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Cumberland County manager briefs Town Council on ARPA spending, regional services and new regional fire‑EMS coordinator
Summary
Cumberland County Manager Jim Galey told the Cumberland Town Council on April 28 that the county has used ARPA dollars to seed regional programs including housing, food security and a new public health department, and has budgeted a new regional fire‑EMS coordinator expected to be hired this summer.
Cumberland County Manager Jim Galey told the Cumberland Town Council on April 28, 2025, that the county has directed large American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investments to regional programs and is creating a new regional fire‑EMS coordinator position funded in the county’s current budget.
Galey said the county has used ARPA funds with an outward focus to support regional needs, calling Cumberland County “one of the more progressive counties in the state” and describing efforts to partner with towns on housing, public health, communications and emergency services. “We feel as though we’re one of the more progressive counties in the state of Maine in terms of looking forward,” Galey said.
Why it matters: Cumberland County provides services used by multiple towns (dispatch, jail, registry of deeds, public health and arena management). Large, county‑level investments and a dedicated coordinator for fire and EMS could change how training, purchasing and mutual‑aid governance are organized across municipal boundaries.
Galey provided financial figures and program examples: the county’s total budget is about $56 million, with a general fund around $29 million and the jail budget about $23 million. The county received roughly $57 million in ARPA funds and used those to underwrite programs including roughly $17 million toward affordable housing and homelessness efforts and $2.5 million toward food‑security work. Galey said the county’s public‑health start‑up (established with ARPA seed funding in 2021) has leveraged “over $23,000,000 in grants” and now operates with a small general‑fund contribution.
Regional communications and emergency services were a prominent focus. Galey described upgrades at the Cumberland County Regional Communication Center (dispatch), including a new radio system and additional workstations, and he said the county secured a $1 million federal earmark to help towns transition radios from analog to digital.
On fire and EMS, Galey said a multi‑year effort to study regional collaboration produced mixed data but created momentum. The county budget now includes a regional fire‑EMS coordinator to help standardize training, assist with hiring/onboarding, support shared equipment purchasing and strengthen governance and mutual‑aid agreements. Galey said the county has advertised the position and hopes to have a hire in July; a panel of fire chiefs will guide the hiring process.
Galey also summarized other county operations: the Cross Insurance Arena (now a county department), a 500‑bed jail, the registry of deeds, probate and a regional assessing office that serves six towns. He said the county will consolidate offices from five campuses down to three as planned renovations proceed.
Councilors asked for follow‑up materials. Galey agreed to re‑send the Valhalla strategic‑planning report he referenced and described committees (hiring/training, data, governance) that will support the new fire‑EMS work. He also said the county sees these regional efforts as responsive to requests from towns rather than top‑down mandates: “We have done a number of regional efforts that have been successful, and it’s they’ve all come from the towns knocking on our door saying, ‘can you help us?’”
Ending: Council took no formal action on the presentation. Galey made himself available for follow‑up questions and said county staff will continue grant applications and coordination on the fire‑EMS initiative.
