Barkhamsted tackles economic development

BARKHAMSTED — With a new economic development plan in hand, Barkhamsted town officials have begun the process of forming a new commission to put the recommendations into action.

Earlier this fall, the Board of Selectmen received the finalized Barkhamsted Economic Development Strategy report.

The study, which was commissioned by the town and conducted by a three-member consulting team, is expected to serve as the cornerstone of the town’s future economic development strategy.

Included in that report was the recommendation to create a new Economic Development Commission.

The town formed such a commission in the early 1980s, but it ceased to exist as a formal town board a number of years ago, according to First Selectmen Don Stein.

“People lose interest,†he said of the commission’s disbanding.

Over the past two years, however, a small group of town officials and residents have been meeting informally to discuss Barkhamsted’s economic development.

But Stein said the time has finally come to appoint a formal board.

“We want to create a standing body,†he said.

Moving forward on the study group’s recommendation, the selectmen recently approved a new charter to re-form an Economic Development Commission.

Stein said the commission will be an important part of the town’s development strategy for the future, by working to promote and develop economic resources for the town.

The commission’s mission will be based in four specific areas defined in the finalized report. Those areas are promoting Barkhamsted as a business and tourist destination, attracting jobs for Barkhamsted residents, developing a proactive program to facilitate the location and expansion of quality businesses and community assets that are consistent with the character of the town, and ensuring that community development activities develop and follow the economic development strategy.

Stein said the selectmen are seeking volunteers to serve on the new board. The commission will consist of seven members appointed by the selectmen.

According to Stein, commission members are not required to be residents or town taxpayers but can simply be anyone with an interest in moving the town’s economic development forward.

“People who just want to see the town prosper,†he said.

So far, about a dozen individuals have put their names forward as potential members.

Stein added, however, that town officials want to make sure as many people as possible know about the commission so that anyone interested in serving on the board has time to be considered.

Although eventually all commission members will be appointed for five-year terms, Stein said initial appointment lengths will be staggered.

“That way, not everybody turns over at the same time,†he said.

 For more information about the new commission, or to receive a copy of the final Barkhamsted Economic Development report, contact First Selectman Don Stein at 860-379-8285 or dstein@barkhamsted.us.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less