By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES— In an apparent effort to please the people, the Naples Select Board voted unanimously to bow out of the shared Animal Control Officer (ACO) pact with the towns of Casco and Raymond. The board voted, 5-0, to withdraw from the ACO agreement to be effective July 1, 2025.

About six weeks ago, voters at the Naples Annual Town Meeting rejected the ACO budget.

On Monday night — just as the chairman suggested the meeting be adjourned, the board went in an entirely different direction.

Vice-chair Colin Brackett made a motion to “opt out of our ACO agreement with Casco and Raymond” purely for the objective of talking about the topic. 

Naples Town Manager Jason Rogers did have a take on the topic. A better solution is something that had been brewing since the budget process earlier this year, he said. 

Rogers referred to citizens voting down the ACO budget.

“This is an indication that residents don’t feel like they are getting what they are paying for in an ACO. That is mainly attributed to that is a lot of real estate for one person to cover. The hours that residents are wanting for that service don’t coincide with all that real estate and one person,” Rogers said. “My thought is: If we limit it to one town, we look at the budget and see what that can support — part time with on-call. So, we keep budget the same. We see what a vehicle would cost. The vehicle would travel a lot less distance, just around Naples and to animal shelter now and then.”

The requirement of the contract is notifying other towns of intent to withdraw at least 180 days (six months) prior to the end of the fiscal year, he said.

“I have already spoken to the town manager in Casco, letting him know that this is something the select board wants,” he said.

In Casco, the ACO budget passed by one vote.

“If we tee it up now, we can give thought to it prior to the budget season and give 180-day notice to Casco and Raymond that we want to withdraw,” he said.

Chairman Ted Shane had a good lead for an ACO vehicles.

“Along that line, if there is going to be some Cumberland County [Sheriff’s Office] cruisers that are available to municipalities first before they go to auction. I would recommend you jump on it for this purpose,” Shane said.