WILTON — The Wilton Select Board met on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and approved a workshop date to start revising the town’s medical marijuana ordinance with the Planning Board.
The meeting will take place on Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. via Zoom and is primarily in response to issues regarding the town’s limits on cultivation licenses. The town will also discuss changing the tier categorizations to be based on the number of mature plants a grower has at one time rather than the square footage of the cultivation room.
Tuesday night’s agenda included a proposal to set a public hearing date for three applicants seeking Tier 1 medical marijuana cultivation licenses. The board tabled the public hearing with the desire to revise the ordinance before issuing any further cultivation licenses.
“I think there’s adequate time for us to sort through this and craft our ordinance to fit the need. It’s a working document as most any of this in a new industry is,” Code Enforcement Officer Charlie Lavin said. He advocated that the Select Board hold a public hearing while revising the ordinance.
Board member Tiffany Maiuri expressed concern about approving licenses before revising the ordinance, which restricts the number of medical marijuana growers to seven.
“If, at the hearing, the public comes out and says otherwise, we’ve already given out three of the seven permits,” Maiuri said. “And if the public feedback says we should be limiting it … I’m just having a difficult time resolving both of those sides where I don’t want to hold them [growers] up, but I also don’t want to constrain ourselves.”
In other business, Town Manager Rhonda Irish informed the board that all six tax foreclosure properties were sold at auction Wednesday, Oct. 14. Wilton received $91,300 from the sales.
Irish also informed the Board that there are 10 properties the town owns but are missing deeds. Most of these properties are landlocked. Irish is investigating their histories and may need to contact former town managers.
The board approved Water and Sewer Superintendent Heinz Gossman’s request to purchase a 2011 GMC Sierra service truck for $26,400. The truck is in southern New Hampshire and Gossman will travel with the department’s mechanic to inspect the vehicle before purchasing.
The board also approved two new ballot clerk appointments, and Irish announced that the Town Office will be open exclusively for voting from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 29 and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3. The office also has a drop box outside for absentee ballots.
Board member Tom Saviello presented an idea on behalf of a resident, to consider installing a memorial in the Lakeside Cemetery that would recognize veterans and community members. Saviello will meet with the cemetery committee and the town’s sextant to further develop memorial plans.
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