PBMIN 2026-09-01 DRAFT - WORK SESSION ~ IN PROCESS
The Planning Board held a work session on September 1, 2026, to review the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The CIP Committee recommended 15 projects for the 2027-2032 plan, totaling $15 million, with specific funding spread across fiscal years. The Board decided to hold only one public hearing on the CIP, with a draft report expected by the third week of September for a review on October 6. Kyle Finnell, Director of Community Development, provided updates on new software implementations and the Downtown Improvement Program, which has construction estimates of $2.3 million for downtown oval costs, $846,000 for library parking, and $343,000 for South/Clinton Street parking. No formal votes were taken, and the meeting adjourned at 7:21 pm. Source: https://www.milford.nh.gov/api/blob/viewBlob?i=wulf555shsbo6qtzkf87zHKMljPh0uYtBdg0OxEsc46xK3KPilttrScx38f8Fk4v
MILFORD PLANNING BOARD WORK SESSION MINUTES ~ DRAFT
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September 1, 2026 - Board of Selectmen Meeting Room, 6:30 PM
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Members Present:
Staff:
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Tim Finan, Chair
Terrey Dolan, Town Planner
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Janet Langdell, Vice Chair Blake Desmarais, Videographer
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Justin Demontigny, Member
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Andrew Ciardelli, Member
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Susan Robinson, Member (arrived at
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Paul Amato, Alternate
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Tina Phibrick, Selectboard Representative
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Chris Labonte, Selectboard Representative
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Mike Thornton, Alternate Member
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VIA Zoom:
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Excused:
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Pete Basiliere, Member
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1. Call to order: Chair Tim Finan called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. He introduced Planning Board
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members that were present and staff. There will likely not be any votes taken this evening, but in case of
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that, Paul Amato will be voting for the absent Pete Basiliere and that if S. Robinson does not show up,
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voting for the absent S. Robinson, but there should not be any votes this evening.
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2. Public Hearing: The first order of business this evening is an update on the Capital Improvement
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Program which will be presented by Kyle Finnell the Director of Community Development.
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A. Capital Improvement Program – CIP (2027-2032) Draft Report Update. The CIP Committee
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reviewed 21 total requests from seven departments this year, going through the process of ranking and
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scoring those projects based on the 12 criteria for eligibility and also an urgency ranking. The
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Committee has finalized its scorecard which is provided for you today and have identified 15 projects
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that they have recommended accepting for the 2027-2032 plan. To orient all with the scorecard, all 21
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projects are listed which also includes the total cost and all are color coded for the cost and impact; the
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15 projects are listed in descending order, the 15 are to be funded in FY2027, 4 in FY2028 and 2 to
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begin funding in FY2032.
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To Mr. Amato’s comment, there are four items highlighted in blue, Mr. Finnell explained 3 of those are
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for water utilities, and are expected to be paid from rate user fees, the Ambulance is set up through their
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Capital Reserve Fund for which monies come from the revenues generated from using the Ambulance
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Services and the billing for those services. Those ambulances are paid for out of the Capital Revolving
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Fund where currently there is $140,000. P. Amato asked how much is taken into those accounts a year?
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K. Finnell was told by the Finance Director that the threshold is usually met in Quarter one. C. Labonte
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commented that the Ambulance Department brings in between $900K and $1 million per year. C.
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Labonte indicated that over the past couple of years, the ambulance billing laws have changed, the town
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raised our rates in order to collect the maximum amount and that should bring in more as a net positive.
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P. Amato asked what happens if someone does not have insurance? C. Labonte said there is a process to
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to go through to get the cost lowered. There are a lot of options and then there are some that are un-
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collectable. J. Langdell said the $900 - $1 million is billing? C. Labonte said that is actually collected.
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Actual revenue or anticipated revenue and it mostly goes into General Revenue. C. Labonte did have
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one question on the CIP projects; the DPW Truck was originally put in as DPW4, the town got a grant
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which was a match and I believe we are getting another truck for DPW and the truck will be able to be
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bought out of budget money. Mr. Labonte asked if Kyle Finnell could follow up on that to see if that
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DPW truck comes off the CIP list because DES awarded a grant that is funding 80% of the truck, so that
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will be two trucks from DES in the last two years so that will eliminate a Warrant Article for the vehicle.
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Kyle Finnell noted to check on that project in the CIP. This year we are trying a new software called
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ClearGov to prepare the CIP, as you can see on the screen (he is not able to print it out) and it includes
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three budgeting modules and the first one we brought on line was Capital Budgeting so this is how we
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have had the Department Heads submit their requests, fill out their financials and articulate how they
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anticipate funding it, what years are anticipated funding it for the six years of the CIP or if it is further
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out and this is also the platform which will be used to build out the CIP. Currently on the screen, is the
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Dashboard that the CIP Committee has committed to using and if all of the presented projects were to be
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approved as presented it would total $15 million over the full length of the CIP, that is not what the
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taxpayers will be on the hook for and keep in mind this is based on initial estimates. This software will,
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Mr. Finnell believes, give the Town a more robust CIP process that will follow year to year as a
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planning document.
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T. Finan asked if all requests are in this software? K. Finnell responded all 21 requests are in the
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program right now, based on the recommendations of the CIP Committee; K. Finnell has included the 15
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projects to the CIP, the other projects were put into a category identified as “deferred.” This way, those
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deferred projects stay in the system and the Department Head that created it can go in and edit it or
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tweak the numbers or the years and come back to it in another year to resubmit to the CIP. T. Finan
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asked if the report will be generated from this software? And will all 21 projects be included? K. Finnell
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responded that when the report is generated, we can include all 21 projects. J. Langdell indicated the
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dashboard can probably be adjusted to show all 21 projects too? K. Finnell responded that he knows that
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we can, but we are all just learning the software so he cannot make that change quickly at this point. C.
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Labonte stated that he hopes that ClearGov will be a good tool for the town, and in the past he has not
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felt that the CIP was a good tool for him since it only did one year at a time, so now with the new
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software, it shows that nothing has been but in the years after the six year timeframe. C. Labonte feels
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that having the longer list if projects shows what the town actually needs and the CIP done over the past
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ten years has really not been a strategic planning tool. J. Langdell responded by stating that in the past
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there was a BOS member that wanted to prioritize a list for the BOS looking at one year. C. Labonte
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feels that is a disservice to the Town. J. Langdell agrees and wants to go back to the intention of the CIP
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over a multi-year period.
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T. Finan said this is the conversation that has been happening for many years and it is a shame for
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volunteers to put in so much time on the committee. All agreed this software may in the end be a more
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proactive tool. P. Amato asked where is the schools input? K. Finnell said he will do his best to answer
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that stating the Superintendent and School Business Administrator have been invited to use this
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platform, they were included at the very beginning of this process with all Department Heads, when
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Kyle reached out to the School Board Chair and asked who would be representing the School District on
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the CIP Committee, he was told they are already over extended and did not want to further stress the
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Board. They have developed their own CIP process, the last Kyle has seen they met in late June and
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have not met since then and he has not gotten any updates. K. Finnell has one informal meeting with the
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Superintendent in mid-August and at that time she indicated they only have one project for the short
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term moving forward and he has not received any information or numbers related to that project so he
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cannot really speak to it but he is hopeful that numbers will be provided so that it can be included. T.
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Finan so there is one project that they would have on the CIP? K. Finnell clarified that there is one
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project that they would bring to the voters in 2027. T. Thornton indicated the Town is doing its best to
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identify the needs and until the School meets with the Town to identify all the needs in town, we will not
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get to a clear outcome. T. Finan sees this as a disservice to the Town and he would love to see their
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report so that we can look at both CIPs (School and Town). In the conversation with the Superintendent,
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K. Finnell stressed that he would like to get the town and school synchronized so that we can be
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supportive and a spreadsheet would be helpful. K. Finnell had been told that there would be a line of
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communication but he has not heard from anyone during the summer. Because of that, we will circle
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back now that we have a Finance Director that has been getting oriented and attending the CIP meetings
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and she will be assisting in the cleanup of some of the financials; remembering this is a new tool and the
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Department Heads submitted information on projects without the assistance of a Finance Director in the
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beginning so Kyle has been learning but is not a Finance person but he is doing his best. Based on the
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urgency scores from the CIP Committee we are trying to go back into the requests and anything that
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scored less than a 5, which ends up being six projects that will be looked at and will try to push those out
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to future years to try to address that concern of a really heavy hit in tax year 2027 and 2028.
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J. Langdell asked if there will be a report produced in the end that goes out several years similar to what
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the Planning Board used to get? K. Finnell responded that the historical CIP report had 3 tables attached
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to it, Anticipated Impact to Taxpayers, in talking with ClearGov they will give the town access to new
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functionality to test it out and allow us to go in and build out that table that we are accustomed to seeing,
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add those categories and then run a single report for all of those projects to see the anticipated tax impact
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year to year since the cost is not necessarily the impact year to year. The software is still very new and
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something that Kyle and Jennifer the Finance Director will work through and because of that we may
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not have a draft CIP to present to the Planning Board until October since it will take a couple weeks to
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get through that. Additionally, with ClearGov the CIP report can be generated but there will still be a
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need to provide some of the tables that ClearGov is not set up to generate. P. Amato asked if the
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progress and status is available throughout the year with the budgeting module? K. Finnell responded
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that there is “Budget Tracking” so that once it is approved through the CIP, those financials are
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transferred into the Budget Tracking piece. We are not yet trained on that portion, but in year two there
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will be training done in order to utilize that module. J. Langdell asked if that can also be used to track
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any Government Projects? K. Finnell answered that would be very helpful and he will explore that. P.
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Amato asked if ClearGov will be used for the Town Budget this year? C. Labonte said that was the
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intent however, with the disruption of the computers in July 2026, K. Finnell is unsure if that will
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happen in 2026 or 2027. Additionally, K. Finnell mentioned that another new software the Town is
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launching this year BS&A is the Accounting software goes live in December 2026.
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J. Langdell asked if the two software products (ClearGov and BS&A) talk to each other? K. Finnell
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responded that they do, when we upload the data from ClearGov to BS&A they have to essentially code
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where the numbers are (ESR). The current system (MUNIS) does not line up with what the DRA wants
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us to have so we are considering pausing the budgeting rollout until next year. P. Amato confirmed that
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ClearGov is a budgeting tool? And BS&A is an Operational Tool to do the Accounting? K. Finnell
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agreed and until we get BS&A cleaned up and recoded to match DRA, he does not see ClearGov being
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used for Operational or Personnel for this year but we were already underway with Capital so we are
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pushing through with CIP and getting Department Heads used to the platform since the platform will be
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very similar. P. Amato asked about this year’s CIP and this list shows projects for this year, were the
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other projects for future years? The guidance that K. Finnell gave Department Heads was to provide
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him with all past projects and projects not adopted or put to future years, knowing that ClearGov can put
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projects into future years he felt it would be easier. C. Labonte said thank you to Kyle Finnell to taking
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on the CIP project and understands that it is a lot to take on in one year. K. Finnell explained that he and
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the Finance Director Jennifer need to sit down to review and projects and determine what can be pushed
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off to another year or years. He did not have that information at the CIP Committee meetings so the
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scorings were based on what was presented and have left the scorings and arrangement to the Finance
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Director and Community Development Director. T. Finan indicated that after this year, going forward
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that should not be on those two people. K. Finnell agreed and stated that going forward that information
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will be built into the CIP.
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C. Labonte asked about Project DPW3 that has a price of $5.6 million? K. Finnell said that is the total
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over the number of years. The Director is presenting the $5.6 million over a number of years for paving.
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K. Finnell indicated he will show how the projects can be filtered out by year to get a better grasp on the
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yearly cost; new users put in the total for one year, but that does not show the tax impact for taxpayers it
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just shows the total cost; that is where Kyle and Jennifer need to go through to clean up the data that was
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submitted to the CIP this is currently a living document that needs cleanup work. J. Langdell also would
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like to have the Capital Reserve Funds identified for any projects that have them. A list of the projects
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that have a Capital Reserve Fund and a list of the Capital Reserve Funds and balances; this will be
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needed for Town Meeting as well, said J. Langdell. K. Finnell just saw that list last night and will try to
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include it in the final report. K. Finnell said the Finance Director is hoping budget numbers will be
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complete next week. K. Finnell is hoping to have a draft CIP by the third week of September to have a
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look before the first public hearing. T. Finan asked if there are two public hearings needed? K. Finnell
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answered he believes historically there have been two public hearings. T. Finan commented it sounds
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like there is a lot on Kyle’s plate, would it be better to have the first public hearing later in October? K.
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Finnell said if the Board is okay with having only one public hearing, that would be okay for him. K.
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Finnell said he is anticipating having the draft CIP for the Planning Board Work Session October 6. P.
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Amato said if there is only one meeting to review the draft CIP it needs to be ready to go. T. Finan
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noted that there could always be a public hearing at a joint meeting with the BOS.
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Paul Amato asked C. Labonte how comfortable are the BOS with the to-day spent numbers versus the
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budget? It is hard to create a budget if you don’t know the spent to date numbers. C. Labonte said that is
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hard to answer; starting with having a lot of changes whether software changes, some different things so
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burn rates might not have been available or distributed timely so we would look forward to seeing those
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burn rates. One year ago, there was a burn rate each month and then that faded off, there is a burn rate
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for every department by line item; so we have been working through new staff, new processes, new
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software to get a more detailed, accurate report to know where we are. P. Amato that is so you can start
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on next year’s budget. C. Labonte state that happens behind the scenes at the Town Administrator level.
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P. Amato added that they need to know that the numbers are good enough. The tax rate will be set fairly
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soon in October and the State needs accurate numbers (burn rates) to decide what the tax rate it. Not
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necessarily the expenses but the revenue, we can’t exceed the numbers. But P. Amato asked how do
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you know you are not exceeding the budgeted number if you don’t have your burn rates? C. Labonte
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said as a municipality, you cannot exceed what is budgeted. J. Langdell said but it has happened, not in
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Milford, but it has happened. C. Labonte said he has to trust the Finance Department for those numbers.
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P. Amato noted that as Selectmen, that Board is fiscally responsible. The last burn rate seen by C.
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Labonte showed that the burn rate was not out of whack.
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K. Finnell wanted to show members what the CIP document from the new software generates. It would
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give a one-year report and then it can also give the full 6-year breakdown with funding sources (which
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needs clean up). Once all the data is cleaned up, T. Finan commented it looks like it will be great. Once
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the data is alright, the document can be public facing so members can go into it to get comfortable with
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the new layout. K. Finnell asked the Board if it would be okay with getting read-only access? The CIP
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Committee was granted more interactive access. His one request would be that members not use the
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Comment Feature as was recommended by NHMA. J. Langdell asked if the comment feature can be
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turned off? K. Finnell said it cannot, but he will look into that to see if there is another way to keep it
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read only. C. Labonte said in the past the town used capital reserve funds for bigger projects and now we
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have changed to inconsistent use of them, is there a function in ClearGov that can utilize those Capital
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Reserve Funds with the budget? K. Finnell answered that he and Jennifer are looking to find that
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function in the system. J. Langdell said it seems like the previous Finance Director used that ability to
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select ClearGov. M. Thornton asked if one of the functions of ClearGov was that the public could go in
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to look at the numbers in the “Budget Book”? K. Finnell said yes that is one of the features that attracted
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the Town to this software.
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T. Finan asked if consensus of the Board is to only hold one CIP public hearing? J. Langdell said yes it
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seems that as long as that one public hearing is a complete hearing. There were no other comments on
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the CIP.
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B. Amended New Hampshire RSA 79-E Discussion
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S. Robinson asked if there was someone planned to come in to talk to the Board on 79E? T. Finan
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responded that there was a plan, but Kyle had an intern do some work for him on this. K. Finnell provided
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the background on the 79-E which was adopted in Milford in 2017 and also some new processes that are
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now in effect thanks to House Bill 1103 which the town may be interested in adopting. Currently the 79E
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program allows tax relief for meeting the criteria. With the passage of HB 1103, the town is able to allow
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additional criteria. K. Finnell read the current language in HB1103. There is an upcoming Webinar 9/17
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at noon; speaking to this new language so we will be getting guidance on how we can implement the
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changes. The current 79E in Milford is limited to only the downtown area. With HB1103 there is more
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flexibility in what the town can adopt. C. Labonte said now if there is new housing built, the town needs
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to decide how that bill can be implemented in Milford. Also if new housing is built, who ends up getting
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the tax benefit? Is it the developer, the builder, the owner? K. Finnell offered that 79E is there and there
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are projects that would not happen if it were not for 79E; the town needs to make sure that the program is
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good for the town. The webinar is on September 17. K. Finnell noted that we will send out that link for
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anyone to join. J. Langdell would like to see the ability for this bill to open up more housing availability.
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K. Finnell pointed out that Keene has opened up a lot of the provisions of this bill to include mixed use,
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and going to the maximum of tax relief, over time the district has built out according to the 79E regulations.
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They area not re-zoning, they are only expanding it. J. Langdell asked how Keene defines Affordable
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Housing? K. Finnell said he will find that out.
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P. Amato asked how this will be incorporated into the schedule? T. Finan maybe we take a look at what
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is available and take small portions? J. Langdell asked if the Board wants to take a look at the Zoning first.
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K. Finnell suggested this is just an introduction, maybe start with looking at the maps, that includes
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water/sewer, then a map with zones and look at housing opportunities. By using the maps to start, we can
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identify what aligns the most to allow provisions. He understands that this is just the beginning of the
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conversations. J. Langdell indicated there is a lot of information out there and would it be beneficial to
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invited Conservation, EDAC, BOS, and have it upstairs. A. Ciardelli thanked Kyle for the information
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and feels it is a great start to create our thoughts and bring that back to the next meeting to discuss. There
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are a lot of layers to this, so everyone needs to read it over again and then schedule a Charrette to further
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reach out. Kyle commended the Intern Ryan that supported Community Development and provided a lot
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of this information for tonight’s meeting.
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C. Downtown Improvement Program Update. K. Finnell summarized a memo to the Chair of the
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status of this project. The Preliminary Engineering Phase is just being concluded. The Cost estimates are
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being compiled and in an update provided this morning. DOT is still waiting on traffic data. The BOS
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needs those details to make decisions. There are two sections of the Downtown, Middle Street to Putnam
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and Nashua Street to School St. Expanding the Wadleigh Library parking is another element. And the
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parking lot on South Street/Clinton Street is another element. The Final Prelim plans downtown oval cost
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construction is estimated is $2.3 million, the Library Parking Lot will be $846,000 and the South/Clinton
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Street parking lot will be $343,000.
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D. Other Business. The applicant,
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Milford DV Property, LLC, is requesting Minor Site Plan Approval to construct a new 598 sq. ft. leasing
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office and five (5) dedicated parking spaces, that include two (2) handicap spaces on a vacant .212-acre
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lot within the existing Longley Place II (rental townhouse apartments) 5.528-acre complex.
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3. Other Business: Discussion of the 08/05/2026 Select Board Meeting.
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T. Finan wanted to update the board on the Selectboard meeting from last week. J. Langdell thanked him
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4. Meeting Minutes Approval: 08/18/2026 Minutes.
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T. Finan asked for any corrections.
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T. Finan asked for a motion to approve the minutes from 8/04/2026 as amended. P. Amato made the
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motion and A. Ciardelli seconded. All were in favor with none opposed. Motion passed.
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5. Future Planning Board Meeting Dates: 09/15/2026 & 10/06/2026 Work Session.
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6. Adjournment:
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T. Finan asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. T. Philbrick made the motion to adjourn; J.
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Demontigny seconded. All were in favor with none opposed and no abstentions. Meeting adjourned at
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7:21 pm.
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Respectfully submitted by: Darlene Bouffard
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_____________________________________________ Date: _________
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Signature of the Chairperson/Vice-Chairperson:
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