Caribou Area 2020 Year in News (Part 2)

Editor’s Note: The following is the second of two articles highlighting some of 2020’s most important and interesting news stories. This article highlights events from July through December.

July

The Caribou Public Library reopened to the public after being closed for nearly four months. Though they reopened, the facility and its patrons had to adhere to numerous state guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loring Development Authority president and CEO Carl Flora retired from his position. Flora began working at the LDA in 1995 and served as vice president and general counsel until 2005 when he was appointed as president and CEO.

After lengthy discussion and debate, Caribou City Council voted to lower the city’s  mill rate by one, setting it to 23.55 with no overlay. The decision was made after more than an hour of discussion and the meeting itself lasted close to four hours.

Former Caribou Deputy City Clerk Kalen Hill received a successful liver transplant on July 9, a procedure that seemed increasingly unlikely to happen once COVID-19 hit. Hill, who is in her mid-60s, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in 2019.

Soderberg Construction began demolition of the Caribou Middle School on July 13 as part of the Caribou Community School construction project. The demolition marked the end of an era as the middle school, originally built in 1926, was close to a century old.

August

Limestone Community School welcomed back students under a complete reopening, or “green” plan while the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, which shares a building with LCS, opted for a hybrid, or yellow model, with half of the students in the campus dormitories and the other half learning remotely.

Thursdays on Sweden, Caribou’s popular bi-weekly summer street festival, was canceled for the year. Caribou Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson said the city wouldn’t logistically be able to hold the event with the current state restrictions requiring social distancing and wearing masks while also ensuring the safety of guests.

The city of Caribou moved forward with discontinuing ambulance services to Perham, unless the two municipalities could sign a contract for services. As a result, 911 calls made by Perham residents were sent to Presque Isle, the nearest municipality with an ambulance service.

Caribou Public Works began wrapping up the year’s paving projects, which included a mile-long stretch of road on Main Street from the Caribou Public Library to the roundabout next to Cary Medical Center. The project included mill and fill work in addition to the installation of underground pipes and base underneath the road to ensure future stability.

September

More than 100 friends, colleagues and former classmates surprised Woodland dairy farmer Tom Drew with a gift of more than 100 large round bales of hay in late August. Drew, 47, was facing one of his toughest seasons yet due to drought conditions and was facing having to thin his herd considerably because he couldn’t secure enough hay for the winter.

A committee consisting of five community members initiated a petition to recall Caribou City Councilor Doug Morrell and began collecting signatures. The petition asserted that Morrell used city personnel and property for his personal gain, and that he made verbal threats to public officials.

Former Caribou City Clerk Jayne Farrin was surprised with the prestigious Ethelyn Stuart Marthia Award during the Maine Town and City Clerk Association’s annual meeting held virtually on Sept. 15. Farrin retired in August after serving the city for 13 years with 10 as city clerk.

The Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery’s Prisoner of War/Missing in Action remembrance ceremony was canceled due to concerns about crowd size and social distancing requirements amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

October

The National Weather Service in Caribou marked the first official snowfall of the season for Aroostook County on Oct. 11. Caribou NWS meteorologist Tim Duda said the timing for this snowfall is par for the course in Aroostook County and lines up with averages in the region.

Cary Medical Center in Caribou admitted its first COVID-19 patient on Oct. 8, according to a statement from the hospital. The hospital said it had spent months preparing for this inevitably and were confident that their health care team was equipped to continue providing the care needed for patients amid the pandemic.

The city of Caribou announced that it would be closing its offices on Oct. 7 due to a potential COVID-19 exposure in the city clerk’s office. Likewise, RSU 39 (Caribou and Stockholm school district) moved to remote classes after two probable cases were discovered. Limestone Community School, which shares resources with Caribou High School, also announced that they would be adopting the same remote plan.

November

After numerous setbacks and obstacles, the Caribou Community School finally opened its doors to classes on Nov. 9. The PreK-8 facility is replacing and consolidating Hilltop Elementary School, Teague Park Elementary School and Caribou Middle School. It was a 10-year project.

The Caribou American Legion Post 15 held a brief, socially distanced, Veterans Day ceremony outside the Caribou Fire Department on Nov. 11 at 11:11 a.m. honoring the service and sacrifice of all military veterans.

The Limestone Knights of Columbus received the Star Council Award, an honor given when a council reaches the requirements for three individual awards for charitable outreach, membership growth and the promotion of insurance programs within a single fraternal year.

Caribou Mayor Mark Goughan resigned shortly after being re-elected to Caribou City Council after risking forfeiture of his seat over missed committee meetings. Goughan’s letter of resignation was posted to social media, prompting the council to vote to hire a private investigator to look into who leaked the letter.

The new Teague Park facility was formally placed in the city’s hands after Caribou City Council accepted a quit claim deed on behalf of the school administration. The park was relocated across the street from its former Bennett Drive location as part of the $54 million Caribou Community School project.

December

The Caribou Parks and Recreation Department held a socially distanced version of the city’s annual gingerbread house decorating event, a city tradition for more than two decades, by having staff distribute the gingerbread houses and decorating materials via drive-thru outside the facility.

The petition to recall Caribou City Councilor Doug Morrell fell short due to a lack of signatures, but two members of the recall committee filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that they violated their charter by swearing in Morrell, whose taxes were not paid by Dec. 31, 2019.

Deputy Mayor Thomas Ayer said former Caribou Mayor Mark Goughan would be returning for his new term in January. Goughan resigned shortly after being re-elected in November. 

Citing daily spikes in Aroostook County COVID-19 cases, Limestone Community School Principal Ben Lothrop announced via the school’s social media page that the school would remain in the red, or remote learning model, until Jan. 4.

RSU 39 (Caribou and Stockholm school district) also announced its decision to remain in the red model until Jan. 4. This announcement followed up on an earlier notice that the district would be going red from Dec. 7 to 11 due to a possible exposure, adding that students have since been quarantined to the best of the district’s knowledge.

By New Year’s Eve, eight Aroostook County nursing home residents had died as COVID-19 outbreaks afflicted facilities in Caribou, Madawaska and Eagle Lake. Five residents of Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center, two residents at High View Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Madawaska and one at Mercy Home in Eagle Lake lost their lives to the virus that altered the way of life for people in The County and all over the world. Hope seemed possible for the new year, as newly developed COVID-19 vaccines were being administered at the homes.