WILTON — A nearly $8 million project to update Wilton’s public water supply system is expected to wrap up ahead of schedule, the Board of Selectpersons learned Tuesday night.
Jim Lord of Dirigo Engineering in Fairfield told the board that contractor Pratt & Sons Inc. of Minot is expected to finish the work by early November, beating its March contract deadline.
Lord told the board May 5 the project could finish by October, but his report Tuesday noted that spring conditions had stalled installation of some cross-country raw water lines.
Since the May report, crews have installed 2,040 feet of the raw water line, leaving 896 feet yet to be laid. Of the 7,800 feet (about a mile and a half) of new raw water line required for the project, 6,904 feet are now installed.
Crews have also completed several major operations since May 5, including testing and disinfecting the water main from the North Pond Road water treatment plant to Doak Street, connecting seven customers along Applegate Lane, installing 810 feet of water main along Applegate Lane and installing one of three finished water pumps, with the remaining two scheduled to go in within a few weeks.
Lord said the contractor had tried directional drilling to install a new intake at Varnum Pond, the source of Wilton’s water. Directional drilling is a technique of drilling into the earth at angles rather than from directly above a targeted site.
Lord said large rocks thwarted the directional drilling, so the contractor will use traditional open excavation to install the new intake. That work is expected to begin this month and finish by the end of September.
Lord provided the following schedule for the remaining pieces of the project: install a back pressure sustaining valve at Doak Street by Aug. 31; finish the intake and raw water main by Sept. 30; swap out a booster pump at Doak Street by Sept. 30; finish all service connections by Oct. 31, with Orchard Drive and North Pond Road remaining; and install a septic tank and leach field and clean up and restore the ground surface at the treatment plant by Nov. 30.
Lord said Pratt & Sons has earned $6,141,460 of its $7,864,839 total contract amount so far. Total project expenses stand at $6,592,241, and any remaining funds could be used to upgrade the Maine Street water main.
Voters financed the project primarily through a $7.448 million bond approved at the 2023 annual town meeting with a 1.5 percent interest rate, and a $2.5 million grant.
Users of the public water system will pay much of the cost to retire the bond through their regular water bills. Rates did not rise for 20 years, according to published reports, leaving the water department without reserve funds for repairs or expansion.
At its May 5 meeting, the board learned from Lord that the contractor had installed 14,307 feet of new treated-water line from Doak Street to the water treatment plant and had connected customers along Doak Street, Weld Road and Colby Miller Road.
In a related matter, Allen Adams, Wilton’s water and wastewater superintendent, reported that crews installed a more accurate master meter for North Jay, which buys water from Wilton. Crews also painted and refurbished 137 fire hydrants and are fixing shutoff gates to protect hydrants from snowplows.
The board voted 4-0 to authorize Town Manager Maria Greeley to buy $2,820 in traffic cones and safety equipment, with Selectman Philip Hilton absent.
Greeley reported that unpaid tax notices went out July 23 following the May 1 second-half property tax deadline. She also posted a request for proposals to replace a restraining cable on Fenderson Hill Road. Residents told the board that the cable, installed when the hill was developed more than 40 years ago, would no longer restrain a bicycle.
Dr. Michael Parker told the board that a new Fire Department Committee is gathering information and statistics to prepare an analysis of department operations.
The board voted 4-0 to enter an executive session listed on the agenda simply as “legal.”
Selectman Nathan Hiltz, who was elected June 9, noted that state law governing secret board meetings requires a more detailed description than a single word, but the board did not expand the wording. Monitor Local has inquired whether the board took any action in public session following the secret session, but has received no response.
