Milo Public Safety Building construction progressing

MILO — Work continues on Milo’s forthcoming $7.2 million public safety building on outer Park Street.

“The project is still on target, they still say they are going to finish in September,” Town Manager Bob Canney said during a Jan. 14 select board meeting. The project is still on budget, he added.

Passersby will see the fire department section of the structure enclosed in plastic, Canney said. A heater is in place to warm the ground so drain work can begin. The goal is to pour a slab next month and then the process will be done in the shared office space and public works sections. Steel should be erected that week or next. 

The only major issue so far concerns sewer lines, which cannot go under the turning lane off Park Street. Per state policy, there is a 7-year moratorium on pavement and 1.5 inches of top coat was put down several years ago.

Now a pump station will be added, for several thousand dollars, and the sewer line will go at an angle to avoid the road. Had the top coat need to be cut into then the state fee for doing this would be around $15,000.

The new building, being built by Sheridan Construction Corporation of Fairfield, will house the fire, police and public works departments. Milo can spend up to $6,375,000 in USDA funds for the public safety building, which will be located at the business park, less than a mile from the 100-year-old town hall where the fire and police departments are currently located.

In other business, Canney said two offers were made for the lots at 64 and 68 Main St. The lots are being sold as one parcel, totaling just over a half acre, for $25,000 with DeWitt-Jones Realty.

One offer was not for what the town is looking for and the other is for $18,000 with a preliminary plan for a building with apartments overhead. Canney told Dewitt-Jones Realty the potential buyer needs to come in and present to the select board.

“It needs to happen in public,” Canney said. “I said he would need to have a plan.” 

The lots have been for sale for several years, following the partial collapse of the Masonic building roof which led to the structure being demolished. The list price was previously $50,000 for both lots. Combining the two into one would be done by the new owner with the registry of deeds.

“They are odd-shaped lots anyway,” Canney said at a select meeting last fall. He said there is not really adequate space to buy one lot and develop it without also doing something with the other lot.

The town will not recover its $100,000 in legal fees, demolition and taxes, but a business owner would start paying property taxes on their land.

“At this point we I think everyone in town would be happy to see that developed into something good,” he said.

Fire Chief Mike Harris said the ladder truck is back in the station and tools will be put on to get the vehicle ready for service, which should take several weeks. 

The 2002 ladder truck with 36,000 miles was purchased for $150,000 late last year after a four-person team from the fire department traveled to New Jersey for several days to look at a vehicle to replace Milo’s antiquated 1982 ladder truck. Harris said a brand new truck would have cost more than $2 million.

The fire department is also considering replacing two other trucks with one vehicle so there are not as many to maintain. The replacement would be 10 years old or more recent but would not be brand new.

“They’re out there but the prices are super scary,” Harris said, with a price tag of over $1 million.

“We’e been pretty busy for 2026, we’ve been averaging a call a day so let’s hope that stops,” he said.

“We’re at the lowest number of personnel we have been in a long time, we are down to 24 members,” the chief said, suggesting the town advertise for new members. People can join just on the EMS side or just the firefighting side if they like.

Milo does have more than a half dozen junior firefighters, and the hope is some will move up when they are eligible to do so.

Breena Bissell of the Economic Development Advisory Committee said an outdoor recreation and economy discussion will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the town hall. A similar event was held last fall and it drew residents and people from other nearby communities. 

The Appalachian Mountain Club, Northern Forest Center and other local partners invite the public to review the results of a survey of area recreationists. The event will feature updates from local groups about outdoor recreation projects and activities underway this winter and spring.

RSVPS are requested and the event poster is on the town Facebook page for more information.