CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou resident Dave Corriveau spoke about the city’s economic development during an Aug. 19 city council meeting, and offered a suggestion as to how the city could expand its taxable valuation.
He began by sharing an anecdote from a recent conversation “with an elderly gentleman in his mid-70s.”
“He built a beautiful home in the prime of his life, when Caribou was a thriving service center,” Corriveau said. “Fast forward to today, and now his fear is that, should his health deteriorate and he’s forced to sell his home, the home may not sell for a long period of time. Or, he may have to offer it at a greatly reduced price for a quick sale. Once his home is sold, he unfortunately plans to move out of the community to be closer to his children.”
Corriveau said he was mostly bothered by this individual’s “knowledge that Caribou’s valuation has been decreasing since 2016.”
“As he so bluntly put it,” Corriveau said, “he believes this is the canary in the coal mine. His feeling is that we should be doing more to encourage a growing community.”
However, Corriveau said the man had no suggestions for doing this.
“So what to do?” Corriveau asked. “Let’s start with a definition of economic development. I’ll try to condense it to one sentence. In my opinion, economic development encourages the upward direction and expansion of our taxable valuation. And that includes a whole bunch of things.”
He closed with a suggestion for the city: to contract out administration and managerial duties, allowing City Manager Dennis Marker to dedicate 100 percent of his time to increasing the city’s valuation.
“I don’t want to see us going backwards anymore,” he said. “I believe that we, as a community, can weather this storm. Thank you.”
Councilors had no comments following Corriveau’s presentation, however Mayor Mark Goughan thanked him for his time, and asked Marker to make “Dave Corriveau’s definition of economic development” an item on the next meeting’s agenda, adding that he would like to discuss this in greater detail.
The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 9.
