Fire department equipped to apply for vehicle grant

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

MILO — What was likely just a formality was also a necessity, as a slight change in the wording of a warrant article authorizing the town and Milo Fire Department to apply for FEMA grant funding was OKed during a special town meeting on Dec. 1.

“What happened at town meeting is the verbiage said fire pumper, this covers whatever they need,” Interim Town Manager Damien Pickel said.

In March residents approved an article authorizing the selectmen, on behalf of the fire department, to apply for a grant related to a pumper, and this word was switched to fire-fighting vehicle at the Dec. 1 special session. The warrant article also stipulates that if funding is awarded matching monies will be raised by the town though a bond or bond note.

“It gives the fire department the flexibility they need to get the equipment they need,” Selectman Peter Hamlin said.

The warrant article adjustment is needed as the fire department is applying for a FEMA grant to go toward the purchase of a ladder truck. The department’s current model is currently out of service with a blown motor, and the selectmen made a motion for the purchase of the parts and labor to get this model back on the road while pursuing a new ladder truck.

Select Chair Lee McMannus said coverage is still being provided through mutual aid agreements, but having a ladder truck ready to go from the Milo Fire Station will provide the fastest response at this time of year when chimney fires are most likely to occur. “It is something we haven’t mentioned, we have got the safety issue of the town,” he said.

If a sufficient grant package is awarded to Milo, then the plan would be for the town’s fixed ladder truck to be sold to recoup the repair costs as well as provide the department with some additional funds.

In other business, the board authorized Selectman Jerry Brown to talk with a consultant about a commercial railroad property on B&A Avenue. Earlier this year the board was authorized, via a special town meeting vote, to express an interest in the parcel to investigate the land condition and potential for the future, and to then come back to the town with its findings for possible future action.

Brown said he would talk with a consultant who the town has worked with previously, and then he would like to schedule a public meeting — possibly before Christmas — with the Department of Environmental Protection so everyone in town will be able to learn what is going on.

“Thirty-five jobs and a taxable property, that’s what we’re looking for,” Brown said about the potential of the railroad property. He said there are clean-up grants available, but these are usually awarded to a municipality rather than a corporation.

“This is my personal opinion, but this is one of the few things that’s good that’s come down in a long time,” McMannus said. “Is it free? No, but I think it’s worth it to spend a few dollars on a consultant.”

He added, “There may be some questions from the public on this but I feel we’re doing the right thing.”

In correspondence, the town received a note from SAD 41 indicating one of Milo’s school board members, Don Crossman who was the board’s vice chair and had a term expiring in 2016, has submitted his resignation.

“We don’t have to have an election because we are so close to the March meeting,” Town Clerk Betty Gormley said. The selectmen can appoint someone to fill the seat for the next several months.

In his report, Pickel said he will be getting estimates from contractors on the work to finish the unused side of the downtown Heritage Building. An account for these upgrades, such as electrical work, insulation and sheetrock installation, has about $9,000.

“I think if it’s finished we can get someone in there,” he said. “There’s ideas being thrown around,” about potential uses of the space.

“I’m working on the budget,” Town Treasurer Robin Larson said. “I’m hoping by the end of tomorrow to have it out in a format to the budget committee.”

Larson said included in the proposed spending plan is a $1,000 line item for a planned 200th anniversary celebration of Milo’s incorporation in 2023. The monies would be placed in the bank to accumulate interest in the years leading up to this bicentennial.