by Frank Schroth

At last night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen John Flynn, Town Counsel ixnayed any litigation against the FAA for time being, the Police Chief gave his quarterly report (including updated crime data and a citizen complaint rebuttal), the discussion of FY16 budget was deferred, and a couple citizens weighed in with their thoughts on civic engagement and airplane noise.

Milton Town Counsel John Flynn said it would be premature to file any litigation against the FAA at this time because they have not formally closed the issue of environmental impacts with regard to RNAV 44L. He said there were 3 options that FAA might take with regard to this:

1. that there is no environmental impact
2. that there is an environmental impact and that a subsequent environmental assessment will be done
3. that there is an environmental impact and that they will do an environmental impact report

Flynn said that if they decide #1 that would represent a “find order” that could be appealed to the US district court. If they decide #2 or #3, then there is no find order and no appeal would be warranted. Flynn said that it would be important to monitor the FAA information channels (e.g. Twitter, web site etc) to identify when a decision is made and what it is as there is no requirement that the FAA notify Milton of its decision. He also recommended that, frustrating as it is, residents should call and continue to register their complaints when they experience adverse impacts (e..g frequent noise etc). Flynn also thought it would be helpful to retain someone with expertise in how to interpret the data as it is a technical area in which no one in Milton he is aware of has knowledge of. Member Hurley noted that litigation if pursued could be expensive and it’s chances of success unknown. There will be a meeting this evening of the Airplane Advisory Committee at the Milton Public Library at 7:00pm. Both Senator Joyce and Representative TImilty are expected to be in attendance.

Police Chief Richard Wells gave his quarterly report to the Selectmen. Talking points included but were not limited to the following:

• There have been two officers integrated into the force and are working out well. There is one officer that is leaving for Quincy.
• A number of officers were out on maternity leave which presented some challenges but none that could not be met. It put some stress on the department but they worked through it.
• There has been a 22% drop in residential burglaries (from 98 in 2013 to 76 this past year) and a 63% drop in car break ins (from 192 to 72). He said it was important to remain vigilant as these are drug driven crimes and he also noted that the community is there best partner with regard to this and urged residents to continue to lock up.
• With regard to drugs, opiate use is a major concern and the MPD is working in concert with the Dept of Health and Schools. Drug arrests are up (13 in 2013 compared to 21 in 2014. Milton saw one overdose death this past year. Officers do carry Narcan, an opioid “antagonist” (counteracts adverse overdose effects and can save lives). The Chief noted that while Milton’s problems in this ares are not as serious as surrounding communities. “That could change in a heart beat.”
• There is a continued emphasis on and attention to the issue of domestic violence.

Citing a complaint made by a resident during the previous session of the Board of Selectmen the Chief outlined steps taken in East Milton during the month of December with regard to parking and traffic. These included:

• 78 hours of overtime were allocated to East Milton. These included walking beats and car patrols of areas such as Crane Park and Andrews Field.
• Traffic patrols focused on stop sign violations at Basset Street, Howe Street and Church Street
• There were 60 directed patrols for this area (i.e. east of I93) and 190 parking citations were issued

The Chief took exception to the complaint that East Milton was under served and believed there was “an air of vindictiveness.” He recounted a bit of the session recently hosted by the police at the Pierce. When asked by parents what they might do, the Chief said there were 2 things: 1) demonstrate leadership everywhere (in the kitchen, in the family room etc) and 2) have faith that town officials are working to do the right thing. He closed with an anecdote about a Jesuit priest attending a conference. Upon entering the town the priest saw a sign that read “Look for the goodness.” He continued to see the signs as he made his way to the hotel. After checking in he witnessed a large crowd of kids congregating outside his window which looked out over the beach. They were being kids and making a bit of a racket. When he went down to complain he learned that the children were from Sandy Hook Elementary School taking some time away their school and town and the words “See the good” echoed back at him. The Chief said that he looks for the good and hoped that others would too.

Additionally, the Board voted to extend the Chief’s contract for a year. The Chief also cited several officers for outstanding service. We will report out on those officers and their commendations in a separate post.

Chair Conlon recommended deferring the budget discussion. It was noted that there will be 50 articles on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant (budget + non-budget articles). There is a discussion percolating regarding an override. It appears that there will be close to ~$3 million in free cash. How that might be allocated relative to one-time needs and operational expenses is still in a bit of flux. Member Hurley, however, did speak strongly about not using free cash to fund department’s operational needs. “[That is] such a dangerous road to go down,” he said. In addition, “We could wind up with a massive override next year (if free cash is applied to operations) and it could fail.”

By way of quick explanation, free cash results when town revenues exceed expenses. This can do to, for example, higher than anticipated revenue from car excise taxes. There issue with free cash is that it is one time money. There is no guarantee that it will be there the following year. Therefore, the argument Mr. Hurley is making (and which has been made by others) is that operations are ongoing expenses and if free cash is used to fund them for a year, you will experience a shortfall the following year. A counter argument that gets made is that why go for an override if there is a significant amount of money going unspent. Hurley’s counter to this would be that it won’t go unspent. There are numerous one time needs that could be funded by one time money.

Basically the message was to stay tuned.

Two residents took advantage of Citizen Speak. Liz Harris appeared to express ongoing concerns with airplane noise. She referenced a letter on the issue from Representative Timilty on the topic. We have requested a copy of the letter from Timilty’s office and will post when available.

Phil Joehenning chastised the board for their “lack of embrace” for new ideas and people not associated with the old guard of Milton. He said Town Meeting does not look like Milton in terms of its diversity. He referenced the board that was in place at the time Mike Joyce notified them of a citizens petition to form a town government study committee and that he (Joehenning) was “shocked” at how “his (Joyce’s) ideas were greeted” which was with “a strong negative vibe.” He also noted the more recent discussion with the Town Moderator regarding ways to improve town meeting and voiced the opinion that “it is not just technology that is the problem with town meeting.” He feels that they need to “open the door” and make town meeting “more welcoming and progressive.”

Member Hurley during the Citizen Speak response said “Joehenning’s recollection is not correct.” Hurley said that Joyce and the selectmen were both going down the same path at the same time. Keohane did not see a need to invite people to participate and pointed to himself as an example of diversity (e.g. an immigrant with an accent),