WILTON — Wilton is moving forward with renovations at some parks & recreation facilities funded by Judith Bjorn’s $100,000 donation.
The Wilton Select Board authorized Parks and Recreation Department Director Frank Donald to spend up to $38,600 on renovations for the basketball courts at Kineowatha Park.
Donald was authorized to spend the funds on purchases of poles, backboards and paving for the court.
Donald anticipates they will enlist students at Foster Career and Technical Education Center to build the six poles. The town has previously enlisted Foster Tech students for other projects.
Donald said this is a plus for the students, town and community.
For the town, it saves quite a lot of money, Donald said in an interview. And it allows those kids to get some practical experience, take on different kinds of projects, he added.
Donald said that it gives the students “a sense of pride in the community.”
Bjorn donated $100,000 to the town’s parks and recreation department in December.
Bjorn told the town that she wanted the money “to be used to support your expensive programs for youth and families” and “enhance and continue [the parks and recreation department’s] excellent programs.”
The parks and recreation department then conducted an online survey to gauge what community members wanted the town to spend Bjorn’s donation on.
Donald said that of the 87 responses, 29 voted to renovate the courts and 27 voted to build a pavilion in the center of Kineowatha Park.
Other options included maintenance funds for upkeep on the disc golf course and lighting for the tennis and pickle ball courts. Some respondents also suggested work to improve the steep hill leading to the beach at Kineowatha — though Donald said there are some complications with that idea.
Donald currently has full approval for spending on the courts — barring some limits on paving.
He anticipates the new poles and backboards will be installed by late May and hopes the paving will be completed by the end of August.
Donald will return to the board in the future with solidified ideas and quotes for work on the pavilion.
In other business, Wilton is reopening the Share Shack at its transfer station. The announcement was made at the Select Board’s Tuesday, Feb. 4, meeting.
Selectperson Tom Saviello anticipates the Share Shack will reopen April 1. The date of the opening hinges on approval of a set of rules for the shack by the select board.
The Share Shack first opened in 2010 with the intent “to take usable items out of the waste stream for individuals who need them.”
The Town of Wilton’s website currently states that acceptable items include wooden furniture, housewares, tools, building materials and children’s toys. Among unacceptable items are air conditioners, dehumidifiers, glass doors, grills, large appliances, mattresses and box springs, stuffed or upholstered furniture, televisions and computer monitors.
The town closed the shack down at the beginning of the pandemic due to restrictions. It reopened in 2021 and closed again in November 2021 due to concerns of misuse.
At the board’s Nov. 11 meeting, Public Works Foreman John Masse explained the station has had issues with people dropping off “unacceptable items” and creating “pretty much a disaster” despite having “posters everywhere saying what you can and can’t put in.”
At the November meeting, Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri also said she’s seen people “hoarding” items, selling them at yard sales.
The board decided then to close the shack, review the policies, clean it out and figure out how to move forward.
Saviello told the board at the Feb. 15 meeting that the recycling committee is going to write up a set of rules that put limitations on donations and usage.
Saviello told the board the anticipated rules include barring more than one visit to the shack a day and the donation of items that are wrapped in boxes. He also suggested a policy that they clear out items that have been in the shack for a prolonged period of time.
However, Saviello was clear to say they would not to do anything to prevent Share Shack items from being taken and sold at yard sales.
Saviello added in an interview that the committee also plans to have a town employee oversee and approve what people put in the shack.
Saviello will return to the board with rules to approve at some point in March.
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