by Frank Schroth

The Board of Selectmen voted to pull 5 planning articles from the October Town Warrant. “I recommend this reluctantly,” said Member Conlon. Town Meeting recently made a fall town meeting a regular part of Milton’s legislative calendar in large part to focus on town planning issues. The Planning Board, however, is unprepared to address the articles they submitted.

The articles would allow bed & breakfasts to operate in Milton, impose a tax on B&Bs, request editing language of certain bylaws and another concerns transfer of land adjacent to Ash St from Park Commissioners to Selectmen. The selectmen speculated that perhaps the Planning Board put them on as placeholders with the idea that they would pull them if necessary. However, that was not the understanding of the selectmen and Hurley characterized the request as “disturbing.” It was noted that the Warrant Committee was expected to make recommendations to refer the articles back to the Planning Board for further study. Given that,  the Selectmen acquiesced to the Planning Board’s request to withdraw the articles; but, as Member Hurley stated, it was not something they “very much favored.”

DPW Director Joe Lynch appeared before the board to discus several issues. Among them was alerting the board to the fact that there are at least 50 properties in Milton that are not paying for sewer service. This came to light at a result of improved auditing and GIS capabilities. Mr. Lynch said there are at least 100 more suspicious accounts. He did not speculate as to how far back the selectmen may want to go to recapture service charges. Lynch said this “was easily a $100,000 a year problem . . . and it goes back 30 years.”  The selectmen will review options regarding how to manage billing for past use. Chair Keohane and Mr. Lynch had discussed a possible amnesty program. Lynch did confirm, “We know the location and they will be getting a sewer bill” going forward.

Other business included but was not limited to:

• A review of signage with Deborah Felton, Executive Director of Fuller Village, and Mr. Lynch that is intended to cut down on illegal turns out of Fuller and improve overall traffic safety. Ms. Felton noted that it is a dangerous intersection and that traffic has gotten much worse in last ear.
• Chief Wells reviewed a dog attack incident. A dog had inadvertently gotten loose and attacked two other dogs being walked by their owner, killing one of them. Wells said it was a painful loss as any dog owner would know. However, he characterized it as a “people problem” not a “dog problem” and that is why the decision was made to remove the dog from town but not have it euthanized. The selectmen unanimously agreed with the decision.