Wilton Hires Firm For Football Field Fix

WILTON, CT — The town's top board has hired a consulting firm to oversee the design and construction of a major facelift to the flood-damaged Wilton High School football field and track.

The Wilton Board of Selectmen voted unanimously June 6 to hire New Haven-based Stantec Consulting Services Inc. to devise a plan to fix the field area following a devastating storm early last September.

Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida last year dumped mud and debris onto the field as water flowed from nearby, taking with it silt and other debris onto the field.

The damage prompted the closure of the stadium for several weeks, with the school, eventually, reopening the stadium later in the fall.

Now, the town is looking to add flood-mitigation measures to ensure that such a situation doesn't happen again.

Wilton officials hired Stantec for $72,000 to conduct surveys, evaluate the wetlands in the area, conduct preliminary design work and handle all construction documents, bidding and support, among other tasks.

The selectmen vote authorizes Wilton First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice to enter into a deal with Stantec to get the job done.

According to Wilton Public Works Director/Town Engineer Frank Smeriglio, the goal of the project is to create sufficient drainage and erosion control measures so the area can withstand a major storm in ways it couldn't last September.

Vanderslice said the town needed to go with Stantec quickly, and not have an open bidding process, because of the nature of the work done.

Not only is a project necessary to avoid future issues, but Stantec has special expertise in that area, Vanderslice said at the June 6 selectmen meeting.

"We needed to move very quickly," she said.

Vanderslice said, going forward, it will not become town policy to usurp the bidding process, however.

"I don't want to just automatically award contracts to Stantec," Vanderslice said. "I want to go back to a bidding process."

Selectmen appeared pleased work to fix the problem had progressed to where it has.

The football stadium's new, artificial turf field — a $1 million project — opened just prior to the storm, so the incident marred the new field's inaugural season.

"I'm just glad to see this going forward in this way," said Selectman Basam Nabulsi. "This has moved forward very expeditiously."

To watch the June 6 Wilton Board of Selectmen meeting, visit this link.

To view project details courtesy of Stantec Consulting, visit this link.