CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou City Council voted unanimously to approve a $629,000 contract with Bangor-based firm Artifex for the design of a new police station.
The station would replace the current one located in the basement of Caribou Municipal Building, which was constructed in 1939.
Caribou Police Department has been in need of a new station for years. Limited evidence and weapons storage space has forced officers to store those items next to more everyday supplies, like kitchen utensils and paper towels. Mold is growing on the walls of the station’s garage and the plumbing in one jail cell has not been updated in 25 years. The station has repeatedly failed safety inspections.
To remedy those issues, Police Chief Michael Gahagan and city leaders aim to build a facility that could include new jail cells and weapons storage units. The one-story, 12,000-square-foot facility would also become Aroostook’s only regional jail north of Houlton.
In June 2022, Caribou voters approved the city spending no more than $10 million on a new station.
The station’s price tag has long been a source of contention for city leaders, several of whom worried about the potential burden for taxpayers. Though alternatives like renovating the city office building have been suggested, police and councilors have said a modern station would better suit the department’s needs.
Caribou City Mayor Jody Smith (right) presents a certificate to Jadynn Blackstone-Eye, Caribou High School’s recipient of the Maine Principal’s Award. (Melissa Lizotte | Aroostook Republican)
So far the city has secured $2.5 million in congressional funds for the design and construction and created a 501c3 organization – Caribou Organization Promoting Public Safety, or COPS – to house funds obtained through grants and donations.
Per the contract, Artifex will review the former Bird’s Eye site, develop a proposed final building design and assist the city as it goes through bidding and construction.
The city had paid Artifex $40,00 for a preliminary design, which was meant to serve as a guide before officially putting the project out to bid, City Manager Penny Thompson said.
Now that councilors have officially chosen Artifex, they will pursue grants for the potential cleanup of the former Bird’s Eye food processing plant, which the city has eyed as a possible location for the new station. The plant was demolished in 2018 after the former owner refused to pay back taxes.
“We need a contract in order to complete the design,” Thompson said. “Then we can determine where [the station] will go and where the driveways will go.”
In other business, councilors approved both the 2023 expense and capital improvement budgets with 4-to-3 votes and unanimously approved the revenue budget.
The expense budget totals $10.5 million this year, a slight increase over last year’s $10.4 million and decrease over the previously proposed $11.1 million.
But the total budget does not include a $2,500 contribution request from Recovery Aroostook. April Flagg, Recovery Aroostook’s grant writer and media coordinator, asked the council for the funds to support those undergoing substance abuse disorder recovery.
Recovery Aroostook operates two recovery homes — one for women and one for men — and services like family support groups and community awareness activities. To support the homes’ operation, Recovery Aroostook aims to get 500 donors by year’s who will give $10 a month.
In 2022, Maine set another record for overdose deaths, with 716 compared to 631 the previous year. Those numbers include many lives lost in Aroostook, Flagg said.
“We need to pull together as a community and say that this is a problem,” Flagg said.
The city’s 2023 contribution budget includes $4,600 to the Aroostook Agency on Aging and $3,048 to the Aroostook County Action Program.
Mayor Jody Smith noted that councilors cannot increase the expense budget but they can decrease it if necessary prior to the mill rate being set this summer.
Smith broke a tie in the expense budget vote. He voted in favor of the budget along with Deputy Mayor Courtney Boma and councilors Joan Theriault and Lou Willey. Councilors Dan Bagley, Mark Goughan and John Morrill voted against the budget.
Councilors split on the $1.4 million capital improvement budget. That budget is a decrease from last year’s $1.9 million and a decrease from the initially proposed 2023 budget of $3 million.
Morrill questioned why $50,000 was allocated for Caribou Fire & Ambulance to purchase an ambulance with a van-style back instead of a chassis style, the latter of which provides more space for paramedics and patients.
Boma clarified that the van-style ambulance is intended for local, non-crisis patient transport, such as from the hospital to a nursing home.
Councilors unanimously approved the 2023 revenue budget is $10.4 million, only a small increase from last year’s budget of $10 million.
With the current budgets, the mill rate is expected to increase from 23.55 per $1,000 of property value to 25.41 mills. However, that figure does not include the projected RSU 39 school budget, which is being workshopped, Smith said.
Despite a difficult budget year, the city is in good shape financially, said Finance Director Carl Grant.
February 2023 expenses were up 2.2 percent from $797,478 last February to $815,368, largely due to salary increases, Grant said. But February revenues also increased 11.7 percent to $422,541, bringing the year-to-date revenue to $941,243, only $200 less than last February.
The revenue increase is largely due to the state fully funding revenue sharing, Grant said. The city has received $505,415 in revenue sharing that councilors have allocated toward a tax relief fund.
On Monday, the city council also honored Caribou High School senior Jadynn Blackstone-Eye, who received the Maine Principal’s Award. The Maine Principals’ Association gives awards to students and principals annually to recognize academic achievement and citizenship.
Smith presented certificates to Blackstone-Eye and CHS Assistant Principal Ben Goodwin. Principal Jamie Selfridge was unable to attend the meeting but will receive a certificate.
The council will next meet at 6 p.m. Monday, April 10, in the council chambers at Caribou Municipal Building, located at 25 High St.
