Milford capital committee elects chair, schedules condensed Saturday review to speed CIP work

The Milford Capital Improvements Planning Committee elected Karen Mitchell as chair and set a condensed, Saturday morning session the weekend after Memorial Day to hear department presentations and streamline the capital improvements planning process.

The chair election was approved by voice vote; committee members confirmed Mitchell by assent. Camille Pattison, who led the meeting, said the Saturday session is planned for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will bring departments — ambulance, water, recreation, fire, library, schools and the Department of Public Works — together so members can hear projects “all at once.”

The committee’s proposal shortens the number of separate weekday meetings the group and staff must support. “It’s 9 to 1, and we’ve got departments lined up,” Pattison said. She told members the format is intended to reduce the 13 separate meeting nights the committee and departments experienced in the previous cycle.

Committee members agreed to a meeting schedule for the review and ranking cycle: the Saturday department presentations (weekend after Memorial Day), a follow-up meeting in mid-June for financial tables, a draft-plan review in early July, and a final meeting later in July if needed. The Planning Board work session to receive the draft was set for early August, with the committee aiming to have the draft before the Planning Board’s August meeting and public hearings in September.

Pattison said staff will prepare project descriptions immediately and that Caroline from the finance department will update the financial tables before the committee’s mid‑June meeting. Committee members asked that any late project requests be exceptional; Pattison said projects should be presented at the Saturday session unless there is a documented extenuating circumstance.

The schedule is a direction to staff and a planning decision by the committee rather than an ordinance or binding town action. The group plans to post updated meeting times and materials on the town website and to reuse the condensed format only if members find it effective.

Committee members asked staff to confirm room assignments and to seek modest budget support for refreshments to help attendance during the long morning session.