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Wilton Select Board eyes parking and budget

WILTON – Main Street parking, bridge repairs and budgets were discussed by the Select Board on Monday.

The Center for Anthroposophy, located at 42 Main Street, would like to rent the upstairs apartments, but there is no place for tenants to park. There is a driveway to the lane behind the building, but whether they can use it is unclear.

Spokesman Milan Daler said they have applied for a change in use for the building to mixed use. Local Shares, part of Plowshare Farm in Greenfield, rents the lower level. He said, “It’s the oldest building on Main Street and there must be a solution for this.”

He was advised to talk to his neighbors and see what they do.

Daler said he “would take it from there.”

Kevin Anderson of Meridian Land Services updated the board on work on the Old County Road Bridge, the retaining wall and the access road. A grant has been applied for. Anderson will consult with another engineer. A study has been underway since last spring.

The bridge was built in 1883 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The stone retaining wall was damaged by storm water and a section collapsed. Temporary repairs were made while a solution is found. Anderson said the stonework would “most likely be replaced by cement.”

During preliminary budget discussions, it was agreed that all legal expenses should be listed under the town, now by individual departments.

The Heritage Commission would like to add more buildings to the Historic Register, add more historic signs and designate scenic roads.

The Planning Board was asked to “finish the Master Plan and make it readily available.” It was last updated in 1999.

The Conservation Commission will do brush cutting around the Frog Pond.

Emergency Management has a “real office” thanks to donations. They will need a radio when a Milford Area Communications Center solution has been found.

Road Agent Brian Adams said they need to replace the sidewalk plow.

During Selectmen’s Concerns, Matt Fish said he would like to see lights at the athletic fields on Carnival Hill. The Wilton Junior Athletic Association wants to build a shed for equipment and concessions. “It would provide more opportunities for activities,” he said. WJAA is not asking for any town funds.

Fish also said he likes the idea of a pavilion by the dam in the police station parking area. “It would add to the quality of down town,” a place for both youth and seniors.

Board Chairman Kermit Williams said that area, the cement slab beside the dam, is “where the cyanide is supposedly buried,” a long-standing concern about materials used at the former Wilton Pressed Metals. The state has monitored the site for many years and nothing has been found.

Williams said a “brown fields grant” would be required before the area can be used. Town Administrator Paul Branscombe was asked “to look into it.”

The next meeting will be on Nov. 18, immediately following a public hearing on the adoption of town ordinances which is set for 6 p.m.