WILTON — Four medical marijuana cultivation licenses were unanimously approved by the Select Board following a workshop Tuesday night with the Planning Board to revise the town’s marijuana ordinance.

Prior hesitations to approve additional growers by the Select Board stemmed from current limits on the number of licenses that the town is permitted to grant. With revisions to the ordinance after the approval of Wilton residents, limits on cultivators and retailers would be diminished.

Town Manager Rhonda Irish informed the board that much like businesses applying for a liquor license, the cultivators were reviewed to ensure they were up to date on their taxes. The cultivators were also reviewed to see if any complaints had been made about odor.

“I checked with the police chief and no issues there,” Irish said.

In other business, Fire Chief Sonny Dunham presented to the board estimates for a new generator and gear extractor. Dunham said that the station’s generator is 25 to 30 years old and has a manual start. When the power goes out and the station has to respond to a fire, Dunham often has issues starting the generator.

“I cannot open the doors with a generator that’s giving me problems,” Dunham said.

The station has 14-foot doors that are nearly impossible to open manually, he said.

The board requested that Dunham return with an additional estimate for a Generac generator before they would approve the purchase.

The board also discussed upcoming paving projects. During the manager’s report, Irish said the Department of Transportation (DOT) will pave from Route 2 to Main Street next year. She proposed that the town budget for $10,000 to also pave parking areas on Main Street to coincide with the DOT’s work.

The DOT will also pave Depot Street and Weld Road. Irish suggested that the town budget to pave the sidewalks as well during this time, which have Verizon and Central Maine Power Company poles that would need to be moved. 

It would cost about $100,000 to improve the sidewalks, and Irish said the town has about $50,000 for this project and could pull additional money from the undesignated fund.

Irish said that she has been discussing downtown access for the ATV club via the Rail Trail and using either Allen or Prospect streets.

“Those two would be the most ideal,” Irish said. “It’s not totally out of the realm, but there are some obstacles there.” 

The proposed access route would have to be approved by the DOT and the Select Board.

“I think we want to avoid the residential areas as much as possible,” Chairperson Keith Swett said.

Irish also provided an update to the board regarding the broadband committee’s first meeting held last month. 

“We’ll have to move a little bit quicker as we move into December and January because Greater Franklin Development will be putting in grant applications to the state,” Irish said.

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