HODGDON, Maine — Cary Plantation is once again pursuing the deorganization process after residents gave their unanimous support to the plan during a May 18 meeting.
A group of 45 registered voters attended the special meeting that also included Marcia McInnis, the state’s fiscal administrator for the Unorganized Territory; Shelley Lane, director of state schools education in the Unorganized Territory; Lisa Whynot, supervisor for Maine’s Unorganized Territory; Paul Bernier, public works director for Aroostook County; and Paul Adams, a county commissioner.
“The state called me in January and asked if Cary was going to resubmit its proposal,” said Kai Libby, first assessor for Cary. “Nobody had really given it much thought at that point.”
Assessors then started the ball rolling and reached out to state representative Roland Danny Martin of Sinclair, who lent his support, Libby said, which prompted the May 18 public hearing.
One year ago, the state rejected Cary Plantation’s deorganization proposal, fearing a trend of more towns similar in size would wish to deorganize and hand control over to state and county official as a way to reduce tax burdens. Part of that decision was based on testimony presented March 9 by McInnis.
Kai Libby, right, first assessor for Cary Plantation, speaks with Paul Bernier, public works director for Aroostook County, at a May 18 meeting to discus deorganization plans for the town. A group of about 40 residents attended the event and unanimously voted to begin the deorganization process for the second time in three years. (Joseph Cyr)
Libby said he felt one of the reasons Cary’s plan was denied a year ago was that the legislative committee did not receive the plan until a few minutes before a hearing in Augusta. He also stated he did not feel Cary’s hardships were adequately conveyed to the committee.
Because Cary’s plan never make it out of the committee stage, it is allowed to be brought back this year. Had it been approved by the committee and then denied by the full Legislature, the town would have had to wait three years before residents could start the process over, Libby said.
The town successfully withdrew from SAD 70 last year and is now tuitioning its students to that Hodgdon area school system. There are about 18 students who live in Cary.
With 218 residents as of the 2010 Census, Cary would have been one of the largest towns to dissolve if it had been approved. Out of the 42 towns that have deorganized in the last century, few had more than 100 residents at the time. At least two exceptions were Benedicta, in 1987, and Madrid, in 2000.
Cary officials have disputed the figure and stated that the town’s population is less than 200.
The County and Unorganized Territory officials were asked to participate in the May 18 meeting to offer information about the process and to answer any questions before the residents in attendance all raised their hands in favor of once again seeking to deorganize.
Named to the deorganization committee after the vote were Tina Libby, Cindy Green, Bill Hulsey, Brian Kaseta and Kai Libby. That group will tweak the existing dissolution plan and will draft a letter of intent to the state.
“We are losing ground all the time, so we have to do something,” Libby said.
