CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou City Council learned Monday that Capt. Brian Lajoie is the city’s new Fire and Ambulance chief.
Lajoie, who has served as captain since 2016, officially began his new role Tuesday.
In accordance with the Caribou City Charter, the city manager names a fire chief for an indefinite term, City Manager Penny Thompson said.
“Brian’s leadership, local knowledge, and experience as a dedicated community servant will serve his team well as he continues to build on the Caribou Fire and Ambulance department’s outstanding reputation,” Thompson said earlier Monday.
Lajoie began on the paid call force in Caribou in April 1992 and was hired as a career member of the department in October 1995. He was promoted to Captain in February 2016.
A graduate of Caribou High School, he studied at Northern Maine Technical College and Southern Maine Community College. He has been treasurer for the Caribou volunteer fire department since 2002 and is a Master Mason with Caribou Masonic Lodge 170 and Washburn Lodge 193, and is an Anah Temple Shrine member.
“I am very honored and humbled that the City of Caribou is giving me the opportunity to be their fire chief,” Lajoie said Monday. “I never imagined myself in this position but now that it’s becoming a reality, I am focused on moving the department forward in a positive manner. “Mark Twain once wrote: ‘Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.’”
In other business, councilors heard an update on the costs of repairs for the Caribou High School track. RSU 39 athletic director Evan Graves discussed the school’s capital project of repairing and updating the track.
The work would involve tearing up the existing track and resurfacing it, along with adding a set of four new lights on one side.
ESSER school funds of more than $600,000 are to be used for the track and need to be spent by Sept. 30, according to Graves. Additional funding estimated at $133,940 could be lower, depending on bids still to come in for the project, Graves said.
The track brings in visiting families, who spend money at local businesses like the grocery stores, Big Cheese Pizza, and the new Evergreen Bowling Lanes, Graves said.
Other schools’ regional teams have requested to use the track for practices like Union 122, Fort Fairfield, Washburn, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and Maine School of Math and Sciences, he said.
Councilors learned John Barretto, owner of 15 Prospect Street, which had been declared a dangerous property in January, originally had until Monday, May 8, to respond to the city’s court action, but the judge gave an extension until May 29.
City council member John Morill later reported that the pellet boiler and ventilation system was removed from the Caribou Fire Station, freeing up additional space as part of the ongoing project to revitalize the fire station.
Thompson discussed recent vandalism that was reported on the riverfront and power plants. The staff of the power plant has reached out to Versant Power to work on installing security cameras.
Zachery Corriveau had made an offer of $8,000 to purchase a building at 8 Shirley Drive that is in need of a complete renovation. The council denied the motion in a 3-2 vote.
The first Thursdays on Sweden Street is set June 1 as a summer safety shindig. The Maine Department of Transportation is starting some new planning and programming and are partnering with Caribou to get feedback from residents.
Aroostook County will transition its fiscal year from July 1 to June 30 in 2024. Mayor Jody Smith expressed interest in transitioning Caribou’s fiscal year to the same dates.
City officials have been in contact with Spectrum about the approval of the line extension grant from the Maine Connectivity Authority with the first step being to sign a contract with MCA.
Councilors approved the countersigning of the warrant and notice of election, setting the RSU 39 budget validation referendum for June 13 at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center.
The council voted to have one monthly meeting in June, July and August.
