There was no foolin’ around at the Tuesday, Apr. 1 Board of Selectmen (BOS) special meeting — the three-and-a-half hour meeting was full of serious business as the selectmen tried to finalize the set of capital bonding projects they will propose to voters at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting on May 6.
Under the Town Charter, the BOS has a deadline to submit its bonding proposals to the Board of Finance for review at least 15 days in advance of the ATM.
The selectmen worked methodically through the now-familiar working list of priorities (details for each initiative can be found with the agenda for the Apr. 1 meeting) in hopes of arriving at a finalized list to present to voters:
The selectmen did reach some consensus and voted unanimously to recommend at least seven potential projects, contingent on the approval of the Town’s bond counsel:
- New DPW truck ($330,000)
- Road restoration ($700,000)
- School roof replacement ($2,000,000)
- Cider Mill chiller ($1,547,678)
- School drainage, sidewalks and paving ($725,000)
- Middlebrook exhaust fan ($373,000) and gym HVAC ($250,000)
However, unresolved questions on several topics led to a decision to add another special meeting tonight (April 2) for continued discussions regarding:
- Middlebrook flooring, lighting and ceiling tiles ($1,000,000)
- The Raymond Ambler house ($1,286,618) and the Yellow House ($1,076,000) at Ambler Farm
- Town restroom renovations, including at Merwin Meadows ($375,000)
- Turf field replacement ($1,000,000)
The discussion about a possible $800,000 request for schematic work by an architectural firm to explore design concepts for Town Hall renovations and expansion came as a surprise to some of the selectmen. GOOD Morning Wilton will be reporting about that discussion in separate story.