To the editor:
The example of River Road is self-explanatory, I need not voice my opinion on that.
But, I could spend an hour on the road conditions in Caribou alone. It seems it would be in the best interest of the city to post signs at the beginning of the roads leading to Caribou: Warning, if you are pregnant and driving on our roads, your labor could be induced. Warning, driving on the roads in Caribou will cause damage to your vehicle suspension and undercarriage, enter at your own risk.
I live less than a mile from downtown Caribou. The road my home is on is half-paved, meaning that literally a portion of it is a dirt hill that is eroding more and more yearly — and calling it paved is an exaggeration at best. Not long ago this road was “covered” over with some type of mixture of rocks and adhesive — aka chip sealing. This chip sealing is showing up on a lot of our roads, and not only is it spewing rocks out at other vehicles and up at the vehicle undercarriage, but one year of plowing removes most of it. Cheap is not always better.
There also are public utilities/water issues. The road my home is on requires me to run my water every winter. And you can bank on the fact that the crew will have to do something under the road every year. This is seriously a crime of waste in regards to the water. Water should always be treated as a finite resource. Pipes should be current and protected enough to sustain themselves through winter without the constant flow of water. I do not know the age of the piping in the city, nor am I aware of other issues in regards to water and sewer, but I have little doubt they exist.
It is my opinion that whoever runs for the open positions on the Caribou City Council take notice of the aging infrastructure of the city and aim to have the improvement of such as a high priority item. Personally, when I consider “revitalization” I think of the most used aspects of the city and not just the square mile or so of downtown. It is my hope that you will too. I believe doing so would not only make the livability in Caribou better, but would also make it more attractive to potential businesses.
Michele Smith
Caribou
