Special town meeting on fire grant wording set

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

MILO — During the annual town meeting in March, residents approved an article authorizing the fire department to apply for a FEMA grant. The initial language mentioned the word pumper instead of firefighting vehicle, and on Nov. 17 the selectmen scheduled a special town meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. for a vote to update the warrant article language to better fit the department’s needs.

“If they get a grant for a new ladder truck they want to pursue that,” Select Chair Lee McMannus said.

“They pretty much have it done, they just want to attach the warrant and ‘fire pumper’ would give them a problem,” Interim Town Manager/Police Chief Damien Pickel said, with the department applying for more than just the apparatus.

The Dec. 1 special town meeting will be held before the next regular select meeting, which will start at 6:30 p.m. The Dec. 1 session will be the only scheduled select meeting during the month of December.

In other business, town officials were asked about the status of the town manager position. “We are currently discussing what we want to do there,” McMannus said.

The selectmen, he added, are researching various options for running the town and will then hold a public hearing to explain these possibilities and the associated costs. McMannus said the March town meeting could

include an article pertaining to the town manager position.

“What we are doing now is seeing how it’s going to work,” Selectman Jerry Brown said.

Currently the town has Pickel serving as the interim town manager and chief of police as well as the selectmen taking on more responsibility compared to when Milo had a town manager.

“If we can continue to run as efficiently as we are now I don’t see a need to hire a new town manager,” McMannus said. He mentioned that the position is not being advertised, and it is legal for the community to operate long-term under an arrangement similar to what is in place at the present time.

“We may in the end hire a town manager,” Selectman Peter Hamlin said, as the board is weighing all the options to bring forward to taxpayers.

Recreation Department Director Jessica Atkinson told the selectmen about a playground equipment grant opportunity through the company GameTime. “It’s really not a matching grant but close to it,” Atkinson said, saying as an example if the town puts $9,000 toward a project the manufacturer would contribute $5,000.

Atkinson said the structure being sought would include climbing equipment and a slide, situated next to the snack shack at Harris Field. She said the funding from the town for the playground would be brought forward during discussions on the recreation department budget for next year.