The City Manager is appointed by a majority vote of the City Council for an indefinite term and is responsible for implementing policy established by the City Council as well as the administration of all City affairs. The Manager oversees and keeps the Council informed of the business, financial condition and future needs of the City.

Caribou City Manager Steven R. Buck was appointed by the City Council in June 2001. In addition to his day-to-day duties, Mr. Buck is the Superintendent of roads, parking lots, bridges and buildings and the purchasing agent for the City (with the exception of those buildings coming under the School Department, Cary Medical Center, Public Library and Jefferson Cary Hospital Fund). Mr. Buck serves as an Ex-Officio member of the Cary Medical Center, Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Tri-Community Landfill Boards of Directors. He also serves as the Fair Hearing Authority for all challenged General Assistance Administrator’s decisions and conducts fair hearings in accordance with applicable State laws.

City Manager’s

Annual Report 2010

The calendar year 2010 marked a second full year of economic challenges to providing the full levels of services expected by Caribou residents. Many describe the current economic climate as the “new norm” with the expectation that the current conditions will persist far longer than earlier anticipated. All residents and businesses have been impacted and our municipal services are no different. Expectations to provide these services at or below the same costs of prior years have proven difficult expectations to fulfill. To this end, please review the full 2010 Annual Report. Department Managers have provided detail into another year of operations of their respective departments. Financial reports of the City’s overall operations are also enclosed extracting the most viewed reports from the Independent Audit.

There were a number of large scale projects addressed by City Administration this year, not covered by other Departments.

• Administration assisted State and Federal entities with the acquisition of the 230 miles of Maine Montreal and Atlantic rail lines north of Millinocket. The lines were purchased by the State, a $10 million dollar Tiger Grant was obtained to upgrade, and the lease of the tracks was granted to Northern Maine Rail, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving, Inc.
• The first leg of the North-South Highway, the Caribou Connector, was placed to bid after two decades of planning in two initial contracts. Soderberg Company, Inc. was awarded Contract 1 and Sargent Corp. was awarded Contract 2. Ground breaking was held October 25th, 2010 with construction to be completed by October of 2012.
• The U.S. Coast Guard Caribou Loran C Station ended its broadcast of the Loran C signal on February 8th, 2010 and was decommissioned in the spring.
• The City worked with the Maine Department of Transportation to complete the milling and paving of South Main Street with the Caribou Utilities District installing new water mains prior.
• The City also worked with the office of Senator Collins to dedicate $1.0 million in funding towards the future reconstruction of High Street by 2013.
• The City completed a decade long legal process as a Potentially Responsible Party to the Howe’s Corner Plymouth Waste Oil Site with the State directing FAME to alleviate a potential $150,809 liability towards site mitigation.
• CCH who purchased the former ATX tax software development firm announced its further consolidation of facilities to Kennesaw, Georgia by June of 2012. Administration is diligently pursuing the acquisition of the facilities to create a technology center utilizing the state of the art infrastructure.
• Community Development obtained American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) funds to convert the City’s downtown street lights to LED, providing a long term savings in utilities.
• A Medical Marijuana Ordinance was enacted after the referendum voted liberalization of laws governing the growth, sale, and distribution of medical marijuana.
• The appraisal firm of RJD Appraisals, Inc. of Pittsfield, Maine was retained after bid to perform a full reevaluation of the City to be completed by April 1st, 2012.
• In June a referendum vote passed to establish a Charter Commission to review, amend, revise, and submit a new Charter for the City. In November 7 of the 9 Commission Members were elected: John Swanberg, Roy Alden, Sandra Huck, James Savage, Bryan Thompson, Scott Walker, and Ron Willey. Two persons were appointed by the City Council, Patricia Collins and David Martin. The initial meeting of the Charter Commission was held on November 18th, 2010.

The scope of work listed above serves to illustrate the types and number or ongoing works undertaken by the City outside the normal levels of service provisions. While many and complex, all such work ties to the overall growth, maintenance, and more importantly the change and challenges within our Community. The residents of Caribou place their trust in the City’s administration to meet such challenges and it is with pride that the employees of Caribou rise to meet these expectations.

Fiscal constraints and the overall economy continued to impact operations in 2010. The City’s Budget closed the year with Expenses totaling $8,546,644.31, just $63,436.35 under budget for the year. Budgeted Non-Property Tax Revenue closed the year at $8,425,609.71, $53,370.92 less than projected. The Net of Operations pursuant the Budget was a positive $10,065.43, the lowest in over a decade. These figures do not account for the full accrual, changes in assets, property tax collections, use of capital reserves, or capital grants. The Reader should refer to the enclosed 2010 Independent Audit for full disclosure and understanding of the combined operations for 2010. Please utilize the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MDA) as a means to compare actual to budgeted expenses and revenue as well as changes in fund balances and capital expenditures. The MDA provides both an explanation of the Independent Audit as well as a multi-year comparison meeting the requirements of GASB-34.

The City of Caribou and its Residents continue to be engaged in defining, directing, and managing the future of our City. I would like to encourage all within our Community to continue these proactive efforts towards our betterment. Caribou is distinctive in regional service provisions, budgetary and asset management, and holds true to the hardworking character of its people, the people who built and made our City as it stands today. It is the people in Caribou that make our Community a special and inviting place to live, raise our families, work, and call Caribou home. We are the “Most Northeastern City in America” and our Community is as unique as the name implies.