Budget FY’27: BOS Picks $12.3 Million in Bonding Projects — Including Pickleball Courts, Ambler Farm Yellow House, Lilly Field Turf and More

The Board of Selectmen is unanimously recommending $12.3 million in bonding projects for consideration by the Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, May 5, including money for outdoor pickleball courts and restoration of the Yellow House at Ambler Farm.

A long but genial deliberation during the Monday, Apr. 6 BOS meeting brought the members to a unanimous decision supporting nine separate bonding items totaling $12,259,547. These include:

• Road Restoration ($2,000,000)
• Kent Road Bridge (($570,000)
• Ambler Farm Yellow House ($1,367,449)
• Cider Mill School Roof ($2,900,000)
• Cider Mill School Site Work, Doors and Windows ($955,030)
• Cider Mill School Exterior Envelope ($2,701,268)
• Parking Lot Drainage at Guy Whitten Field ($265,500)
• Lilly Field Turf Replacement ($1,200,000)
• Four Outdoor Pickleball Courts ($300,000)

“I agree with how we got there, but the total number is a lot,” Selectman Matt Raimondi said.

Recouping Ambler Farm Yellow House Investment

While he ultimately supported the funds for fixing up the Yellow House at Ambler Farm, he made a detailed argument as to why the tenant that ultimately occupies the house should be paying — if not market value rent — at least rent equal to the debt service that the town was encumbering with the bond.

“It’s a lot of money to spend on the house … To do it in this manner is over and above what is required,” Raimondi said of the town’s commitment. “It shouldn’t cost our town money. I would suggest that whoever stays in the house should pay that.”

He noted that while the debt service equivalent would be about $5,500 a month initially, the number would reduce over time.

Both First Selectman Toni Boucher and Second Selectman Ross Tartell, however, argued against the idea, defending the nonprofit Friends of Ambler Farm’s view that the farm house should be occupied by the group’s farmer (or an employee) for a nominal rent.

“To carve it out damages the farm severely … They’ve always talked about it as an integral part of the farm … We’ll damage Ambler Farm and the last thing I want to do is throw a bola around its legs so it can’t run,” Tartell said.

Boucher, meanwhile, once again raised concerns about the potential safety implications for children on the farm related to the house’s occupants.

“This is around children,” she said, also referencing increased liability to the town. “It’s a safety issue. It’s a security issue … I don’t think it’s the right direction to go.”

Raimondi, however, said it was poor governance on the board’s part to not seek to recoup its investment, as the house in its renewed condition could generate significant revenue. He said that if the town wouldn’t seek a return back that was at least equal to its debt in doing work on the house — which he said the town still has the right to level, if it so chose — they should consider a lower-cost compromise.

“There are a lot of different options here and my understanding is this is kind of throwing the kitchen sink at this,” he said.

While other BOS members heard his argument, they suggested revisiting the matter later on.

“For me that’s a separate decision and one we should take on later … We can have a separate conversation with Ambler Farm,” Selectman David Tatkow said, noting the BOS owed it to the taxpayers to at least look into getting some of that money back if possible.

Selectman Rich McCarty concurred, likewise suggesting they should revisit it later.

“All I’m asking is that you’ll make a good-faith effort to do that and then you’ll have my vote,” Raimondi said, ultimately joining in the unanimous approval.

A More Measured Approach to Town Hall Planning

While the Non-Recurring Capital Fund proposed by the selectmen must still be considered by voters at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting, the BOS is hoping to use $450,000 expected for the fund on two Town Hall-related projects: $200,000 for an underground fuel tank replacement at the Highway Department and $250,000 for concept design work on a potential new Town Hall and Annex.

Boucher has largely been the lone voice pushing to move ahead with funding preparatory design work on a potential Town Hall campus project.

Monday night, the other selectmen urged a more deliberative approach. Over several minutes of discussion, they convinced Boucher that, prior to any money being spent on the design work, the town should form a committee to begin evaluating and examining exactly what people hoped to see become of the entire area around Town Hall, as well as assess the town’s operational needs.

“I think we have to be careful that we appropriately make the case for the project we want to do for Town Hall,” McCarty said. “I’m still not convinced … that we have the scope issue laid out.”

He and others said that the creation of a building committee, especially in the early stages, would help sell the idea to the town, “so that they and we understand what has been found and what the needs are and what the available alternatives are,” McCarty said. 

“I can’t imagine that a project like this won’t be universally accepted if we do the right analysis,” he said.

Tartell also noted it was probably easier for the BOS to get funding through the BOF for this initiative rather than at the Annual Town Meeting, in part because the idea would need to be marketed to the town.

“You go to a town meeting and anything can happen,” he said.

While it doesn’t have the power to oppose any of the suggested bonding projects, at its next meeting the Board of Finance will likely opine on each proposed project. A meeting date when that will happen hasn’t yet been announced, but the BOF is next scheduled to meeting for a regular meeting on Tuesday, Apr. 14. UPDATE: Board of Finance Chair Tim Burch told GOOD Morning Wilton that the BOF now has a special meeting scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 9 to deliberate on recommendations to the BOS budget as well as discuss members’ initial view on FY 2027 Bonding Proposals. The agenda was published Tuesday afternoon, after GMW press time and materials will be updated on Wednesday.