Ambulance site seconded

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Michael Cleveland photo Matt Lydon, the chairman of the Milford Town Advisory Committee, right, and Rose Evans, the vice chairwoman, listen to the Deliberative Session discussion on Saturday.

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Michael Cleveland photo Selectmen's Chairman Nate Carmen, left, and Vice Chairman Gary Daniels listen to the discussion during the Milford Town Deliberative Session on Saturday. Behind them are Town Administator Guy Scaife, Finance Director Jack Sheehy and Town Attorney Bill Drescher.

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Michael Cleveland photo Selectman Tim Finan defended the proposed purchase of a replacement for Fire Engine 4, saying the vehicle is 25 years old and has life safety issues.

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Kathy Cleveland photo During the town Deliberative Session, Steve Takacs of Whitten Road said he will vote for the town operating budget this year.

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Kathy Cleveland photo Audrey Frazier, chairwoman of the Milford Conservation Commission, talks about the need for additional money in the commission's land fund during the town Deliberative Session. A motion to reduce the $35,000 warrant article failed overwhelmingly.

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Michael Cleveland photo Matt Lydon, the chairman of the Milford Town Advisory Committee, right, and Rose Evans, the vice chairwoman, listen to the Deliberative Session discussion on Saturday.

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Milford Town Meeting 2012
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MilfordSchool Board Deliberative Session

When: Thursday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m.

Where: High School cafeteria

MILFORD ­– Faced with soil contamination at their first choice for a town ambulance facility site, town officials have settled on another property – the home of Harvey’s Music at 66 Elm St.

Recent environmental testing found oil in the soil of 21 Cottage St., which had been the top choice for a free-standing ambulance building.

Now 66 Elm St., one of about six properties the Community Facilities Committee investigated, moved to the top of the list.

The $2.2 million proposal for a four-bay ambulance facility is Article 3 on the town warrant for March 13 voting. At the Deliberative Session on Saturday morning residents put the article, and 28 other articles, on the warrant for voting on March 13.

“Everyone’s feeling is that taxpayers will not pay” for further testing or cleanup, Mark Fougere of the Facilities Committee told The Cabinet before the meeting.

The landowner will not agree to pay for cleanup, he said, so the committee looked at the next best option, based on a 23-point system it used to rate potential sites.

The ambulance service has been housed in Town Hall since 1975 and the need for new space is considered dire; this year will be the third effort to get voter approval.

Deficient space has been a “constant problem” for the department, Director Eric Schelberg told the approximately 50 people in the audience.

With the need to replace the two ambulances – one vehicle is nine years old and the other 13 – the situation has become critical, he said, because replacement vehicles will be too large for the Town Hall bays.

Both the Board of Selectmen and the Advisory Budget Committee support the project.

“We need this facility,” said Selectman Kathy Bauer, who also noted low interest rates make this a good time to borrow money.

Harvey’s Music is located at the corner of Elm and Columbus Avenue, near the SHARE Outreach office, and not far from the signaled intersection at West Street.

The 8,200-square-foot building will be designed to last for at least 30 years, said Fougere, and the four bays will house two ambulances and one paramedic response vehicle that now must stay outside. A fourth bay will be reserved for future growth. The building will also have a community room, sleeping quarters,and training and decontamination facilities.

With the ambulance service out of the building, officials say, there will be more space in Town Hall, which is considered crowded.

The Elm Street site, four-tenths of a mile from Town Hall, will also allow for good response time, Fougere said, because the vast majority of ambulance calls are within a mile of Town Hall.

The cost of the bond will work out to about 15 cents per thousand, or $30 a year on a $200,000 house.

The town has a verbal agreement with the owner of the Elm Street property and the cost of the lot is less than the Cottage Street property, said Fougere.

“But keep in mind,” said Selectman Kathy Bauer, “the facility is the important thing and it will work on this land.”

Amendments fail

All 29 articles will move to the ballot for March 13 without changes, including an $11.7 million operating budget and money for a replacement fire engine, a backhoe, fireworks, conservation land purchases, community bus service, social services, two employee contracts, and the first phase of the Jennison Road bridge replacement.

Selectman Gary Daniels attempted to amend the article to support 21 social services, from $35,000 to $30,000 but it failed by an overwhelming show of hands.

Daniels also said the town should do without fireworks and reduce the amount for conservation land funds (where he was joined by Mike Putnam), saying the money could help make up for the unexpected cost of the Jennison Road bridge replacement.

But several speakers defended the social services article, including Mariette Facques, the founder of SHARE Outreach, who said the nonprofit helped 550 families in 2011. She and other speakers said SHARE and the other charitable organization save the town many thousands of dollars each year.

When selectmen met after the meeting, Daniels changed his vote to one of support for the full $35,000 social services warrant article.

Audrey Frazier, chairwoman of the Conservation Commission, defended the $20,000 conservation land fund article saying the fund is down to $2,000. To apply for grants to make future land purchases, she said, there must be money in the fund.

Safety awards

At the start of the meeting safety awards were given to Joel Trafford, facilities manager at the Wadleigh Memorial Library, and Leo Jasion, caretaker of Town Hall.

Trafford “watches over patrons and staff as if they were his own family,” said Moderator Peter Basiliere, and

Jasion is “always careful, thorough and diligent ... and always finding ways to keep Town Hall smooth-running and efficient for everyone.”

The Saturday session lasted only four hours this year, compared to nine hours last year. Basiliere had asked town officials to keep their presentations concise.

Kathy Cleveland can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 304, or kcleveland@cabinet.com.