Tecton Architects granted extension on new Wilton police building plan
WILTON — The architectural firm charged with presenting plans and cost estimates for a new police building by January has asked for an extention, meaning a vote on the proposal could happen closer to summer.
Tecton Architects requested an extension to wrap up final plans, which was granted, according to First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice.
“The architects for the police headquarters project reached out to request an extension of time to complete the design documents and the cost,” she told the rest of the selectmen Tuesday.
The town officially entered into a building plan with Tecton Architects for the new police building in October. The town’s timeline for the process, which was laid out in September, slated January as the target date for a presentation by the architectural firm to the selectmen. A special town meeting with a tentative vote was scheduled for the end of January as well.
“We had put them on a pretty tight schedule in order to be able to present something at the January meeting, which would then have allowed for a special meeting at the end of January, beginning of February,” Vanderslice said. “Of course, our No. 1 priority is to have the best project available to bring forward and we certainly want the estimators to have the required time to do the proper costing.”
Tecton was the original contractor for the police building. In February 2020, the architectural group that has experience building police department headquarters estimated Wilton’s at $14.5 million. That price may change come the final presentation.
“We most likely will receive a presentation from them at our first meeting in February,” Vanderslice said. “That means we will no longer have a special meeting to consider this project.”
According to the first selectwoman, that special town vote, which was also set to feature the question about whether cannabis products could be sold in town, will no longer take place.
Instead, Vanderslice said “the goal is to bring this project for consideration as part of the annual town meeting.” The annual town meeting date for 2022 has yet to be scheduled.
“The cannabis question will be delayed to the main meeting also,” Vanderslice said, noting it would not be an issue “since Planning and Zoning put the one-year moratorium in on cannabis” where no decisions would have to be made for a period of 12 months.