WILTON – Wilton’s annual report has been dedicated to Rhonda Irish, who has been the town’s manager for the last 13 years and is retiring this August. Irish was lauded for her accomplishments during her time as town manager, and Selectperson Tom Saviello made his own personal statement.
“I’ve worked with a couple town managers in my life, and you’re by far the best,” Saviello said. “You’ve made a difference for this town.”
Ambition Brewing’s on-premise liquor license was approved unanimously.
Water and Wastewater superintendent Heinz Grossman updated the board on the PFAS elimination process; he has ordered the steel required for the transmission line project, hoping that it will arrive in June so infrastructure changes can be made before the state’s deadline in August.
“There’s a whole lot of unknown, but I just want to let you guys know, and know we’re going forward,” Grossman said.
The town of Wilton has been awarded a $459,000 grant for the design and development of the water system rebuild. The selectboard voted to accept the grant unanimously.
The public works report, delivered by foreman John Masse, shared spring cleanup progress. Masse stated that it is 90 percent complete. Masse also talked about paving costs and bids, including paving bids for the basketball court; the board voted to accept the low bids for street paving and the bid from Spencer’s Paving for the basketball court
at $15,160. Masse also asked the board if he could open bids for a one-ton truck for the highway department, which was approved unanimously.
Next they heard from James Butler regarding land surveys where there is possible town encroachment on two of Butler’s properties, including where the town’s monument is located on Rowell street for which Butler has some liability concerns, and for which there is no easement on record for the town. Butler has proposed some land swapping to take care of the discrepancies and recommended the town of Wilton invest in their own land survey to resolve the issue. The selectboard voted to do the survey, to both take care of the discrepancies and prevent any future controversy.
The Food Sovereignty Ordinance is still being researched and will require a special town meeting for a vote.
The selectboard voted unanimously to approve the RSU 9 warrant.
The Lion’s Club has agreed to host a meet and greet for selectboard candidates on June 1 at 6p.m., and there’s one candidate for the School Board that will be included at the event.
Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri made a request to resume discussion about hazard pay for the police department. Saviello requested that that discussion take place after he leaves his seat on the board since he only has one more meeting. Other concerns were raised regarding raises across the board for town employees and the possible competitive pay rate for Farmington’s police department. The board agreed to take no action at this time, and to table and return to the discussion after Saviello’s departure.
