SPECIAL REPORT, Pt. 2: Emails Reveal “Confidential Offer” for Gilbert & Bennett Months Before Town Officials Acknowledged It Publicly

Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a GOOD Morning Wilton series examining how information is shared among Town officials and with the public. It examines recent decisions and processes within Town government and how those actions align with the Town Charter.

This reporting is based on interviews, public meeting records and documents obtained through the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. In some cases, records have been requested but have not yet been provided.

In Part 1, GOOD Morning Wilton reported on questions surrounding the Town Administrator hiring process and when decisions were communicated.

Our reporting on the Gilbert & Bennett school property presents a different set of facts, but points to a similar issue: when information is known, how it is shared among officials, and how it is conveyed to the public.

The documents reviewed in the Gilbert & Bennett case show those questions unfolding over months, across emails, meetings and public statements.

As part of this reporting, town officials — including First Selectman Toni Boucher — have been given the opportunity to respond to specific questions related to the matters described.

In October 2025, months before the public was told there was only “an interested party” in the Gilbert & Bennett School property, Wilton’s top elected officials received a very different message.

It came in an email from First Selectman Toni Boucher to the full Board of Selectmen.

“Since there is a confidential offer on the table please keep all information private. Do not respond to this email.”

[Editor’s note: The email misspelled the word confidential as ‘conferential’ but it has been corrected for the purposes of this report. The email subject line referred to ‘confidential materials’.]

Boucher sent the email on Oct. 20 to the other selectmen at the time — former members Kim Healy and Josh Cole, along with current members Ross Tartell and Rich McCarty. It included appraisals of the properties involved and a memorandum of understanding outlining a potential transaction.

The instruction was explicit: ‘Do not respond.’

At that point, there had been no public acknowledgment that any offer existed.

But inside Town Hall, the language was already clear: there was, in Boucher’s words, “a confidential offer on the table.”

“Since there is a confidential offer on the table please keep all information private.” First Selectman Toni Boucher

Publicly, an “Interested Party”

When Boucher spoke about the property publicly, the description was more restrained.

At a Jan. 7, 2026 Capital Planning Committee meeting, she interrupted a discussion about the Gilbert & Bennett building.

“I can’t say it publicly, but there is an interested party,” she said.

After the meeting, GOOD Morning Wilton asked Boucher to describe the nature of that interest, how far along the process was, and whether it involved adjacent Town-owned parcels.

She declined to provide details, responding:

“We do not have a proposal to consider at this time,” and, “We do not have anything to disclose yet.”

Privately, a “Current Offered Price”

Those statements came one day before a Jan. 8 email exchange between Boucher and a Wilton Land Trust board member who referred to a “current offered price” tied to a detailed proposal about the property.

Boucher’s October email helps explain the level of detail already in play.

One of the email attachments was a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Dated July 2025, the document identifies Georgetown Heritage Brewing Center, LLC as the prospective buyer and the Town of Wilton as the seller.

It outlines a plan to redevelop the property into a brewery, restaurant and cultural destination centered on Twelve Gods Brewery, and sets out proposed uses and terms for negotiations.

The MOU is labeled non-binding but outlines an intent to “negotiate exclusively” toward a “definitive Purchase and Sale agreement.” It was not signed, and portions of it were redacted before being released to GOOD Morning Wilton. But even in that form, it includes a defined structure, references to an estimated purchase price, and provisions addressing confidentiality and exclusivity.

In the Jan. 8 email between Boucher and the Land Trust official, the reference to a “current offered price” indicates that discussions had progressed to the point where a price was being discussed.

The same email also describes a coordinated plan involving acquisition of the site, transfer of portions of the land to the Wilton Land Trust for conservation, and redevelopment of the remaining property.

High Public Interest

The building had long been home to the Gilbert & Bennett Cultural Center. After years of deferred maintenance by the Town, its condition deteriorated to the point that tenants were forced to vacate in September 2024 when it was deemed unsafe to occupy.

Public concern grew quickly. Residents and former building occupants began calling for greater transparency from the Town, particularly as broader discussions about capital spending continued and the estimated $2–$3 million in needed repairs at Gilbert & Bennett remained unaddressed.

Board of Selectmen Discussions in Executive Session

Discussions about the property were also taking place in executive session.

Records show that the Board of Selectmen had been meeting in executive session to discuss Town property for more than a year. Early 2024 agendas repeatedly listed the topic simply as “Property” or “Town Property,” without identifying a specific site — a level of detail that later became a point of contention among selectmen.

By Sept. 3, 2024, the agenda explicitly referenced “Town Property — Gilbert & Bennett School.” Later meetings, including Dec. 17, 2024, identified the property in connection with a potential sale or lease.

Those discussions continued through 2025, including meetings in August labeled “Disposition of Town Property.”

On Oct. 21, 2025 — one day after Boucher’s email to the selectmen referencing a “confidential offer on the table” — the Board again entered executive session under the heading “Disposition of Town Owned Property.”

By 2026, the membership of the BOS had changed, with David Tatkow and Matt Raimondi joining Tartell, McCarty and Boucher.

During the Jan. 20, 2026 BOS meeting, Tatkow, McCarty and Raimondi raised concerns in public session about the handling of Gilbert & Bennett, adding related documents to the public record and emphasizing the need for greater transparency.

At the end of that meeting, the selectmen declined to enter executive session under the agenda description, “Disposition of Town Owned Property,” objecting that it was too vague. The motion was later revised to explicitly reference Gilbert & Bennett before the discussion proceeded.

Just a few minutes later, the Board the briefly exited executive session after determining invited participants had not been properly identified for the record, then re-entered under a revised motion naming representatives from the Wilton Land Trust and Twelve Gods Brewery as participants.

During the discussion over those motions, Boucher described her view of how the process is supposed to work when interest arises in Town-owned property:

“Anytime that we have an interested party interested in discussing a town property, then we have, are required legally to go into Executive Session. It’s a confidential conversation to begin with, especially if any terms are suggested. It’s the first step, as you know, through the process that was outlined by our attorney,” she said.

Laying Out the Timeline

The timeline that emerges from the documents and prior GOOD Morning Wilton reporting spans more than a year and shows how both discussions and public descriptions of the Gilbert & Bennett property evolved over time.

2024

• Executive session discussions of Town property began as early as January 2024. By midyear, Gilbert & Bennett was being explicitly identified on Town agendas as a topic for those closed-door discussions.

• Publicly, Boucher indicated openness to a sale. In July 2024, she said she was open to selling the building. By September, she told GOOD Morning Wilton she had toured an interested buyer through the site.

• In October 2024, Boucher said there were interested parties but no formal offer.

• By December, the Board of Selectmen met in executive session to discuss the potential sale or lease of the property. At the time, Boucher told GOOD Morning Wilton: “I would bring any official offer on the building to the BOS if we get one, but we do not have a money offer to date, just a notice that there is interest to buy it from two sources.”

2025

• In early 2025, Boucher continued to state publicly that there was no active interest. She told GOOD Morning Wilton that the Town had not received plans or proposals from developers and emphasized that preservation of the building was a priority.

• By July 2025, however, a memorandum of understanding had been drafted outlining a potential transaction between the Town and Georgetown Heritage Brewing Center, LLC/Twelve Gods.

• That summer, the Wilton Capital Planning Committee also discussed the possible sale of what it described as the “Georgetown Cluster,” including the Gilbert & Bennett building.

• By October 2025, Boucher was describing the situation internally to the full Board of Selectmen as a “confidential offer on the table.”

• No public discussion reflected that level of detail through the end of the year.

2026

• By early January 2026, internal emails referenced a “current offered price.”

• That same month, the proposal was presented to the Board of Selectmen in executive session. Publicly, however, Boucher continued to say there was no official offer, while referring to an “interested party.”

• On Feb. 2, 2026, representatives of Twelve Gods told GOOD Morning Wilton they hoped to create a “community-oriented destination brewery” at the site and confirmed they had begun discussions with the Town in 2025. They also said “there is a proposal on the table for the town to consider.”

• At that time, Board of Selectmen members emphasized that no agreement was in place and called for greater transparency in future discussions.

• Later in February, as public concern increased, Boucher acknowledged discussions with Twelve Gods, describing it as the only proposal considered “viable.”

• She also stated that future discussions would be made public: “I think from this point on any further discussion of that building, we’re going to make it public… I think that’s the only way forward.”

• On Feb. 11, 2026, officials held a special public meeting to discuss the property and hear community input. It was the first time details of the Twelve Gods/Wilton Land Trust proposal were presented publicly.

• At that meeting, Boucher said, “Nothing’s going to be done without the approval of the Board of Selectmen and the public going forward.”

FOIA Responses and Missing Records

Records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act add another layer to that timeline.

GOOD Morning Wilton requested communications related to a “confidential offer” and any memorandum of understanding concerning the property.

The response from First Selectman Toni Boucher did not include the Oct. 20 email or the MOU.

Those documents were later obtained through a separate FOIA response from former Selectwoman Kim Healy, who was one of only two current or former Board members — along with Selectman Rich McCarty — to provide records.

The materials Boucher provided in response to GMW‘s FOIA request do not appear to reflect a complete record, with some messages missing replies, and neither the Oct. 20 email nor its attachments included.

The documents also show that correspondence between Boucher and a Wilton Land Trust board member — including an email stating that “12 Gods Brewery will pay the Town their current offered price…” — took place through Boucher’s personal email account. She later forwarded the email chain to her Town of Wilton account.

Board of Selectmen Questions

Emails obtained through FOIA also show exchanges among selectmen that raise questions about whether they adhered to FOIA requirements.

Under Connecticut FOIA, substantive exchanges among a quorum of board members are generally expected to occur in a public meeting.

In one instance, McCarty emailed all five Board members sharing his legal analysis of documents related to Gilbert & Bennett. He later disclosed that action at the next public BOS meeting, consistent with FOIA training guidance from Town Counsel Ira Bloom.

Tartell responded to the full Board with opinions and recommendations in that same email chain. At a subsequent Board meeting, Tartell did not disclose that response.

Separately, during a Mar 2, 2026 Board of Selectmen meeting, Tartell stated that no one had discussed a dollar figure with him in connection with the property

Documents reviewed by GOOD Morning Wilton show that the July 2025 memorandum of understanding circulated to the Board includes a purchase price field, and that a Jan. 8 email referenced a “current offered price.”

The documents raise questions not only about what was known, but how the process unfolded.

What the Town Charter Says

The Town Charter outlines a process for selling or disposing of Town-owned property, including referrals, public hearings and, in some cases, approval at a Special Town Meeting.

Legal guidance presented to the Board — including a memo prepared by Town Counsel Nick Bamonte — focuses on formal steps once a transaction is ready to move ahead.

However, that guidance appears to address what happens after a deal has been shaped, rather than the earlier stage when an offer is first received or discussed.

Chapter 26-B of the Town Code requires that the Board of Selectmen be the body that initiates and oversees the process of selling Town property, with actions taken publicly through notice and deliberation.

That suggests the Board — and the public — are expected to be part of the process as it unfolds, not only after key details like price and structure are developed.

Officials Respond

GMW received the following responses to questions and requests for comments sent to Town officials:

First Selectman Toni Boucher did not respond to specific questions about the timeline and communications described in this report. In response to a request for comment, she said she was “addressing important town matters at this time.”

Selectman Rich McCarty said he understood the October 2025 communication from the First Selectman about a “confidential offer on the table” to reflect “that it was simply that, an offer.”

Asked if the July 2025 memorandum of understanding represented “a proposal, an offer, or a preliminary framework,” he said it contained elements of all three. He said he understood from Boucher’s October email that “it had progressed to a point where the First Selectman deemed it as an item that should be brought to the full Board of Selectmen for consideration and discussion.

McCarty also responded to questions about his review of related grant documents and communication with the board. “As to FOIA, it was clear that I was going to review the documents, I shared my work ahead of the next public meeting with the Board of Selectman, and then at that next public meeting I addressed my review and findings.”

Regarding board transparency around the Gilbert & Bennett building, McCarty pointed to the Board’s public discussions, its review of documents, the Board’s Special Meeting to hear community input, and grant efforts for a feasibility study and building assessment. “The community has been involved and engaged and their input has been received, considered and acted upon,” he said.

No additional responses were received from other officials before publication time. Any additional comments will be added if and when they respond.

Additional articles in this series will be published in the coming days.