WILTON — Selectmen awarded a contract to buy a compactor for recycled items to Atlantic Recycling Equipment of Rollinsford, N.H., on Tuesday at a price of $17,295, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said Wednesday.
The town is going to single-sort recycling in mid-September with Pine Tree Waste, which will take the town’s recycled goods to Lewiston, she said.
Installation of the compactor is expected to be completed within four to seven weeks.
In other business, selectmen agreed to ask the town’s Ordinance Committee to consider developing a fireworks ordinance. The state legalized fireworks in the state under certain conditions.
Several people attended the Board of Selectmen’s meeting to discuss fireworks and complaints.
Irish said she is going to research other ordinances including nuisance ordinances for the committee to review.
The board also authorized Irish to submit two applications pertaining to creating a safer walk to school by buying and installing pedestrian-activated crossing signs on Depot Street. The other is to build a sidewalk to fill a gap from the stores downtown to the Post Office on the library’s side of the road. It also would make the sidewalk handicap accessible, which needs to be done, Irish said.
The board postponed shutting off a street light on Route 2 across from Prospect Street.
Irish said she plans to contact the Maine Department of Transportation to see if some brushwork could be done to make signs more visible so that motorists can see better and to install larger reflectors on the guardrail there.
Selectmen also authorized Irish to work on creating a downtown tax-incentive financing district with John Holden of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group with the intent to enhance the area to attract businesses. The town has a TIF area on Route 2 at Comfort Inn and Suites, Irish said.
They will consider revising the district document they have or developing a new one.
A TIF is a tool that to assist on-going revitalization and development. It is guided by a Downtown Redevelopment Plan, which the town has, Irish said.
The TIF can encourage new private investment and dedicates those new tax revenues to a Downtown Redevelopment Plan, according to Eaton Peabody’s paperwork.
To establish a downtown TIF, the town would develop a municipal development program outlining how it might wish to use the future TIF revenues generated with the downtown district.
Some uses of the revenue could be improvements to parking walkways, lighting, dedicating funds to market the arts and events in the downtown and infrastructure improvements.
Any TIF district developed would need to go to selectmen and voters for approval.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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