Milo may form block associations
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
MILO — During a July 21 selectmen’s meeting, Interim Town Manager and Police Chief Damien Pickel said he met with a resident of the Derby section of town earlier in the month to discuss the possibility of creating a “block association.”
In a July 15 post on the Milo Police Department Facebook page Pickel wrote a block association could have “residents of a neighborhood join together to make their block better by doing things like volunteering to clean up abandoned properties or providing a safe place for a child to go if they feel endangered. They can also be one large voice in making changes they feel are needed. I’m hoping to make this happen and then spread it out to other areas in town.”
Pickel said Derby has over 20 children under the age of 12, and one idea mentioned in the meeting was making sure these kids are able to receive a healthy breakfast in the summer. “With school being out, some kids now go without breakfast and that, to me, is unforgivable,” he wrote on Facebook. “The biggest boundary is getting breakfast to those that need it. But we are working on that and we’ll find a solution.”
Earlier in the day on July 21 Pickel met with Erin Callaway, Healthy Community project coordinator with the Piscataquis Regional YMCA. “She’s going to be able to help get grants that help not just the kids but the elderly,” Pickel said as Callaway’s work consists of helping all residents of Piscataquis have increased access to healthy foods.
“I love the fact it’s local,” Pickel said about the block association concept. “It’s starting in Derby, which I think is great because it’s going to branch out.”
“I want you to know that anyone can have a thought or an idea that can change things for the better,” Pickel said in the Facebook post. “I’d love to hear your thoughts while I’m the town manager. I love hearing them as the chief too but the manager has a better pulpit to present ideas from.”
Pickel said another topic discussed was the speed limit in Derby. He said he talked with the Maine Department of Transportation. “They will not do a speed survey because 25 mph is the lowest they will go,” he said, with the possibility of speed bumps being mentioned to help slow vehicle traffic through the neighborhood of children.
In other business Town Treasurer Robin Larson said, “Tax bills, as everyone knows, went out last week and we have collected almost $50,000 the last two days.
Larson said she also has talked with Piscataquis County Economic Development Council Executive Director Chris Winstead about possible grant opportunities for a new municipal and/or public safety building. Larson said she had some related paperwork to pass along to the selectmen and she would be continuing discussions with Winstead.
Select Chair Lee McMannus said he knows some residents will be upset “but at some point we are going to have to do something and we have to do what makes fiscal sense” in regards to the future of the town hall. He said the floor of the fire department on the lowest level of the building is in need of repairs.
“There are other parts of this building that are out of compliance,” McMannus said, adding the heating system and the kitchen are both in need of upgrades. He said $500,000 worth of work may be needed at the town hall, and perhaps these funds could be put into a new facility — possibly in tandem with larger grant packages.
“There is a lot to be discussed, at public hearings and town meetings,” McMannus said, adding that what to do with the town hall would be another big question if the community goes in the direction of a new facility.