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Caribou board reviews water-main emergency, equipment bids and moves meetings to 5:30 p.m.; enters executive session
Summary
Trustees heard that a Feb. 13 water-main break nearly drained low-service tanks and praised crews who worked through the night; the board approved minutes and financials, accepted heating and equipment updates, voted to move meeting time to 5:30 p.m., and voted to enter executive session on an economic-development contract.
The Caribou Water District Board of Trustees on March 11 received operational updates on a Feb. 13 water-main break, equipment procurement and facility repairs, approved routine minutes and financial reports, and later voted to move regular meetings to 5:30 p.m. The board then entered executive session to discuss an economic-development contract.
John, the district manager, described the Lower London Streets main break and credited the operations crew for working through the night. Quoting a crew member, he said they had not left and “we haven't left. We've been here all night long,” and that the district had come “within an hour” of draining its low-service tanks during isolation and repair efforts.
Trustees discussed follow-up repairs and capital work: staff plan to dig up, cut and cap older cast lines this summer to remove unnecessary redundant feeds, tie a small number of houses to the newer line and add automatic pressure-sustaining valves to allow high-service to back-feed low-service during future pressure drops. John said those automatic valves would improve fire flow in outlying areas and reduce the need for manual nighttime valve interventions.
On facilities, the board reviewed heating-system replacement bids (three bidders ranging about $42,000–$50,000), with low bidder Jerry Castoni scheduled to begin demo the following day. Staff also reported that the district's vacuum truck sold at auction for a price comparable with recent sales and that the Route One work over Prestige Stream had been deferred until about 2029.
On routine business the board approved minutes from Feb. 11 and the February financial reports; John said revenue was ahead of forecasts and expenses were below budget targets. During other business a trustee moved and a second supported changing regular meeting times to 5:30 p.m.; the board approved the change.
Near the meeting’s end a trustee read a motion to enter executive session “pursuant to 1 MRS section 4056C” to discuss negotiations on a potential services contract with a neighboring community; the board voted to enter executive session and participants were instructed to mute microphones.
What happens next: staff will schedule the summer work to abandon old cast lines and evaluate automatic valving options, present preliminary bid-opening information and continue to monitor federal grant announcements and the executive-session outcome.
