Future of iron bridge discussed by BOS

FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Selectmen set a date (at the regular board meeting Oct. 4) for a town meeting to deal with four financial matters.

The town meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Voters will be asked to approve the appropriation of funds for three separate state Small Town Economic Assistance Program grants — $200,000 each for the Falls Village Children’s Theater, the fire department and the D.M. Hunt Library.

The vote is a formality, but at a special selectmen’s meeting Sept. 29, First Selectman Pat Mechare said she had been unaware that a vote was necessary.

The fourth appropriation is up to $20,000 for the update of the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, which will be done by the Northwestern Connecitcut Planning Collaborative, with help from members of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Town Plan forms the basis of all town zoning regulations. The state requires that it be updated at least once every 10 years. It is supposed to function as a sort of vision plan for  residents about how they would like to see their town grow and develop.

Where will bridge go?

At Monday’s meeting, Mechare reported that because of a scheduling conflict she could not attend an Oct. 20 meeting with Salisbury’s selectmen about the iron bridge across the Housatonic River. Mechare said on Tuesday, Oct. 12, that she has been in touch with Salisbury First Selectman Curtis Rand to find another date.

The one-lane bridge over the Housatonic River connects Falls Village and the Amesville section of Salisbury, and is a handy shortcut for motorists traveling between the towns. There are, broadly speaking, three options: repair the bridge, build a new two-lane bridge, or wait for the state to shut it down and possibly convert it to a pedestrian-only bridge.

Mechare said the state will not fund a repair but will foot the bulk of the cost for a new, two-lane bridge.

Also at Sept. 29 BOS

At the Sept. 29 meeting, the selectmen voted to maintain an abandoned cemetery on Undermountain Road, contingent on permission from the landowner whose property must be crossed to get to the site. The Holabird, Munson, Kellogg cemetery is abandoned, and there is no record of ownership.

Also at the special meeting, the selectmen accepted the resignation of Lara Mittaud as animal control officer, appointed Mary Palmer (the assistant animal control officer) in her place, and then appointed Mittaud as assistant.

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