By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

WILTON – Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to support applying for a $144,000 state matching grant to extend the town’s water main to ensure nine homes on Bennett and Thompson streets will have safe drinking water.

Tap water from mostly dug wells in the enclave has been tainted with E. coli and coliform which, in October, an environmental specialist for the state said could be from a variety of causes. The only way to ensure a fix is to put the houses on town water, Jim Crowley from the Department of Environmental Protection said at the time.

Homeowners from the neighborhood showed up in force to Tuesday’s meeting.

Before tonight, it was a split vote, Calvin Hinkley, one of the neighbors, said after the selectmen’s action. He said he felt good about it.

Wilton had previously received a $60,000 Community Development Block Grant, for which the town would need to raise $20,000. But $80,000 was about half the lowest bid of $158,000.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen recently discovered the project did not meet the criteria for a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development grant. However, he did learn from Orman Whitcomb, director at the Maine Office of Community Development, that the agency has a surplus of funds in its community block grant program and would likely be able to provide the additional funding Wilton needs for the project.

Selectmen formerly voted not to allow public money to be used to extend water mains but agreed Tuesday that that decision pertained to a subdivision developer, not residents with serious public health issues.

“There’s a distinction between a developer and residents who have asked us to remedy a problem,” Nielsen said.

Selectmen fully supported applying for the grant, for which the town would need to provide $36,000 in matching funds. That money would be taken from the water and sewer department budget, which currently has about $200,000 in its account, according to Nielsen.

Selectmen also appointed nine people to serve on the fire truck advisory committee in a 3-to-2 vote with Rodney Hall and Keith Swett opposing. The town currently has only one fire truck in service, and for several months selectmen have been discussing options and whether the truck needs to be replaced.

Wilton Fire Chief Sonny Dunham, business owners Scott Landry and Edgar Adams, former East Wilton Fire Chief Noel Brown, Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell, Wilton Fire Lt. Kyle Ellis, Finance Committee member J Dwight, state Rep. and Wilton resident Tom Saviello and Selectman Terry Brann were chosen from a list of 14 volunteers.

Though selectmen considered appointing everyone who volunteered, several felt that a committee that large would bog things down. They had also voted at a previous meeting to keep the committee to between six and nine people.

“If you get too many people, you get a critical mass,” Selectman Paul Gooch said. “You end up spinning your wheels.”

Also, four of the volunteers, including Dunham and Ellis, were from Wilton’s fire department, and selectmen felt the committee should be more representative of the whole town and not over-represented by firefighters.

The committee will meet every Wednesday beginning next week, with hopes of having recommendations for selectmen by January.