CARIBOU, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said that she will continue advocating to secure $2.5 million in federal funds for a new Caribou police station after visiting the current one Tuesday.
The Caribou Police Department has been in dire need of a new station for several years. Built in 1939 and attached to city hall, the police station lacks sufficient storage space for case files, confiscated weapons and drug processing. That, along with major plumbing and structural issues, including mold, have led to failed health and safety inspections. In June, Caribou voters approved the city spending no more than $10 million on designing and constructing a new station.
But the proposed price tag has long divided city officials, prompting the public safety building committee to explore funding options and an alternative building design. So far, Collins’ $2.5 million congressional spending request is the only non-taxpayer funding that Caribou leaders have secured, and is part of a larger package that will fund other projects in Maine as well.
Although the committee previously consulted with the Bangor-based Artifex, the company’s design proposal is one that committee members will revisit as they look to address the true needs of Caribou’s police and community, said Chief Michael Gahagan.
Last week Gahagan and City Manager Penny Thompson attended a law enforcement conference in Chicago and visited four newly constructed police stations. Those stations had community-minded designs that included public conference rooms and a comfortable, private interview room for children, Gahagan said.
Though aspects of the $10 million Artifex design — including new jail cells and weapons storage units — are still on the table, Gahagan said that the committee will need to make Caribou’s needs clear when reviewing design proposals and potential total costs.
“To give a total project cost now would not be appropriate,” Gahagan said. “At this point, we need to reassess what our needs are and go from there.”
The city of Caribou and police department have been applying for grants and have set up a 501c3 organization — called the Caribou Organization Promoting Public Safety, or COPPS — to house some of those funds, Thompson said.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Collins’ proposed $2.5 million this summer as part of her overall spending requests for Maine.
Collins said that she is hopeful and optimistic that the full Congress will vote on the spending request package in December.
Collins toured the Caribou police station with Gahagan, Thompson and city councilors Joan Theriault and John Morrill on Tuesday. She said that seeing the lack of sufficient space for officers’ duties and structural issues was an eye-opening experience.
“I will continue to advocate strongly [for the congressional funding] now that I’ve had this informative tour from Chief [Gahagan],” Collins said. “[The need for a new station] is a very compelling need that impacts public safety and the department’s ability to recruit new officers. They need a modern, updated facility.”
While in Aroostook, Collins also visited Aroostook County Action Program’s new transitional housing unit on Monday and Big Rock Ski Area in Mars Hill, which are both receiving federal funding for facility upgrades.