Celebrating a fast and efficient process, on Thursday, July 10, the temporary Capital Non-Recurring Fund Committee unanimously approved a proposed policy to shelter money for imminent school and municipal facility repair costs facing the town over the next decade.

“This is going to help Wilton not only in the short run, but in the long run,” Board of Finance Chair Matt Raimondi, who chaired this committee, told the group, which included his fellow BOF member Tim Birch, First Selectman Toni Boucher and Selectman Ross Tartell, Board of Education Chair Ruth DeLuca and BOE member Lori Bufano.

The Capital and Non-Recurring Expenditures Fund (CNREF) would be non-lapsing and aims to cover one-time items that the town does not want to see bonded.

According to the proposed policy, “Disbursements under the CNREF are limited to project-specific capital expenditures of clearly defined scope and limited duration. The CNREF shall not be used for operating expenses, routine maintenance or recurring service contracts.”

Use of the fund, following requests from either the BOE or the Board of Selectmen, will be sanctioned by the BOS, and then submitted for approval from the finance board. The policy states that project execution must begin within two years of BOF approval.

Capitalization of the fund may occur in a variety of ways, including direct BOF appropriations, transfer of capital or reserve funds, including the Charter Reserve Fund, and budget surpluses.

Raimondi noted that, in the last budget cycle, the BOF allocated $375,000 that will seed this fund, pending its approval.

“The next step from here is, I will present this to the Board of Finance,” Raimondi said. “We will discuss it and, assuming it gets approval, it then goes to the Board of Selectmen.”

He said the BOS will then hold a public hearing on the policy and then make a recommendation to send it to a vote through a Special Town Meeting. While there was some split opinions on whether or not a town vote was legally required, Raimondi said the town attorney recommended doing it that way, in part because an upcoming Town Meeting is going to be scheduled for a vote on a lease between the town and Friends of Ambler Farm.

“It’s very costly to have a special meeting,” Boucher said. “It’s a two-day event. You have to have your meeting. You have to employ people for that and then you have to have a Saturday meeting.”

The Special Town Meeting is also planned to include a vote on amendments to a town ordinance regarding the demolition of historic structures, which the BOS decided it would rather not decide on its own. 

As the BOS continues discussion of the Ambler lease, Boucher said her hope is that the Town Meeting can possibly be scheduled by the fall.