Milo public safety building to go out to bid

MILO — The town of Milo hopes to break ground on the new public safety building later this year.

During a Feb. 12 Milo Select Board meeting, Town Manager Bob Canney said Plymouth Engineering and United States Department of Agriculture have been working on the listing and once the agency signs off on the finalized paperwork the project will go out to bid.

“We won’t be breaking ground this spring anyway because we would have had to hire a builder last fall,” Canney said. “So we get it out to bid within a month, we’re probably looking at late summer, early fall.”

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 is expected to be an 18-month build.

In other business, town officials heard from Fire Chief Mike Harris, who said that so far the department has responded to 62 calls in 2025. 

“We’re on track to have the busiest year ever, not that we want that,” he said.

The fire chief said a meeting was held two days prior concerning ambulance coverage, and later in the meeting several ambulance contracts were signed to continue long-standing agreements.

A new contract was signed with the Howland-based Central Maine Highlands Fire & EMS District #1, with this agency serving as a backup for Milo if other ambulance services are unavailable. 

“We would rather have a cost than to not have somebody responding,” selectperson Lee McMannus said.

Select Chair Paula Copeland said Central Maine Highlands Fire & EMS District #1 would only bill the town for an ambulance after charging the patient and then having a balance left over.

There would be no charge for fire coverage as Howland and Milo have a mutual aid agreement.

Harris also discussed the department’s 42-year-old ladder truck, as fire department officials have been looking at a replacement ladder truck for months. A dealer would not quote the department on repairs for the current vehicle “because they cannot find the parts,” Harris said.

A truck was located on Long Island, a 2002 model with 36,000 miles and a $150,000 asking price, Harris said.

A height of 9 feet, 10 inches was listed, but a plate on the truck said it is 10 feet, 2 inches, which would be too tall to fit under the fire station doors. Harris said a handrail surrounding the turret could possibly be altered to get under the 9-foot-11 threshold, and the department would keep looking into the vehicle.

The closest ladder truck to Milo is in Dover-Foxcroft, and the two communities have a mutual aid agreement in place.

Penquis Recreation Program Director Crystal Cail said four of six positions on the new program’s committee have been filled, split between Milo and Brownville, and she hopes the other two spots will have members soon. 

Late last year, Milo and Brownville officials voted in favor of merging the two neighboring communities’ recreation departments into a new program. Reasons cited included providing more opportunities for area youth and other residents and to potentially save money.

The select board would formally appoint committee members and the program bylaws and agreements will be finalized soon, Canney said.

Cail said she has been speaking with SAD 41 officials about improvements to the playing fields, which are owned by the towns and used by the schools for certain sports and activities. These include replacing benches at Harris Field in Milo, converting the adjacent tennis court into a pickleball court and putting in new dugouts at Davis Field in Brownville.

Canney reported the final wording on an adult use marijuana establishment licensing ordinance is being set. When this is done, the select board will schedule a public hearing and special town meeting on a date separate from a regular select meeting.

Milo Police Chief Nick Clukey said county law enforcement agencies have been working on an in-depth plan for an active shooter.

He said unlike in a large Maine city there would not be 50 officers responding in five minutes. “We’re unique in our geography and the number of people we have,” Clukey said.

“We’re really concentrating at this point in that initial response and response time,” the police chief said. Clukey said the aim is to uncover and correct existing deficiencies.