Can I secede?

    I must admit since the topic of secession has come up I’ve done a lot of thinking concerning my personal situation. I have lived in Caribou for 15 years. I have never had a child in the school system here. I have never called the police department or the fire department. I do not use the library or the rec center. There isn’t a street light or fire hydrant in front of my property. I do not use the pool or the snowmobile trails. I have never received Section 8 housing or general assistance. I have not used the airport. I’ve had no need for the emergency management system. To top it all off, the city puts their snow on my property every winter when they clean their sidewalks and I have to pay someone to clean up the mess every spring.
If anyone has a reason for secession it’s me, and I am way ahead of the other bunch. I already have 100 percent of the residents of Paigeville (named after my granddaughter Paige) signed up to our petition. I’ve determined we will not be joining RSU 39 but will be forming our own school district. I have no roads to plow, as I have not included any other than my driveway in my proposed territory. I’m hoping I might be able to get that new half ton now and have my municipality pay for it as I will definitely need a public works vehicle. I am considering putting in an airport in my backyard with a runway so Amazon can deliver my parcels with one of their drones. Of course I will only do that if it makes me eligible for a federal grant.
I have already investigated the costs and will be contracting with the city of Caribou for fire and ambulance coverage. I intend to take on the responsibility of Police Chief myself. I am projecting Paigeville’s mil rate to be 1.9 which should result in a tax savings of approximately 85 percent for all of Paigeville’s residents. I will however still have to pay excise tax on my vehicles like everyone else. The only difference is that I will be paying the tax to myself.
I am basically ready today to sit down with the city and discuss separation issues, including determining my share of the city’s debt. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t mention that, I don’t know if anyone has brought that topic up yet.
On the more serious side it appears the thrust of the secession committee has turned more to the angle of please sign our petition so we can have our public hearing with council to voice our concerns and present our plan. I am quite prepared to call a council workshop, which is open to the public, at any time to listen to your plan and discuss it. If you have developed a plan that would only involve a mil rate of 15.9 and provide all the services we need and none that we don’t, I’m all ears. This would obviously save all the taxpayers a lot of money as well as saving you a lot of time. I know of no reason why you would not want to do this, but if there is one I would be glad to listen to it and do whatever possible to overcome it.
    This column is strictly the opinion or view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Caribou’s administration staff, its employees, or other council members. Gary Aiken may be reached at garyaiken@hotmail.com.