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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> August 28,2023 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> indicted. He will still have to deal with the courts but hopefully they will get it right,he said. He asked <br /> why Mr. Crosby doesn't feel like he has to answer questions about that suff. It sounds like if you are part <br /> of an insurrection you are no longer fit to serve the citizens of this country,he said, according to the 14th <br /> Amendment.Erickson stated the Holocaust is funny to Crosby as well as being with the Proud Boys at the <br /> Governor's mansion. He said he has a video of Crosby right at the front steps. <br /> MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT <br /> Crosby said he wanted to comment on some of Erickson's comments.Crosby said Erickson revels in the <br /> fact that the crooked Department of Justice is going after the next President of the United States but there <br /> is no discussion about Joe Biden who is shoveling money over to the Ukraine to pay for kickbacks, <br /> money that he has laundered out to the Ukraine and China and that is all okay.Crosby said Erickson's <br /> free speech is slander, degradation, put-downs,and threats.He hasn't learned from history because for his <br /> profession of hating Nazis,he has turned himself into one,he said. Instead of having polite discourse he <br /> slanders and threatens people.Free speech is important,the right to assemble is important.Protesting is <br /> not necessarily an insurrection, Crosby continued.Calling somebody an anti-Semite because they want it <br /> to be so doesn't make it so.This is old,foolish,boring,and its time should be passed. He said he and <br /> wife became grandparents over the weekend. <br /> Benson said the most pressing issue at this time in the City of Orono is how fire service will look starting <br /> next summer. The City has removed the Navarre service area from the Long Lake Fire Department and <br /> plans to begin servicing that area on July 1, 2024,which is less than one year away. She believes residents <br /> and the larger community don't understand why the City Council is choosing to create an independent fire <br /> department.This is troubling when it is Orono residents who have been paying and will continue to pay <br /> for fire service, she said. Many residents,fire fighters, and neighboring municipalities have expressed <br /> questions and many concerns with the direction Orono is taking, she added. Tonight more money was <br /> approved in supporting this endeavor. She said public safety should be a collaborative effort between <br /> public officials and the residents they serve.An independent Orono department is attainable only through <br /> the use of public dollars collected from the residents.They have sent a clear message that leadership in <br /> Orono is not listening. She said she looks forward to hearing future updates on the mediation process. <br /> Johnson asked the public to understand how the Council works,noting that Council members are <br /> taxpayers too, so their decisions impact the amount of taxes they pay on their properties. The decision has <br /> been made to move away from Long Lake Fire and open territory 2 in July of next year,he said.No one <br /> said this is going to be cheaper. To throw around numbers from the past, Orono already knows the <br /> increase Long Lake is giving us under this existing contract.The equipment is neglected and behind for a <br /> variety of reasons but that is irrelevant at this point and now the City has to make it right,he said. The <br /> City Council has made a decision to start a new department and open that new territory in July.The <br /> Council now has to make the decisions to make that happen. To vote against it for no reason other than <br /> you didn't agree with it in the first place is going against the Council's responsibility to the citizens,he <br /> said. The truth is the Council is finding ways to do this without levying for it and increasing taxes. <br /> Decisions need to be made to support what is happening in July. Living in the past isn't effective. These <br /> decisions have been made. The Council has to make decisions to keep pushing forward. Long Lake has <br /> no business running Orono's department,he said,and this decision is in the best interest of Orono citizens <br /> in the long term. <br /> Veach said she is very new to this and everyone has been very kind. She believes Orono and Long Lake <br /> can get along and mediation could go well. She cautioned against holding on to the past so much. She <br /> Page 14 of 15 <br />