December 2 Select Board meeting: RCN, Covid-19 and Fire Station building updates

Public Comment

The meeting opened up with Public Comment from board member Mr. Wells regarding My Brother’s Keeper (Home – My Brother’s Keeper). He mentioned that the Christian Ministry provides Christmas to 14,000 people in the Metro Boston area and this year he is helping with their initiative to collect between 50-75 new crock pots, which are to be wrapped upon donation.

RCN Update

RCN is pleased to announce that they will be expanding into 2,000 more homes in Milton. They are able to provide the residents a competitive edge and pricing and their construction process is progressing well.

Covid-19 Update

MA has hit a record number of positive cases, 4,500 cases in Milton, which is a 150% increase in the community. We need to continue to be vigilant and follow state mandates. There have been several complaints about people at the parks not wearing masks, so the Select Board discussed various ideas to attempt to lower cases in town.

Some ideas are to continue doing public service announcements, continue ongoing campaigns in an attempt to keep the message in front of people. They are considering doing something that will go directly into residents homes, maybe a flyer in mailed bills.

Update on Squantum Street and Adams Street Roadway Project

A representative from Beta Engineering joined the meeting with a presentation to discuss the project history, healthy transportation policy, overall plan, costs associated with the project, and next steps.

Public Works

A few new Public Works employees joined the meeting. They were introduced and each spoke briefly about their current positions and background.

Stormwater Fees FY2021

There will be slight increases seen in the new year due to yardwaste collection fees going up with new contracts. Fees go towards maintenance of town owned collection systems, street sweeping, disposal of cleaning/yardwaste collections, and permit compliance. The committee intends to use whatever surplus is leftover to reduce fees. The Select Board motions to approve the FY2021 stormwater fees as outlined.

A proposed charge was discussed in order for the Stormwater Advisory Committee to look at a 4th tier which will include evaluating the credit system that was put together to offer to residents and property owners. This charge would adopt a credit policy, to be modeled similarly after the city of Newtons policy. The discussion regarding the implementation of a new committee is to be discussed further at the next meeting on December 16. The Select Board moves to approve the revised charge for the Stormwater Fee Advisory Committee.

Fire Station Building Committee Update

Mr. Clark and Mr. Walsh joined the meeting for the project update. They provided an East Milton Fire Station presentation update, which is to be the guiding document to refer back to when making design decisions. Established energy and sustainability goals and expectations were discussed.

Open Space and Recreation Plan Committee Update

The Open Space and Recreation Plan Committee presented an appointment request. This is due to what they see as a need for an update to the Open Space and Recreation Plan which has not been updated since 2006. This is just good planning practice, not a requirement. The Select Board motion to approve this request.

Update/discussion on Housing Production Plan

Allyson Quinn joined the meeting for the update. She is putting together an educational webinar for Milton residents.

During this time, she also discussed the intent to establish a Community Preservation Committee.

2021 Senior Tax Work Off Program

Since the Senior Tax Work Off Program 2020 was so successful, The Select Board motions to move forward with the 2021 program as presented.

Additional Items of Discussion

The Select Board approves the comment letter to MA Housing for proposed chapter 40b development at 946 Brush Hill Rd.

The Select Board approves the comment letter to MA Housing for proposed chapter 40b development at 16 Amor Rd.

The Select Board motions to approve the Fire Department Collective Bargaining Agreement, 1116, for the period of July 1 2019-June 3 2022.

The Select Board motions to accept donations to the Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (milton-coalition.org).

The next Select Board meeting will be held on December 16, 2020.