WILTON – A special town meeting will take place on Oct. 1 to create a moratorium on new public utility projects, after the Board of Selectpersons signed the warrant at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The warrant will ask voters to weigh in on a proposed moratorium on projects falling under Section 5.7 of the town’s zoning ordinance, Public Service Corporations. If approved, the moratorium would allow the town to work on sections of the ordinance pertaining to public utilities, exempting applications that have already been accepted by the Planning Board, including a proposed Central Maine Power substation on Main Street in East Wilton and a solar energy project off the Weld Road.
Selectpersons Tiffany Maiuri, Tom Saviello and Phil Hilton voted in favor of enacting the moratorium, while Chair Keith Swett and Selectperson David Leavitt voted against. The meeting is set for 6 p.m., Tuesday Oct. 1 and will be held at G.D. Cushing School on Cushing Drive.
In other news, a bid was approved for a Ford Hybrid Utility vehicle for the Wilton Police Department. The bid came in from Quirk Auto in Augusta for $32,574 after the trade-in value of $4,500.
A culvert project on the Pond Road drew considerable discussion, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said. The culvert had previously been identified as unstable after an environmental study was done on Wilson Lake. It was causing considerable erosion, Irish said, which qualified it for a Stream Crossing Public Infrastructure Improvement grant. The grant of $79,985 will fund the work, which will be done next week.
The grant requires the project to be completed before the end of September. All vehicle access to the Pond Road will be from the Weld Road (Rt. 156) entrance. Businesses on Pond Road will remain open.
