Wilton extends lease with CT for portion of Allen’s Meadow
WILTON — The Board of Selectmen approved a five-year extension of its current lease for the state-owned portion of Allen’s Meadow.
First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderlslice, in the last regular board meeting of her term as Wilton’s ranking leader, said the state had not yet proposed a new lease for the property.
“The state decided to do a second review following comments that they received from Wilton residents,” she said at the Nov. 20 meeting. “They’re not done with that review.”
The current lease expires at the end of this month.
“Since the state is not ready with a new lease, they would like us to extend for the five years with the understanding that they hope to have this resolved, certainly a year from now,” Vanderslice said. “This may not even take a year.”
The first selectwoman said that, at latest, a resolution is expected within the next 12 months.
This is not the first delay that Allen’s Meadow has faced from the state.
In the spring, the state Department of Transportation delayed drafting a new lease due to concerns about contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — synthetic chemicals better known as PFAS — if the town were to build an artificial turf field on the state-owned section of the property.
Tests from the Kristine Lilly and Fujitani turf fields showed no PFAS runoff in the water, Mike Conklin, director of environmental affairs, said in April. But voters in May narrowly rejected a $1.9 million request to add a turf field, lighting and seasonal bubble at Allen’s Meadow. The field would have been the town’s third turf field.
Despite the failure of the project by less than 50 votes, Vanderslice said in the Nov. 20 meeting that there is still work to be done on the town’s athletic facilities.
Amid statewide calls for equitable access to lighted fields, she said there is a lack of gender equity for girls’ athletic teams’ access to lit fields, especially at Guy Whitten Field, echoing concerns she raised in July.
In the meeting, Vanderslice emphasized the importance of increasing field lighting for female athletes before the board approved $182,000 for Guy Whitten Field’s irrigation and restoration fund.
“I think it’s important to point out that one of the advantages of lighting the field is it increases usage time and therefore it does give access to female sports,” Vanderslice said. “We have to make sure that we’re ensuring that that happens.”