Board of Selectmen Report provided by Ted Hoffstatter
Town Meeting
First, the numbers, as proposed: Mill Rate up 2.9%, Grand List up .7%, BOS Budget up .28%, BOE Budget up 1.17%, Senior Tax Relief up 6.2%, and Wilton still holds a AAA Moody’s rating. Unions have come to the table for pay freezes; we are still waiting for the teacher’s union. The Town Meeting was packed–standing room only.
My Take: 
This has been a tough budget year; at the same time, I left the Town Meeting feeling quite uplifted! The turnout was wonderful, and people spoke passionately, yet respectfully, in expressing their thoughts, concerns, and hopes. I applaud all of the Town Boards along with our First Selectman in working hard to balance the interests and concerns of all of this Town’s citizens. Many townspeople spoke out in favor of the budget; many regretted it was too low, and some regretted it was too high. And some spoke out against the proposed budget for those same reasons. While young families and seniors may at times seem at odds in a budget, I believe their interests are very much tied together. The Wilton I grew up in was all about family–not a boarding school for families, who left as soon as their kids graduated our great schools, and not a retirement community. Wilton, as I have seen it, and still see it, should continue to be a community for all–a Town that balances everyone’s interests. This is NOT a perfect or easy model, but a challenging one. That being said, this is one windmill well worth tilting at!
Re-usable Bag Ordinance
Only 1% of plastic bags are recycled
Jonathan Cunitz, who was the mastermind behind the plastic bag ordinance adopted in Westport earlier this year, gave a very well received presentation at our BOS meeting on Feb. 1
st. The possibility of an ordinance, modeled after Westport’s, to eliminate plastic retail checkout bags in favor of re-usable bags will be revisited after budget season.
My Take: I am very hopeful that over time, this initiative will be passed in a form that best suits Wilton. While China and most of Europe have long decided that retail checkout bags–plastic or otherwise–are a detriment to the environment and a waste of resources, old habits die hard! Businesses can be proud that they have plastic bag return bins, but the unfortunate reality is that the recovery rate is hovering at 2% in the United States. You can bet that the lobbyists will be sending their minions to upcoming BOS meetings; your public support in the form of letters to the editor and comments at our meetings will be most helpful in furthering this crucial grass roots environmental effort! That being said, I did have a sit down with Peter Keating (owner, Village Mkt), and Mark Carluzzi (Carluzzi’s) about how the ban would affect them specifically. We will crunch some numbers. My first real job was at the Village Market; Peter was the Manager at the time. I want to make sure that our local markets can survive any action we take. We will know more next month.
Dog Ordinance/Town Playing Fields
Parks and Rec. still wants a stronger ordinance concerning dogs near playing fields. They have adjusted their fifty feet ban of dogs near playing fields to twenty five feet – with exceptions for paths that cross near a field, such as with Merwin. The driver is that there has been too much dog excrement on fields, some altercations between dogs, and the concern that players may crash into dogs.
My Take: The concern is, again, and again, legitimate. Unfortunately, the current ordinance is not effectively enforced; dogs are already prohibited from fields. While I agree dogs should not be on fields, I still feel that even twenty five feet is too harsh for all fields. The stadium and Lilly Field may be legitimate, but I do not want to burden good owners with good dogs from attending all sporting events. We are still working on this, and want to get it right.
Troop Boxes
Trackside is now also helping with the troop box drive. They were featured recently on News 12 for their efforts!
My Take: This is great, because the drive needs help! Our troops are working hard for us, far away from home. Please grab a flat rate box that I have put at the entrance of town hall, along with a list of items needed. Boxes can be filled and returned to Town Hall – just let us know what you put in them! We can also accept donations for shipping (checks can be made payable to the Wilton Town Hall Troop Box Drive). FYI, at present we do have money to ship, but no boxes to ship, so please, take a box!
Contact Selectman Ted Hoffstatter any time with comments or questions via email or phone at (203) 451-5049.
