Milo town meeting set

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

MILO — With the annual town meeting taking place on Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m. in the Ed Wingler Auditorium upstairs at the town hall, the warrant for the evening was formally approved by the selectmen on Feb. 23.

Town Clerk Betty Gormley said Milo’s attorney has reviewed the document and a vote on the warrant was needed in order for the articles to be posted by Friday, Feb. 26.

During the day on March 14, Milo voters will also head to the polls to vote on several municipal positions. Current Select Chair Lee McMannus and Paula Copeland are both listed on the ballot for the selectmen, in which residents will elect candidates for a pair of seats at three-year terms apiece. A pair of positions on the SAD 41 school board, also for three-year terms each, will also be decided, with incumbents Sheila Ellis and Darlene Venable both listed on the ballot.

In other business, during the ending public comment portion of the meeting a question was asked about the status of the Derby shops property and if the town has done anything with the parcel on B&A Avenue yet. Last year a special town meeting vote authorized the selectmen to express an interest in the property to investigate the land condition and potential for the future, and then come back to the town with its findings for possible future action.

McMannus said town officials are still working on the Derby shops. “There will be a public hearing scheduled here in the near future to have a discussion on that,” he said, saying the railroad company, Department of Environmental Protection and county would all hopefully be participating. McMannus said the hearing is likely to be scheduled for a time after the March 14 town meeting.

While the meeting was held two days before the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced the first confirmed case of the Zika virus in the state, Milo Health Officer Dr. Ben Kittredge said the center has reported that the virus is not carried by mosquito species native to Maine. “So we should be good so far,” Dr. Kittredge said.

The Maine CDC reported that a senior citizen from Hancock County tested positive for the Zinka virus, having traveled to a Zika-affected country and experienced symptoms after returning home. The center said hospitalization was not required and the patient continues to recover at home.

“It’s important for the public to understand that the aedes mosquito that transmits the Zika virus is not found in Maine and that your neighbor who has come home from a trip to South America cannot transmit the virus to you,” Dr. Siiri Bennett, Maine’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.

Dr. Kittredge said that to be cautious, the Maine CDC is recommending that pregnant women who have traveled to a Zika-affected area be tested and have a fetal ultrasound.

The World Health Organization and U.S. CDC are currently investigating a potential link between the Zika virus and an increase in microcephaly, a birth defect in which the size of a baby’s head is smaller than expected.