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| Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet Margaret (Peggy) Daigle is Caribou’s new interim city manager. |
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — As mentioned by Caribou City Councilor Gary Aiken toward the end of the group’s July 16 meeting, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s budget.
“I would like the council to get together in the very near future with all of the directors, just to start the budget talks and the general ideas of what we’re looking for and where we think we need to go,” Aiken said. “These people have a lot of work to do here before their timeframe is set up, and I think they deserve to talk with council to find out what we’re thinking and what we think needs to be done.”
Caribou Mayor Kenneth Murchison Jr. agreed with Aiken, adding that from what he’s observed, staff and management have expressed that they’re eager to start talking budgets as well.
“Now that we have an interim city manager and we’re adding more and more to her plate, it’s time to start out budget process,” he said.
Interim city manager
takes the helm
With a unanimous vote, members of the Caribou City Council appointed an interim city manager until a permanent replacement for former city manager Steven Buck can be hired.
One-time Houlton town manager, Margaret (Peggy) Daigle will be managing Caribou’s ongoings; Daigle was Houlton’s administrator from 2001-04, when she left to take a similar position in Old Town. July 16 was her first day on the job.
Murchison welcomed Daigle to her first Caribou City Council meeting that night.
“It’s been a busy day,” she casually understated; her comment was followed by room-wide chuckling.
Council disagrees on future
of obsolete laptop
It wasn’t even up for discussion whether or not the five-year-old laptop used by former City Manager Steven Buck is obsolete — everyone seemed to agree with the sentiment that computers are often considered obsolete within two or three years of purchase.
The disagreement arose when the council discussed whether or not to allow the former city manager to keep the laptop as well as use of the city-owned e-mail address manager@cariboumaine.org for one year.
Though the council had previously agreed to both requests, the subject was revisited on Monday night, listed twice on the agenda as both an article item and a topic for executive session.
“We did discuss this earlier on, and after reaching a consensus on this I don’t think it’s too much to ask, in terms of severance, for a five-year-old computer that has no value left,” Murchison said. “However, there has been concern over the e-mail issue.”
Councilor Aiken was quick to state that he has concern over allowing Buck to use the e-mail address and keep the laptop “only in that I don’t see the reason to do it,” he said, adding that anything on the laptop that Buck wanted can be placed on disks, and anything that comes through the e-mail address for Buck can be forwarded to him.
“I can’t call it severance or anything, I mean we’re going to give him about $40,000 in sick pay and vacation bank and everything else — he’s had a great deal on his pension plan while he’s been here, more so than any other city employee for 11 years,” Aiken said. “I don’t like going outside guidelines. We have guidelines for what happens when people leave, and that’s what we should do because once you start making exceptions, then you do it for the next person if they want something;” he added. “It’s just my opinion, but I think we should stick with what was outlined in our policies and that’s what we should do.”
Aiken also expressed his opinion that the laptop should be turned over to the new city manager.
Daigle stated that the computer issued to her by the city was already uploaded with the data from the five-year-old computer. She also informed the board that she is using the e-mail address citymanager@cariboumaine.org
Councilor Mary Kate Barbosa disagreed with Aiken and offered additional information regarding the laptop request, explaining that Buck had planned on taking vacation time but due to issues that arose within the city, he had to forgo his vacation plans to stay and work on the situation. Barbosa further explained that this caused Buck to exceed the amount of vacation time he was allowed to bank (meaning the vacation time expired).
“I think that was part of the request for the laptop, which is being retired,” she said. “As we have [the e-mail address citymanager@cariboumaine.org] now, I don’t see an issue with having him retain [manager@cariboumaine.org] for a year as he has also agreed to use that address to maintain contact with the interim city manager.”
Though councilor Brian Thompson commended Buck for agreeing to keep in touch with the interim city manager, he drew a parallel between Buck’s new job and his own occupational transition.
“My computer will maintain with my employer, my [e-mail] address will be stopped, but I’ll let all my contacts know, and I’ll help out my employer with a phone call,” he said, agreeing that the e-mail address and laptop should stay with the city.
As Murchison expressed before, the council had already discussed the laptop/e-mail agreement – which is one reason why Councilor David Martin was reluctant in denying Buck the previously accepted terms.
“My only problem with this is that we reached a consensus as a group in his presence, and there was consensus that this was ok. I’d hate to see us backtrack at this point,” Martin said.
As Martin addressed Aiken with the fact that he’d previously gone along with both aspects, Aiken interjected.
“I said if everyone else was going along with it I would; [Thompson] wasn’t available [at that meeting] and [Councilor Philip McDonough II] at the time never committed,” Aiken said. “It’s city property and I don’t think it should be given away … I left a few companies, no one gave me a computer when I left and I didn’t expect it,” he added.
McDonough expressed that the information stored on the computer could prove beneficial for the city in five to 11 years, to which Daigle again emphasized that the files from the five-year-old computer had been uploaded to her computer.
Though it was a divided vote of 4-3, the council was in favor of allowing Buck to retain the laptop and, with the stipulation that the city has access to the account at all times, allowed Buck to use the city-owned e-mail address for one year.
Agreement pending for city
to provide Limestone, Caswell with ambulance coverage
Pending the results of a special town meeting tonight at 6 p.m. in Limestone, Caribou could be providing ambulance coverage for Limestone as early as mid-August, according to Chief of the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department Scott Susi.
Susi informed the council that he had attended a meeting with the Limestone Board of Selectpeople on July 2, which was attended also by the town’s ambulance review committee.
The meeting warranted the selectpeople to call a special town meeting and, as Susi explained that Caribou will know by the end of Wednesday night whether or not the Caribou Ambulance Department (CAD) will be providing service to Limestone.
Should Limestone voters approve the switch, ambulance service could begin as early as mid-August.
“As part of our licensure to extend our service or coverage area, we have to run an ad for 30 days for public input, and that goes directly to Maine EMS,” Susi explained, adding that input is by write-in only.
Non-profit group aims to help city obtain a police dog
A handful of members from PACE, the recently formed People for Aroostook Canine Enforcement, informed the council regarding their efforts to hopefully bring a police dog to the Caribou PD.
The group is off to a good start with verbal fund-raising commitments, as explained by PACE Coordinator Jennifer Poitras, but wasn’t certain as to whether they should begin accepting donations without first speaking with the City Council.
Poitras also explained that PACE is looking to fund the purchase of the police canine, necessary training and equipment updates necessary to house and maintain the dog.
Caribou Police Officer Jason Matheson explained to the council that PACE is interested in obtaining a canine capable of detecting narcotics and assist with tracking people – both fleeing criminals and lost individuals.
Matheson also stated that a potential handler has to undergo canine certification with the police dog.
“You’re certified as a team,” he said, adding that only about 10 percent of dogs are capable of police work, whether it’s tracking or detecting narcotics.
When asked by the council as to the average wait time when CPD officers request a canine unit, Matheson explained that if a unit is able to respond at all, it can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes if the handler(s) are in town or it could take hours.
“Like for a tracking canine – there’s only two of them in Aroostook County. The largest county west of the Mississippi and there’s only two dogs available for tracking,” Matheson said, describing how delayed response times of a tracking canine could be dire if an individual is lost during an Aroostook County winter, when hypothermia is a very quick concern.
As far as narcotics, Matheson explained that if an officer with CPD suspects that a vehicle contains drugs or is involved with trafficking, “for court purposes they have to have a canine on that vehicle within 15 minutes for any evidence recovered from that vehicle to be used in court. We have a time constraint where are hands are tied if a canine is not available,” he added.
Matheson explained to the council that while the two canine handlers, from the Border Patrol and the Customs and Border Protection, have been very helpful in assisting Caribou PD when possible. Matheson also said he’s learned a lot from working with the two canine handlers.
The council inquired if the police dog could be used in the school, and Matheson explained that the dog would be available at the request of school officials.
Though adamant that he didn’t want to discourage the organization, Murchison said that he would like to hear more about the potential police canine from Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan regarding, “everything from the cost of kibble and the whole deal.”
Inquiring about the course of action, Poitras asked if the group should attend another meeting; Murchison expressed his opinion that he felt the topic would yield an interesting workshop, possibly including a demonstration from CBP canine handler Denis Kovach, who’d extended a demonstration invitation to the council through Poitras earlier in the discussion.
One-way designation
for Wright and Bradley streets pending survey results
Wright and Bradley streets may find themselves on the list of Caribou’s newest one-way streets after a survey is conducted to determine where exactly the streets boundaries lie. Precipitating the potential one-way shift is the roadways speculated deviation from the city’s right-of-way; over time, the intersection of Wright and Bradley has allegedly encroached upon one individual’s property on one side of the road and drifted from the right-away on the other side.
“I believe that over the years, as the surfacing has come into place, [the road] has encroached upon [the landowner] quite a bit; the only real way we’re going to know is a survey,” explained Caribou Public Works Director David Ouellette.
Murchison explained that the issue was first brought to the council’s attention last fall.
During their July 16 meeting, the council was asked to consider changing the flow of traffic on Wright and Bradley streets so that Wright Street would become one-way headed southbound from Washburn Street to Bradley Street, and Bradley Street would become a one-way heading west from the intersection of Wright and Pond streets. The Council was also asked to consider placing a stop sign on Wright Street at its intersect with Bradley Street.
Ultimately, the council agreed to table any directional changes until a survey is done to find out whether or not the street’s location has shifted over the years; should the survey indicate that the road has indeed encroached upon a resident’s property, Ouellette explained that rectifying the situation would not be a costly repair.
“If we have asphalt paving on someone’s property, we can grind it off and can actually shape the road the way it belongs; I don’t think it’s a real expensive fix, but we have to have that survey done,” he added.
Even if the survey indicates the road is properly laid, the public works director still feels that the two streets should be made one-way.
“The right-of-way is very steep there and it doesn’t allow you much room for turning on the radius; it’s probably one of the narrowest streets in Caribou,” he explained.
When asked by Councilor Gary Aiken if the survey had a projected cost, Ouellette explained that one had not yet been obtained.
While the Public Works Department did not specifically budget for this project, Ouellette explained that the survey and repair fall under the department’s Streets and Roads Program, which he explained had ample funds for the project.
Discussing the two streets, Murchison proved to be very knowledgeable about the streets and the potential stop sign, later explaining that the area of discussion was his old neighborhood and shared a chuckle-inducing anecdote with the council.
“As a note of interest, at one point — and this was back when I was standing at a bus stop, 7 years old or something like that — we used to climb that stop sign.”
Highway to be celebrated
with Walk, Ride and Roll
As construction is nearing its end for what’s currently known as the Caribou Connector, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Kathy Mazzuchelli has been working with Chamber of Commerce Director Jenny Coon to coordinate ways to celebrate the completion of the roadway: they’ve come up with a grand Walk, Ride and Roll that would allow individuals to enjoy the new roadway before traffic starts pouring across it.
“Once they do the ribbon cutting, it’s 55 miles per hours and nobody’s going to see anything. There are some pretty nice amenities on this highway,” Mazzuchelli explained. “[The Maine Department of Transportation] listened relative to the bridges and the bridge abutments and [they’re] not just concrete barriers,” she said, adding that there is a beautiful new Park and Ride.
The Walk, Ride and Roll will take place well before the ribbon cutting to allow people to run, ride a bike, rollerski or whatever other non-motorized means transportation in order to take in the sights and enjoy the new route.
Mazzuchelli and Coon have also designed a symbolic preface to the ribbon cutting.
“We’ve aligned a variety of Model T’s and other old vehicles that will give you folks or other dignitaries a ride along the road at a leisurely pace and then anticipate opening the road,” Mazzuchelli explained.
Muchison reminded his fellow councilors and department heads that whenever the state builds a bridge or road through the town, the municipality gets to name it.
“Right now it’s called the Caribou Connector, before that it was known as “segment number 4,” I believe, of the Aroostook County North-South Highway Study,” he recalled. “I kind of thought it would be neat, if we’re going to celebrate the opening of the road, if we could maybe come up with a handful of names that we could vote on and christen it properly.”
Mazzuchelli believed that she and Coon could coordinate such a vote.
Hard dates and times have yet to be determined, but Mazzuchelli anticipates the event will take place toward the end of August.
Curious, Murchison asked Mazzuchelli if there was a chance the event could be held in conjunction with the Caribou Cares about Kids events.
While she didn’t think it was a possibility, she did take the opportunity to compliment progress of the project.
“In all fairness to DOT and Sergeant, they’re about three weeks ahead of schedule,” she said, reminding everyone of last year’s horribly rainy weather. Mazzuchelli suggested that the event could take place on Friday, Aug. 17 or Aug. 24.
The next meeting of the Caribou City Council will take place on Monday, July 30 at 7 p.m. in the councilors chambers.
