Milo seeks grant for sidewalk project

MILO — The town of Milo is seeking up to $100,000 in Community Enterprise Grant funds from the state to install a sidewalk along Penquis Drive, off West Main Street to the Penquis Valley School, this summer. Students would be able to walk to and from the building on the right side and not be in the road with all the vehicle traffic before and after school.

The application has been submitted to Maine’s Community Development Block Grant program with a public hearing held on April 8 prior to the monthly select board meeting.

Milo used a similar grant to fund parking lot improvements several years ago and some stretches of sidewalks in town in 2025, Town Manager Bob Canney said. 

The maximum $100,000 is being sought and the town would need to provide an additional 25% of the total to meet a matching requirement. This amount would come out of the paving budget. Public works would do some demo work to help keep costs down.

If awarded, funds would not come in until July. 

“Who knows what the price of pavement and fuel will be come July?,” Canney said, with $125,000 likely to cover all the expenses.

“They bought into it, the school board is all on board,” he said as Milo and SAD 41 officials have been discussing the project for several months.

“The goal would be to have this done before the school goes back in session,” the town manager said.

The plan would be to apply for more funding in 2027 for a sidewalk leading to Milo Elementary along High Street.

In other business, Canney provided an update on the forthcoming $7.2 million public safety building off outer Park Street, which is scheduled to be completed by the fall.

Concrete for the fire department portion of the facility has been poured, next up will be for the police department and then public works the second week of May. 

The sewer and water connection was planned to be directly in front of the building, but the state would not give a permit to cut into the newer pavement on the turning lane. Per state policy, there is a 7-year moratorium on pavement and 1.5 inches of top coat was put down several years ago.

Instead a longer connection underneath the town-owned Gerrish Road was set up, for an additional $42,000 cost that will need to be found within the project costs.

“It’s coming along, it’s on schedule, it’s actually a bit ahead of schedule,” Canney said.

The fire department had most of its vehicles on the site.

“It gave them a good perspective on how much space they’re going to have,” Canney said. Fire Chief Mike Harris told him it was nice to be able to back in with room to spare.

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.

Due to electrical and costs, Lumbra Hardwoods will be closing later in the month after 74 years in business, Canney said.

The sawmill cannot sustain rising electric and machinery costs and insurance expenses, forcing the family business to close.

A bit more than 20 employees will lose their jobs, Canney said. They will work at the mill until the end of April when the last logs are sold. The mill is then set to be up for sale.

“For us the bigger concern is the tax revenue, we’re going to lose a big chunk of tax revenue as well,” he said. The town manager said area legislators are aware of the reasons for the impending closure.

Lumbra Hardwoods is the second Milo business to close within the last two years due to rising utility prices, joining Milo Chip. Costs of incentives for building solar arrays and using solar power have been pushed onto companies that can’t afford their now higher bills, forcing them to close.

Canney had estimated the mill’s electricity bill would jump from $20,000 to $40,000 a month in 2026.

Trails are being planned for around Harris Field, Penquis Recreation Director Crystal Cail said. The paths will be surfaced from ground- up material from other paving projects and several exercise stations could be installed. 

“Very simplistic but just one more offering,” Cail said.

Town officials are looking at the tennis court at Harris Field to see if and how it can be repaired.

“It is very unsafe, the posts have lifted up significantly. I think it puts the town at risk,” Cail said.

“It’s terrible the idea of losing the tennis court, I know a lot of people used it but for years it went unmaintained,” Selectperson Tony Heal said. “In a perfect world I love to see it preserved as a tennis court,” with expenses determining what is done.

The surface could be torn up by the town and then paved over with portable tennis and pickleball nets and basketball hoops to be moved on to accommodate the different games.

Cail said the tennis court was dedicated as a memorial in the late 1970s so this needs to be considered when making a decision.

“Spring’s here, so we want people to clean up their yards,” Code Enforcement Officer Steven Quist said.

Spring clean-up days are scheduled for May 4-7 and May 11-14 

“Take advantage of this opportunity and clean out the trash, put it on the side of the road and we will take care of it,” Quist said. Some restrictions are in place. 

Should people be cleaning up outside then should be wary of bees and wasps, Quist reminded.

The town has been dealing with a Turner Howe Road property, in which a dozen cats and eight dogs were found malnourished and living in deplorable conditions. Other dead pets were found in a freezer and cooler.

“Even though it’s off the beaten path there’s an issue up there that really ought to be looked at,” Quist said, as the town needs to decide where to spend legal funds.

The Bangor Daily News’ Kasey Turman and Christopher Burns contributed to this story.