Canaan/Falls Village Board of Selectmen: Solar Committee Reform, No-Cost Tire Recycling Discussed

10/13/26 6:00 p.m.

Present: First Selectman David Barger. Selectmen Christopher Kinsella and Judy Jacobs.

The Canaan/Falls Village Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted unanimously at its Oct. 13 meeting to reform the Town’s Solar Committee.

The move effectively means the Board will have to go back to the drawing board with its Solar Committee after a group of Town volunteers examines potential opportunities for revenue generation.

“I would like to move that we disband a formal Solar Committee that hasn't met in a couple years now and fold that into the Blue Ribbon Committee since they are reviewing solar ideas,” Selectman Christopher Kinsella said.

The Blue Ribbon Committee on Economic Development has explored potentially generating revenue from solar development. The panel was created by the BOS in July to study and brainstorm how to spur the Town’s economy, aiming to generate ideas within six months to a year.

Kinsella proposed the Solar Committee’s duties be taken up by the Economic Development Committee, noting that the latter is already looking at ways to generate revenue out of solar projects.

Selectman Judy Jacobs, who acts as a liaison between the economic development group and the BOS, initially had reservations about a merger because the Economic Development Committee will only have three months to meet before producing its findings.

“I think it's going to be a little bit too much for a three-month committee to take that on,” she said. “I think that we need to maybe revamp the Solar Committee.”

That panel, First Selectman David Barger said, had been tasked with looking at potential sites appropriate for solar farms, with the mission of eventually welcoming solar development into Canaan/Falls Village if it can be brought on responsibly and in select parts of Town. One project was a possible solar array at the Town Farm on Connecticut State Route 63. That plan was scrapped in 2024.

Barger eventually proposed halting the Solar Committee until the Economic Development Committee is done with its report. The change was approved unanimously on his motion and Kinsella’s second.

Kinsella said he has reservations about Town involvement in solar development. He said he wouldn’t want solar farms on Town-owned properties or on farmland. 

“If you want to have it on your house, that's great,” Kinsella said. “I might even put it on my house, but for the Town to get involved Townwide, I just have different opinions about it.”

“I don't think we should close the door on any solar projects, though, that may come our way that we might examine,” Barger said. “To dismiss the committee at this time, I don't have a problem with that. But something may come down the road, and we may want to revisit it, and we may want to form a committee again.”

As part of the Transfer Station report, Barger reminded the BOS that the state tire recycling program is underway. Tires are now being collected in a dedicated container at the Transfer Station, he said. There is no fee to drop off old tires due to the statewide tire surcharge of $2 per new tire purchased in Connecticut, he noted.

“That’s how this is all funded,” Barger said. “The town of Canaan has contracted with the Connecticut Tire Stewardship to collect tires at the Falls Village Transfer Station at 100 Route 63 in Falls Village.

“This is a really nice move. It does remove from bulk waste,” he said. “Tires, as everyone knows, takes up a great amount of room.”

Oversized tire guidance is pending. No rims are accepted, Barger said.

In other business at the meeting, the Board selected Stephanie Astrow as the new Town Cemetery Sexton. Astrow was unanimously appointed after a motion from Barger and a second from Jacobs. This comes after the Aug. 10 resignation of former Sexton Tracey Wilson.

Wilson’s resignation was the subject of a Goshen News article detailing differing accounts by Wilson and Town Clerk Johanna Mann regarding allegations of verbal abuse made by Mann about Wilson’s behavior at the Town Hall in July.

Now, the Town is moving forward with a new Sexton.

“She's indicated she very much would like to do it,” Barger said of Astrow. “She looked over all the records and everything.  She’s very, very enthusiastic, and as she conveyed to me, she wants to contribute to the Town. She sees this is her first opportunity to contribute to the Town.”

The meeting was adjourned at 6:51 p.m. after a motion by Jacobs, second by Kinsella, and unanimous vote.

The Board of Selectmen was scheduled for a special meeting Oct. 22, and the Town Meeting was set for Oct. 26.

The next regular BOS meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at Town Hall in Falls Village.