FIRST UP on GMW–Sept. 9, 2019: Town Counsel Opinion on Campaign Sign Question, Police Station RFQ

FIRST UP on GMW is a column that highlights shorter announcements or updates, and helps you get a quick start to the Wilton news of the day. Have a news tip, item or something you know people are chattering about? Email us at editor@goodmorningwilton.com.

BOS to Hear Town Counsel Opinion about Campaign Signage on Public Property

Should political candidates be allowed to put campaign signs on town-owned property?

At tonight’s Board of Selectmen meeting, members will hear what Wilton’s town counsel advises–and residents can comment as well.

During past elections, some residents have complained to town officials about the appearance of campaign signs on public property, most notably at the Chess Park near Schenck’s Island in Wilton Center. With this year’s upcoming municipal election, the Board of Selectmen wanted to give residents a chance to weigh in on the issue during a BOS meeting. In addition, Ira Bloom, Wilton’s town counsel, has prepared an opinion on what the law says about whether the town can limit or restrict placement of political signs on town property at all.

Adding to the discussion, Wilton Democratic Town Committee chair Tom Dubin has proposed a coordinated effort between all the campaigns to set ground rules about how many signs candidates would set out and where.

He spoke about it during the Aug. 19 BOS meeting. “The last thing we want to do is have so many lawn signs that it’s ugly for the town and frustrates people. So I sent to…everybody a proposal from the DTC. If we would get together and agree what the ground rules would be. What we proposed to do is agree that signs can be placed only on homes or private properties; and agree on half dozen, or slightly more, public place that we would share–that we would agree not to put them on store fronts and other places other than that limited list. We hope the other campaigns would agree to that.”

He also noted that if the campaigns do come to an agreement about that, perhaps they would also set limits on the number of signs that are put out on election day near Wilton’s three polling places.

“We all know what the schools look like with all the signs, people are tripping over the signs,” Dubin said. “We think it’s a good idea to try to rationalize that.”

Wilton Issues RFQ and Proposals for Police Station Project Architects and Engineers

There’s progress on Wilton’s proposed Police Station project, as the town has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Proposals from architectural consulting firms for design and engineering services.  The bid was open and posted on the town website under Bid Number 2019-47, and listed a due date of Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 at noon.

The bid asks potential candidates to send sealed Qualification and Proposal packages for the project to the office of the First Selectwoman (238 Danbury Rd.). Questions and comments should be emailed to Anthony DiLuzio, with Colliers Project Leaders.

For the past several years, the town has been exploring several options for expanding or renovating the Wilton Police Department headquarters as well as other buildings on Town Hall campus. However, this RFQ/P is for the Wilton Police Department only.

Editor’s note:  a previous version of the story indicated the town has been examining the possibility of expanding or renovating the entire Town Hall campus. There are some buildings which are not included in this study, and the updated version reflects this distinction.