WILTON — The Board of Selectpersons decided Tuesday to postpone a special town meeting planned for Dec. 6 until the wording of easement deeds with two private organizations can be worked out.
The deeds for the Wilton Lions Club and Wilton United Methodist Church would allow the town to legally go on these organiztions’ properties to plow and sand, as it has done for years.
The board and representatives from the club and the church agreed to work together, after club members voiced concerns about the wording.
Once the easement deeds are signed, voters have to accept them at a town meeting, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said.
In a 1987 deed for the then-American Legion property, the town was deemed not liable. The town plowed and sanded because the American Legion deeded land over to the town for the Public Safety Building, she said.
The deed was transferred when the Lions Club purchased the property. For insurance purposes, the town wants to be sure that they can continue to legally do the lot maintenance, she said.
The easement deed allows the town to plow the Methodist Church lot because a pump station is in the back of the lot. Irish believes an agreement was made with a handshake back in the 1970s.
The town plows the two private properties for the good of the town, she said. The Lions Club allows excess parking for the Public Safety Building and use of the Couber’s Brook Pond Trail on the property to residents. The town’s food pantry is at the church, she said.
Part of the Lions Club’s concern arose from wording indicating the agreement was up to the sole discretion of town officials, and future boards could terminate the longtime agreement that King Lion Russell Black said was “etched in stone.”
When Chairwoman Tiffany Maiuri recused herself from the discussion because of her Lions Club membership, acting Chairwoman Ruth Cushman asked the members of the club and the church to work with the board “to come together and find the correct language so we can move forward,” she said.
Cushman asked Irish to seek a waiver from Kyes Insurance to cover the town until the easement can be worked out.
Snow could start falling soon, Cushman said. “The town intends to continue plowing and sanding so let’s work together,” she said.
The request came as a surprise to the Lions Club members, who felt the deed was sufficient.
“We have tried to be a good neighbor,” Black said.
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