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Since September, approximately 30 bikes have been rescued from perilous perches on campus, costing University of Maine Facilities Management approximately $3,000 in removal fees.
Though the concentration of incidents was highest toward the end of November, similar occurrences have happened intermittently throughout the semester.
According to Sgt. Bob Norman of the UMaine Police Department, “a cluster” of bikes in high places plagued Facilities Management during the weekends of Nov. 20 and 27.
One weekend, miscreants hung “three or four” bikes off of Fogler Library’s wrought-iron balcony facing the mall. Just after that, another was spotted on an Oak Hall awning.
The weekend before, a tree near Gannett Hall was targeted, among other places.
Associate Executive Director of Facilities Management Geremy Chubbuck said the library exploit was exceptionally daring, though he has no idea how it happened.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I’m guessing they climb the side of the building to get up there. Of course, nobody knows,” he said.
The average off-hour callback, Chubbuck said, costs approximately $189 because of a three-hour minimum paid for on-call workers from the UMaine Grounds Shop. Assignments during regular business hours cost substantially less, he said.
The Oak Hall incident happened the same night and was discovered just after the Fogler misdeed.
“You can’t leave that, so that’s a whole other $189 I have to pay,” he said. “The university just incurred almost 400 bucks out of somebody’s foolishness. That’s getting to be real money.”
When calls to retrieve bikes come in, he said, two workers are usually called in because of the risky nature of retrieving bikes from high places. In the Gannett Hall incident, the height of the velocipede demanded a private roofing contractor be hired to bring in a mobile crane.
“I don’t even know how the hell they got [the bike] up there,” Chubbuck said. “We didn’t even have a ladder that reached that high.”
He said there were only two or three such incidents total last year and said he believes multiple people have participated in the recent rash of mischief, calling it a potential copycat situation.
“With these budget times, we’re watching every single penny very closely. This is totally unwanted vandalism that we just plain can’t afford,” Chubbuck said. “Let’s find something that’s fun to do — just make sure I don’t have to pay for it.”
Chubbuck said Facilities Management is working closely with UMPD, who are currently investigating the string of crimes as criminal mischief.
“Unfortunately, we have no idea about how many people are involved in that or exactly the motive behind it,” Norman said. “We have increased patrols in the area — random patrols — and I will say we have some extra eyes and ears out.”
Norman said assessing restitution for crimes that cost the university is a common practice for UMPD in instances when damage can be assigned to an apprehended person.
He also said UMPD is asking for help from the UMaine community in solving the case. If you have any tips, call UMPD at 581-4040.
Bangor Daily News