Because an item on the Camden Select Board agenda has been tabled, this evening's meeting has been cancelled, according to the Town Office. 

"All business scheduled for tonight's meeting will take place at the next regular Select Board meeting on March 18," the Town Office said.

The Camden Select Board will convene Tuesday evening, March 4, for a regularly scheduled meeting with an agenda that includes a police contract, and awarding a $386,052 pedestrian bridge construction job to a Raymond-based company.

The Town of Camden and the Camden Police Benevolent Association (union negotiators for Camden police officers) recently concluded their bargaining agreement for July 1, 2025- June 30, 2028.

The proposed contract, available in full in the Select Board meeting packet, includes:

• Cost of living increase for wages is 5 percent, with an opportunity to negotiate wages again after year one of the agreement;

• Officers working on the 13 municipally designated holiday days are to be paid double-time.

• Increase in education and military stipends.

• Night shift differential increase to $2 per hour from $2 per hour, which the agreement said, "makes less desirable shift more interesting and helps with recruitment of candidates.

• Removal of residency requirements, given the lack of affordable housing in the area.

In Camden, patrol officers earn between $33.58 and $42.90 an hour, depending on how long they have been in the department. Sergeants and detectives earn between $43.93 and $49.88, depending on longevity in the department.

Rawson Avenue Pedestrian Bridge

Camden received seven bids for the construction and installation of the Rawson Avenue pedestrian bridge, according to a memo from Town Manager Audra Caler.

The new bridge, which replaces the old Rawson Avenue vehicular bridge, and which has been closed to traffic since April 17, 2019, will be open to pedestrians and bicyclists only.

The Maine Dept. of Transportation is funding the new bridge, up to $500,000.

It is is funded by a grant from the DOT's locally administered projects program, which requires the low bidder to be selected. The low bid for the project is Starret Landscape Services. The estimate from the town’s engineering firm for the project was $400,000, which is $13,948, more than the low bid, Caler said.