BOS Renames TSNAP—Now WCPC—and Sets New Goals, Possibly Selling Off Town Properties

Starting its sophomore year with a new name and a rejuvenated mission, the Wilton Capital Planning Committee — formerly TSNAP, or the Town and School Needs Assessment Priorities Committee — is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, June 11.

A revised mission statement and list of goals were presented by First Selectman Toni Boucher to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night, May 20, which in turn led to some discussion of whether it was time for the town to sell off some of its buildings.

“In my view, it’s time for us to take a look if we can possibly sell one or two of those that could help offset the cost of bonding for repairs of the other town properties and needs we have,” Boucher said.

“Right now there’s a strong sense internally that maybe the town shouldn’t be in the business of being landlords to so many different properties,” she said.

“We don’t have the staffing,” she said, noting that in order to adequately handle the myriad responsibilities of their management, the town ideally would have a property manager, a purchasing agent, and a dedicated maintenance department.

“It falls onto other already burdened staff,” Boucher said.

Consequently, among the five goals of the WCPC that Boucher presented, number four asks for an evaluation of town-owned assets and a “recommendation on whether to retain, improve, repurpose, or sell these assets.”

Based on a 2019 document of “Review and Recommendations” regarding the town-owned property portfolio, BOS members asked whether it was necessary to include this as part of WCPC’s goals.

“I looked at the report because I was thinking about the stuff we were doing,” Selectman Ross Tartell said, “and it’s a heavy lift.”

“The report is already there and it already has recommendations on all town properties,” he said.

Boucher pointed out that Jeff Rutishauser, former chair of the Board of Finance, whom she is recommending to chair the next iteration of the WCPC, was in charge of creating the 2019 document.

Boucher said she had shown him the draft of the WCPC goals and he liked the idea of including that specific goal.

“If he thinks that belongs there, I’d say that would be okay, because he’s done it once,” Tartell said.

Other members on the committee include those who can vote — Rutishauser; Boucher and fellow BOS member Kim Healy; Board of Education Chair Ruth DeLuca and member Patrick Pearson; Board of Finance Chair Matt Raimondi and member Rudy Escalante; and former BOF member Rich Santosky; advisory members — Schools Superintendent Kevin Smith, DPW Director/Town Engineer Frank Smeriglio, Asst. DPW Director/Facilities Manager Jeff Pardo, Land Use Director/Town Planner Michael Wrinn, and the Schools Supervisor of Custodial and Maintenance Jose Figueroa.

Boucher said she envisioned the WCPC breaking into subcommittees and focusing on different areas, including assessing properties to sell.

“It would be a sub group that would do that without taking all of the committee’s time,” she said, “and could report back to this WCPC committee on their recommendations if they wanted to bring it to us, the Board of Selectmen, afterwards.”

BOS members noted that the 2019 portfolio delineated some properties to sell. 

Among the residential properties listed on that document that are leased to tenants are two separate apartments at 405 Danbury Rd., and houses at 415 Danbury Rd., 49 Old Danbury Rd., 7 New St. and 31 New St.

“Some of the ones that we’re leasing out are getting below-market rent because of the condition of the building,” Selectmen Josh Cole pointed out.

The 2019 portfolio recommend the town consider a deed-restricted sale for several properties, including the two on New St., which are on the south of the Gilbert & Bennett School.

Selectwomen Kim Healy, who will be serving on the WCPC alongside Boucher, expressed support for including the goal.

“I think it’s okay to leave it on because there’s a lot more than the few we’re thinking of … It’s also not going to be on every agenda,” she said.

Regarding the WCPC, Healy said she wanted to see more updates to the BOS.

“I also anticipate a lot more reporting back to the Board of Selectmen,” she said. “I would personally like to see more. I would have liked to see more from TSNAP to us, so it’s something we can keep an eye on.”

Boucher said the committee was being renamed to keep it simpler. She also joked that, per a comment from Healy, that “TSNAP” was a misnomer because it did not get anything done in a snap.

Selectman Bas Nabulsi, who served on the committee last year, praised Boucher for the document.

“I thought it was super well written,” he said.