05-22-2023 City Council Minutes (2)

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Walsh opened public comments asking attendees to hold comments on the Fire Department to the public comments following that agenda item. Richie Anderson, 3205 Crystal Bay Road, asked the Council to consider establishing a Citizen of the Month and he nominated Cass Holloway as the first recipient. He said he was nominating him for standing up to an individual who he characterized as the schoolyard bully at the May Coffee with the Mayor, adding that Holloway left without creating an altercation. Chelsea Wetrick,Independence, questioned why when other cities are combining Fire Departments the City of Orono is trying to go it alone. She said it was due to the Mayor's ego. She also pointed out that the Mayor now has a four-year term, stating that if he didn't,he would no longer be in office as liars and cheaters get called out quickly. She suggested he use the resignation letter Jay Nygard had prepared for him. James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, asked Orono and Long Lake to get back to the negotiating table and settle the dispute before irreversible and costly things happen.He said the fire fighters are stressed and in- fighting in the Department is happening.He said the citizens should be concerned about their fire service and taxpayers should be concerned about the cost. From his rough evaluation of the needs assessment that the Chief has done,Mr. Elder said operating costs for the Fire Department,which are around$550,000 now,would increase to$1.6 million thereafter because of these expenses. Due to the divisive nature of the situation, he wondered if other cities would be willing to partner with Orono in the future. Mike Hart,2510 Casco Point Road, said as a 21-year resident of Orono he wanted to talk about the Public Works facility and the Fire Department the City is proposing to change.He said when major changes are proposed the City should go out of its way to provide information and obtain input from the public.His observation the past few months is that the Mayor and the Council are making these decisions with very little input from the citizens.At breakfast with the Mayor in March,he was promised that by the May meeting,residents would have all the costs and needs and final projected costs for the changes being proposed for the Fire Department. While the report was fairly thorough on the fire apparatus, he said,no detailed costs were included in that report, including one of the largest,the remodeling of the current Public Works facility to serve as the new fire station. The council has already made the decision to break away from Long Lake with no accurate cost being shared with the residents. He said there will now be duplicate costs for the next two and a half years with two Fire Chiefs being paid for by the Orono residents, among other very large expenditures.He asked about the lives of the firefighters on the Long Lake Fire Department, saying they are having to make difficult personal decisions on what Department they will ultimately represent based on the decision of a few people up here,not the residents of the City. He ended with a quote from the Mayor from eight years ago criticizing the decision-making process of the City at the time and its failure to obtain public input. Brad Erickson,Independence, said the Mayor sent him a Holocaust video invoking the extermination of six million Jews a couple of years ago and yet he,Erickson, is the schoolyard bully. He called the Mayor a fear monger and accused Crosby of engaging with hate groups. He said information has still not been provided about representatives of the City on January 6, 2021. He said the Mayor runs the City with the politics of fear and he would not survive another election, so the fire issues should be saved for the next Mayor.He said both the video and Crosby's actions on January 6 are a big deal and he would do Page 3 of 12