CARIBOU, Maine — The future of the Caribou Ecumenical Food pantry is uncertain, as their current facility is experiencing severe roof leaks forcing administrators to frequently close the facility and even turn away residents in need of food.
On March 25, Caribou city councilors voted 5 to 2 in favor of leasing 1,300 square feet of space in the city-owned building at 60 Access Highway to the pantry for $1,300 a year. But the non-profit organization, which currently is located at 86 Sweden Street, also would need to pay an estimated $7,000 to fix the plumbing in addition to any utility costs that go above historic usages each month.
Because they are uncertain whether they can afford to fix the plumbing and bathrooms , pantry officials have not signed the lease as of Friday.
The city bought the 35,000-square-foot building on Access Highway in 2005 for $740,000 using two $350,000 federal grants. The remaining $40,000 was contributed by the Maine Military Authority, an organization that essentially dissolved in 2018.
With the building no longer in use, Councilor High Kirkpatrick recommended that the city attempt to sell the property during a March 11 council meeting, which would require the city paying the U.S. Department of Agriculture back roughly $380,000 for some of the grant funding.
On March 25, councilors voted to move forward and authorize the city manager to contact the USDA and inform the agency that the city intends to sell the building, at which point the USDA will dictate the necessary steps to city officials regarding how to determine the actual market value, which is at this point not clear to any city officials.
City Manager Dennis Marker said that while the assessed value is roughly $800,000, the market value is likely to be far less as the building has issues with its roof, heating, and plumbing systems.
Councilor Thomas Ayer asked whether the city currently has a market value estimate, adding that for all officials know, it “could be $400,000 or $500,000.”
“It could be $10 million if we’re throwing numbers out,” Marker joked. “I’m sure USDA would have a professional walk through the building and realtors come out to offer an appraisal, but at this point we don’t know.”
With that item passed, councilors discussed leasing the facility to the Caribou Ecumenical Food Pantry, which is currently experiencing issues with its Sweden Street building.
“Now that you’ve directed me to try and sell the building,” Marker said. “We’ve been approached by the Caribou Ecunemical Food Pantry. Basically they would like to rent the space, and the proposed rent would be basically a dollar per square foot each year.”
He added that the agreement contains a provision that the city can terminate the agreement with a 45 day notice and that the tenant can do so with a 30 day notice.
One aspect of the agreement that sparked debate amongst councilors is that the tenant would be responsible for any repairs or damage while occupying the space.
“If something happens to the heating or plumbing system, they would be responsible?” asked Councilor Joan Theriault.
Gary Aiken, who spoke on behalf of the food pantry, said there “is no heating system for the building.”
Theriault said she could understand if someone “puts their fist through a window,” they should be responsible for fixing it, but not if the windows or ceiling begin to deteriorate.
“In an apartment building, if something starts to fall apart, the owner is supposed to fix it,” said Theriault, “unless the person renting did something to cause it. If the ceiling falls down, it’s no fault of the pantry.”
Marker said this provision was added to the agreement because the rent charged by the city is offered at a reduced rate.
“If we were charging a higher, typical market rent we would take on that burden,” he said, “but where this is in a sense a subsidized rent, they have that responsibility.”
Theriault suggested foregoing the rent for the pantry altogether since the organization would still be responsible for utilities, maintenance, and repairs, and because they are a non-profit organization providing a need for the community.
Marker said a provision could be added to the agreement where, for example, if volunteers at the food pantry renovated the bathroom, the rent could be lowered, so the city is getting something in return for the lowered cost.
Councilor David Martin asked Aiken if he plans on doing any renovations in the building.
Aiken said he believes most of the electrical issues have been resolved.
“For me, the right decision is to not charge the food pantry because of who they are,” he said, indicating that the organization servers about 1,100 families per year, including several senior citizens. “The space is not currently being used, and the food pantry understands that if you sell the building they’re going to have to get out.”
In the long-term, he said the food pantry plans on placing an addition onto the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen so both organizations are located in the same building.
Martin motioned to offer the space to the food pantry at no cost and “if they want to put money into it, so much the better.”
Goughan said he planned to vote against this motion, as the building has an estimated $350,000 worth of repairs and only $91,000 in a reserve account.
“If we rent out free space to one good, worthy cause,” he said, “what other worthy cause is going to come along and ask for more space. I will be making this point at future meetings that a dollar per square foot is the rate we should give non-profits and good, charitable organizations. It’s those profit rentals that aren’t nearly high enough, because this is a tax burden on the City of Caribou.”
Councilor Jody Smith added that if the city is going to charge rent, then they should ensure that the bathrooms are operational and eventually plan to make the necessary repairs to the facility.
Ayer asked Aiken how much time he needs to find a solution to his current problem, and Aiken said he would ideally like to have another space by the weekend. He said his wife visited the pantry “at least six times” last weekend to dump leaking water coming through the roof.
City Clerk Jayne Farrin added that clients have reported to her that they were not able to get service because of these issues.
The motion to offer the space rent-free ultimately failed, with only councilors Martin and Theriault in favor. A new motion was then made to rent the building for a dollar per square foot.
Kirkpatrick asked if the motion could be amended so the city could make renovations to the bathroom in the facility.
“I’m willing to help out,” said Goughan, “but we’ve got to go forward and see how it plays out. There are [lease termination] options here for 30 days and 45 days down the road. Let’s just see how it plays out.”
Five out of the seven councilors voted in favor of accepting the agreement as is, after which they discussed the possibility of seeking quotes for a solution to plumbing issues in the facility.
Aiken said on Friday that even if the city gets a quote, the pantry would still need to fund the repairs. And with the condition of both the pantry’s current location and the 60 Access Highway building, Aiken said the future is uncertain.
“We didn’t realize we were going to have to pay to fix the bathrooms,” Aiken said.
Because of this, he said the pantry had to cancel plans with Roger Felix of Loring Job Corps and student volunteers who had agreed to help the pantry move into the new space.
“We were going to move in there this weekend,” Aiken said on Friday, “We had the truck lined up and everything, but we had to call the whole thing off.”
In the short term, he said the pantry may be able to get along without the plumbing, but a plan to fix the bathrooms would need to be in place.
“The food pantry just doesn’t have the money to fix the bathrooms,” he said, “so we can’t move in there. The lease says we are responsible for any needed repairs, and we just don’t have the money to do that.”
Editor’s note: This version corrects an earlier one that said the Bread of Life Kitchen was experiencing plumbing issues and a leaking roof. The roof is not leaking and the Bread of Life Kitchen recently installed new plumbing, a new sewer main, new restrooms and LED lights, and renovated the kitchen. We apologize for the error.
