September 27, 2004
Next: Crossing the town line | Ryan Pelletier, Town manager, St. Agatha
By Michaela Cavallaro
Unlike many of his peers, Ryan Pelletier never considered moving away from Aroostook County. Youth migration is one of the county's biggest problems ˆ more than 40% of 15-to-29-year-olds left Aroostook County in the 1990s, according to a University of Maine report ˆ in large part due to a lack of job opportunities.
While Pelletier is certainly aware of the issue, it's not something that resonates with him personally. The youngest of four children raised in the St. John Valley, Pelletier watched all his siblings find what he describes as "some level of success in their careers" locally. He married a local girl whose entire family also has remained in the area. And, at age 21, while still a student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, he landed his first town manager position, a part-time job in Wallagrass, just south of Fort Kent. He used that position as a stepping stone to the job he holds today, as town manager in St. Agatha, a small town tucked on the edge of Long Lake. With that history, and those opportunities, Pelletier says, "it just didn't make sense for us to leave."
Today, at 27, with large photos of his infant son prominently displayed on his desk, Pelletier is an old hand at running St. Agatha, where he's worked since 1999. By all accounts, he's kept the town operating smoothly, dealing with the inevitable budget discussions at the annual town meeting and handling dozens of smaller issues ˆ ranging from a resident's concern about her property valuation to questions about replacing a particular culvert ˆ as they come up. But Pelletier also has staked out important turf on an issue that is sure to prompt continued discussion in Maine in coming years: regionalization of municipal services. It's a crucial topic for Maine, which has 410 municipal workers for every 10,000 people, compared to 350 municipal employees per 10,000 in Idaho, the closest "peer state" to Maine.
In 2001, Pelletier spearheaded an effort to pull three or four towns together to hire a joint community and economic development director, someone who would apply for state, regional and federal grants on behalf of the towns, as well as assist businesses and act as a liaison between the towns. When coordinating several towns proved to be unwieldy ˆ an important lesson for regionalization proponents ˆ Pelletier backtracked, deciding to work solely with neighboring Frenchville, whose officials he says were "gung-ho" about the idea.
Even then, getting both towns to approve the idea didn't happen overnight. There were logistical details to work out, ranging from which town would provide office space to who would serve as the new hire's supervisor. In addition, Pelletier and his counterpart in Frenchville had to navigate their towns' approval processes, presenting their proposal to each town's board of selectmen, then to their budget committees and finally to town meetings in March 2003, at which residents of St. Agatha and Frenchville approved creation of the new position.
The result, says Pelletier, is a project he hopes can be an example for other towns in Aroostook County. Paul Bernier, a former business owner, started work as regional community development director a year ago; since then, the towns have received more than $120,000 in grants, including $42,000 for new equipment for the St. Agatha fire department and $30,000 for construction of a recreational trail in Frenchville. The grants are a substantial return on the towns' investment, and bring in funds they wouldn't have received otherwise. "It's really been a good, positive experience for us ˆ I think it's opened up our minds as far as future opportunities to work together," Pelletier says. "It's definitely a hard sell, but I'd tell people just to give it a try."
And, as the recently elected vice president of the Maine Municipal Association's board of directors, Pelletier is in a position to spread that message. Chief among his concerns is getting the state to back its philosophical support of regionalization with some cash. "The state needs to continue to have a strong role in incentivizing regionalization. They've got to make it worth people's while," he says. "We asked [for funding for the joint community development position]. We got zero. But we thought it was worth doing anyway."
While Pelletier is certainly aware of the issue, it's not something that resonates with him personally. The youngest of four children raised in the St. John Valley, Pelletier watched all his siblings find what he describes as "some level of success in their careers" locally. He married a local girl whose entire family also has remained in the area. And, at age 21, while still a student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, he landed his first town manager position, a part-time job in Wallagrass, just south of Fort Kent. He used that position as a stepping stone to the job he holds today, as town manager in St. Agatha, a small town tucked on the edge of Long Lake. With that history, and those opportunities, Pelletier says, "it just didn't make sense for us to leave."
Today, at 27, with large photos of his infant son prominently displayed on his desk, Pelletier is an old hand at running St. Agatha, where he's worked since 1999. By all accounts, he's kept the town operating smoothly, dealing with the inevitable budget discussions at the annual town meeting and handling dozens of smaller issues ˆ ranging from a resident's concern about her property valuation to questions about replacing a particular culvert ˆ as they come up. But Pelletier also has staked out important turf on an issue that is sure to prompt continued discussion in Maine in coming years: regionalization of municipal services. It's a crucial topic for Maine, which has 410 municipal workers for every 10,000 people, compared to 350 municipal employees per 10,000 in Idaho, the closest "peer state" to Maine.
In 2001, Pelletier spearheaded an effort to pull three or four towns together to hire a joint community and economic development director, someone who would apply for state, regional and federal grants on behalf of the towns, as well as assist businesses and act as a liaison between the towns. When coordinating several towns proved to be unwieldy ˆ an important lesson for regionalization proponents ˆ Pelletier backtracked, deciding to work solely with neighboring Frenchville, whose officials he says were "gung-ho" about the idea.
Even then, getting both towns to approve the idea didn't happen overnight. There were logistical details to work out, ranging from which town would provide office space to who would serve as the new hire's supervisor. In addition, Pelletier and his counterpart in Frenchville had to navigate their towns' approval processes, presenting their proposal to each town's board of selectmen, then to their budget committees and finally to town meetings in March 2003, at which residents of St. Agatha and Frenchville approved creation of the new position.
The result, says Pelletier, is a project he hopes can be an example for other towns in Aroostook County. Paul Bernier, a former business owner, started work as regional community development director a year ago; since then, the towns have received more than $120,000 in grants, including $42,000 for new equipment for the St. Agatha fire department and $30,000 for construction of a recreational trail in Frenchville. The grants are a substantial return on the towns' investment, and bring in funds they wouldn't have received otherwise. "It's really been a good, positive experience for us ˆ I think it's opened up our minds as far as future opportunities to work together," Pelletier says. "It's definitely a hard sell, but I'd tell people just to give it a try."
And, as the recently elected vice president of the Maine Municipal Association's board of directors, Pelletier is in a position to spread that message. Chief among his concerns is getting the state to back its philosophical support of regionalization with some cash. "The state needs to continue to have a strong role in incentivizing regionalization. They've got to make it worth people's while," he says. "We asked [for funding for the joint community development position]. We got zero. But we thought it was worth doing anyway."
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