Milo looks to get public safety building project within budget

MILO — With bids coming in over the $7.2 million price tag, Plymouth Engineering will be negotiating with the low bidder to get Milo Public Safety Building project within budget.

Bids came back several weeks ago and each was higher than anticipated, Staff Engineer Keith Ewing of Plymouth Engineering told the select board during a May 14 meeting.

“The low bidder came in at $7.6 (million),” Ewing said, or $400,000 more than is budgeted for.

He was authorized to negotiate with the low bidder to reduce costs by modifying the project and then will come back with any developments to the select board.

“We’ve already worked with Keith to tell him what our preference would be to modify the building to keep everybody involved in the project,” Town Manager Bob Canney said. 

The fire, police and public works department heads have all met with Ewing already, Canney said.

“The goal is to keep the fire and police and public works all in this building,”  Select Chair Paula Copleand said, with no plans to remove any of them in order to reduce expenses.

A contractor cannot be hired until the public safety project is within budget so once this has been negotiated the select board may hold a special meeting to award the bid.

Milo is planning stages for 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, less than a mile 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. 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 take 18 months.

In other business, town officials received an update on a potential ladder truck purchase for the fire department from Chief Mike Harris.

A 2002 model with 36,000 miles has been located in New Jersey with a $150,000 asking price. Milo firefighters have looked at the vehicle over a Zoom walkthrough and four department members were authorized to travel down to inspect and test the truck later in the month.

“The biggest thing is we want to get eyes on it to make sure it fits in our current station,” Harris said. 

Much of the $150,000 would be covered by budget and capital reserve, being about $6,000 short. 

Depleting capital reserve completely would not be ideal, Harris said as the town would be left without funds to cover unanticipated expenses for the fire department.

“I’m fearful to use all the capital reserve,” the chief said, mentioning Milo currently also has 1996 and 2001 model trucks.

An option would be to have neighboring Brownville contribute some monies — the two towns share many resources and have mutual aid agreements in place — as the request will be considered.

“The current ladder truck is so old we can’t fix it, it’s the ladder system itself,” Canney said about the 1982 model which is not in service.

Harris was granted permission to put this truck out to bid. The motor itself could be worth $15,000, he said.

A purchase would be done via a special town meeting vote, and by the time this is held all the financial details will have been worked out.

An old police cruiser has been converted into a first responder vehicle, so firefighters can take this to EMS calls when a fire truck is not needed such as a lift assist. A grant has funded about $29,000 in equipment for the vehicle, including $20,000 for an automated CPR device.

The select board declared the property at 1 Chase Hill Road to be a dangerous building. 

The structure at the corner with Elm Street was destroyed by a fire in the fall of 2003 and now fallen debris remains. 

“It’s clear it’s a dangerous property and needs to be cleaned up,” Code Enforcement Officer Steven Quist said when asked if the property meets dangerous building standards.

With the declaration in place the property owner has 30 days as of May 15 to clean up and after this timeframe the town has the authority to clear the parcel. Milo officials can choose to extend if such an agreement is reached.