Wilton voters gave the go-ahead for several economic development projects, including the development of a new river walk and park next to the police station during Town Meeting.
Economic Development Chair Jennifer Beck outlined the plan to use $42,450 from the Cooley Park Fund to create a river walk consisting of some markers with local history and river ecology on them, and seated areas. After her presentation, however, Select Board Chair Kermit Williams informed the crowd that further consultation with the town’s lawyers suggested that the town could not rightly use the Cooley Park Fund, which was specifically established for improvements to the area directly abutting the Town Hall.
However, he said, the town has no plans to ever do more to that area than has already been done. He proposed an amendment to use unexpended fund balance to pay for the river walk, and to close the Cooley Park Fund next year at Town Meeting, and put those funds into the unexpended fund balance to offset this year’s expense. The meeting passed the amendment, before ultimately approving the river walk.
In addition to the river walk, voters also approved a $7,000 planning charrette for downtown development and a new tax break for significant renovations or reconstructions.
The charrette will take place this summer, and involves the nonprofit Plan NH doing a multi-day planning process with input from residents, and making planning recommendations.
One of the biggest items on the warrant this year is funds to renovate the North end of the town hall, which includes creating upgrading office space and creating new meeting rooms and storage.
The $300,000 also includes heating improvements for that side of the building, which now is heated via a steam boiler, and installing a building-wide fire alarm.
The town also agreed to put away funds to future improvements to the heating system for the remainder of the Town Hall. Heating currently is not sufficient, some of the town’s representatives explained, and the deficiency is obvious to those that spend any amount of time in the space.
“It’s fricking cold in that building and I’d like to see it heated,” said Select Board member Bill Condra, who said he sometimes wears his gloves to board meetings.
The town agreed to put away $25,000 towards an eventual replacement of the Town Hall’s heating system.
Fire Chief Jim Cutler got approval to purchase a used ladder truck to replace the department’s current one, which Cutler said had been increasingly difficult to find parts for when there were malfunctions. The department has already located and priced a 2008 Spartan to replace the ladder.
The used truck will cost $325,000, with $250,000 of that coming from the town’s capital reserve fund for that purpose.
When asked what it would cost to purchase a new truck, Cutler said that the town would have to pay about $850,000.
“Which I said – as a taxpayer – ‘I don’t think so,’” said Cutler.
For the ambulance, the town agreed to create a revolving fund for ambulance service fees and charges, from which ambulance expenses can be paid. Additionally, the town agreed to put away $30,250 into the ambulance capital reserve for the eventual purchase of a new ambulance.
In total, the voters passed the entirety of the warrant. In addition, they also threw their support behind a non-binding vote to support fixing the dam at the New Reservoir to allow it to be used as a swimming and boating recreation area.
People have been barred from activities such as swimming in that area, because it is officially a backup watersource for the town. However, it could never be used for drinking water without a substantial investment into a treatment facility, and that’s not happening in the foreseeable future, said Williams.
Several people commented that recreational activities already went on in the area, and the board might as well make them officially legal.
Voters overwhelmingly voiced support of that option, even if it came with a potential $100,000 price tag to fix the weeping dam, over partially or fully draining the reservoir to ease pressure on the dam.