WILTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved hiring Dale Roberts of Rumford as the new Public Works foreman Tuesday.

Roberts has worked for Rumford’s Public Works Department for the past 30 years, Town Manager Rhonda Irish told the board. He has been foreman of one of that town’s two crews for the past 10 years, she said.

Roberts will replace John Welch, who left the position. Five people from a pool of about 10 applicants were interviewed, she said.

Roberts also applied for the position two years ago when Welch left and then decided to return.

Roberts apparently is ready to move up from the position he’s had for 10 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in Rumford, Irish said of his interest in the position.

In other business, Irish said contractors would tour the Wilton Tannery property Wednesday before submitting bids for the tannery waste cleanup. Bids are due by 2 p.m. Friday, May 30, and must be submitted to Ransom Consultants. 

Engineers from Ransom will present the bid information to the board at its June 3 meeting. The work is expected to be completed by mid-August or mid-September, she said.

Waste left from tannery dumping will be consolidated in an area on the easterly back side of the property and covered. 

An area on the southeast section of the 15-acre property in East Wilton has a tannery landfill estimated at 60,000 square feet with waste depths ranging from 1 to 12 feet. It includes leather scraps, barrel staves and other materials used in tanning from the late 1950s to mid-1990s, Nicholas Sabatine of Ransom Environmental of Portland recently said.

Irish encouraged the board to consider a plan over the summer for a future sale of the property. 

“You need to decide whether to demo or not,” she said. “Costs for demo will also be provided on June 3.”

While the contractors are at the site reviewing the work Wednesday, they will be asked to consider an estimate for demolition costs for the building.

Selectmen Thomas Saviello and Tiffany Maiuri volunteered to work on a committee to explore plans for the property and bring their ideas back to the board this summer.

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