CARIBOU, Maine — Mayor Gary Aiken formally introduced Caribou’s new Superintendent of Parks and Recreation Department, Gary Marquis, during the July 14 City Council meeting.
“He was offered that position and accepted it this past we week, so welcome, and congratulations,” the mayor said to Marquis, who will officially make the transition from director of parks to superintendent of parks and recreation in mid-August.
Marquis said yesterday that he feels very privileged by the way everyone has been so accepting of his new position as the superintendent.
“I’ve heard nothing but absolute ‘congratulations’ and ‘you’re going to do great,’ which has taken a big load off of my mind,” Marquis said.
While Marquis has 20 years of experience with the department, he does acknowledge that current Superintendent Kathy Mazzuchelli is leaving behind a huge footprint.
“I’m going to do what I can to fill it, but my biggest challenge is that I want the transition to be as seamless as possible,” he said. “I’m not going to come in and try to change everything around.”
Another challenge will be finding a new director of parks and until one is found, Marquis will be wearing two hats for the department.
“I’ve put way too much blood sweat and tears into those trails to let them go,” he said warmly, describing how hard he’s worked on a shoestring budget to get Caribou’s reputation where it is today for having excellent facilities and trails.
In other business, City Manager Austin Bleess apprised the council of the $332,500 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grant the city received earlier this month to purchase a fire truck, pending council approval. The governing board did accept the federal funds, which will cover about 95 percent of the cost to purchase a new truck. The city is required to pay $17,500, or 5 percent, of the vehicle’s $350,000 price tag.
“We’ve been saving up as part of the capital equipment plan to replace this truck in 2015, and we have the matching funds available to purchase this vehicle,” the city manager said. “It has a lot of great features, and a lot of safety features.”
The new vehicle is a 2015 114SD Freightliner conventional pumper truck, with a large tank on it that can hold 3,500 gallons of water, and Bleess outlined that it will take the city about 240 days to receive the equipment once it’s been ordered.
“Congratulations to Chief Susi and whoever was involved with putting this grant together,” Mayor Aiken said. “Certainly this will go a long way to help our situation.”
Council also approved funds for the Caribou Police Department during their meeting earlier this month. The Caribou Police Department recently made substantial contributions to an investigation and prosecution of a local drug-related case and as such, the courts were considering ordering forfeiture of some property related to the case.
“Basically the District Attorney has asked the courts for the money to go back to the police departments,” Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan explained.
Council approved the anticipated $2,000 in forfeiture funds, that would be placed into the police department’s equipment reserve fund should the court go forward with the suggested order.
Revisiting an issue first raised back in April, council again discussed imposing a possible service fee to the owners of tax-exempt residential property that is used to provide rental income — excluding student housing, parsonages and property owned by the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. Affected entities of the proposed Municipal Service Fee Ordinance in Caribou would be Rose Acres, Caribou Gardens, Central Aroostook Association and Facilities Inc. Both Rose Acres and Caribou Gardens pay a fee for services currently, and Caribou Gardens pays a fee based on the same formula proposed by the ordinance.
Manager Bleess reported that Central Aroostook was interested in paying a fee based on their own formula, which includes a “give back” discount of 25 percent to credit the wages they pay their employees, who live and shop in Caribou. The ordinance-suggested fee for Caribou Gardens would be $3,083, and Caribou Gardens officials expressed to the city manager that they felt comfortable offering $2,312 in a service fee for the two homes.
“I am confident that we could reach some type of agreement with Central Aroostook on a voluntary fee for service,” Bleess told the council. He also mentioned that the Facilities Inc. board of directors had taken a wait-and-see approach with the council on the proposed ordinance.
While the city manager expressed his belief that working to pursue voluntary agreements would be prudent, Mayor Aiken expressed differing thoughts on the matter, stating that he thought each property should have the same fee structure — and Councilor Philip McDonough II concurred.
“If we’re going to charge 22 mils to every citizen — they’re not going to make any adjustments there,” the councilor reasoned. “It should be the same across the board.”
The council wasn’t required to take action on the proposed ordinance during the last meeting, and negations on the ordinance will continue.
The next meeting of the Caribou City Council is scheduled for Monday, July 23 at 7 p.m. in the councilor’s chambers.