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Milford Board of Selectmen recommend two water bonds, decline support for several warrant articles
Summary
At a Jan. 26 special meeting, the Milford Board of Selectmen recommended two water-related bond warrant articles (Articles 3 and 4) and voted not to recommend Articles 21, 22 and 23; motions and vote tallies were recorded for each item.
Milford — At a short meeting on Monday, Jan. 26, the Milford Board of Selectmen met to handle time-sensitive items and to state recommendations on several warrant articles ahead of the town’s deliberative session.
The board voted 5–0 to recommend warrant Article 3, a Highlands-area water main replacement bond listed in the warrant materials at $4,940,000, and likewise voted 5–0 to recommend Article 4, a $1,000,000 bond intended as a match for federal water funding. Staff noted the Department of Revenue Administration had instructed the select board to provide recommendations on bond articles, which prompted the board to take positions at this special meeting.
The board also considered several petitioned warrant articles and issued recommendation reports: it voted 4–1 to not recommend Article 21 (request related to Recreation Bus #21), voted 5–0 to not recommend Article 22 (creation of a disabled exemption in its current draft), and voted 4–1 to not recommend Article 23 (a petition to change conservation commission membership from appointment to election).
“This is the reason we’re meeting this evening,” a staff member said when explaining the timber-cut deadline that prompted the special session and the need to handle time‑sensitive warrant matters by the end of January.
Why it matters: The select board’s recommendation reports are included in town warrant materials and can influence the deliberative-session discussion. For Articles 3 and 4, the board’s support follows an explicit DRA instruction that the select board recommend on bond articles rather than leaving those recommendations solely to the commissioners.
Key votes and motions: - Article 3 (Highlands water main replacement bond, listed in materials at $4,940,000): Motion to recommend carried 5–0 (motion moved by Paul Darje; seconded by Dave Friel). - Article 4 (Water department match for federal funding, $1,000,000): Motion to recommend carried 5–0 (mover recorded in the transcript; seconded by Dave Friel). - Article 21 (Milford Recreation Bus #21): Motion to not recommend carried 4–1; board members expressed concern that the request duplicated existing capital/reserve accounts and that the recreation fund might be a better vehicle. - Article 22 (Disabled exemption): The town administrator checked with legal counsel, who advised the current petition language is problematic and likely unenforceable; the board voted 5–0 to not recommend and directed staff to study revised language for a potential 2027 article. - Article 23 (Change conservation commission from appointments to elections): Motion to not recommend carried 4–1 amid discussion that elections could produce candidates lacking subject-matter expertise.
What the board said: Board members emphasized procedural limits and the option to change language at the deliberative session. A staff member summarized the DRA guidance and the legal review of Article 22; the board asked staff to prepare brief recommendation blurbs for the warrant materials and to coordinate majority/minority reports where required.
Next steps: Recommendation reports will be filed with the warrant materials and the selectmen expect to let commissioners and departmental presenters address technical details at the deliberative session. The board encouraged attendance at deliberative session on Saturday at Town Hall at 9:00 a.m.
(Reporting based only on the Jan. 26 meeting transcript.)
