Town looks to add website

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

MILO — For much of the year, town officials have been looking into launching an official Milo website to provide residents and visitors alike with information on the community. During a June 2 selectmen’s meeting board member Peter Hamlin gave an update on the on-going discussions he has had with the company that currently maintains the website for the Cumberland County town of Harrison.

Hamlin said he has been working to schedule a 40-minute “webinar” for the town office employees and website business. “He will go through the webinar, one of the normal portals they use for the business end of things,” Hamlin said, with this opportunity for the company to learn about the employees’ needs and for the staff members to see the software possibilities taking place on June 5.

Following the webinar a contract proposal may be drafted for the selectmen to consider. A set-up cost of $2,500 and an ensuing $650 yearly fee had been mentioned at a previous select meeting.

In other business, the board signed the paperwork for a financing package on a new trash truck after approving a bid from Camden National Bank last month to finance the vehicle at a fixed rate of 2.2 percent. During an April special town meeting, residents approved spending up to $195,000 to fund the purchase of a trash truck to replace the existing model.

“You voted to go with Camden so you need a motion to sign,” Town Clerk Robin Larson said, mentioning the paperwork came in earlier in the day. “This is for the actual loan itself,” Select Chair Lee McMannus said.

Police Chief Damien Pickel mentioned how he issued a report on an Albert Street earthbag home under construction to the selectmen for the board to review and then decide if any actions need to be taken. Pickel said a Bangor Daily News  article on the property had some discrepancies, as not just a few bags in the rear were torn.

“The entire rear of the house, those sandbags are open,” Pickel said about the condition when he took pictures of the dwelling. The police chief said he wanted to be sure the public knows that no one is being picked on but “it’s a safety issue at this point.”

“That is how we will proceed, it is a safety issue,” McMannus said. The selectmen will make a decision at a future meeting on how they will direct Pickel to proceed.

McMannus has been working on a letter to business owners concerning an increase in the fees for town pickup of dumpsters. He said the community is looking to conduct this increase at a dollar or percentage rate, which would be fixed over a duration of time prior to a potential renewal. Once the letter is nearly finalized, it would be reviewed by the Maine Municipal Association before being mailed.

Explaining his reasons for the dumpster pickup fee increase, McMannus said the costs for the public works department have not been met for the last dozen years. He said the increase for business owners with dumpsters is a way to help make up for this department deficit, as opposed to raising the mil rate for the entire town.