Milo to end shared-police pact with Brownville

BROWNVILLE – A recent move by Milo town officials to sever an agreement with Brownville for a shared police chief has taken Brownville officials by surprise.

The June 28 vote by Milo selectmen to issue a 30-day notice of intent to withdraw from the agreement sent Brownville officials scrambling to restore its Police Department.

A special town meeting will be held at 7 p.m. July 19 at the Brownville Junction Alumni Building, during which residents will be asked to appropriate funds to restore their local department.

“I was very disappointed, I did not have any idea the vote was going to be happening,” Brownville Town Manager Sophia Wilson said. “The collaborative policy was working very well for the people of Brownville.”

She said she had received only one complaint from a Milo resident about a Brownville employee since the agreement was inked.

Under the agreement, the two towns shared the services of Police Chief Todd Lyford but kept separate quarters for the police chief and officers. Brownville paid 35 percent of Lyford’s benefits and 18 hours of his time, and Milo paid the remainder.

The move to dissolve the two-year relationship also came as a surprise to Lyford. “I wasn’t aware they were going to discuss it or vote on it,” he said Monday. “It was very unexpected, I thought it was going very well.”

Milo Town Manager Jane Jones said the move did not come easy. “Believe me, it was not a decision taken lightly,” she said.

The board voted to issue the 30-day notice after a handful of people spoke about police coverage during public forum.

Because the matter was discussed in open session, Jones said no officers were identified as the source of the complaints. She declined to reveal if the problem was on the Brownville or the Milo end.

Jones said only that the allegations made at the meeting by the residents involved a lack of professionalism, instances of breech of confidentiality and deficiencies in the oversight of the operations.

Those residents were advised to pursue their complaints in writing, and one resident has done that since the meeting.

If warranted in the case, disciplinary action will be taken, Jones said. She declined to comment on why Lyford was not informed before the vote was taken, other than to say the vote was the end result of months of discussions regarding the needs of Milo residents.

“This was a decision done with a great deal of deliberation, thought and analysis,” Jones said. The change will not affect Milo’s budget, she said.

Lyford said the cooperative agreement between the towns caught the interest of Leverett, Mass., officials who invited Milo and Brownville officials to visit them in January so they could learn more about the joint operation.

In addition, the cooperative effort was discussed by the Eastern Maine Development Corp.’s regionalization committee last spring.

Since Brownville has not yet committed its taxes, residents will be asked to raise $41,650 to add to the $70,495 raised at the annual March town meeting to operate the Police Department, Wilson said. The $112,145 total cost will fund an independent police department.

“If voters agree to a full time independent police department, we will find a way to make that happen,” Wilson said.