WILTON — The Wilton Board of Selectpersons on Tuesday adopted a revised plan and schedule for closing Main Street during the Blueberry Festival in August, marking the third version of the plan since April.
The board first approved a closure plan and map April 21, then changed it June 2.
On Tuesday, members returned to the April 21 layout and extended the hours Main Street will be closed.
Safety concerns have driven the discussion. The festival, set for Aug. 7-8, draws large crowds downtown both days and evenings.
A Friday night street dance traditionally takes over Main Street, and a craft and vendor fair fills Saturday. The town has long closed Main Street to vehicles during those events.
The debate has focused on how much of Main Street to close, how to preserve access to restaurants – especially Calzolaio Pasta Co. – and other businesses and how to maintain safety and emergency vehicle access while downtown is crowded with festivalgoers.
Rocell Marcellino, co-owner of Calzolaio Pasta Co., wrote to the board that an “alcohol-fueled street dance encourages public drunkenness and a potentially unsafe environment.” She attended Tuesday’s meeting but made no prepared statement. Her request that the board reconsider its April 21 plan led to the June 2 revision.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, members addressed the street closure in two parts: during public discussion and later as a formal agenda item.
Jeff Chaisson, owner of Wilton Hardware and Ambition Brewing, both on Main Street, asked the board during public comment to “reconsider the original (April 21) request for road closures … sanctioned by the town for both Friday and Saturday night.”
He said he had not been notified of the June 2 meeting at which the board changed the hours and area of the Main Street closure as it passes his brew pub.
Responding to Marcellino’s letter, Chaisson said that in the past four years, “I can think of two disturbances where an individual had to be asked to leave.”
Three restaurants along about 250 feet of Main Street serve alcoholic beverages. The Square, located between Ambition Brewing and Calzolaio, is the third. Its owner, James Butler, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
The April 21 plan closed the full width of Main Street from High Street to Prospect Street, roughly 220 feet. Main Street widens to nearly 50 feet between those streets, and an access lane to Calzolaio extends off that widened stretch.
The June 2 plan shortened the closed area to begin at the Civil War monument and run to Prospect Street, with traffic lanes open for access to Calzolaio past the monument. The plan would have allowed vehicle access to Calzolaio from Main Street, which is open the rest of the year. The restaurant can also be reached from a parking lot on Canal Street.
Chaisson and others had expressed concern that cars passing along Main Street endangered the large number of people on foot.
“It’s an evening where local families gather, where neighbors catch up over some delicious food, where kids are running around laughing and playing in the sprinklers and where people of all ages enjoy great live music together,” not “some chaotic street party,” he said.
Police Chief Ethan Kyes said at the meeting, and Fire Chief Sonny Dunham said in a letter to the board, that the April 21 closure – High Street to Prospect Street, full width of Main Street – is workable and that emergency vehicles have been able to use the closed street quickly and easily.
In the end, after considering two other plans, the board voted 3-2 to close Main Street from High Street to Prospect Street between 5 and 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. Selectman Nathan Hiltz and Selectwoman Nancy Allen voted no.
Calzolaio diners will still be able to reach the restaurant from the Canal Street parking lot, which connects by about a dozen stairs.
During the festival, parking spaces for people with disabilities will be available at the foot of Prospect Street for those visiting downtown businesses, including Calzolaio.
The board also heard a report from Kyes that, with recent upgrades, the Police Department is ready to apply for accreditation through the Maine Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. Jay is the only MLEAP‑accredited police force in western Maine.
Kyes asked the board to transfer $35,000 from the operating budget to the vehicle capital accounts budget to buy a police cruiser during the fiscal year that begins July 1.
He said that, along with $65,000 in the overlay budget, the department would then have enough to buy a new cruiser. The department would sell a 2017 cruiser that needs nearly $3,000 in repairs to pass inspection.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the funds transfer. In voting no, Hiltz, attending his first meeting since being elected and sworn into office, said, “I fear that other departments would want this maneuverability.”
At the start of the meeting, the board reelected Selectman David Leavitt as chair and elected Selectwoman Tiffany Maiuri as vice chair. The vote for Leavitt was 3‑0, with Hiltz and Leavitt abstaining. The vote for Maiuri was 3‑1, with Hiltz opposed and Maiuri abstaining.
The board also appointed 11 people to town positions for the year beginning Wednesday: Maria Greeley, town manager, tax collector, treasurer, road commissioner, general assistance administrator and public information officer; Dylan Toothaker, finance and human resources director; Aaren Wilcox, town clerk and registrar of voters; Dunham, fire chief; Kyle Ellis and Mike Lilley, both deputy fire chiefs; Kyes, police chief; Brian Lynch, police lieutenant; Christa Powers, animal control officer; Kent Wiles, cemetery sexton; and Paul Binette, assessor.
With a new member, board representation on town committees changed. Hiltz proposed that he be named to every committee except comprehensive planning, to which he nominated Selectwoman Nancy Allen. He said he was concerned that selectpersons might not always be available for committee meetings.
The board voted 4-1 against Hiltz’s motion to name him to 12 committees. His was the only vote in favor.
Following discussion, the board assigned committees as follows: Leavitt, Recycling and Downtown committees; Maiuri, police advisory and events committees; Hilton, Parks & Recreation, Cemetery and Ordinance committees; Allen, Cannabis, Comprehensive Plan and Fire Department committees; and Hiltz, Road and Wilton Blueberry Festival committees and the Conservation Commission. All were approved 5-0.
The board also voted to authorize the Wilton ATV & Trails Club and the Woodland Wanderers Snowmobile Club to develop recreation facilities at the Burgess property. The clubs have tentatively scheduled July 15 as a cleanup day on the property along the Whistlestop Trail.
