WILTON —  Final costs for cleanup and demolition of the former Forster Mill site are still unknown as testing for roof asbestos continues this week, Town Manager Rhonda Irish told residents Tuesday.

During a public hearing for an Environmental Protection Agency grant application, Irish said cleanup of known materials is estimated at $200,000 with demolition of the building at $500,000. An additional $70,000 will be needed for underground contaminants found, she said.

A second public hearing will take place in two weeks before submission of the grant application on Dec. 18. Public comments about the mill and cleanup need to be included in the application.  

Comments can be left at the Town Office or made at the second hearing, she said.

The town can apply for three grants of $200,000 each for cleanup. They do not cover demolition, she said.  

A match of $40,000 is needed for each grant received, she said. Unlike the Wilton Tannery site which also received EPA funding, there is less cleanup work the town can perform to meet the match.

The town should know by April whether any grants will be received with the cleanup work likely to start by Oct. 1, she said.

The building, while unsightly from the outside, is worse inside, she said. Consultants found nothing left that is worth saving.

The former owner hired a contractor who took most salvageable machinery and in the process of getting it out cut holes in the floors and roof, Selectperson Scott Taylor said.

Safety was a major concern. Birch Street resident Robin Bragg spoke of the potential harm to homes around the area in case of a fire at the site. When Wilton Academy burned, homes on her street had little fires from stray sparks. People on the other side of Wilson Stream would have it even worse, she said, if the mill caught fire.

While the Fire Department has a plan in place, the first priority would be getting residents to safety, Irish said. This is a health and safety concern that she intends to include in the application, she said.

The fact that the mill site is less than a quarter mile from two schools also raises concern.

“The mill site is the most significant liability the town has,” Irv Faunce said, if there was a “community-shattering fire.”

Bragg also questioned the valuation of properties around the mill site. 

Because of the blighted conditions of the mill, homeowners may be less inclined to keep up their properties, Irish said.

Faunce questioned funding to move forward if the grants are not received. He said he didn’t want to see the town in the same place a year from now.

The consensus of the board over the five years Taylor has served is that “the mill needs to come down,” Taylor said. There may come a time when the town has to take bonds to bring it down but we’re exploring our options,” he said.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net