Councils look for ways to share services
cut expenses
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
A JOINT COUNCIL MEETING was held at the Northern Maine Development Commission conference room Aug. 7, providing municipal leaders from Presque Isle and Caribou an opportunity to brainstorm ways the two communities can work together to help reduce expenses while maintaining services.
Visible at the table from left are: Caribou City Manager Austin Bleess; Presque Isle City Councilor Mike Chasse; Presque Isle Council Vice Chair Randy Smith; Caribou Mayor Gary Aiken; Presque Isle City Council Chair Emily Smith; Caribou Councilor Phil McDonough II; Presque Isle City Councilor Craig Green; Caribou City Councilor Aaron Kouhopt; and Presque Isle City Councilors Peter Hallowell and Bruce Sargent.
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
A joint meeting of the Presque Isle and Caribou city councils was held on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at the Northern Maine Development Commission’s conference room. The purpose of the gathering was for councilors to come up with a list of ways the two communities can share services and expenses in an effort to save both cities money, while continuing to provide needed services. This was a milestone of sorts, since the two cities have long been known for their sporting rivalry between the Presque Isle Wildcats and the Caribou Vikings.
In attendance at the meeting were: City Managers Jim Bennett, of Presque Isle, and Austin Bleess, of Caribou; Presque Isle City Council Chair Emily Smith, Vice Chair Randy Smith, and Councilors Craig Green, Peter Hallowell, Bruce Sargent, Mike Chasse and Dick Engels; and Caribou Mayor Gary Aiken, Deputy Mayor Kenneth Murchison, and Councilors Phil McDonough II, Aaron Kouhopt, Joan Theriault and David Genthner Sr. Also participating were Presque Isle Deputy City Manager Martin Puckett and Caribou Assistant Manager Tony Mazzucco. Absent from the meeting was Caribou Councilor David Martin.
Following introductions, the meeting followed a roundtable format, with each participant sharing their ideas on ways the two municipalities could work together through such measures as sharing staff and equipment. Bennett and Bleess noted that each of their communities had lost revenue sharing dollars, creating budget shortfalls this year that will likely be the case again next year.
Aiken served as director of the meeting.
“We’re going to go around the table and throw out ideas. Then we’ll go back to our respective communities and work with department heads and see what’s feasible. Then we’ll go from there,” said Aiken.
Emily Smith was the first to offer a suggestion, stating “we need to look at privatization of fire and police — combine on the city line. Public safety is the largest part of (each city’s) budget.”
“If we could make a model between Presque Isle and Caribou, the sky’s the limit,” she said. “If we dispatched together, it would cut costs.”
McDonough agreed with the privatization idea, adding “one thing we could look at is sharing resources one might have the other doesn’t.”
Green said from a development perspective, partnering regionally and looking at joint development opportunities would be a place to start. “The two communities would be stupid not to stand behind and put forward. We should have inventories (for each community) on the abilities to house businesses, homes, etc.”
“Look at Phish. At the end of the day, (the concert) brought people here and they were here spending money. We both have hotels, restaurants. We’re (Presque Isle officials) looking for better uses for the Forum. My sense is there’s a need for regional promotion,” said Green.
Kouhopt said he was “relatively outspoken about looking from the top down.”
“We should look administratively — management, payroll. This would set an example for other departments,” Kouhopt said.
Hallowell suggested some type of “municipal co-op” for maintaining roads, public safety and educating children. He said “we need to break the mentality that we’re everything to everyone,” noting, “we could go through every service we do and do better collaboratively.”
Sargent focused on education, noting there was no need for two principals, two superintendents and two buildings.
“We could save hundreds of dollars just on the administrative side. Things need to be done. It could save thousands in education costs,” said Sargent.
Theriault suggested combing the chambers of commerce in order to consolidate tourism and promotion efforts. She also recommended looking at equipment use.
“If we had one ladder truck and share equipment (between) fire departments. The highway department could share with Presque Isle,” said Theriault. “We could share assets.”
Chasse focused on citizens and municipal employees and how issues concerning them are addressed.
“We need more outreach and PR to make citizens and employees aware of what municipalities are going through. Many are angry about tax increases or loss of benefits, but they don’t know what the communities are going through,” said Chasse.
Genthner agreed with Sargent that more needed to be done on the education side.
“We do need quality education. But when do they realize their services affect our services?” Genthner said, noting some school officials “eat steak” while other municipal employees “have to make cuts” to their personal budgets.
Genthner also suggested sharing road maintenance duties and that each community “needed to be leaner and meaner.”
Engels suggested meeting with school groups to look for ways to share educational expenses. He also noted the city managers need to meet with department heads to begin developing items the two councils can begin working on at their next meeting.
Aiken said that’s the plan, for managers “to go back and add ideas of their own.”
“I know the past history of the two cities, but times have changed. I think people understand,” said Aiken.
Murchison said both municipalities need to “engage our representatives.” He spoke on how towns were told to make due without revenue sharing but now the state has a $58 million surplus.
“Rules and regulations we’re told we must follow, but the legislature doesn’t. That’s not right,” he said.
Murchison also noted the two communities could find other ways to share expenses.
“We should be able to share equipment, code enforcement. We could farm out code enforcement to other areas that don’t have these resources,” said Murchison.
Randy Smith said exploring ways to cut costs and sharing services was a good start.
“We can’t control our income but we can our expenditures. I was able to help consolidate Castle Hill, Chapman and Mapleton. All three towns benefit (from shared services),” he said. “We need to explore these ideas and be forthcoming with any information.”
Bennett explained where the night’s discussion would go from here.
“The tentative plan is for Austin and I to get together and look at the list, then try to come up with a definite action plan and definitive time to meet again,” said Bennett. “That way you’ll know exactly where we’d like to go.”
Oct. 8 has tentatively been set as the date for the next joint council meeting, to be held in Presque Isle. The time and location of the meeting will be announced at a later date.
