Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – Golfers who hit the links at the Aroostook Valley Country Club (AVCC) – a golf course which occupies space in both Fort Fairfield and Four Falls, New Brunswick – are afraid the U.S. Border Patrol will ultimately close the Brown Road in Canada thereby limiting their direct access to the golf course.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
CHIEF PATROL AGENT Joseph Mellia of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Houlton Sector, left, speaks to a Canadian resident following Monday night’s town hall meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fort Fairfield to discuss plans to enhance border security in the area.
About 100 community members attended a town hall meeting Monday night in Fort Fairfield to hear how Patrol Agents are planning to enhance border security in the Fort Fairfield area.
“What we have is the Brown Road in Canada and the Russell Road in the U.S.,” said Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Mellia of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Houlton Sector. “It’s a paved, two-lane road and it accesses the AVCC.
“The issue we have is that there’s no U.S. port of entry on that road, so you have vehicles entering in,” he said, “and while a lot of them are going down to the golf course to play golf, there’s also some that are doing illegal activity.”
Mellia cites then 23-year-old Andrew Adams of Caribou who, in July 2007, was found in possession of 145 Oxycontin pills which he had received from a Canadian man suspected of smuggling Oxycodone into the U.S. at the AVCC. While Adams and the Canadian were in the section of the golf course in Canada, they made the exchange of money for pills. Adams hid the drugs in a box of golf balls and proceeded into the U.S.
Adams was questioned by a Border Patrol agent while he was in the United States portion of the golf course parking lot, and the pills were subsequently discovered and seized. Adams is presently serving a 15-month prison sentence.
“If Mr. Adams knows about that road and exploited its weaknesses,” said Mellia, “others will, too. The other part is … people keep asking me, ‘How many terrorists have come down that road?’ My answer to that is, ‘I don’t know who’s coming down that road.’ That’s my big fear. I don’t know. If I did know, we wouldn’t be here and we’d have control of that area.”
The parking lot and the pro shop at AVCC are located in Fort Fairfield, while the golf course and the clubhouse is located in Four Falls, New Brunswick.
Mellia said if the Border Patrol were ever to close either the Brown or Russell roads, “it is something very far into the future.”
“I think we haven’t even exhausted all the possibilities here,” he said. “I have few options left open to me as a Border Patrol agent. I can’t put a port of entry up there … that’s not my business. However, I can put agents up there and we can monitor the traffic that comes through.”
As the primary federal law enforcement agency between the ports of entry, the Border Patrol’s mission is to prevent the entry of terrorists and their weapons of terrorism: to enforce the laws that protect America’s homeland by the detection, interdiction, and apprehension of those who attempt to illegally enter or smuggle any person or contraband across the nation’s sovereign borders.
Mellia stressed the agency is “juggling a lot of balls” at the present, and no formal decision has been made at this time.
“This is an education period. I’m just trying to reach out to the community and everybody involved and let them know, ‘This is what’s going on.’ We’re trying not to do everything in a vacuum,” he said. “No decision has made as far as closing any road, but my agents will be up there and when they are there, they will be stopping people.
“My objective is vehicles and the possibility of a terrorist or a narco smuggler, or an alien smuggler utilizing that road and utilizing that weakness to come down that road,” said Mellia. “Canadian golfers can certainly go to the Fort Fairfield port of entry, come in through there and come up Russell Road and not get hassled at all. Golfers from Fort Fairfield can start right out. The threat of pedestrians coming across the golf course is minimal. My focus is vehicles.”
David Ricker, president of the AVCC, was in attendance at Monday night’s town hall meeting.
“What they may or may not do [with the Brown Road] is very important to Aroostook Valley … it’s our lifeline for all our supplies coming in, and it’s so much more convenient for people to come through there,” said Ricker. “If, in fact, we have to come through the Fort border, that can be done also. It’s just so much more convenient coming through there. A lot of our golfers go through the Brown Road and they don’t have to wait in line at Customs.”
The AVCC president said he’d like to see the Border Patrol get a “portable customs office” located on the Brown Road.
“Right now they say they do not have the funds to do that,” said Ricker. “What we’re thinking is why wouldn’t a small, mobile unit – with a bathroom in it – work up there? They could put their electronic stuff in, and man it for six months like our Canadian friends do and then block the road off in the wintertime. It would work … I’m sure.”
Ricker said the country club will “continue to operate the way we are.”
“We’re hoping our Congressional delegation will help us,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Steve Leitch, pro manager at AVCC, said the issue is of great concern to its members.
“It’s such a beautiful place,” he said. “It’s been in existence since 1929, so it’s very much a concern.
“Ultimately, we want people from both sides of the border to be able to gain access to our golf course, create commerce, and have people come enjoy our facility,” said Leitch. “It sounds to me that the easiest way for that to happen is if there was a seasonal port of entry that allowed people access to the golf course and clear themselves through the American authorities, as well.”
Other community members spoke about the elderly residents who live on the roads and were afraid everything from mail delivery to medical services could be impeded if the roads were ever blocked.
Mellia said future discussions will likely be held with the AVCC and landowners alike.
“As we gain more manpower and more infrastructure,” he said, “we’ll start to get a better handle on what’s coming down that road. Nothing is set in stone … this is an educational period, and we’re just trying to keep everybody in the loop as much as possible.”
