CARIBOU, Maine – The Caribou City Council will soon vote on whether to offer Maine state retirement to full-time dispatchers at the city’s police department.
The city currently offers retirement plans from the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, or MainePERS, to full-time police officers, firefighters and paramedics. To combat a shortage in police officers, Caribou Police Department has hired two full-time citizen dispatchers to relieve officers who had been fulfilling dispatching duties and reduce the department’s overtime pay.
“We’re down three officers,” said Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan, during Monday’s city council meeting. “There’s 180 overtime hours [per officer] per pay period. We’re basically paying them what we would pay a reserve officer.”
One of the current dispatchers came to the department from Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, where they also received MainePERS benefits, which could be lost if the police department does not offer their own MainePERS package, Gahagan said.
Offering the Maine program to both new hires could motivate them to stay once they complete training from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and become certified police officers, Gahagan noted.
Councilor John Morrill questioned why full-time dispatchers would become eligible for the same retirement benefits as unionized police officers, firefighters and paramedics, even though dispatchers cannot join the police officers’ union.
“I’m worried about the precedent we might be setting for non-union, hourly employees, who work just as hard,” Morrill said.
Non-union, hourly city employees do not receive MainePERS but are offered other retirement benefits, said City Manager Penny Thompson.
Councilors unanimously agreed to postpone their vote on dispatcher benefits until after reviewing a letter from the police officers’ union. The council discussed that letter in an executive session Monday evening, and plan to take up the dispatcher vote Jan. 22.
Also on Jan. 22, councilors will decide what to do with unspent funds from the city’s $11.8 million expense budget for 2023.
As of November 30, the city had spent 84.1 percent of that budget, which equals to $1,874,718 in unspent funds, according to Carl Grant, the city’s finance director.
Grant said he would not likely have the December financial report prepared before the council’s Jan. 22 meeting but would give councilors and Thompson an estimate of unspent funds before then.
Per the city’s charter, elected officials can designate a reserve account for unspent budget funds or use those funds toward the 2025 tax commitment. Many councilors expressed interest in setting up a reserve account.
Thompson said that she would give councilors a draft 2024 budget to review before Monday, Jan. 15. The council will begin hearing budget proposals from department managers Jan. 22.
In related business, councilors unanimously voted to continue meeting on the second and fourth Monday each month but only during the city budget process. In April, the council will start meeting once per month. The council typically approves the city’s 2024 budget before the end of March.
Before that vote, Councilor Dan Bagley motioned that the council meet twice a month even after the budget is passed and add a budget workshop to the schedule.
“I think last year we got behind on some things, and I don’t see any difference [with the proposed schedule],” Bagley said.
Bagley’s motion failed with a 4-to-3 vote.
City Mayor Courtney Boma, with the council’s approval, appointed the following officials to city council committees: Boma, Joan Theriault and Jennifer Kelley to the capital budget committee; Tamara Lovewell to the Caribou Economic Growth Council; Lovewell and Morrill, Caribou Housing Authority’s board of commissioners; Jody Smith, Bagley and Kelley, the investment committee; Boma, Northern Maine Development Commission’s general board and the city’s personnel committee; Morrill, Aroostook Waste Solutions’ board of directors and labor relations committee; Theriault, Lovewell and Smith, highway protection committee; Kelley, Morill and Smith, municipal buildings committee; Lovewell, Bagley and Theriault, city charter committee; and Boma, Theriault and Morrill, public safety committee.
The council unanimously voted to eliminate their airport and broadband committees.
The following councilors will serve as non-voting liaisons to various citizen committees: Bagley, airport advisory committee and Caribou Development Committee; Lovewell, Caribou Riverfront Redevelopment Committee; Morrill, facade improvement grants committee; Kelley, library board of trustees and Nylander Museum board; Smith, Caribou Planning Board; and Boma, recreation board.
Councilors approved the notice for a public hearing to be held Jan. 22. Comments made during the hearing will help councilors determine if the home at 273 Sweden St. is a dangerous or nuisance property. The home burned in a January 2023 fire.
The next Caribou City Council meeting will be held, Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at Caribou Municipal Building, 25 High St.
