WOODLAND, Maine — During their annual town meeting on March 19, Woodland residents approves a slightly more than $1 million municipal budget along with a few individual items, including the renewal of a fire and ambulance contract with the city of Caribou, a retail recreational marijuana prohibition ordinance, and the issuing of bonds for repairs at Woodland Consolidated School.
The overall 2019 tax commitment is $1,064,782.70, or $51,876.66 higher than last year’s total of $1,012,906.04. Some increases are seen in line items for such expenses as medical insurance, fees for services from Aroostook Waste Solutions (formerly the Tri-Community Landfill), the highway equipment reserve account, and municipal building repairs.
To offset some of these increases, town officials reduced the Public Works budget by $52,250 to $288,550 this year.
One audience member questioned this decision, and asked if it meant the department would conduct less road maintenance in 2019.
Selectman Tom Drew said it would likely result in less extravagant projects, adding that the reduction is due to the town facing problems that our outside of its control, such as the condition of the municipal building’s roof.
“Sometimes, you just have to tighten the belt and get through it,” he said, “or raise the mill rate, possibly to an uncomfortable place for some based on their fixed incomes.”
When asked if this meant little to no road maintenance would occur throughout the year, Drew said he believes the town will “add to the process of making better roads,” but that he does “not believe we’re going to pave any roads.”
Woodland selectmen, from left, Thomas Drew, Carl Grant, and William Barnum are on hand to answer audience questions during the March 19 annual town meeting. (Chris Bouchard)
Drew said the “Town of Woodland is going to have to make some hard decisions going forward,” based on the current condition of roadways and the actual cost to repave them.
“We have 41 miles of road, and a lot of them are in decline,” he said. “It costs $100,000 a mile and we’re never going to live long enough to surface all of those roads properly unless we are willing to take out a loan for a couple million dollars over time, which is not a joke. It’s a reality.”
Another audience member asked Drew about the mill rate, and he said that while it is currently unknown how the school’s budget will turn out, “we know we’ll be up a mill or a mill and a quarter.”
“That’s a big jump for people in one year,” said Drew, adding that while cuts are being made, “we have to be conservative on occasion,” concluding that “it’s not popular, but you have to try to do what you think is in the best interest of all the people in town.”
Later in the meeting, residents questioned a $1,260 increase in the town’s bill for fire protection from the city of Caribou, with someone asking if the town has ever attempted to “negotiate this price” with Caribou officials.
Selectman Will Barnum said he has had discussions with the Caribou fire chief about this in the past, concluding that “negotiating probably isn’t going to be super successful in Caribou.”
However, Barnum said that “as a taxpayer” he wouldn’t be opposed to exploring other options, and that the town of Washburn “would love to offer us protection at significantly lower rates.”
The selectman said that while Washburn has not provided any fire protection quotes to Woodland, they currently “provide fire protection for Perham and Wade for about $1,200.” This year, Caribou is charging Woodland $64,301 for fire services. However, according to Barnum, Caribou provides 24-hour protection while Washburn does not.
Drew said that while Caribou’s fee may be higher than what they may end up paying Washburn, 24-hour protection is an important factor.
“Caribou was at my place in 12 minutes,” he said, “and I have a house today because they came. You’ve got to be really careful on this one. I know it’s expensive, but as long as your house isn’t on fire, you don’t need to pay this bill, but on the day your house catches fire, you might be disappointed.”
Residents also briefly discussed an ordinance that would prohibit any recreational marijuana businesses within the town. Moderator Harold Tardy explained that residents voted on the ordinance two years ago, and that it expires automatically every two years.
One member of the audience asked for clarification regarding “setting up a place to sell it,” and Selectman Carl Grant said it meant cultivating it for recreational sales or establishing a “social club,” which would be similar to a bar, but for marijuana.
Grant said that any individuals who cultivate marijuana for medical purposes would not be affected by the ordinance and Drew added that it would also have no impact on the “six plants” that individuals are legally allowed to grow for personal use.
Residents ultimately passed the ordinance, along with all other items on the warrant before the meeting was adjourned.
