April 28 Select Board: Fruit Center liquor license amendment, Equity and Justice For All Advisory Committee initial report, Town Meeting Warrant Articles, and more

Fruit Center Liquor License amendment

The meeting began with a hearing regarding the liquor license application change at the Fruit Center Inc., which is to be an amendment to their existing wine and malt license in order to sell ready made drinks/cocktails in their retail store location.

Michael Modestino, the attorney representing the Fruit Center, began by mentioning that they have had their liquor license since 2004 and would like to be able to accommodate customers current desires, the ready to drink category, which is very popular. The Fruit Center is not looking to sell liquor, most of the drinks will have a lower alcohol content than many of the wines they sell, and the plan is also to limit to a subset and agree to sell nothing greater than 15% alcohol.

During the public comment period of the hearing, it was first noted that a petition had been received in opposition of the request, as well as several emails and a phone call. Of the calls that came in during public comment, several were in opposition and one was in support of. 

During the Select Board comment period, several members voiced their wishes to recess this issue to a later date as to have more time to do due diligence and also to ensure the Fruit Center is currently in compliance. The motion was to continue the hearing until the meeting to be held on May 12.

Milton Muslim Neighbors

Tahra Goraya, representing Milton Muslim Neighbors joined to discuss the Ramadan food drive taking place now through May 10. To learn more about Tahra and the mission of Milton Muslim Neighbors, please visit: Ramadan: A special time of year for your Muslim neighbors – The Milton Scene.

Equity and Justice For All Advisory Committee

The Equity and Justice For All Advisory Committee joined to discuss their initial report with observations and recommendations. Patricia Latimore was the main presenter and mentioned they are looking for feedback to ensure they are headed in the right direction.

The presentation discussed the 4 main areas of focus, which are: police and fire, housing, schools/youth/families, and town governance. 

Some observations noted included: no town wide commitment to diversity, few strategies to address diversity, town staff/employees do not reflect diversity of citizens, low outreach to citizens of color, and racial segregation in housing. Some recommendations included: create a town wide diversity and inclusion statement, review towns processes and regulations to ensure equity, develop approaches to clarify/enhance transparency of towns policies and practices (DEI dashboard), recruit a more diverse pool for town volunteer positions, provide information and encourage residents of color to run for elected offices, and youth sports to have more formal diversity outreach. The last point touched upon included their next steps, which are: to investigate the value of a town wide equity audit, review civil service to see how it limits or supports diversity, police and fire audits, explore opportunities to outreach/engage residents of color in town governance, discuss opportunities to improve diversity, and outreach to residents via surveys and other ideas.

The Select Board is very willing and excited to assist the committee however they can. One way in which they plan to assist is by getting a list of open seats available to them in order for them to distribute accordingly. 

To learn more about the Equity and Justice For All Committee and their mission please visit: Equity and Justice for All Advisory Committee | Milton MA (townofmilton.org)

Finance report

Finance Director/Town Account, Karen Preval joined with a report. She provided brief updates on the areas she has been working on. The first area of discussion is assisting with preparing the FY22 budget and Warrant. This includes 3rd quarter budget reviews which are a collaborative group effort. The Finance Department is also working towards making things more automated, automation is an interest among many of the departments, so streamlining processes is important.  The Finance Department is also working on reconciling the CARES Act reimbursements and FEMA funds. 

Discussion of Town Meeting Warrant articles

To view the Town Meeting Warrant articles please visit: Annual Town Meeting to take place Monday, May 3, 7:30 p.m. View the warrant & participate in the discussion. – The Milton Scene

Town Administrator report

Mr. Dennehy wanted to give a special thanks to all of the candidates and those that have held office and served the town. He congratulated Mr. Zullas who will continue to serve on the Select Board for 3 more years. He went on to mention the uptick in traffic, due to volume and speeding. The town is addressing the issues and the Milton Police department is ramping up enforcement. He also added as a future agenda item: addressing the stairs at the Adams St. trolley stop. A plan will be put in place to fix the issue.

Governor Stoughton Fund update

Noreen Dolan representing Governor Stoughton Fund, joined the meeting to discuss the 2021 finances. The charitable works of the Governor Stoughton Fund are coordinated by the Select Board who serve as its Trustees. The Trustees receive referrals for assistance to needy Milton residents from the Milton Residents Fund through Noreen. She has concerns regarding the elimination of the emergency order in July, because then all shut off notices will begin to flow and many families will be in need. However, there still is about 57K in the funds, and the community can also donate to and through the Milton Residence Fund. For more information, or to learn how to make a contribution, please email Noreen at [email protected].