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Wilton selectmen make compromises on issues

WILTON – After discussion at their regular meeting on Monday, the Board of Selectmen made several changes and/or compromises to previous decisions.

New directional signs in the town hall will read “Selectboard,” although the title of the board will not change. They will still be “Board of Selectmen.”

Kelliesue Boissonnault said “it was a small step in the right direction.”

It was reported that Town Moderator Bill Keefe told selectmen “the customary place for petition articles” is at the end of the town meeting warrant. He did not want to set a precedent.

Therefore, Article 8, “A resolution to ban gas pipeline expansion or construction in Wilton,” will become Article 34.

Selectman Chairman Bill Condra said he was willing to accept Keefe’s judgement since the moderator has the authority to organize and conduct the meeting, but said the petition had been placed at the beginning of the meeting “when most of the voters are still there. We want as much participation as possible.”

However, Keefe said it was logical to put Article 9, a petition to conduct a thorough study of the area before development of a park at the New Reservoir, after two articles that also deal with the reservoir.

Those articles request $100,000 for the establishment of a dam repair and maintenance fund, and $20,000 for the development of the area into a public recreational area.

The petitioners cite the condition of the dam, effects on water quality, safety concerns, and maintenance costs.

Sewer Commissioner Tracey Ewing said the Memorandum of Understanding the commission received from the selectmen at an earlier meeting “is missing numbers,” and the whole process of agreeing on a repayment schedule for a loan made by the town to the sewer commission “has taken too long. I have lost faith” that relations between the two boards would improve.

Town Administrator Scott Butcher said his concern was “the Sewer Commission rejected our original proposal.” The memorandum would have provided another year to prepare an article for town meeting.

Ewing, saying she was talking only for herself, not the commission, said, “What we got was a payment figure. Period.” She said she had hopes after the last meeting of the two boards, “but I’ve seen little to convince me things have changed.”

It was agreed the commission should meet with Butcher to try to arrive at an agreement.

Little has been done to clear the Court Room so it can be set up for elections a month from now. Boxes and file cabinets still fill most of the room.

Butcher said part of the problem is “we lost square footage in the renovations” when they created about 500 square feet of new office space. “There isn’t physical storage space left.”

Condra suggested Butcher “see about getting some dollies to move furniture,” contact the Public Works Department for help in the moving, and store items wherever possible until after the elections. Files could be placed in the space behind the new conference room, and removed “one at a time to go through” to determine what can be digitized.

An alternative suggestion was climate-controlled off-site storage.

The selectmen failed to reach an agreement on an extension of a lease with Quinn Brothers Gravel for their operation off Route 31 South (Greenville Road), but the article will remain on the warrant for discussion. The current lease expires in 2019, meaning reclamation of the area would have to begin immediately. James Quinn has requested a 15-year extension of the lease.

With 34 articles on the warrant, town meeting is expected to last “many” hours. A proposal will be made to change the meeting to Saturday morning.

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