Milford Capital Subcommittee Hears Cemetery and Highway Requests, Approves Nothing

Capital Planning · Meeting of March 11, 2026

Milford's Capital Planning Subcommittee heard cemetery and highway wish lists totaling well over $1 million but approved nothing, citing a constrained $175,000 capital budget. The cemetery department requested a John Deere tractor (~$27,000-$28,000), a snowblower attachment (~$5,000), and a replacement faucet-and-water system (~$20,000) for fiscal year 2027, along with a future steel storage building estimated at $100,000 to $150,000 and a $500,000 land acquisition placeholder for around fiscal year 2030. The highway department's top ask was a $250,000 radio system upgrade to replace a low-band network for which parts are no longer available, followed by a replacement dump truck (~$199,000), a radiant garage heater (~$200,000), and a salt brine pre-treatment system ($150,000-$175,000).

The committee chair warned that $150,000 of the existing capital budget is already spoken for by a second-phase HVAC contract with a vendor identified as Stacey, and cautioned that free cash — long used to supplement capital — may not be available given state budget pressures. The highway official also described an unsolicited offer for two free 10,000-gallon solar-powered fuel tanks in exchange for a five-cent-per-gallon fee, which the subcommittee asked to see in writing before any further consideration.

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Source: the Capital Planning meeting of March 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.