East Millinocket board chairman plans retirement Official has held position for 15 years

EAST MILLINOCKET – John Rouleau has always been interested in town government.

He attended his first town meeting at the age of 12. He remembers looking down from the old wooden balcony at the standing room only crowd that packed the municipal building auditorium.

Some 47 years later, Rouleau is retiring after serving on the Board of Selectmen for more than 20 years. He has held the seat of chairman for the past 15 years.

“I have fully enjoyed serving the town and have enjoyed being a selectman,” Rouleau said. “I’ve tried as hard as I could to keep services in the town and to do a good job on the board.” He thanked all of his supporters.

Rouleau said he has enjoyed working for and with people, but admits being a selectman is a job where you don’t always make a lot of friends. “Every decision you make, there are always a few who are unhappy. Someone, who may appreciate one decision you make this time, may be unhappy with you on the next decision,” he said.

The veteran selectman said the town has seen many changes in recent decades. “More people were living in town when I was first elected than there are now,” he said. “The town is actually smaller.”

He said the town’s population had peaked at about 2,700 in the 1970s, but has dropped to about 1,800, according to the 2000 Census. Rouleau said the challenge in the future will be to address the declining population.

He said the town has seen some successes, such the area communities working closer together. East Millinocket provides the neighboring town of Medway with ambulance and police services.

“It is good to see us trying to work with all of the towns in the area,” he said.

Although East Millinocket did not participate with the other three towns in sharing an assessor/code enforcement officer recently, Rouleau said the effort has opened the door for sharing other services in the future. “I expect in the future with the way the population is going in this area, there will be additional things done among the four communities,” he said. “It has got to come because of costs.”

Rouleau said the three-year spending restrictions in the mid-1990s actually helped the town to gain a healthier financial position. The spending restrictions, which ended in 1998, were part of a settlement to end a multimillion dollar tax dispute with Great Northern Paper Co., the town’s chief employer.

Rouleau said the town has established reserve accounts where it puts money away to cover large equipment purchases so taxpayers aren’t hit with large costs all at once. He said the town’s ambulance service is no longer funded by taxpayers, but is financially self-sufficient.

Reflecting over the past 20 years, Rouleau said his biggest disappointment was the industrial park. “It never really took off like we had hoped,” he said.

Rouleau said, at some point in time, it may be worth considering giving the lots away to attract new business to the area. He said the industrial park offered several amenities to potential businesses, such as three-phase power, municipal water and sewer.

After this week, Rouleau said he will start a new chapter in his life. The retired Great Northern Paper worker and his wife, Patty, plan to travel and spend more time with their four grandchildren.