have wised up about where they are not welcome, while well-fed house cats have become something of a nuisance, one actually ripping through a screen door.

Then there are the crows, which seem to be everywhere, Stone reported.

For years, a pack of coyotes on Coltsfoot Mountain mounted nightly attacks on prey in the valley below, with all the attendant howling.

"Now there’s no activity, no yelping, no cries ... nothing."

This year Stone shared a story. It is a delightful one that many have heard before, but which bears repeating. (No pun intended; it’s not about a bear.)

Stone was out on Popple Swamp Road at the beginning of the summer when he spotted a duck on the side of the road.

"As I slowed down, I heard


thwack,a baby duck hit the pavement," Stone wrote in his report. "Whoa, I looked up where I thought he came from and saw another duck ready to jump. I turned on the truck flasher, grabbed a coat and tried to break the fall of the next skydiver."

 

In all, nine ducklings made the leap from a tree on the edge of the road, following their mother’s signal that it was time to leave the nest. Stone noted that hitting the ground plays a part in "jump starting" their systems, but that they usually have a somewhat softer forest floor to land on.

At any rate, they seemed no worse for wear, as Stone gathered the little ones in his coat to bring them safely to their mama.

It turns out the wood ducks, who like to nest in rotting trees, were a sign of what would soon become a job for Stone and others in town. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe the mama duck suspected something. But about a week later, their nesting tree, a huge white pine certified as the second largest in the state, toppled across the road.

The annual town meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Gathering Room at Cornwall Consolidated School.

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