Key Points
- The BOS approved a $350,000 road safety study despite questions about the appropriate funding source.
- Wilton must provide the full amount upfront before receiving $280,000 in federal reimbursement.
- The BOF must still approve the funding, with officials facing a Sept. 15 federal deadline.
Why It Matters: The grant could help Wilton identify dangerous roads and intersections and qualify for future improvement funding, but it also requires an immediate financial commitment and coordinated approval from two town boards.
At a special meeting on Friday, Sept. 11, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved acceptance of a partially federally funded grant for a road safety study, despite unresolved questions about exactly where the town will find the necessary funding.
The Board of Finance is scheduled to discuss and potentially approve funding for the grant at a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 2 p.m.
In a 4-0 vote the BOS approved entering into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation under the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program — part of a $5 billion initiative centered on roadway safety that runs from 2022 through 2026.
The $350,000 project would fund the creation of a study and action plan by an outside consultant, who would suggest ways Wilton could make some of its roads and intersections safer.
The federal grant would cover 80% of the cost, or $280,000, while Wilton would be required to provide a 20% match of $70,000. The Town would also be responsible for any additional costs and could be required to repay grant funds if it failed to satisfy the program’s requirements.
Wilton will need to have the full $350,000 available to cover the cost, with the federal program later reimbursing the town for $280,000.
Participation in the grant program could also make the town eligible for federal funding to implement recommended improvements, which could include road redesign, new markings and signage.
The approval process hit a wall on Tuesday, Sept. 8, in part because both the BOS and BOF regular meetings were scheduled simultaneously.
Deputy Police Chief Rob Cipolla showed up first at the 7 p.m. BOF meeting, where he was told the board could not approve the funding because the BOS had not yet approved the grant agreement. The BOS was scheduled to consider the agreement later that evening.
The BOF members were also displeased that documentation supporting the request had arrived at the last minute — an issue that has troubled both BOF and BOS members of late and has also drawn concern from members of the public.
“To tell you the truth, I saw the grant request when I pulled into my driveway at six o’clock tonight,” BOF Chair Tim Birch said. “So I haven’t had a chance to read it.”
Vice Chair Rudy Escalante agreed that the board should wait before making a decision, as did BOF member Prasad Iyer, who noted that the public also should have had access to the documentation at least 24 hours in advance.
Cipolla acknowledged that he had received a response from the federal official with whom had been dealing on Aug. 19, but he noted that federal officials had taken four months to respond with approval of the grant.
He told the BOF that the federal official wanted the agreement signed that day, Sept. 8, and that it could be returned no later than Sept. 15 because the agency was closing out its budget.
Along with noting that by statute, the BOF could not approve the allocation before BOS approval, BOF members questioned whether it was appropriate to fund the grant through the town’s new Capital and Non-Recurring Expenditures Fund (CNREF). Some members said they did not believe the expense qualified for funding through the CNREF.
BOS members raised the same question a short time later when Cipolla appeared at their meeting an hour later on Tuesday evening to discuss the matter.
With the grant process having been underway for some time, Cipolla indicated some frustration with this final approval step.
“I’ll just reiterate we’ve been talking about this since 2025,” Cipolla said, explaining that the request had originally been made by former Department of Public Works Director Frank Smeriglio, who recently resigned from his position.
BOS member Matt Raimondi expressed support for funding the grant but told Cipolla that he didn’t believe the CNREF was the proper source for the money. He said more information was needed before the board could approve it.
“I agree with the Board of Finance and how they shook out here,” Raimondi said. “I still think we should find a way to do it [but] I think it’s going to take us time to figure out the funding to do it because it’s not in our budget … Right now there isn’t money to do this.”
Cipolla, in response, expressed diminishing patience.
“That’s frustrating to hear,” he said. “You know, this is something that when Frank came, proposed it as an operating capital project and somewhere along the line it got moved into another bucket.”
“I’m a worker,” Cipolla said. “You have a town full of workers here. Let us do the work. Let us do the work.”
In the end, the BOS scheduled the Friday, Sept. 11, special meeting and decided to draw the money from its Charter Reserve account, at least for the moment, pending BOF approval.
The board also asked Hadley Boyd, Wilton’s communications and community outreach coordinator, who has worked on the grant with Cipolla, to notify the BOF that it needed to post a meeting as soon as possible so the board could consider the funding request before the Sept. 15 deadline.
A BOF special meeting was initially posted for Monday, Sept. 14, but was subsequently rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 2 p.m.
