LAKEVILLE — After at least 10 years of planning and maneuvering, two units of affordable housing are ready for occupants.
The commissioner of the state Department of Housing, Seila Mosquera-Bruno, was among the interested parties at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the building site on Perry Street in Lakeville, along with State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64), Salisbury First Selectman Curtis Rand, Jocelyn Ayer from the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity and Jennifer Kronholm Clark of the Salisbury Housing Trust and the Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission.
Rand recalled the town eventually foreclosing on the property, the site of a long-shuttered dry-cleaning establishment.
He said things came to a head when the roof caved in.
He tracked down the owner in Arizona, and asked if there was any chance of receiving the $60,000 or so in back taxes. “He said ‘no way,’ so we foreclosed.”
Rand said it had been so long since the business closed that clothing was found, packaged and still ready for pickup. “I delivered them.”
Things got complicated because of worries about contamination from the chemicals used in the dry-cleaning process. Grants were obtained. Environmental testing was done.
And finally the site’s new owners, the Salisbury Housing Trust, was able to put up the two three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes, which marked the end of an effort that began in earnest in 2013.
The two homes are Perry Street have three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and unfinished basements.Patrick L. Sullivan
Clark said they’re not quite done. Carports with solar panels will be put up shortly.
Clark thanked everyone for their efforts. “This is perseverance in brick and mortar form.”
She said affordable housing groups in other towns often ask how Salisbury has made progress in creating a variety of affordable housing options.
“The only difference between our town and theirs is we started earlier, 25 years ago.”
Ayer said the two Lakeville units are part of a group of 10 affordable housing units in Litchfield County.
She praised the builders, Signature Building Systems, for their quick and efficient work in putting up the modular units.
Ayer had a gift for the housing commissioner, Mosquera-Bruno.
“If you come to Litchfield County in July or August, you get a large zucchini from someone’s garden, in a Tractor Supply bag.”
Amid laughter she handed the vegetable over.
Mosquera-Bruno said, “It’s wonderful to see how the community comes together.”
Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosequera-Bruno accepted a traditional Northwest Corner gift of a large zucchini from Jocelyn Ayer.Patrick L. Sullivan
Protesters gather during a weekly anti-Trump demonstration in Fountain Square in Amenia on Saturday, Jan. 24, holding signs opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protest organizer Kimberley Travis, who began the regular demonstrations last June with signs bearing the anti-Trump slogan “No Kings,” has remained among the fluctuating number of protesters each week.
Travis said her garage is full of handmade signs – a reflection of the rapidly-changing news cycle and her need to keep up with current events. On Saturday, many of the signs focused on what protesters described as the increasingly extreme actions associated with ICE.
Large, simple signs planted in the snow read, “ICE Out for Good,” a phrase inspired, Travis said, by the recent killing of a Minneapolis mother by a federal agent.
Protesters hold a banner reading “ICE Out for Good” during a weekly demonstration in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
“We're here today – and every Saturday – because we’re tired of what's happening to our democracy,” Travis said, who believes that the Constitution is being “demolished on a daily basis.”
Gesturing toward the other protesters, Travis said, “We, the people, must stand for our democracy, our constitutional freedoms, and we need to stop the murder in the streets and the kidnapping.”
Millerton resident Greg Swinehart said he has attended the Fountain Square protests between eight and 10 times, motivated by what he described as the growing militarization of the country and the violence committed by ICE.
“We need to resist that in a peaceful, nonviolent way,” Swinehart said. “We’re trying to raise awareness in our local community by helping people see messages they might encounter in the national media through the voices of their own friends and neighbors.”
While most passing drivers either honked and waved in support – or simply drove past – a few showed disapproval. One man slowed his vehicle to hurl a string of expletives at the protesters, telling the group to go home.
Still, neither the occasional hostility nor the bitterly cold weather deterred the group, which gathers each Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. “Every car honk feels like another drop of hope,” one demonstrator said.
A small group of demonstrators at Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
When asked if they were afraid to protest so publicly after reports of lethal shootings in Minnesota, the residents generally shared the same response.
“I probably should be,” Travis said. “But they will not intimidate me, and they will not stop me.”
Since beginning the protests last summer, Travis said she has experienced threats and intimidation and has, on one occasion, had to call the police. Even so, she said the encouragement she receives far outweighs the hostility.
A longtime activist, Travis said she has been protesting for causes she believes in since she was a young teenager during the Vietnam War and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Swinehart said he has not felt threatened and hopes the gatherings will continue to grow.
“I hope that more citizens join us,” he said. “I hope more people will speak out for what they think is right, and to enjoy the camaraderie of standing alongside people who care deeply about America.”
Protesters gather in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24By Aly Morrissey
