Disclaimer: The views I express here are my own and should NOT be construed as speaking for the City of Bangor or the City Council of Bangor.
Click here to read the meeting agenda.
Engineering: One Inspector, Big Consequences
The Engineering Director led off, walking council through the department’s FY27 proposed budget. The headline ask: hire a second construction inspector.
Right now the department has one inspector — a 35-year veteran who could retire tomorrow. Two others retired or moved on in recent years and their positions were simply eliminated, which the Director said has cost the city more than it saved. Without in-house inspectors, the city pays a premium to outside firms, and office staff — including the Director himself — end up in the field during construction season instead of doing capital planning and design work. The message was that the city is paying either way, just paying more without the position.
Also on the Engineering ask list: repointing the exterior of City Hall (the recent renovation only covered two of four sides, leaving the building vulnerable to water penetration), sidewalk projects on Ohio Street and Kenduskeag Avenue through the BACTS federal grant program, and a long-overdue renovation of the engineering office itself, which still has asbestos floor tiles.
Stormwater: Fee Unchanged Since 2014, But That’s Coming
Stormwater — funded through a utility fee that hasn’t been touched since it was established over a decade ago — is eyeing a rate increase. The Director told council to expect a formal proposal in FY28, and at least one councilor used it as an opportunity to flag that several other city fees are similarly overdue for review given inflation.
Key capital projects this year include culvert replacement on Essex Street and drainage separation work on Smith Street and in the Meadowbrook area, the latter tied to the EPA consent decree Bangor is still working through.
Fire: The Numbers Don’t Lie
The Fire Chief delivered the most talked-about portion of the night. Bangor’s fire department is running nearly 11,000 calls a year with three ambulances — and per-truck, that’s 18% more calls than Portland runs with six. The chief was blunt: the department crossed an acceptable threshold some time ago, fatigue is a real safety risk, and the solution is eight additional firefighter-paramedics to fully staff a permanent fourth ambulance around the clock.
The city manager’s proposed budget includes four of those eight positions. The chief was direct that four is a partial fix, not a real one. At least two councilors publicly backed the full eight, with one stating flatly they wouldn’t vote for a budget that didn’t include it. The Chief’s underlying message resonated: crews are grinding through overnight call runs without adequate time to eat, decompress, or fully care for each patient. He’s already told staff to slow down — but that means calls stack and mutual aid gets called more often, which has its own political and practical costs.
Other fire department asks include a dedicated training officer position (previously cut, now requested back at around $137,000 with benefits), climate control upgrades for Stations 5 and 6 on Hogan Road and out by the airport, and replacement of aging supervisor vehicles including a 2015 Suburban and a 2011 Tahoe that are well past their service life.
On the positive side: the department is at 86 of 95 positions filled — the highest level in years — and has launched mandatory annual mental health check-ins for every member, a move that drew genuine appreciation from council.
Emergency Management: A Quiet Crisis
Tucked into the fire department discussion was a frank conversation about emergency preparedness. The Chief currently wears two hats — Fire Chief and de facto Emergency Manager — and acknowledged he’s doing the bare minimum to maintain compliance, with known gaps. Bangor doesn’t have an updated municipal emergency operations plan, and every councilor in the room should have completed G402 incident command training but hasn’t. (It hasn’t been offered.)
The city manager signaled that conversations with Penobscot County are underway about a potential shared or collaborative emergency management role, rather than Bangor going it alone. Several councilors found the Hurricane Katrina reference sobering — the point being that the breakdown in major disasters often happens at the local level, before requests even reach the county or state.
What’s Next
Council didn’t vote on anything Tuesday — this is still the workshop phase. Budget decisions will come in the weeks ahead.
