CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou City Council agreed this week to move forward on a community development block grant request by a local business but delayed setting a date for a public hearing on a secession effort that would divide the city into two communities.
Representatives of the Caribou Secession Committee took to the podium Monday in the hope of setting a date for the public hearing they’ve been eager to secure after having their petition signatures certified last month.
According to Mayor Aiken, the City Council attempted to set the meeting place for the hearing at the Caribou Wellness Center, but secession committee spokesperson Paul Camping surprised the council with a new venue for the hearing. Camping proposed they hold the hearing at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. Camping said he already obtained permission to use the center from Regional School Unit 39 Superintendent Susan White.
“It strikes me as a strange time, but it doesn’t mean we can’t consider it,” Aiken said, referring to Memorial Day on May 25 making it a long weekend for many residents.
Secession committee representative Maynard St. Peter said he expected more people would be able to attend the hearing that weekend and the date would give the group more time to prepare its presentation.
Prompted by their frustration with high taxes, members of the committee introduced their secession proposal last July. The proposal would remove 80 percent of the taxable property in Caribou, which is roughly everything but the downtown district, to form the new municipality of Lyndon. The brunt of the population of 8,189 people, however, would remain in what’s left of Caribou.
Now that enough signatures have been gathered to force consideration, the secession committee is required by law to make a formal presentation, which must include a description of the problems that led to the secession effort. The presentation also must describe the impact secession would have on property taxes within and outside the secession territory. Those in attendance will have the chance to discuss the problems and any potential solutions.
“We anticipate that many members of the public on both sides of the issue will like to speak at the hearing so we should be prepared for a long evening,” Camping said Monday.
The secession committee is still working on drafting its tax impact statement and is relying on obtaining more information from the city. Councilors were concerned about the committee’s report still being in the draft stage and were curious whether the secession committee will have it ready in time for the public hearing.
“I just don’t want to schedule a meeting and find out that everything isn’t going to be available, we won’t have what you need and you won’t be able to get your end done,” Aiken said.
The councilors tabled discussion on the logistics and the format of the public hearing until their next meeting on April 27. City officials said they would work with the secession committee to provide the financial statements being sought.
In other business, councilors reviewed a request by Virtual Managed Solutions for assistance with a community development grant application.
VMS is looking to secure contracts that would allow the company to add up to 100 new jobs at its location in downtown Caribou, according to Caribou City Manager Austin Bleess. VMS is working to lock down CDBG funds in the amount of over $365,000, which is about half the anticipated cost of its $735,666 expansion project. The rest of the funding would come from other sources.
But one issue Bleess said should be cleared up before the city council approves the grant application involves delinquent taxes. VMS owes $10,855.22 in 2011-2013 personal property taxes, which includes principal and interest. Personal business property refers to such items as equipment. The company also owes $2,854.38 for personal property taxes in 2014 and $3,704.43 in real estate (property) taxes for that year, including interest.
“Any approval should be contingent on all the back taxes that need to be paid,” Bleess said.
VMS CEO CB Smith said the company lost sight of the property taxes after the loss of one of its computer servers, which contained some of the firm’s financial information.
Members of the public voiced their opinions concerning the back taxes and most wanted to see the council approve a plan to have the taxes paid if VMS expects the grant application approval. Others stepped up to the podium and shared supportive outlooks for VMS and asked the council to approve the grant.
Mayor Mayor Gary Aiken spoke positively about the possibility of adding new jobs to the city of Caribou.
“When you talk about 50 or 70 jobs, you know the immediate thing that comes to my mind is they’re not all going to be from Caribou. But some that are from other locations may decide that it’s worth their while to move to Caribou and start paying property taxes in Caribou,” he said.
Smith said VMS is committed to paying what the company owes to the city and was willing to work out a plan with the city manager. Councilors agreed the back taxes were not delinquent enough for VMS to face foreclosure and motioned to move ahead with the CDBG application as long as there’s a plan set to pay the taxes owed. Bleess and Smith will be working on the plan in the coming weeks.