WILTON – Selectmen met briefly Tuesday night to finalize the hiring of two police officers, and got good news about the Canal Street bridge as well.
The board approved the recommendations of the hiring committee and agreed to add Edward Page Reynolds and Nathan Reid to the Wilton Police Department’s roster. Reynolds, who has extensive experience as a homicide detective, will fill the department’s new lieutenant/detective position while Reid will replace a resigning patrol officer.
Selectmen were also pleased to discover that the town may not be required to replace the aging Canal Street bridge with local money. Town Manager Rhonda Irish informed them that the Maine Department of Transportation had changed the status of the one-lane bridge, which most residents use to gain access to the boat launch on Wilson Lake.
“The status has been changed from removal to replacement,” Irish said. She went on to note that “as things stand now, the town would not need to pay for it.”
The town had previously been concerned that the MDOT would simply remove the bridge, which they had classified as “redundant,” thanks to another possible access route through Canal Street itself.
However, the efforts of the town paid off when MDOT representatives visited Wilton. Irish and others pointed out that Canal Street, which goes behind the old Bass Shoe building, was narrow and difficult to navigate, especially hauling a boat. MDOT agreed, first pushing back the planned removal of the bridge and then agreeing to replace it themselves.
That decision potentially saves Wilton $100,000 or more. Irish said that MDOT’s project leader for the bridge replacement was Jim Wentworth, who told her that the planning process could start in October, with the new bridge going in the summer of 2010 or 2011. Local residents will be able to provide input for the project through a series of public meetings.
The two police officers hired Tuesday evening will begin work on July 13.
Reynolds, formerly of Hamden, CN, has been working for the New Haven Police Department since 1995. Most recently Reynolds was the lead detective in that department’s homicide division, but he has also worked as special victims’ detective, field training instructor and hostage negotiator. In addition, Reynolds has a Master’s degree in education and is an ordained minister.
Irish said that 47 applicants, many of them “extremely qualified,” applied for the lieutenant/detective position, from as far away as the state of Washington. The hiring committee, consisting of representatives of the police department and town, interviewed six or seven of these and chose Reynolds.
Reynolds’ position, the creation of which was requested by Police Chief Dennis Brown, was actually cut by selectmen during this year’s budget process as a cost-cutting measure. However, the department was able to get the project reinstated after successfully applying for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
That grant will pay half of the position’s roughly $40,000 salary. The other half will be paid for out of the overtime and reserve officer account, money set aside to pay officers for the additional workload generate by losing the new position.
Reid replaces Officer Mark Przeslak, who Irish said was returning to Michigan. Reid worked most recently for MSAD 9 as a transportation administrator, but before that as an officer at Farmington Police Department and a deputy for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
Neither Reid nor Reynolds will need to attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
Irish also announced that the town office will be closed on July 3, this Friday, in honor of the Independence Day celebrations. The town’s transfer station will be closed on July 4. The selectmen will not be meeting on July 7.
