Milo residents to vote on charter revisions

MILO — On the Tuesday, Nov. 5 ballot Milo residents will vote on some proposed changes to the town charter. The 16-page document, enacted in November of 1976 and last amended at the 2011 annual town meeting, is available to review with the amendments being brought forward on the town website at https://www.milomaine.org/. Citizens will vote either “yes” or “no” to a charter revision question.

“The bulk of the changes in here are changing the term board of selectmen to selectboard and then we have other changes in here to basically make it gender neutral,” Select Chair Paula Copleand said during a public hearing as part of the Oct. 9 meeting. She said in the charter uses of he or she have been adjusted to their.

“The only other change in here is to the compensation for the board because the compensation of the selectboard is actually probably illegal because it was not minimum wage,” Copeland said. She said this compensation will be  established each year at the annual town meeting in March, not being less than the minimum wage set by the state..

Later in the meeting Town Clerk Betty Gormley said the charter question will be sent out separately for those voting via absentee ballot.

In other business, Town Manager Bob Canney gave an update on the Village Partnership Initiative

Several months ago Milo officials learned about an opportunity to work with the Maine Department of Transportation on a Village Partnership Initiative to develop a vision for the downtown — any binding obligation would be made in the months to come. A working group is learning more with members representing the town government, police and fire departments, public works, and school and water districts.

“Our cost share came back way more than we initially were led to believe,” Canney said. He suggested letting the idea sit for a few weeks and then ask again what is needed that the town currently lacks, such as extending the Park Street sidewalk up to JSI Store Fixtures, Inc. 

Canney said improvements through the Village Partnership Initiative can be done in increments, such as the sidewalk in the first year and adjusting the High and Pleasant Street intersection the next year.

“Just to remind everyone, when (MDOT Region 4-5 Transportation Planner Jarod Farn-Guillette) came here to told us to dream big and we did and it came with a big price tag,” Copeland said. “Now we’re kind of going into cat naps and to see if we can dream a little smaller.”  

Milo’s Village Partnership Initiative group has met with Farn-Guillette to discuss a “wish list” of desired improvements. A designer will draft plans and these will be brought back to a public hearing to see what can be done.

Milo is under no obligation to have anything carried out, as the plan can remain with the town indefinitely. Improvements include making sidewalks ADA compliant, decorative light bulbs, benches, and crosswalks to be funded through grant money.

Grant funds — which would have a municipal match requirement — would come from either the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for those $5 million and up and from Congressionally Directed Spending if under $5 million. 

The Village Partnership Initiative is a program of the MDOT’s community-based planning program. Farn-Guillette.reached out to Canney earlier in the year after passing through town while working on a similar endeavor in Dover-Foxcroft.

MDOT will use investments and municipal infrastructure, such as the historic village core and/or downtown, to bring a feel and character that many historic towns had as a means to revitalize rural economy in the state of Maine as well as improve quality of life of those who live in the community and for visitors.

The MDOT would work with Milo on a feasibility study and conceptual design. The agency would also work with the town on request for proposals to find a consultant who would then work with landscape and traffic engineers to look at efficiency of infrastructure and how it looks to complement the character of the town.

Fire Chief Matt Demers said the weekend before three firefighters traveled to Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus in Union Grove, Alabama to look at a Pierce-brant 75-foot quint truck or a ladder/pumper combination. Demers said the original asking price was $350,000 with all of the Milo Fire Department’s punch list items included.

He said Brindle Mountain Fire Apparatus is willing to sell the truck at $290,000 with the 23-point punch list items, such as snow treads for the tires, changing valves, a paint scheme and lettering, and more.

“That truck is capable of pumping 2,000 gallons a minute,” Demers said. “I think that will be a good truck for us moving into the future,” saying he believes the department will get 20-25 years out of it.

Another idea is combining the smaller pumper and rescue truck into one unit, and having a separate pickup for EMS calls and hauling a trailer for calls needing the rescue sled.. Demers said in Alabama there is a 2017 mini pumper, that pumps 1,500 gallons a minute, for sale for $350,000 and Brindlee Mountain Apparatus would sell both vehicles to Milo for $590,000.

“In the long-run that’s going to save the town money,” Demers said, saying the current mini pumper and rescue truck will need to be replaced in the next half decade-plus.

“I think we ought to seriously look at both if at all possible,” he said. When asked he said such a purchase would increase the fire department budget as a loan of some sort would be needed.

The chief said he would bring forward a cost analysis for the selectboard to review, including how money the current vehicles could be sold for and/or traded in.

The department is looking to replace a 42-year-old ladder truck. The vehicle is needed not just for height but if a house sits back off the road as well to fight fires on structures with metal roofs.

“It’s a bandaid over a bandaid,” Demers said when asked about the current condition, saying the engine, waterway, and wiring have all been replaced.

Canney said the drum and cable are in need of replacement, and a preliminary estimate of $19,000 for the work was given before the mechanic even looked at the vehicle.

The town manager said there was not much of an update on the public safety building other than bids are expected to go out next month. “That means that if all goes well opening the bids in December, it’s later than I would like,” Canney said.

The town is currently in the planning stages of a new building to house the fire, police, and public works departments. The community can spend up to $6,375,000 in USDA funds for the public safety building, which will be located at the business park and across the road from the Milo Water District office less than a mile up Park Street from the 100-year-old town hall where the fire and police departments are currently located.

Plymouth Engineering had been meeting with town officials and department heads to design each department’s section of the facility, with plans being solidified. The engineering firm estimates the building, groundwork, and engineering costs to total $7,200,758 or $825,758 more than what Milo has available in project funding. To make up the difference, residents approved a line of credit not to exceed $825,758 to cover costs above and beyond the $6,375,000 at a special town meeting 

The construction would be an 18-month build.