Residents challenge Orono's standalone fire department costs; council debate mayor's "Coffee with the Mayor" event grows heated

Several residents used the Sept. 9 Orono City Council meeting's public-comment period to challenge the city's decision to create a standalone fire department and to raise concerns about cost, transparency and staffing. The meeting later featured an extended exchange among council members about a mayor-hosted "Coffee with the Mayor" and whether the events create liability or spread inaccurate information.

James Elder congratulated the promotees but said the city previously received reliable service from Long Lake at a lower cost and argued that regional fire districts are the best practice for fire service delivery. "If you want to have the best fire department ... you need to spend a lot of money to do it," Elder said, then questioned whether Orono's choice to go it alone could be justified on cost grounds.

Sandy Whistler told the council she had requested figures from Chief Van Eyel and quoted numbers she said were in the chief's responses: she said Orono's 2024 fire costs are roughly 2.96 times the 2022 figure and that a preliminary projection for 2025 could be about 3.7 times 2022. Those figures were presented by Whistler as her interpretation of materials she said she obtained; council discussion did not verify those totals during the meeting.

Resident Kelly Grady cited a decline in the volunteer applicant pool and referred to an incident on July 24 she said had a response time of 33 minutes and 27 seconds, asking who would "pick up the slack" if Orono cannot fully staff responses. Grady warned the city could become heavily reliant on mutual aid and said the staffing model described in a city needs assessment requires 15—to—16 firefighters for a structure fire.

In a separate council report, Council member Benson raised three risks from an Aug. 14 "Coffee with the Mayor": inadequate oversight (no staff present when the mayor left), verbal abuse and inaccurate public statements that could increase liability given ongoing litigation with Long Lake. Benson urged that staff attend future coffees, impose guardrails or discontinue the events.

Mayor Denny Walsh strongly rejected Benson's characterization, calling her remarks "probably the most unprofessional diatribe" he had heard, and defended his remarks at the coffee as accurate. The exchange became heated, with interruptions and personal barbs across the dais. Council member Veach later described the tone as disappointing and asked that the council develop better tools for communication and work to reduce distractions from governing.

The council did not take formal disciplinary action at the meeting; public commenters were urged to engage at upcoming forums and reminded of election and forum dates mentioned during public comment.

Because numerical claims about comparative costs and projections were made by members of the public and summarized by council members, those figures are presented here as claims made in the meeting and not as independently verified facts.