WILTON – The Wilton Selectboard heard from Jim Lord of Dirigo Engineering regarding the water transmission line project. He gave a brief synopsis of the project as well as an estimate.
“Right now, the cost estimate for that is 9.7 million dollars. You’re talking about a considerable amount of pipe; you’re talking about a lot of work; you’re talking about the most important aspect of our water infrastructure,” Lord said. “We are here because we’re going to submit an application to the U. S. Department of Agriculture to fund that. They offer low-interest loan and grant packages in their public infrastructure program.”
The request from the Wilton Farmers’ Market to use McGillicudy Park was approved unanimously.
The liquor license renewal for the Wilson Lake Country Club was approved unanimously.
The fire department report from Chief Sonny Dunham stated that fire calls are up 10 to 15 percent so far this year, this includes mutual aid calls, and many have been from pellet stoves. They currently have 22 firefighters, two of them being junior firefighters. Dunham said that the biggest problem the department had all winter was ladder seven but it’s been repaired. The report was accepted unanimously.
They next discussed the fire chief’s stipend and restructuring how he’s paid, moving from a biannual payment to a weekly payment model with mileage being paid monthly, and hiring another person as a town emergency director. Town manager Rhonda Irish and Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri will work together to draft a job description, and the chief’s stipend was approved unanimously at a rate of $23,000.
The annual town meeting will be June 20 at Academy Hill School. They discussed Planning Board ordinance changes, including amendments to the adult use marijauna ordinance, zoning ordinance for short-term residential rental properties and a request to eliminate a spot zone. The selectboard voted to move forward with adding definitions to the marijuana ordinance, removing articles 9 and 10 and the term “short-term” for rentals and to table the request to eliminate the spot zone without a request from the property owner. They also voted to approve the warrant article for a name change to the Adams Farm Road.
The selectboard then moved on to consideration of ARPA funding for various suggestions. There was much discussion surrounding hazard pay for the police force as an incentive for retention and in relation to the annual budget and cost of sending new hires to the police academy. The majority agreed to revisit this suggestion after the Farmington town meeting.
After a strong suggestion, selectperson Tom Saviello made a motion to move forward with funding the sign for the Public Safety building, and that vote was approved for up to $25,000 with the option to amend the amount after bidding.
The next item on the agenda was the town manager’s retirement. Irish tendered her letter after 13 years working for the town and will be effective after the Blueberry Fest. The motion to accept her retirement was approved, with reluctance, unanimously.
Central Maine Power company will be replacing poles on Main Street and Pond Road starting early this summer and relocating poles that might affect the retaining wall and the pole by the coffee shop. There was also a request to discuss changing the direction of the lighting for certain areas.
The selectboard voted to sign the quitclaim deed for the Dang property.
