MILFORD – Milford Town Council approved a 2012 budget of $1.5 million and a 2.9 percent raise for nearly all employees during their meeting Monday.
The $1,512,179 budget is divided among 14 funds. The largest is the general fund at $638,379.
The salary increase applies to all Milford positions except clerk-treasurer, which stays at $42,735 and which will be filled by Joellen Free starting in 2012. John Blakslee is also taking over as waste water treatment plant operator, at a base pay of $17 an hour.
With the increase, salaries for the town's 11 employees will range from $6,019 for the crossing guard to $52,613 for town marshal Rich Miotto. The average pay for department heads and police officers is around $40,000.
Earlier in the meeting, councilman Doug Ruch related the agreement in the works between Milford, Jefferson Township and Multi-Township EMS, reached at the M-TEM directors meeting last month. Directors said they could keep a staffed ambulance in Milford at least eight hours a day, but asked that Milford make some improvements to the building that houses it.
Ruch said some of the work has been done, including cleaning and inspection of the furnaces and drains, but the air ducts have not been cleaned yet. An inoperative washer and dryer also will have to be removed.
Resident Lou Lovell had asked for the update, noting that she went around to area factories and businesses to take stock of employment numbers. She concluded that more than 2,000 people work in town, plus students attending school and seasonal guests at Camp Mack.
“I was trying to substantiate our need for Multi-Township service,” she told the council. “We do need it with everything that goes on here.”
Council members agreed, and said they were uncomfortable with paying the full yearly fee of $18,000 even if in-town coverage were to drop below 24-7. They agreed to seek some indication from M-TEMS of the conditions that would see coverage drop, such as a reduction in staffing or fleet size.
Also during the meeting, the council voted to partially reimburse Goshen Housing Authority’s Milford office and Just-N-Time Bar and Grill for larger-than-usual water bills. Possibly due to leaks at both locations, water usage at the bar jumped from 25,000 gallons for May through July to 60,000 for July through September, and jumped at the the housing authority above its last recorded usage of 20,000 gallons.
The council voted 2-1 to credit each business with half of the difference between this bill and the last. Councilman Gary Hurd voted no, saying he favored a larger credit.
