by Frank Schroth

Late this afternoon, the Board of Selectmen met in emergency session and voted unanimously on a recommendation of the DPW Director Joe Lynch to declare a town wide state of emergency. Mr Lynch along with Fire Chief Grant, Police Chief Wells, Consolidated Facilities Director Ritchie and Planning Director Bill Clark updated the Selectmen on the status of the town’s current situation regarding the impact of 70″ of snowfall in the last two weeks. Due to the “extraordinary situation,” Lynch has asked for support from the National Guard. The decision is driven by concerns for public safety.

The National Guard will assist with the digging out of hydrants, street widening, and snow removal. The street widening is being done to allow emergency apparatus to access all parts of town quickly and efficiently. Lynch noted that the Guard will come in with “a military attitude – a can do attitude.” They are here to widen roads and that is what they are going to do. The Guard may give as little as 2 ours notice that they are arriving. A triage plan is set up that will target main roads, then secondary roads, then neighborahood streets. Lynch said he would appreciate the public’s patience and noted that there will be inconvenience. Roads may be temporarily closed and traffic patterns altered. Lynch asked for the declaration so as to be absolutely clear that the town departments heads are in control of these operations.

Chief Grant said that the assistance in the street widening and clearing of hydrants is “vitally necessary.” He said that due to narrow road conditions, the departent is holding back on sending out the ladder truck “for the first time in my career.” He said it will be deployed, but only after further assessement of a situation.

Chief Wells said that Milton was in the top 5% of towns hit hardest by the recent succession of snow storms. The department understands that people are under stress, but he said “There’s no room for ‘me first.'” He reiterated that all on-street parking (e.g. hardship, etc.) is suspended and that cars in violation will be tagged and towed.

Patience is the key word of the day. Here again are links to resources. The various department Facebook pages are good sources for updates.

• Milton forecast from National Weather Service
• Mass Emergency Management Agency
• Facebook links the Milton Police, the Milton Fire Dept, the DPW, and Town Hall.
• Town of Milton Emergency Guide
• MBTA.com