If it’s ever going to be used again, Merwin Meadows pond needs to be dredged. But the question remains whether a federal agency is going to help with the cost as it has done in previous years on similar projects, given changes in Washington, DC, that have taken place over the last year.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Pierce told the Board of Selectmen last Tuesday (Dec. 16) that the work could cost between $400,000 and $600,000 to dredge the pond, depending on what’s required. While the hope continues to be that FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management Agency — will shoulder 75% of that cost as it has traditionally done, times have changed and it’s possible that Wilton could have to foot the whole bill if it wants the pond open by Memorial Day.
“Right now, FEMA has changed dramatically from when this project started to where we are right now and there’s no guarantees that the funding is going to be forthcoming from that,” Pierce said. “I want to make you guys completely aware of that, but if the town wants to open the park, that is something we’re going to have to discuss.”
“Hopefully we’ll have some answers on that shortly,” he said relating to FEMA’s participation, possibly by early January.
The BOS previously approved $119,000 for design work related to the project, which has already been spent. Pierce said that that money was already approved by FEMA, which will be reimbursing the town 75% of it, or just under $90,000.
Between Aug. 18 and Aug. 24, 2024, an intense period of rain resulted in significant flooding in the region.
“Obviously it affected the entire town. It affected not only the stadium and roads and stuff, it also affected Merwin Meadows,” Pierce said. “We actually had about three feet of water in the soccer field across the bridge from Merwin Meadows, which was something I’ve never seen (and) we’ve seen a lot of storms down there.”
While the building was spared any damage, he said that debris, silt, mud and playground woodchips filled the area and, consequently, the pond itself. Now, in order to make it safe and usable, it must be professionally dredged in accordance with a design plan that will have to be approved by local, state and federal agencies.
“A similar event occurred in 2011, where we had the park flooded and it was a FEMA storm, and we had to dredge the pond there as well,” Pierce said. “So it’s something that FEMA has paid for in the past but I can’t promise.”
“We should know hopefully by early January what the position of that is,” he said.
Pierce said that time is counting down for his department to put together an RFP in order to track down a contractor that would complete the work in time for a spring 2026 opening.
“Depending upon what’s required from various groups, it could go from four to $600,000,” Pierce said.
“We pay for it and then we get reimbursed for it,” he said. “They will commit to that.”
First Selectman Toni Boucher pointed out that while Pierce’s department will see some additional revenue this year from a truck she said was sold for $100,000, along with $38,000 coming through a profit-sharing plan, they don’t want to drain their assets.
“Uncertainty about reimbursement is the issue here, so we have to think about that plan,” she said.
Pierce said the $119,350 allocation went into a range of planning, design and research relating to the dredging that was needed to satisfy requirements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), as well as requirements for Wilton’s Inland Wetlands Commission.
“They’ve done all the background material, all that kind of stuff … It’s designed and now we’re sending the design through all the different agencies,” he said.
As Pierce departed, Second Selectman Ross Tartell said the public was not happy it remains closed.
“People are saying things about Merwin Meadows that are not pleasantries,” he said.
Pierce responded, “We’re trying to turn that around.”
“We have to get what’s in the bottom of that pond out of that pond to make it safe for bathers,” he said.