Following Monday’s surprising news that Sensible Wilton had filed a suit in CT Superior Court against the town and individual members of the Board of Selectmen, it seems the town will be compelled to tell its side to the judge.
A clerk had signed the group’s request to make town officials to appear in court and tell their side of the story. That order appears on the state’s judicial branch website.
The order directs the parties to appear in court for a conference on June 22. According to the order, that first hearing will only be a status/settlement conference, and evidence will not be heard. If no resolution is reached that day, then an evidentiary hearing will be scheduled, most usually ‘within two weeks.”
The order also states that if defendants (or their attorneys) fail to appear, the judge will be able to rule based solely on materials and papers provided by Sensible Wilton.
Sensible Wilton’s lawsuit is asking the court to order a new town meeting on the Miller Driscoll renovation project. It was filed on Monday, June 1, and it will now begin to move through the court. Today’s scheduling is the first of Sensible Wilton’s goals–getting an expedited hearing, according to what Reiff explained to GMW.com on Monday.
That a hearing date has been assigned likely won’t be surprising news to the selectmen. Even though they were surprised to first hear that a lawsuit had been filed when GMW.com asked for comment at the close of Monday’s BoS meeting, BoS member Michael Kaelin–an attorney–correctly predicted that a hearing would be scheduled. He says he’s not concerned, however, and that he doesn’t believe the matter is something on which the court is likely to take further action, nor does he think the court will force the town to call another town meeting.