WILTON – Selectmen accepted a policy Tuesday to expand and accelerate the notification rules for alerting the public about registered sex offenders.

Officials took into consideration suggestions from residents at their last meeting to make changes in the original policy draft. Police Chief James Parker, Town Manager Peter Nielsen, and former Child Protective Services case worker Sandra Wyman met to discuss the suggestions and came up with the second draft.

Wording in the ordinance was changed to state that police will notify people living next door to a sex offender within three calendar days from the time they receive such information from the State Bureau of Investigation, rather than the seven days spelled out in the first draft.

The wording was not changed to clarify exactly who would be notified in a given area because in some cases it may mean a person living out back or directly beside a sex offender. Police will use their discretion about who they will notify in a particular area.

Under the policy police will also notify Wilton School administrators and day care facilities. In the original draft such notification was an option. Now it will be mandatory.

Parker said the notification to the school department, day care centers and those living next door will be made in person. Police will keep documentation on who has been notified.

Police will also notify people thought to be at risk through some combination of media such as television, radio, newspaper and Internet. A statewide sex offender registry is available to the public on the Internet at www.maine.gov.

Parker plans to purchase a locked Plexiglas board that will be installed outside the police station and will contain a list of registered sex offenders. He also plans to install a call box that will contain a telephone linked directly to Franklin County Sheriff’s Department that people can use officers are not at the station. The items will cost about $200 each and will come from the new equipment account.

In other business, officials set 7:10 p.m. April 20 as the date for a public hearing to discuss a proposed boat launching ordinance. The proposed ordinance was presented to selectmen by Wynn Muller, president of Friends of Wilson Lake. Officials will make some minor changes to the draft to present to residents. Voters will decide whether the ordinance will go in to effect at their annual town meeting in June.

The purpose of the ordinance is to protect the water quality in Wilson Lake and to promote the safety and welfare of those who use the boat launch. Penalties for violating the ordinance range from $25 to $1,000. Under the proposed ordinance special activity permits can be granted by the town manager or his designee. Selectmen will serve as a type of appeals board.

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