CARIBOU, Maine – Despite some local concerns, Caribou city councilors agreed Monday to pursue building a new police station with an estimated $10.3 million price tag for design and construction.
Caribou has wanted to construct a new police station since 2017 when city leaders initially explored building a public safety complex that would have combined the fire and police departments. Officials later abandoned that idea due to costs and lack of funding but they remain determined to build a new police station.
Police officials have said that a larger station is badly needed. Currently, the department operates from the basement of city hall, built in 1939, which has not had a major renovation since the 1970s. Lack of space for weapons storage and evidence processing has forced officers to work in cramped conditions. Structural issues like mold present even more health and safety risks.
In a 2022 referendum, Caribou voters authorized the city to borrow no more than $10 million to design and build a new station. That year, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Caribou native, helped the city secure $2.5 million in congressionally directed spending to go toward the project. City officials later chose the site of the former Bird’s Eye food processing plant as the new station’s future location.
Since then, most debate has centered on how to possibly keep the total cost below $10 million while not compromising on public safety essentials.
On Monday, City Mayor Courtney Boma, who chairs the council’s public safety building committee, said that Artifex Architects and Engineers of Bangor’s latest handdrawn design sketch satisfies the committee’s previous requests that the firm reduce the building’s overall square footage.
Artifex initially proposed a 22,350-square-foot, two-story station but reduced that to 11,897 square feet and one story, with a half basement, earlier this year.
With that latter square footage, the total projected cost for design services and construction was $13.1 million, including $10.6 million for construction, $866,900 for engineering and environmental fees and $97,500 for administrative costs.
Since then, Artifex presented the public safety committee with a reduced floorplan of 11,100 square feet, and a projected budget of $10,386,230, including $8,746,800 for construction, a $437,340 design contingency fee, $317,500 for administrative costs, and $872,150 for legal fees and environmental services.
The total estimated price prompted Councilor Dan Bagley to suggest that the council table the project until they could evaluate other potential site locations and perhaps other design options through different architectural firms.
Bagley questioned why Caribou would build a police station with similar square footage to stations in Waterville and Gorham, which are 12,000 and 10,000 square feet, respectively, according to news reports.
“I think we should consider scaling back to 6,000 or 7,000 square feet to bring the price down to perhaps $5 million to $6 million,” Bagley said. “These cities are two or three times the size of Caribou.”
During public comments, Troy Haney, chairperson of the Caribou nonprofit Business Investment Group, also spoke against the current station price tag and plan. He read a petition that nearly 50 Caribou taxpayers signed.
“Although we all agree that a new police station is needed, the current size, location and cost of the building needs to be looked at,” Haney said. “We would like to ask that this [project] get evaluated again to build a station that meets the needs of our town and is fiscally responsible.”
The petition suggested that the city look at other available properties and hold a public meeting to gather more feedback on all possible options.
The council voted 4-to-2 against postponing the project, with Councilor Jody Smith voting with Bagley in favor of his motion.
The public safety committee explored other potential sites, including the former F.W. Webb building, but found that the Birds Eye site is still the most viable option, Boma said. She feared that postponing the project could jeopardize the city’s chances at securing more funding sources.
“Once we have [a design] in place, we could apply for grant funding, but we have to get to the next phase first,” Boma said.
Later in the meeting, the council also voted 4-to-2 against a proposed resolution that Bagley drafted, which would have required the council to use the $2.5 million in congressional funds to lower the current total project cost.
Though councilors agreed with the resolution’s intent, many pointed out that they will not have a final project cost until after approving a final design from Artifex.
“I would hate to not have that money there in case we fall short [of the total cost] and we need it,” said Councilor Tamara Lovewell.
The next step is for Artifex to turn their latest hand drawn floor plan into a graphic design that replicates what the police station would look like. Councilors will need to approve a final design and project cost before going out to bid on its construction next year.
In other business, the council unanimously agreed to pursue a Planning Partnership Initiative with the Maine Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of adding more access points along Caribou’s section of Route 1.
The Caribou Connector, first constructed in 1965 and extended in 2012, is one of several controlled access highways in Maine, which limit the number of curb cuts, such as driveways or other access roads, to reduce traffic and safety issues.
Members of the Caribou Development Committee and city staff began discussions with the MaineDOT this fall on how the state could potentially allow for access points that could encourage larger scale business and housing development.
A Planning Partnership Initiative would allow the city and MaineDOT to split the costs of a feasibility study, said City Manager Penny Thompson. The council would need to approve the agreement and the city’s financial contribution at a later date.
Councilors also unanimously approved a 4-percent cost of living-based wage increase for regular, non-union city employees starting Jan. 1.
Employees belonging to collective bargaining units, including those within police, fire and ambulance and public works unions, receive automatic cost of living wage adjustments on Jan. 1 per their negotiated contracts with the city council, but non-union workers have not been getting such adjustments, Thompson said.
The 4-percent increase does not include Thompson because she is a contracted employee and the city council must approve any wage changes after regular performance reviews, she said.
The Caribou City Council will hold their annual organizational meeting on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. at Caribou Municipal Building, 25 High St., to swear in new councilors, appoint committee members and set the 2025 meeting schedule.
