WILTON — The Selectboard unanimously voted Tuesday to hire an economic development consultant, hoping to make headway on revitalization and community development goals.
The board voted to sign Richmond-based consultant Darryl Sterling to a contract for up to $12,000 worth of work over the next sixth months, with the possibility of contracting for more time when the trial period is up.
Sterling will be paid $60 per hour, get 55 cents per mile and $30 for time spent traveling here, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said. He will be paid out of Comfort Inn & Suites tax increment financing district money, which currently has $161,116.
Sterling, who is self-employed, said in his application to the town that he had secured $12 million in grants over his work history, as well as created 1,500 jobs and retained 1,200 through recruitment and retention efforts.
The town has hosted a series of economic development forums, and Sterling was a speaker at one, at which he recommended the use of grants and initial developments as leverage to build momentum in gaining more grants and further development when trying to build up the town.
Selectwoman Tiffany Maiuri said comprehensive economic development efforts such as the one they are contracting with Sterling for can take two or three years to see results, but the six-month trial period will let town officials weigh Sterling’s plans and initial progress.
“There’s no silver bullet that’s going to happen in six months, but he can proceed in six months to get us on the road,” Maiuri said.
Irish said Sterling could work on improving the town’s infrastructure and gateways to the town, seek grants and make a plan for improving the Wilson Lake waterfront.
She said the development work wouldn’t focus on the downtown alone, but include other areas of the municipality, such as East Wilton.
Maiuri said the town has a downtown development plan, and hiring Sterling would be taking a step toward those development goals.
“We have a plan. … Let’s move ahead and get things rolling,” she said.
Irish said she expected Sterling would start soon and work one day a week in the Town Office or every other week, depending on what work needed to be done and the schedule of grant applications.
Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.