On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, the Town of Milton officially unveiled the Don Turner, Jr. Public Works Facility, named in honor of Milton’s Town Manager whose leadership and vision made this possible. This special event featured the ceremonial ribbon cutting by Don’s immediate family along with remarks from the highway superintendent Eric Gallas and the Selectboard Chair Darren Adams. 

The over 27,000-square-foot building located on a 6.7 acre parcel of land adjacent to Bombardier Park will be the new home to Milton’s highway department and buildings and grounds department, bringing Town services and equipment to a more central location and closer to other municipal buildings. The Town began moving into the building in mid-October, in time to prepare for winter operations.

Milton Selectboard Chair Darren Adams shared the following remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony: 

"There are many people to thank for this, first and foremost: The citizens of Milton, who in 2022 overwhelmingly voted in favor of the $5.5M bond for this project, Krebs and Lansing Engineering, Wiemann Lamphere Architects, Connor Contracting, our public works team, building and grounds team, town staff, and Don Turner who contributed greatly to this day...

“This has been a long time in the making. For decades, the old facility has been inadequate to serve the needs of our community and the increasing demands placed on our public works team…This facility is five times the size [of the current Icehouse facility], at over 27,000 square feet, and has multiple capabilities we did not have:

• A maintenance facility [for our mechanic to maintain fleet vehicles and equipment]
• A wash bay, which increases the lifespan of our equipment
• A climate-controlled bay to keep several millions of dollars in equipment out of the elements
• Increased salt storage from less than 400 tons to 2,000 tons, which now means we have covered storage for the entire year… 
• Covered storage for 3,000 tons of sand, which was previously stored outside
• Room for our building and grounds team and their equipment, which were previously scattered between multiple sites
• A more geographically centered [location]…

“This could not have happened without the leadership and vision of Town Manager Don Turner. Shortly after the voters approved this facility, the cost of just about everything doubled. We were faced with a multitude of financial challenges, and there were days when it looked like they would be insurmountable. Here are just some of the pieces he made possible:

• Repurposing $1M of ARPA funds toward the facility
• The six-acre site, worth well over $.5M, cost the taxpayers nothing, in an agreement with the Brault family which makes development of adjacent property possible. This also means much needed quality, affordable housing units will be built nearby.
• That made it possible for the Town to purchase almost three additional acres to expand Bombardier Park and our recreational needs
• A grant from the State of Vermont for $500K to build properly covered salt and sand storage…
• Over $300K from the sale of the Kienle Road property, which was no longer needed to store Town equipment and is now going to be developed
• $300K from the Water/Wastewater Enterprise fund, which through connection fees and development will be paid back to the fund
• Grants from VEPSE and PACIF totaling over $100K
• Most importantly Don entrusted and encouraged [highway superintendent] Eric Gallas and his team of professionals to perform all the site work in-house, at the same time maintaining all the Town’s existing infrastructure and daily needs. They moved several hundred cubic yards of material off the site and replaced it with several hundred cubic yards of the appropriate material. Allowing this site to support the building, the operations, and to meet modern environmental criteria that did not exist at the old facility.  This alone saved the Town well over $600K.

“I just listed over $3M of additional funds, which Don led the effort to obtain or save. There is a reason why ‘getting stuff done’ is so prominently placed on these walls. When Don became our Town Manager, that was his charge to all the staff. In two years, he managed to complete a project that was originally discussed before I was old enough to vote…

“…Mr. Milton, as he is sometimes called, has devoted his heart and soul to making Milton a better place, to live, work, and raise a family, because he views this community as his family – and as such, worth fighting for every day. His daughter Emily recently told me he has been ‘giving every piece of himself to this town for his entire life.’

“As you know Don is not able to participate in this ceremony, he is working on a different fight, one none of us could have imagined, one he is fighting with the same level of dedication he has fought for all of us…As soon as it was known he was fighting this new battle, multiple people approached me and the other board members to recommend naming this facility after him… 

“He was excited to know this massive project was complete. I reminded him it would not have been possible without his hard work. As with everything else, I could tell he did not want the credit, but it is well earned, and we would not be standing in this amazing facility without him…

“Naming this building in his honor is the very least we can do to honor his dedication and devotion to all of us and will stand as a symbol of getting stuff done for generations to come.”

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The Town will plan to hold an open house event at the new facility in the spring of 2025. Please send any questions to townmanager@miltonvt.gov

You can view the full ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony here: