Wilton Town Manager Perry Ellsworth plans to use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to update the town’s website. Ellsworth provided an update on the state of the website during a recent Wilton Board of Selectpersons meeting. He mentioned that Chair of the Board Tiffany Maiuri had been working on the website, but it was still a work in progress.
Ellsworth intends to propose withdrawing $5,000 from the ARPA funds at the next meeting on September 5th. The funds will be used to update the website and ensure that agendas can be easily accessed. He also plans to include all past agendas and minutes from meetings dating back to 2018 on the website.
The website update has been a long-standing project for Ellsworth, which he started in December of 2022. However, he admitted in February that things were not going according to plan. The website was in need of significant fixes that would require a substantial amount of money. Consequently, Ellsworth declared the website out for maintenance while exploring possible solutions.
Initially, Maiuri offered her assistance in getting the website back on track and training office staff to update it. However, during the meeting in August, Maiuri stated that the staff did not have the capacity to keep the website up to date. She suggested bringing in a web developer and allocating additional funds for the website’s maintenance. Ellsworth supported the idea, highlighting that most towns spend a minimum of $2,000 to $3,000 annually on their websites, whereas Wilton has only been spending $500.
Apart from the website update, Ellsworth mentioned that he would be presenting several smaller proposals at the next meeting to address various issues that have arisen over the past year. He plans to address these matters before his departure as town manager in November. The town has already started accepting applications for the position, and the formation of a hiring committee will be discussed at the upcoming Board of Selectpersons meeting.
