Selectmen ponder ways to do better next time

SALISBURY — The Oct. 29 snowstorm and its aftermath was the main topic at the November meeting of the Board of Selectmen.First Selectman Curtis Rand said, “In one way, it was a dress rehearsal for something much larger and much worse.”At the time of the meeting (4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7), there were still about 150 homes without power in town, Rand said. (By 6 p.m., that number was down to 130.)Jacquie Rice from the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service reported that the warming center at the ambulance building operated through Thursday of last week, with a steady stream of people coming in — “a couple of hundred,” she estimated.The shelter set up at Salisbury Central School, with a capacity of 50 beds, served five people the first night and two the second.Rand said the town crew was plowing Saturday during the storm until 11 p.m., and were back at it Sunday from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.Rice said having the roads cleared promptly was a big help. Restoring power meant establishing priorities, and the list went as follows: Sharon Hospital, Noble Horizons, the warming center and the shelter.Rice said, “People really didn’t want to leave their homes,” preferring to venture out for a hot meal, warming up at the warming center or in nearby towns with power (such as Millerton, Sheffield and Great Barrington) and then spending the night at home.The ambulance service, with the Salisbury Visiting Nurses, did wellness checks for people known to require oxygen or medications.“Next time we need more from CL&P,” Rice said, adding that once the power was on along main streets the crews seemed to disappear.Rand was critical of CL&P as well. He said that while the utility did provide the town with a liaison person, and that person did his best, “communications were totally broken down from up above.”“CL&P needs to give them [the liaison people] more authority and crews.“And now we find out that the Falls Village substation is a service center, nine days in,” said Selectman Bob Riva. “They should have done that first.”Selectman Jim Dresser said, as the response to the storm is analyzed, one thing to look at is how to reach out to people who may be stranded and have limited or no means of communication.Luckily, Dresser noted, “a lot of neighbors checked in and reported.”In response to a question about more proactive tree trimming by the power company, Rand said that in 10 miles of roads, there were 17 areas where power lines were affected by downed trees. “Our issue was more about response — many lines were clear, they just needed recharging.”Rand also reported that tree warden George Kiefer had compiled a town-wide list of trees that look like they could present problems for power lines.Notes: The selectmen voted unanimously to reappoint town clerk Patty Williams to a four-year term, ending in November 2015.

Latest News

Bobbie C. Palmer

LAKEVILLE ­— Bobbie C. Palmer, born in Lakeville on Jan. 13, 1948, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife, Marva J. Palmer, son Marc (Sandra) Palmer, daughter Erica (Fleming) Wilson, two grandchildren, Andrew Yost and Ciara Wilson, and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Francis Palmer and four brothers; Henry Palmer, William Palmer, John Palmer and Walter Palmer Jr.

He leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness, and laughter that will be cherished by his family and those closest to him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Finding ‘The Right Stuff’ for a documentary

Tom Wolfe

Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber

If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.

Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Art on view this March

“Untitled” by Maureen Dougherty

New Risen

While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.

At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caught on Camera: Our wildlife neighbors

Clockwise from upper left: Wildlife more rarely caught by trail cameras at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies: great blue heron, river otters, a bull moose, presenter and wildlife biologist Michael Fargione, a moose cow, and a barred owl.

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

‘You don’t need to go to Africa or Yellowstone to see the real-life world of nature. There are life and death struggles in your wood lot and backyard,” said Michael Fargione, wildlife biologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, during his lecture “Caught on Camera: Our Wildlife Neighbors.”

He showed a video of two bucks recorded them displaying their antlers, then challenging each other with a clash of antlers, which ended with one buck running off. The victor stood and pawed the ground in victory.

Keep ReadingShow less