Residents of Wilton will likely be able once again to swim in Merwin Meadows Pond this summer thanks to a unanimous vote by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to allocate funds for the removal of sediment deposited in the pond by the August 2024 flood.
During its meeting on Monday, Apr. 6, the BOS voted to grant First Selectman Toni Boucher the authority to sign a contract with Torrington-based Yield Industries LLC to dredge approximately 495 cubic yards of sediment from the pond and another 485 cubic yards of sand and silt from the beach area.
What’s not yet known, however, is whether Wilton will be reimbursed by FEMA for any of the money it spends on the pond cleanup.
The approval of the contract is contingent on approval of the project by the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC), which Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Pierce will be seeking at a special meeting of the IWC scheduled for Tuesday, Apr. 21. As GOOD Morning Wilton previously reported, Pierce told the IWC that the pond dredging could begin shortly after Inland Wetlands grants its approval, with the goal of completion in time for Memorial Day.
“We’d like to hit the ground running if this moves forward, which is what we’d like to see happen,” Pierce told the BOS during Monday’s meeting.
Pierce recommended that the BOS allocates $160,000 from the town’s pond dredging account, $12,814 from unused operating capital, and $201,300 from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) infrastructure funds that had originally been earmarked for the aborted Schenck’s Island playground project and then reallocated to an amenities upgrade at Guy Whitten Field that also did not materialize.
Pierce confirmed to the Board that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) have granted permits for the project, which were also prerequisites for the project to go ahead.
BOS Moves Ahead Without Guarantee of FEMA Reimbursement
The town hopes to receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for 75% of the costs for the pond remediation, but Parks & Recreation has not been able to confirm the availability of FEMA funding due to disruptions caused by the partial federal government shutdown. FEMA funding has already been received to cover most of the cost of the Comstock Brook dredging and restoration scheduled for July or August.
“If we wait [for the FEMA reimbursement], we will not be able to, for the second year in a row, … open up the pond, which a lot of people have been inquiring about and asking for,” First Selectman Toni Boucher said. “It would be wonderful if, after all of this, then we can replenish the funds where we’re taking this from with FEMA money should it come forward.”
During the review of the proposal, Selectman Matt Raimondi sought to confirm that the ARPA funds were not being double-counted, as the BOS has already allocated ARPA funds to other capital projects. Chief Financial Officer Dawn Savo confirmed that she, Pierce and DPW Administrative Manager Jennifer Fascitelli reviewed the numbers to ensure sufficient ARPA funds would be available for the other projects as well.
Following the vote, Boucher praised Pierce and Fascitelli for their efforts to keep the pond dredging process moving.
“You have been dogged in trying to … make this happen within the timeframe to be able to move forward on it,” Boucher said. “So we thank you for that.”