June 6th Town Meeting Update: Articles passed and Article 12 continuation

As a reminder, the May 16, 2022 Town Meeting has been rescheduled. Town meeting will now be held on the following dates via Zoom:

• June 6, 2022
• June 7, 2022
• June 9, 2022
• June 13, 2022
• June 14, 2022

Milton Residents can watch Town Meeting via live stream on Milton Access TV by clicking here.

To view the Annual Town Meeting Warrant, please click here: https://www.townofmilton.org/town-moderator/pages/town-meeting.

Town Meeting began with Article 4, Capital Projects Appropriation. Scott McKay provided a presentation regarding the proposed synthetic turf products and manufacturers. The presentation can be viewed here: Lower Gile Field Presentation. 

Town Meeting members spoke out about concerns regarding the current conditions of the fields and the dangers presented to players.

Town Meeting member, Deborah Milbauer has concerns but is in support of funding this project because of the agreements put in place in terms of the Good Neighbor Agreement and holding community meetings for the neighborhood.

When it came time for the vote, Article 4 passed.

Article 8, Retirement Board Cost of Living Increase.

This article passed with no one wishing to speak.

Article 10, Chapter 13 Position Classifications and Wage Increases. 

There were some questions raised and addressed. Town Meeting member, Michael Dennehy mentioned how there has been a lot of work done by the Town Government Study Committee, and overall he says that in his 27 years of operation, he believes he has witnessed a very efficient operation that continues to improve.

When it came time for the vote, Article 10 passed.

Article 11, Public Safety Appropriation.

The discussion focused on overtime funding. Select Board member, Richard Wells says it is cheaper to use overtime rather than to hire additional staff. Town Meeting member Deborah Felton said that ‘it is always good to take a fresh look at things as the years go by’. To that comment, Richard Wells followed up by saying that overtime and operational costs are an annual discussion every year.

When it came time for the vote, Article 11 passed.

Article 12, General Government Appropriation.

The lines for Law and Elections and Registration were the focus of discussion. Town Clerk, Susan Galvin addressed the reason for the increase in Elections and Registration is due to the expenses incurred by offering early voting by mail as it is labor intensive and overall the cost of holding elections now.

Town Meeting member, Leroy Walker made a motion for Town Meeting to ask the Warrant Committee to make a recommendation to fund a Fire Prevention and Training position in the Fire Department in the amount of $90,000.00 without effecting any other town budget but looking at other reserve funds that might be used for that purpose. Moderator Hiss replied that this request will be first order of business at the next meeting that will take place on June 7.

The recommendation on Article 12 carries.