CARIBOU, Maine – Caribou city councilors took action Monday to begin cleaning what many have viewed as a problem property downtown.
In 2023, the city filed a lawsuit against John Barretto, the owner of a home at 15 Prospect St., for alleged safety code violations. The home burned in a fire months later, but a superior court judge in December still ordered Barretto to clear the property of debris by July 1, or else the city would remove it at his expense.
The city did not receive bids before its initial deadline to clean up debris that remains at 15 Prospect, but has since received two. The lowest bid – for $15,000 from Thibodeau Trucking & Excavation – proposed that the city pay landfill tipping fees and provide a police officer on site. Another – $42,600 from Larry’s Construction – said that tipping fees would not exceed $8,500.
Councilors voted unanimously for the Thibodeau bid, per the recommendation of Code Enforcement Officer John Gibson.
Caribou resident Bruce Hagelstein questioned why the city did not plan to dispose of the property’s garage, where Barretto and others have been living.
City Manager Penny Thompson said that the city’s lawsuit only included the house, which burned before she and Barretto appeared in court.
“[Before the fire] the garage was just a garage. It wasn’t being used in a residential manner,” Thompson said.
That means after Thibodeau’s company cleans the property, the city will need to serve Barretto with a notice to vacate the garage because it is “unsanitary” and “unsafe” and cannot be used for living space, Gibson said.
The cleanup is expected to take three days and has not yet been scheduled. Barretto will be billed for those services during next year’s tax commitment, Thompson said.
Gibson noted that another blighted property, at 91 Collins St., appears to not have garbage and trash piled up in the garage, as it had before, but Gibson does not yet have permission from the owner, Fred Corey of Monticello, to inspect the property.
Hagelstein, who lives next door, said that he still has seen piles of trash and the garage door open to passersby.
Police Chief Corey Saucier said he has been in regular contact with Corey and could propose scheduling a time for he and Gibson to inspect the property.
In other business, city councilors voted unanimously to reinstate the police station committee, which they had voted 4-to-3 to dissolve in June. On Monday, the vote was 4-to-0 because councilors Dan Bagley, John Morrill and Jody Smith were absent.
Councilor Tamara Lovewell, who voted to dissolve the committee in June, said she wants to ensure councilors not on the committee can ask questions and voice concerns.
“I think we need more direction on this project, so that’s why I’m voting in favor of the committee,” Lovewell said. “But I think councilors previously feared their ideas might be overlooked before.”
The council’s latest decision came after a presentation from Artifex, the Bangor architectural firm hired to design the station. Artifex reduced the square footage from 22,350 for a two-story building with a basement to a 11,897-square-foot, one-story station with a half basement after hearing councilors’ concerns about space and cost.
The current projected cost is $13.1 million, including $10.6 million for construction, $866,900 for engineering and environmental fees and $97,500 for insurance, legal paperwork and administrative costs.
Ellen Angel, Artifex principal architect, said that the council could still bring down the cost through reconfiguring the building’s design and negotiating down certain construction or administrative costs with the chosen contractor. But she urged councilors to decide soon so that construction might start in spring 2025.
“We’re at the point where we’re still tweaking, but if we stall much longer, the prices [for building materials and construction] will continue to go up,” Angel said.
Councilors did not take action on the design but said they need to continue working with Artifex to potentially reduce cost and put the project out to bid by the end of this year.
The council also voted to let Thompson pursue a Brownfields loan and grant from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund for the former Bird’s Eye food processing plant site.
The revolving fund awards municipalities a 50/50 – 50-percent loan and 50-percent grant – for environmental sites that could be redeveloped. Awards can go up to $500,000, Thompson said.
The city would aim to get rid of soils containing polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCBs, at a part of the Bird’s Eye site near, but not on, the proposed police station location. That part of the site could be suitable for future industrial or business development, Thompson said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs are a type of man-made chlorinated hydrocarbons commonly found in electrical, heat transfer and hydraulic equipment; plasticizers in paints, rubber and plastic products; pigments, dyes and carbonless copy paper. PCBs have mainly been studied in animals and have been linked to certain neurological and immune system issues and some cancers.
Councilors did not take action on a proposal to install four electric vehicle charging stations at Caribou Wellness & Recreation Center through an Efficiency Maine program. The council opted to wait until all councilors were present to discuss potential uses for the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds, which Thomspon said could be used for the charging stations.
Thompson announced that the city’s clerk’s office received a $20,000 grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to pay for temporary election positions, rent additional ballot tabulation machines; and purchase new laptops and security equipment for the Nov. 2024 election.
Fire Chief Brian Lajoie presented firefighters and paramedics Ryan Hall, Michael DiVito and Kenneth O’Bar with the national EMS Phoenix Award for their actions in summer 2023 that saved a man’s life during cardiac arrest.
City Mayor Courtney Boma read a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of Cary Medical Center in 2024.
