MEXICO – Selectmen, town officials and business leaders from the area met at Dirigo High School on Monday night for the River Valley Municipal Summit.
The summit, which was sponsored by the River Valley Chamber of Commerce and the River Valley Growth Council, gave participants a chance to discuss ways to increase cooperation between the 10 towns served by the chamber and council.
“This is not about regionalization, although regionalization sometimes piggybacks on top of it,” said chamber Chairman Rosie Bradley. “It’s about sharing information, communicating and helping each other.”
Early in the meeting Bradley gave an overview of ways that towns already work together, including emergency services, sewage treatment, and recycling programs. She then asked for suggestions as to what else should be done.
A number of people expressed concerns that taxes at the town and state level were too high and agreed that several towns working together might have a greater influence on state tax policy.
Town representatives were particularly unhappy about expensive state mandates that go unfunded by Augusta. It was suggested that more communication with legislators, perhaps through lobbying, might reduce mandates that eventually add to the local tax burden. “One town is nothing, but with 10 towns maybe they will listen to us,” said Monique Aniel, a selectman from Mexico.
Economic growth and the need for an economic environment that will allow local youth to stay in the area were also mentioned as key concerns. Several people at the meeting said they knew river valley natives who had to move to other states to find work.
Officials from Rumford and the chamber stressed the economic connection of towns in the area, and said that working for the benefit of one town will lead to benefits for other towns.
Bradley announced that there would be a second meeting in late June to formalize plans on how to tackle some of these issues. She said officials from the local school districts would be invited, and that at future meetings she hoped to invite state legislators, government and community service representatives, and the public.
“This is just the first step,” Bradley said. “I’m hoping we can do this quarterly, and it will get bigger and bigger and we’ll invite more and more people.”
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