WILTON – The minutes from the last meeting, Sept. 21, were approved unanimously before chairperson, David Leavitt, opened the meeting to a public hearing on junkyard permits.
Code enforcement officer Charlie Lavin reported three annual license renewals: Collins Enterprises, Michael Stickney and Haggan Enterprises. Seeing that there were no concerns or public comments, Selectperson Tom Saviello moved to approve all three at the same time. Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri seconded, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
The selectboard then heard a brief explanation regarding the request for ATV access on Temple Road from a representative of the Temple Trail Riders ATV Club. This person also clarified that there would be no cost to the town of Wilton.
Leavitt opened the floor for comment from the board and made his own statement about the access request.
“I will say that when I came on the board four years or so ago, I said then that we need to work to make Wilton a recreational destination, and I think this is just a step towards it,” Leavitt said. “My personal belief is that this is a bonus for the town; a win-win.”
The vote to approve was unanimous.
The selectboard then moved on to discussion and consideration of proposed marijuana ordinance fees. Town manager Rhonda Irish went over the proposed fee structure based on a regional average.
There were concerns about how high those fees were and how that cost was to be distributed between business inspectors such as the fire marshall and code enforcement offices. The question of home medical growers came up with regard to fees for registered caregivers because those businesses are not included in Wilton’s marijauna ordinance. It was suggested the ordinance be amended at the next town meeting to include those home businesses. The main concern was fairness in the fee structure.
The selectboard opted to have public comment on the matter at the next meeting after looking into the way other towns like Presque Isle and Windham handle registered home medical caregivers.
Irish then gave the manager’s report and provided an update on 6 Gilbert Street.
“The septic tank replacement has hit a snag because the abutting owners that wanted us to do something about it have caused a few issues for us,” Irish said. “Part of it is just trying to get around some posts that are in there, and also because there is some tree cutting that needs to be done and needing to drop the trees on the other property, and they don’t want anything to do with that,” Irish said.
Western Maine Community action is still working on these issues. Irish clarified that it’s big vehicles that can’t get up the easement to get equipment up there and that there are obstacles in the way.
Irish then went over the Halloween events, most of which will be virtual and are listed on the recreation department’s site, and informed the selectboard that the events coordinator proposal draft is finished and will be available to review for the next meeting. She also brought up the fact that the first meeting of next month is on election day, Nov. 2, and that the meeting may be moved to the fire department.
The selectboard moved to the last item on the agenda, other business, for which selectperson Leavitt brought up the Maine Food Sovereignty Act from a previous discussion because of a constitutional amendment. The Maine Food Sovereignty Act allows individuals to sell the food they’ve raised, not including meat. Irish raised the questions of whether there needed to be ordinances written for that.
The selectboard will move forward with dialogue at the next meeting.
