WATERVILLE — Interim City Manager Cornell Knight reviewed the City Council’s 2025 goals Tuesday at its final meeting of the year.
“These goals are effectively the same every year, falling in four or five broad types,” Councilor Thomas Klepach, D-Ward 3, said.
The categories include income inequality, the housing crisis, tax policy and infrastructure and public works.
The council divided 16 major goals into four categories: assessment and learning, community improvement, capacity building and communication.
This year, major efforts focused on a housing study and rent control discussions.
All work this year was affected by the Trump administration’s federal funding and Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, cuts.
“These changes created a lot of uncertainty going into budget season,” Klepach said.
At the same time, Klepach said Northern Light Inland Hospital announced it would close. The decision shifted the council’s focus to paramedicine and emergency medicine programs, which are expected to remain priorities in the years ahead.
Waterville hopes its paramedicine program will become a model for Maine and other rural communities.
Along with these disruptions, instability in the city manager’s role has made it difficult to complete goals.
Knight has “done a fantastic job,” Klepach said, “but we’ve had six different city managers in the five years I’ve been on the council, and that makes long‑term planning difficult.”
Another major issue is limited capacity. The city needs a larger staff to manage its growth.
“The number one goal for next year needs to be setting up the city manager for success,” Klepach said. “Everything else is predicated on making sure Nick Cloutier is set up with all the resources he needs to actually get things done.”
Cloutier signed a contract in November to become the city manager in Waterville.
Cloutier, 41, now serves as Scarborough’s town assessor and director of special projects. He is scheduled to begin his new role at Waterville City Hall on Jan. 5.
With greater stability in the city manager’s role, the goal is stronger oversight of all aspects of administration, particularly grant writing and updates.
Last year’s turmoil brought budget cuts, but Klepach said he hopes reviewing the budget in the new year will help “switch out of austerity mode into maintenance mode.”
The council is expected to set its 2026 goals in early January and ratify them later that month.
