Panel backs $11.75M land buy, camera article tabled

Finance Committee · Meeting of September 9, 2026

Milton's Finance Committee recommended borrowing $11.75 million to buy the La Beret property and $1.2 million to study it as a school site. The land vote passed 6-0 with four abstentions; the study appropriation passed 6-1-3 after members struck language tying the money to dropping Guile Road's Massachusetts School Building Authority process. Presenter Nick Tagney said Guile Road now runs about $130 million after MSBA reimbursement, roughly $33 million more than a preliminary La Beret alternative.

Separately, the committee voted 8-1-1 to send a citizen's petition on police surveillance cameras back to the Select Board "for further study." Police Chief John King said 99.99 percent of captured images were never accessed by officers in audits and the cameras helped locate a kidnapping suspect who fled through Milton. Petitioner Ben Zoll said the article "is not about killing anything," but requiring "more transparency."

In the full story:

• Reviewing the Warrant's Format
• Article 8: Citizen Petition on Surveillance Technology
• Town Counsel Amendments to Previously Approved Articles
• Articles 6 and 7: Buying and Studying the La Beret Property
• Scheduling and Next Steps
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,543 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of September 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.