To the Editor:
The September Presque Isle City Council meeting featured State Rep. Trey Stewart giving an update on happenings in Augusta. His talk was very informative, and as for the City Council, there were complaints about reductions in state revenue sharing, an adverse cost of living adjustment in the school funding formula, and the loss of representation in Augusta resulting from County population losses. These factors have negative impacts locally, but they are also beyond the control of the City Council.
If the City Council truly wants to do something under its own control, then it should look to its neighbors, particularly Caribou and perhaps Fort Fairfield, to see if there can be more coordination, collaboration, and sharing of municipal services. A recent example of collaboration is Presque Isle joining the Tri-Community Landfill. The City Council, City Manager Puckett, and Public Services Director Fowler are commended for making this effort to combine solid waste services, and the communities of Caribou, Fort Fairfield, and Limestone are praised for allowing Presque Isle to join.
Local control is not a good reason against sharing municipal services with Caribou, especially if it is more cost-effective to combine services. There can be just as much local control over a joint police force serving 18,000 people, as there is now with two police departments, each serving 9,000 people.
Stephen Freeman
Presque Isle
