Board of Selectmen Resume In-Person Meeting at Town Hall, Welcomes Public to Attend Socially-Distanced
The Westport Board of Selectman, l-r Second Selectwoman Jen Tooker, First Selectman Jim Marpe, and Third Selectwoman Melissa Kane, met at the Town Hall Auditorium for this morning’s Board of Selectmen meeting. Held virtually since March, the Board members were excited to be back on the stage for the meeting and welcomed members of the public to begin attending meetings in-person at the large meeting space.
The meeting began with members describing announcements for the community, which included the Westport Library’s Booked event with violinist Itzhak Perlman, the beginning of the Westport Farmer’s Market tomorrow , the Westport Women’s Club Art Show, and the Westport Garden Club’s plant sale next week.
They continued the agenda to accept gifts for the Town of Westport Art Collection from notable local artists such as Larry Silver, Jerri Graham, and Naiad and Walter Einsel. The pieces will be added to the collection, which is shared throughout the town’s public buildings, such as the schools, and will include a Fall showing at the MoCA Westport.
They then gave support for a July 11th Westport Artists Collective trunk sale, which will be located in the Jesup Road parking lot. Selectwoman Kane assured that the organization would contact the local businesses whose customers use the lot to park while shopping in the downtown area.
The last three agenda items referred to infrastructure - both digital and physical. The new Town of Westport website system was described as a success, with a request for addition items for the online hosting of Westport’s Zoning and Subdivision Regulations. The website allows for residents and Town employees to quickly access regulations and permits within the Town through a simple to use website. The upgrades would allow the Town to continue its ability to be user-friendly and would coincide with the town’s recent updates to the entire online system. Westport was ahead of the game when the pandemic struck, as many Town functions were already digitized for residents and staff to use.
The Board then discussed a sanitary sewer project in the Main Street area of Gorham Avenue and Lone Pine Lane, for which AI Engineers of Middletown was awarded the design contract. Director of Public Works Peter Ratkiewich said that about 75% of homes in the area were in favor of the upgrades, which was also described as a long-haul project by the Director. The Board supported the contract.
The big ticket item on the agenda was the approval of a contract for a $455,800.00 appropriation for underground fuel and oil tank upgrades at the Parsell Public Works center on the Sherwood Island Connector. The project would upgrade the current tanks to above ground tanks for both vehicle fueling stations as well as the heating oil holding tanks. The Board supported the contract, which was won by American Petroleum Equipment and Construction Company.