PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — City Council learned at their June 16 meeting that Lewis Cousins has been hired to fill a position in the assessor’s office.
City Manager Jim Bennett told councilors at that time about plans to approach Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman about sharing assessing and code services.
Included in councilors’ packets was a memo to Jon Frederick, town manager of the tri-communities outlining what the proposal would look like, if implemented.
“When going through the process to replace our assessor, it became obvious we were going to hire Lewis (away from Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman). Since it’s going to be hard to replace Lewis, I’ve asked if there’d be any interest in lowering the cost to the tri-community and Presque Isle by offering Lewis’s services for a fee,” Bennett told the Council.
Councilor Dick Engels, who was involved in the interview process of hiring Cousins, said he was impressed with him and that Cousins has been doing this type of work for the past 15 years. Engels said Cousins would be able to handle the situation, especially if city documents were made accessible by computer.
“I think getting this stuff online will definitely help the assessor’s office,” he said.
Bennett asked the Council to pass a motion authorizing the city to work toward a joint agreement with Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman for the assessor, as presented. Before the vote, however, Bennett expressed some concern over whether the proposal would be accepted or not.
“My read of the situation, there’s a possibility they might not take us up on that offer,” said Bennett.
Councilors then unanimously voted to authorize the city to proceed with the matter, as presented.
Since the June 16 meeting, city representatives met with officials from the tri-community to discuss sharing of services but the plan was turned down.
“We met the Wednesday after our Council meeting and Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman officials elected not to do a contractual agreement with Presque Isle. They’re looking at doing some type of contractual agreement of their own, rather than filling the position,” said Deputy City Manager Martin Puckett.
