WILTON – The Wilton selectboard met on Tuesday evening to elect selectboard officials for the next year. Tiffany Maiuri was nominated for chairperson by Phil Hilton; she accepted, to replace former chair David Leavitt. All were in favor except for Selectperson Keith Swett, who was opposed. Maiuri nominated Selectperson Mike Wells for vice chair to replace Phil Hilton and Wells accepted. The vote passed, with Swett again in opposition. The new positions will come into effect on the first selectboard meeting of July.
Renee Woodard, coordinator of the Blueberry Festival, approached the board to request boat ramp and road closures during the festival on August 4 and 5. The boat ramp is closed every year in order to allow for boat rides on Wilson Lake during the festival. Woodard shared that an average of 200 rides are given yearly. She also shared that the Fire Department and the fireworks company made a request to close the ramp prior to the fireworks display on Saturday, August 5, so that the fireworks can be safely transferred onto the barge. Woodard officially asked for the ramp to be closed from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday, August 4, and from 9 a.m. to midnight the following day.
The road closures will be the same as last year, which Woodard reported worked well with no complaints. Chair David Leavitt moved to approve both the road and ramp closures. The motion was passed unanimously. A schedule and full list of road closures will be available closer to the event.
There was some discussion about the running of the Blueberry Festival. Town Manager Perry Ellsworth expressed hopes that the festival be self-sustaining in the future, rather than a town-sponsored event.
Ellsworth requested to close the town office to the public at noon on June 30 to focus on closing out the books. He shared that this is a regular habit of most towns to allow for year end closure. The board voted in favor of the early closure.
The board discussed the meeting schedule and decided to continue meeting on the first and third Tuesday of each month, with an exception due to the Fourth of July holiday. The board will meet again on July 11.
This meeting was recorded by Mt. Blue TV and is available for viewing online at MtBlueTV.org
