[5:48] our meeting to order and ask you to join

[5:50] me in the pledge of allegiance. I can

[5:52] get through this wire.

[5:56] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[5:59] United States of America and to the

[6:01] republic for which it stands, one nation

[6:04] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[6:07] justice for all. Thank you.

[6:21] public forum

[6:23] commissioner updates.

[6:27] Any we want to probably start with any

[6:30] comment from the public because we have

[6:32] some public members here. Do we have we

[6:34] have someone from the public? Did you

[6:37] want to come up? Step right up. Can you

[6:41] show us if you'd like to drink? Yeah.

[6:44] I won't bite. I promise. Or maybe we can

[6:46] slide one of these around.

[6:50] Here

[6:53] I Good morning. Good morning, gentlemen.

[6:56] I'm Deb Elliot and I hail from our

[6:58] beautiful little town of Breeman.

[7:01] Um, uh, Robert Bob Conland is with me

[7:05] here. Um, and I live in West Cassid.

[7:08] friend of dips. That's right. And um

[7:11] we're here to just ask and and Would you

[7:14] speak up, please? Yes, sir. We're here

[7:16] to just ask about

[7:20] um working with the federal agents and

[7:23] ICE on immigration. That is our that is

[7:25] our concern today is immigration and the

[7:28] policies. Um, I did talk to Carrie and

[7:30] so I have the lowdown, but I wanted to

[7:32] be here in person, uh, face to face and

[7:35] so, you know, you can say anything you

[7:37] want on the phone or whatever, but

[7:39] FaceTime, you know, is is important to

[7:42] me. So, um I um I understand the

[7:46] sheriff's department is not um on as

[7:50] their normal duty going and picking up

[7:54] immigrants, but I'm concerned that it

[7:58] might be in the

[8:00] future.

[8:02] Um so that's that's why I'm here. And I

[8:06] know uh Robert has a few questions as

[8:09] well.

[8:10] Yeah. Um, I just wanted to add on to

[8:13] that just I think you know we were

[8:15] asking more or less about the difference

[8:17] between um will the uh Ling County

[8:20] Sheriff's Office for example honored

[8:23] administrative warrant from ICE or will

[8:25] it be judicial warrant that stuff we're

[8:28] recording

[8:29] so that's so I I wanted to we wanted to

[8:32] just kind of differentiate you know what

[8:34] if there if there is written policy by

[8:36] the county um and who writes the policy

[8:39] who decides the policy is it the

[8:41] sheriff's office? Is it the county

[8:43] administration? And then uh and then

[8:46] will there be uh a distinction between

[8:50] honoring a judicial warrant or an

[8:52] administrative warrant from ICE uh in

[8:54] regards to

[8:55] detaining individuals. That was one that

[8:58] was a followup on Debs. The other thing

[9:00] that I wanted to ask in the bigger

[9:02] picture was uh you know we're down on

[9:04] the bridge here in Wisconsin and often

[9:07] times in Newcastle ter peacefully

[9:10] protesting as as everybody knows we're

[9:12] entitled to do.

[9:15] Um and there was an executive order

[9:18] signed by the president on April 28th

[9:20] about uh using having the military be uh

[9:22] available to assist local law

[9:25] enforcement. Um that was on April 28th.

[9:28] uh and and it could be enacted in 90

[9:30] days. So by July 28th of this year, uh

[9:34] that could be a you know that could be a possib that could be a a real thing

[9:38] happening here in this county. And it it

[9:42] you know, this is my reading on it is it feels like a a very intimidating

[9:46] thing for people uh who are standing out

[9:48] on the bridge peacefully protesting that

[9:50] to think that the military might be

[9:52] available to be up there to quell

[9:54] something like a peaceful demonstration.

[9:57] Um, we want to know what the local law

[10:00] enforcement here in this county will do uh to serve and protect

[10:05] us on the bridge and

[10:08] elsewhere. Um, and and whether there's

[10:11] going to be any policy

[10:15] um for that. I'm getting a little shaky

[10:18] just talking about it because this is

[10:20] America. We shouldn't have to ask these

[10:21] questions, but we are because we have

[10:23] to.

[10:24] So, that's it. in this this audience.

[10:27] Yep.

[10:30] You're smiling, sir. Well, I was just

[10:32] thinking of many many years ago when I

[10:35] was in the

[10:36] military, we had no authority with

[10:39] civilians. Yeah. Right. So, and I

[10:43] suspect suspect that it may still hold

[10:47] true. Just because someone does it

[10:50] doesn't makes a writes his name on a

[10:52] paper. It doesn't necessarily make it

[10:54] law. Well, it's not someone though. It's

[10:56] the president of the United States. He

[10:58] is a citizen. Well, he's not acting like

[11:01] one. Well, I we won't Let's not debate

[11:03] that. So, I know we we'll stay out of

[11:05] the politics, but I I think uh a lot of

[11:08] these executive orders are so far in the

[11:10] reading of a lot of people who have

[11:13] legal background that I don't have are

[11:14] unlawful, but they're still being

[11:16] enacted.

[11:17] So this

[11:19] one and and by the way, it also that

[11:21] same executive order also it promises any law enforcement who who

[11:28] are sued for any actions they that take

[11:30] place as a result of

[11:31] that. Maybe you know hitting somebody

[11:34] when they're not supposed to, for

[11:35] example. um that they'll have proono

[11:37] legal legal help, legal assistance

[11:40] proono from the government, which is

[11:43] sort of a dog whistle to say, "Hey, if

[11:45] you want to beat up some protesters, go

[11:46] ahead cuz we'll we'll we'll pay for it."

[11:49] That's in the executive order. That's

[11:51] written for a

[11:52] reason. That's why we're

[11:54] here. So, I don't believe that will

[11:57] happen here. I have big faith in our

[12:01] sheriff's department, in our in our town

[12:03] departments, uh, police departments, and

[12:07] um, but still that holds true that it

[12:10] Yeah. could happen. And we're here to

[12:13] try to possibly prevent something like

[12:16] that. We're here to speak about um our

[12:20] cons our concerns. you know, we are

[12:23] concerned, you know, uh because there's

[12:25] some some bad players that um could

[12:29] infiltrate our peaceful protest and

[12:31] cause a whole bunch

[12:33] of shenanigans going on. And

[12:37] um we don't want our peaceful protest to

[12:42] be knocked down so that we can't have

[12:45] them. Um, and so if if there's any kind

[12:48] of violence, even if somebody else

[12:49] instigates it against one of us or, you

[12:53] know, even one of us against the gate,

[12:55] who knows, right? We're not going to do

[12:56] that, but you never know. People are

[12:58] people, right? So that would shut down

[13:02] our peaceful protests. And um I I know

[13:07] it's Damar Dammerscotta Police

[13:09] Department that would possibly um come

[13:13] through on our bridge. to go through the

[13:16] Reny's parking lot because we did have

[13:18] one of our protesters um accosted in the

[13:21] Reny's parking lot when he was leaving.

[13:23] He had a flag um and a gentleman came

[13:27] out and started just screaming at him

[13:29] right in his face about you know blah blah blah blah blah right it was

[13:34] against what we're doing and um I mean

[13:38] it didn't get violent but it makes me

[13:42] you know the more

[13:44] afraid they are the more afraid they are

[13:47] and fear can cause um really bad actions

[13:53] And so, um, that's what we're we want to

[13:56] be able to protect ourselves. We want to

[13:58] be able to stand out there and say,

[13:59] "Hey, you know, we're here, you know,

[14:02] save our libraries." None of us have any

[14:06] FTD, right? Um, FDT, whatever, um,

[14:11] signs. None of us. It's save the food

[14:14] pantries, is save the libraries, save

[14:17] the post offices.

[14:19] You know, I'm in little old Breamman old

[14:22] 800 people and we have a little tiny

[14:24] post office and um if it ends up I'm a

[14:29] treasurer secretary of my little HOA so

[14:31] I have to go to the post office box all

[14:33] the time and pick up checks and dues and

[14:35] bills and such. So if they end up

[14:37] shutting that down then now I have to go

[14:40] to Dammerscotta or Waldboroough for my

[14:43] mail. And um you our gentleman that's a

[14:46] postmaster Lance he is a veteran

[14:49] disabled veteran and he's the postmaster

[14:52] and if that closes down all of a sudden

[14:55] he loses his job. So anyway I'm sorry I

[15:00] digress. But what I'm trying to say is we're not out there screaming at

[15:04] people. We're we're unified. I don't

[15:07] know if you've come through and seen us.

[15:09] You probably have. Um we're smiling and

[15:12] waving. We're

[15:14] joyful, you

[15:16] know. We just want to make sure

[15:19] everybody knows, you know, the the

[15:21] things that are going on in our

[15:22] community, you know, that's that's what

[15:25] we're, you know, food security, you

[15:28] know, all these things that

[15:30] taking money, federal money away from

[15:33] the poorest people. And we have a lot of

[15:36] poor people, right? Um, in in Breamman,

[15:40] there's a lot of older ladies that have

[15:42] never worked and they're widows and

[15:45] they're sitting in their houses that are

[15:46] falling in around them and they're

[15:49] living on 800 bucks a month, social

[15:51] security, you know, um, how are they

[15:54] going to live if any of that's taken

[15:57] away, you know, and u main care if

[16:00] that's taken away, what about all the I

[16:04] think 70% I believe or 60% of the folks

[16:07] that are in assisted living homes uh are

[16:10] on main care and

[16:12] um if they take that away, where where

[16:16] are they going to

[16:17] go? Are their kids ready to take them in

[16:20] and take care of

[16:21] them?

[16:23] Um these are just the community

[16:25] concerns, okay? We're not trying to take

[16:29] over anything like that. We're just

[16:31] trying to get out there and show, you

[16:33] know, that we're there and we stand for

[16:36] everybody no matter what side of the

[16:38] fence yarn they're on, you know.

[16:42] So anyway, it's just and and and you

[16:45] know, we just wonder if um you know,

[16:49] it'd be possible um to just cruise by

[16:52] our protests, cruise through the Reny's

[16:54] parking lot. You know what I mean? a

[16:56] couple times. We're on the bridge um on

[16:59] Wednesdays 11 to noon. We're only out

[17:01] there 1 hour. So it, you know, I

[17:05] probably need to talk to the

[17:06] Dammerscotta Police Department about

[17:08] that.

[17:09] But just a simple cruise through so that

[17:12] everybody knows there's there's

[17:15] somebody, you know, um our public

[17:18] servants, um looking out for us and just

[17:21] having a presence, you know, it's like

[17:23] having having a police car on the side

[17:25] of the road in a driveway and everybody

[17:27] slows down. Oh You know, um it's

[17:30] just that presence, right, that does

[17:32] that.

[17:33] So, I'm sorry going on so much. I'm just

[17:36] so passionate about this stuff and I'm concerned for us, for our people,

[17:42] for the poorest of the poor.

[17:45] We haven't had any any u request from

[17:49] ICE for any change and there would be

[17:52] some discussion if that came up, I'm

[17:55] sure. And what you folks are doing is

[17:58] the American way of of being going out

[18:01] and the ability to go out and to to show

[18:04] your feelings protesting or supporting

[18:07] whatever

[18:09] position. We should have continue as the

[18:12] American way for doing that. Yeah. So we

[18:16] appreciate you coming in and it's

[18:18] important that people be able to express

[18:20] themselves. Yeah. I I just wanted to add

[18:22] before I before we leave that I

[18:24] personally like Deb also believe that

[18:27] you know our local law enforcement is

[18:29] you know they're a great bunch of

[18:31] people. So it's not that it's not that I

[18:33] have any fear that anybody in this local

[18:35] law law enforcement is going to do

[18:37] anything that they shouldn't be doing.

[18:39] Um I think they do serve and protect the

[18:40] community. I just think that uh if

[18:44] there's pressure from

[18:46] above, you know, asking or demanding or

[18:49] whatever that something be done, um that

[18:52] you know, maybe there should be some

[18:53] policy. Maybe the the people in the

[18:55] community ought to know how, you know,

[18:58] our local law enforcement is going to

[18:59] respond to that kind of pressure if it

[19:01] comes down the pike. And that executive

[19:04] order that I talked about, I think is

[19:05] designed

[19:06] to, you know, scare people like us from going out on the street. Um, you

[19:13] can only read it that way. Like you can,

[19:15] you know, it's out there for a reason.

[19:17] It was signed for a reason. It was

[19:19] written for a reason. It was written the

[19:21] way it was for a reason. And uh, and so

[19:24] it's coming July 29th. We, you know, so

[19:27] we, you know, I think everybody should

[19:29] at least be aware of it. Yeah. and to

[19:31] know that we're all out there for the

[19:33] right reasons. We're not advocating the

[19:36] overthrow of the government. We're just

[19:38] like Deb said, we're out there for the

[19:40] right reasons. Well, thank you for

[19:41] everybody. Thank you for coming in. I I

[19:43] think you're responding as citizens are

[19:46] able to and historically have have been

[19:49] able to. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

[19:52] so much for taking the time to hear us out and for your uh genuine

[19:57] concern. We seriously appreciate that,

[20:00] sir. So, we're going to step out, make

[20:02] room for other seats, and uh we'll hang

[20:05] out in the hall for a few. Thank you.

[20:07] for coming. Appreciate it.

[20:09] Yeah.

[20:20] Well, the minutes of the meeting of is

[20:23] there anyone else who wanted to speak? I

[20:24] don't want to.

[20:26] Do we want to do a quick the quick

[20:27] updates portion?

[20:29] We have uh the minutes of the April 15th

[20:32] meeting. Bill, I think u Evan has an

[20:35] update.

[20:36] Oh, you do. I'm sorry. We added in

[20:38] commissioner updates. Well, I sort of

[20:40] backed him up to the Oh, gotcha. public

[20:43] first. So, well, anyway, I'll give a

[20:45] quick rundown of what I've been working

[20:47] on. Um, so I'm the county rep for the

[20:50] Coastal County's workforce board.

[20:52] There's three workforce boards in the

[20:53] state and the Coastal County's workforce

[20:56] board um has three county commissioners

[20:58] from each of the excuse me, six county

[21:01] commissioners on their board of

[21:02] directors. Um been attending those

[21:05] meetings and previous to my involvement

[21:08] we had one business on the business

[21:10] board of the meeting which was

[21:12] Transworld Business Adviserss which I

[21:13] believe is some sort of franchise group.

[21:16] Um myself and Alex Zaparo went to their

[21:19] business meeting and we invited the HR

[21:22] director from Big Low Labs who is now

[21:24] going to join as one of the business

[21:26] reps on the Coastal County's workforce

[21:28] board. So that's good. We're getting

[21:29] more Lincoln County representation

[21:32] there. And then sitting on

[21:35] the regional planning commission board

[21:37] of directors, we've gotten two new reps

[21:40] from Dresden. We previously had none at

[21:42] the beginning of this year and looks

[21:43] like next week we'll have one from

[21:45] Edgecom. So we've got four or five towns

[21:47] with no representation yet, but

[21:49] hopefully we'll in the coming months

[21:51] have all the slots filled or at least

[21:53] one slot from each town filled. So those

[21:56] are my updates. Evan, what's CCWI?

[22:00] Yeah. Yeah, that's so Coastal County's

[22:02] Workforce Board is the board of

[22:03] directors and then Coastal County's

[22:04] Workforce Incorporated is how they

[22:07] operate for the rest of their grant

[22:09] stuff. So they've got a business section

[22:11] and then they've got a legal section and

[22:13] we have one representative on we have

[22:15] one representative for the work for the

[22:18] CEO board. Okay. So York, Cumberland,

[22:21] Sag Hawk, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo.

[22:23] That's what makes up that board. So they

[22:25] deal with a lot of grants from the

[22:26] federal department of labor and that's

[22:29] their programming. And you meet once a

[22:32] month with them or every other every

[22:34] other month. Thanks. and and and we

[22:37] determine that as opposed to there's

[22:39] been struggles in the past for the state

[22:41] to handle to take over the money. Yep.

[22:45] Correct.

[22:48] Okay. Anything anyone else? Well, I can

[22:50] just tell you I serve as your

[22:52] representative on the MCCA board, the

[22:56] county commissioners association, and uh

[22:59] um the biggest thing that I've been

[23:01] involved with them is they're relooking

[23:03] at their bylaws to make sure it's

[23:05] modernized um to uh the way we're

[23:08] functioning nowadays. The MCCA also has

[23:12] in a um legislative committee and I know

[23:17] they've been reviewing a lot of bills

[23:18] and there was a call to action today on

[23:21] one bill. Um I didn't focus on that yet

[23:25] to see what the issue was, but there's

[23:28] that out there. Um so um that's about it

[23:31] for that.

[23:33] Cool.

[23:37] not wanting to leave anyone else out in

[23:40] the universe. Is there anyone else? No,

[23:43] I I think those are commissioner

[23:44] updates. So, that just leaves you. So,

[23:46] if you had anything to update, right? I

[23:48] don't have anything more to say. Okay,

[23:50] great. Then, now we'd like to have the

[23:52] minutes approved. Move to approve the

[23:55] minutes of April 15th. Second. Any

[23:58] discussion? All in favor? I. Three to

[24:01] zero in favor. Thank you.

[24:04] Well, now we're getting now in finance.

[24:06] Good morning. Before you have VP warrant

[24:08] number 51 in the sum of

[24:12] $23,8125. Um the largest portion of this

[24:16] was our monthly um health insurance bill

[24:20] for May. Uh we also had some other u

[24:24] routine monthly maintenance bills for

[24:26] our cruisers.

[24:28] uh installation of equipment for a

[24:30] cruiser and our case management uh

[24:33] services with main pre-trial. So the

[24:35] hillside was more than one vehicle.

[24:38] Correct. It's it's two months worth of

[24:40] vehicle maintenance is what that is. So

[24:43] we have a program where they go there

[24:44] monthly to be checked out or something.

[24:46] Correct. They go when needed. Yeah. When

[24:49] needed. Yeah. Okay.

[24:53] Do we want to take these as a package or

[24:55] individually? Let's take one at a time.

[24:57] I move we approve accounts payable

[24:58] warrant number 51.

[25:01] Second. Moved and seconded. Any other

[25:03] questions? All in favor? I. Three to

[25:06] zero in favor. Move to approve accounts

[25:08] payable warrant number 53.

[25:12] Second. Well, would you like to explain

[25:15] it?

[25:17] Uh, well, it's $221,82.69.

[25:21] Uh

[25:23] $21,736 of this is for the monthly jail

[25:26] assessment. Um so 90% of this went to

[25:29] the jail for their operations. That was

[25:32] mainly is the SAGE hawk contribution

[25:35] similar

[25:37] or how how is that assessment? Slightly

[25:40] higher. Slightly higher. And is it uh

[25:42] done by jail count or what is it? How is

[25:45] that determined? So our number is based

[25:48] on the tax cap that was in statute prior

[25:50] to the last revision. Okay. So our cap

[25:53] was at $2.4 million. We divide it by 12.

[25:56] We send them a payment monthly. Okay.

[26:01] Any other questions? All in favor? I I

[26:04] three to zero in favor. Now the final

[26:06] one. Um now we're moving on to payroll.

[26:10] Yes.

[26:11] uh before use payroll number eight in

[26:13] the sum of

[26:16] $285,9854. Um this payroll is slightly

[26:19] higher than typical because we had the

[26:21] uh payouts for the retirement of Bobby

[26:23] Robinson uh a 39y year 39 years 39year

[26:29] dispatcher earned every penny. Amen.

[26:34] Okay, that's it primarily for that one.

[26:37] Was there a motion? Move to approve

[26:39] payroll warrant 2025-8.

[26:42] Second. All in favor? I I. Three to zero

[26:46] in favor.

[26:48] Uh payroll number nine for the year in

[26:50] the sum of

[26:54] $277,697.36. Uh pretty typical payroll.

[26:56] We're seeing an increase in overtime. Uh

[26:59] that's as the influx of um visitors

[27:03] increases, call volumes increase. Um

[27:06] many of our staff are starting to take

[27:07] time off as the weather gets nicer, so

[27:09] we're having to do field shifts. Um so

[27:13] as you can see here, this is the first

[27:14] time that we have uh gone over a 112th

[27:18] budget or 126 budget for an overtime

[27:22] figure. Um that's mainly driven by the

[27:25] comm center overtime.

[27:28] uh right now when you break down

[27:30] personnel as a whole within that

[27:32] department it is 6 and a half% under the

[27:35] expectations. So it's not a huge concern

[27:39] right now but based on the current

[27:42] consumption it will be a problem in

[27:44] September. So this is something that

[27:46] we're going to want to keep an eye on

[27:48] and visit and make sure is managed.

[27:51] And is it one particular area where the

[27:53] overtime is being spent in the comm

[27:56] center right now? So that they

[28:00] primarily the uh sheriffs. No, they

[28:04] their consumption is only about $24,000.

[28:07] Usually that's that and the

[28:09] communications are the big ones. Oh

[28:11] yeah. Or the big or the big contributing

[28:13] factors of what the overtime budget is.

[28:14] Yes. Is there a motion? Move to approve

[28:18] payroll warrant 25 2025-9.

[28:21] Second move seconded. Any other

[28:23] comments? All in favor? I. Three to zero

[28:26] in

[28:35] favor. Let's put this over here.

[28:41] I haven't figured out yet how to make it

[28:43] so put your name. Oh, that's fine.

[28:48] Should I print it too so people can read

[28:50] it?

[28:53] just looks clear with your name. Yes,

[28:55] it certainly

[28:56] does. And I just don't want to take the

[28:59] data for it. Yes.

[29:05] Is this okay? No.

[29:16] Fast and furious. What the f?

[29:21] This is the cheapest. Oops.

[29:25] Sorry. Thank you so much.

[29:29] Not CIA yet

[29:31] anyway. National intelligence. No, it's

[29:34] good. I like whatever Ham left me in the

[29:36] drawer. Something borrowed and something

[29:38] new. There might be one from the Queen

[29:41] Mary.

[29:42] the ship. Yes, I'll look

[29:45] for that later.

[29:49] Michelle, you would bring from your

[29:50] crew. All I could afford was the

[29:53] brochure.

[29:58] Okay. The sheriff's department.

[29:59] Michelle's not done.

[30:04] Stick to the script. It's not done yet.

[30:08] So, the document Carrie sent you

[30:11] yesterday is our plan document to bring

[30:15] the paid family medical leave inhouse.

[30:19] What that translates to is we will

[30:22] self-fund and self-administer the

[30:24] program, which means we no longer send

[30:26] the money to the state. We can self-fund

[30:30] this through our payroll process as we

[30:32] are now once we build up um a reserve

[30:36] balance. We will no longer have to

[30:38] process this through payroll, which is a

[30:40] benefit to the employees because right

[30:42] now this is a taxable fringe benefit to

[30:44] them.

[30:46] Um, this is a draft still still working

[30:49] on it.

[30:51] Um, I have gone through the process of

[30:55] getting a quote for a shity bond. That's

[30:57] part of the process. We're looking at

[31:00] about $2,100 a year to maintain that. I

[31:03] expect that number to

[31:05] be I I expect that to be flat for the

[31:08] next 3 years based on our payroll

[31:10] consumption and what this rate is.

[31:13] Um I at this point will need

[31:16] approval to submit the application to

[31:20] the state of Maine once we are finished

[31:23] with that document.

[31:26] Are these form sort of plans? Is there

[31:30] has the state put out any guidance on

[31:33] what should be submitted and Yeah, kind

[31:36] of. Kind of. Yeah. So, they put out a

[31:39] template of um they they put some loose

[31:44] language out and an expectation of

[31:46] definitions for the plan document. Um

[31:50] their formatting is a little clunky. I

[31:53] think that's the best way to explain it.

[31:56] Um, but it does allow for us to tailor

[32:00] it how we prefer to run the plan. Their

[32:04] only requirement is we can't be more

[32:06] restrictive than what they've set up in

[32:09] the law. Um, so far we're meeting their

[32:13] requirements or actually exceeding. So

[32:16] if approved, the money stays in our bank

[32:19] account. So correct. Okay. And how would

[32:22] that be managed in a separate

[32:25] um just accounting issue or would it be

[32:28] in a separate bank account or whatever

[32:30] protected because

[32:32] it's related to the employment or or

[32:35] it's employee funds wouldn't it be at

[32:37] that or no? Um like withholding like

[32:40] taxes is it? So it's not a withholding.

[32:43] It's a it's an employer match. So it's

[32:45] not employee funds at this point. So, it

[32:48] would be housed in the same general fund

[32:50] checking account that we have. Um, which

[32:53] will help with our cash flow. It'll be

[32:55] an accounting process which will be held

[32:58] in a reserve account separate. Um, I can

[33:01] allocate interest to it each month or

[33:03] annually, however we choose to do that

[33:05] modified approval process. And the other

[33:10] factor of that is it allows us to have

[33:12] more control of the volume of

[33:15] contribution. So, we're required to do

[33:18] 1% of wages,

[33:21] but if we have a sufficient amount of

[33:25] reserve funds, we don't have to continue

[33:27] to fund that, which will help maintain

[33:30] our our our um tax rate. We're not So,

[33:34] is there an annual cap or is it a cap

[33:36] based on number of employees once we

[33:38] have that reserve?

[33:41] There's no hard cap. It's going to be

[33:44] based on consumption. Yeah. Um the way

[33:46] we do our reviewed annually is right and

[33:49] the way we do our budget our our

[33:51] positions are budgeted at 100% already.

[33:55] So the consumption of that reserve is

[33:57] going to be driven

[33:59] by the additional costs of having to

[34:04] backfill shifts when somebody is out on

[34:06] paid leave

[34:08] versus paying that person while they're

[34:10] out because it's already budgeted. the financial burden of the maintenance

[34:15] of the policy is not going to be

[34:17] significant for us compared to a a

[34:20] regular business. So, this method is

[34:23] should be beneficial to the county

[34:25] financially. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

[34:28] We're looking we're looking right now at

[34:30] sending somewhere between 56 and $60,000

[34:33] a year to the state. And then on top of

[34:36] that, the state gets to determine

[34:38] whether or not an employee is eligible,

[34:41] whether or not what tier they fit in

[34:44] within their payment scale. Um, it takes

[34:48] any control that the county has to

[34:50] assist this employee with paid family

[34:53] medical leave out of our hands. Would it

[34:55] make claims faster? Absolutely. Okay. It

[34:59] would be all administered in house. And

[35:00] then um the front page here uh indicates

[35:04] that the expiration date will be based

[35:06] on the approval letter. Do you

[35:07] anticipate that we'll have to be

[35:09] renewing every year or every three

[35:11] years? So once your plan document is

[35:13] approved by the state, it's in effect

[35:14] for three years unless you violate that

[35:17] plan document and the state revokes it.

[35:20] Okay, great. What action would you like?

[35:23] move to approve um the um uh allow the

[35:27] treasurer to submit the application for

[35:29] the main paid family medical leave act

[35:32] for a self-insured private paying

[35:35] seconded move and seconded. Any other

[35:38] comments? All in favor? I I three to

[35:41] zero in favor. Knock yourself out. Yeah,

[35:43] have fun. I had fun geeking out on that

[35:46] documentary. We can tell when everybody

[35:47] else is falling

[35:49] asleep by the way. Self insurance. Oh,

[35:54] thank you, Michelle.

[35:57] Good morning. Good morning, Morning,

[35:59] Sheriff.

[36:02] Mr. Chair, if it's okay, I thought I'd

[36:03] start by just following up to the public

[36:06] comment that we had a little bit earlier

[36:07] just to shed some light on some steps

[36:10] that we've taken already at the

[36:11] sheriff's office. Uh uh Deb asked very

[36:14] pointedly I think about ad or uh uh the

[36:17] gentleman wither um asked pretty

[36:20] poignantly about uh administrative

[36:22] warrants and things like that. Right. So

[36:23] in our national database a national

[36:26] crime information center NCIC we call it

[36:29] uh it's a it's a not to go into a lot of

[36:32] detail it's a computer system maintained

[36:33] by the federal government by you know

[36:35] through the through the FBI and uh um

[36:38] that that houses warrants nationally. um

[36:42] and other missing person's information

[36:43] and federal probation and all kinds of

[36:46] uh information um that's very specific

[36:48] on how it can be entered and there are a

[36:50] lot of rules uh around that. Um and

[36:53] that's where information is housed on uh

[36:56] these administrative warrants for ICE uh

[36:58] or border patrol or whatever immigration

[37:00] nationalization

[37:02] uh situations or essentially two types

[37:04] of entries that they can put there. One

[37:06] is called a a deported felon, one is

[37:09] called an administrative warrant. Right?

[37:10] So, we did we did receive communication

[37:12] from the Department of Homeland

[37:14] Security. I think every law enforcement

[37:16] agency in the state did giz probably 6

[37:18] months ago, maybe not quite that long

[37:21] ago. Shortly after the change in

[37:23] administration, um we're only into May,

[37:25] so it was probably only 5 months ago,

[37:27] four or five months ago. Um seems like

[37:30] forever. I'll leave it at that. Um but

[37:32] anyway uh um uh asking uh us to uh to

[37:37] enforce administrative warrants um

[37:39] should we come across them and how to

[37:41] enter an into an agreement um with ICE

[37:45] uh uh under federal law etc etc etc. I

[37:49] chose not to do that. In fact instructed

[37:51] my staff uh via memorandum which uh

[37:53] which is

[37:54] policy that we're not going to take any

[37:57] stance on administrative warrants.

[37:58] They're not our concern. That's not our

[38:00] jurisdiction. We don't have I don't have

[38:01] any authority to enforce federal law of

[38:04] any kind. Um so that that that memo has been in

[38:10] place. Uh you know, we we will enforce

[38:12] deported felon warrants. Those are

[38:14] felony warrants. Um like any other

[38:16] criminal felony warrant um that's uh

[38:19] that's that's in the system, you know,

[38:21] should we come across those. Um you

[38:24] know, so uh we we've already taken a a

[38:27] stance on that. I have no me personally

[38:29] I have no intention at this point uh to change that. Um we work very closely

[38:35] um I think in a positive way with uh

[38:37] Border Patrol here in Maine. We uh uh

[38:40] Border Patrol has a number of resident

[38:42] agents they call them that really work

[38:44] away from the border. Um when I say a

[38:46] number, there's like eight or 10 from

[38:48] Eastport toky. Um so they're stretched

[38:51] pretty thin. A couple of them happen to

[38:52] live right here in Lincoln County. uh

[38:54] one here in Wisconsin and one down in

[38:56] Boute. Um so we work closely with them

[39:00] uh you know should should we have

[39:02] situations uh arise where we have

[39:04] deported felons and whatnot. Uh uh

[39:06] they've been quick to uh help us with

[39:08] that when they can. We're finding more

[39:11] and more that they're busier and busier

[39:12] and less available uh to help us. I

[39:14] think it's the nature of the of the

[39:16] beast uh as it goes on. If that's the

[39:18] case, we're just going to let people go

[39:20] if we don't have any other reason within

[39:22] Main Law. um to um to uh you know detain

[39:27] them for some criminal matter. Right. So

[39:29] we're not into detaining folks and um

[39:33] again it's not it's not my it's not my

[39:35] bailey way. Right. You do have judicial

[39:38] warrants though they've also asked about

[39:40] and those are required for right when I talk about deported felons those

[39:46] are those are judicial warrants. Yep. Um

[39:48] so uh yes

[39:50] um we would we will we will enforce

[39:52] those um you know if if uh if we come

[39:55] across those are felony warrants. Those are

[39:59] serious warrants. You know we had a we

[40:00] had a situation here not too long ago

[40:02] where gentleman was stopped. It was a

[40:04] little high-speed chase. Guy went up in

[40:05] a tree. You probably read about it in

[40:06] the paper here in Wisconsin. It was a

[40:08] Wisconsin case. But there's a case of a

[40:11] person who who may have been in the

[40:12] country illegally but had active felony

[40:16] warrants from other states. you know

[40:17] what I mean? Um, the fact that this

[40:19] person was uh uh potentially uh here

[40:22] illegally had really very little to do

[40:25] with with our response and the warrants

[40:27] that were in the database and and things

[40:29] like that. And we and that's fairly

[40:30] common uh for us uh in in dealing with

[40:34] those those situations, but they're

[40:35] signed by a judge, correct? Or Oh, yeah.

[40:38] There's judicial process, right? Federal

[40:40] warrants. Yes. Some are state warrants.

[40:43] In this case, there were there was there

[40:45] were uh felony warrants for robbery of

[40:47] burglary out of Ohio, Illinois, one of

[40:49] the o one of those states. Um in the Midwest there uh um in that in

[40:56] that particular scenario

[40:58] um you know, another you know uh people

[41:01] are on edge and I think it's clear from

[41:03] listening to uh to Deb's comments that people are on edge and uh they're

[41:07] concerned um and it creates concern for

[41:10] us. We support I'm a constitutional

[41:12] officer as you know and uh we take that

[41:15] very seriously and people's right to

[41:16] gather peacefully um and do that and we

[41:19] you know um um so we have and we'll

[41:23] continue to work with the Damascana

[41:25] police and other local agencies to make

[41:26] sure that those happen safely and

[41:28] securely. We try to stay out of it,

[41:30] right? Um uh sometimes our presence

[41:33] isn't always welcome um or or can make

[41:36] matters worse depending on how how we

[41:38] approach the situation. And I think the

[41:39] most important part for us, and I would

[41:41] encourage Deb and um others who are

[41:43] gathering like that, the more

[41:45] communication they can have with us

[41:46] ahead of time, the better we can make a

[41:48] plan and work with them um to make sure

[41:51] that things stay as uh as peaceful

[41:54] as as we can. God bless America. There

[41:57] are there are at least two sets of

[41:59] opinions. Um and folks are just as

[42:01] passionate about uh the opposite side of

[42:04] uh of the opinion as others. Um, and

[42:06] they're they're welcome to express that

[42:08] even loudly um and in your face um as

[42:12] long as they're not violating the law or

[42:13] otherwise. And that's can be

[42:14] uncomfortable, can be intimidating. Um,

[42:16] but there's sometimes often times not a

[42:18] lot we can do about peaceful expression

[42:22] of your

[42:24] um of your uh opinions, no matter how

[42:27] aggressive it may appear or or feel or

[42:30] um so and that's that's that's difficult

[42:33] for folks to understand sometimes.

[42:34] There's a balance there for us. Um, and

[42:38] we we try to work that. Do we know uh

[42:41] when ICE brings um a detainee to two

[42:44] bridges what they've been charged with

[42:46] or We do. Okay. Yeah. Um so does that

[42:49] make a difference or whether or not they

[42:50] actually get housed there temporarily or

[42:53] it does. Yes. Um so if uh my

[42:56] understanding that that Two Bridges

[42:58] won't accept anybody on administrative

[43:00] warrants either. Um, and anybody that's

[43:02] being housed at two bridges, uh, which

[43:04] are not typically, I don't think there's

[43:06] any of the ones that are there from ICE

[43:07] that were actually a case here in

[43:09] Lincoln County, a majority of them came

[43:11] from other parts of the state or even

[43:12] other parts of New England. Um, and

[43:15] they're all they all have criminal

[43:17] charges, okay, uh, pending. Um, so, um,

[43:21] but I I you know, that that's that's a

[43:23] question probably more for Colonel

[43:26] Bailey, but that's my understanding as a

[43:27] member of the jail authority. uh uh the

[43:30] way things are are going are going with

[43:31] that. Okay. Um so we're going to monitor

[43:34] the situation carefully. You know, one

[43:35] of the things that I'd like to do as as

[43:37] you know, I I you probably know I I

[43:40] almost two years ago I formed a citizens

[43:42] advisory committee to the sheriff,

[43:43] right? Group of citizens who volunteered

[43:45] to come forward, kind of uh take a look

[43:47] at what we do. I'm trying to be

[43:49] transparent, two-way communications, an

[43:51] extra another step for me to communicate

[43:54] with the people that we serve to figure

[43:55] out how we're doing. Um been a lot of

[43:58] discussion at our uh CAC meetings about

[44:01] immigration um as you can

[44:03] imagine. Um and we're we're we're we're

[44:06] planning to hold a a public forum along

[44:10] that uh to talk about that to talk about

[44:13] where we are, what we're doing, that

[44:15] kind of thing. I'll certainly keep the board uh apprised of that. I'm going

[44:19] to try to get some of our federal

[44:20] partners if they're willing um to come

[44:23] and uh and talk about uh you know more more clearly define perhaps what

[44:28] Border Patrol's role is for example um

[44:31] as a as in their resident agent program

[44:33] and what they're doing um if that will

[44:36] help folks understand uh what they're uh why you may be seeing

[44:41] more border patrol folks around. Um and

[44:44] that was an initiative really that's

[44:45] been going on for a couple of years now.

[44:48] That's not necessarily there may have

[44:50] been some internal policy changes since

[44:51] the change in administration um and uh

[44:54] in January, but uh but the Border Patrol

[44:57] presence has been with us for a number

[44:58] of years now. They've had the resident

[45:00] agent program

[45:02] um you know in effect for for quite a

[45:05] while.

[45:07] So it's not it's on my radar very much

[45:09] so. Um and uh you know I'm I'm glad that

[45:12] uh that uh that these folks took time to

[45:15] come in and share their concerns. I I

[45:17] want them to know that it's it's

[45:18] foremost on our radar screen, if you

[45:21] will. Um, and we're uh we're trying to

[45:24] be very open-minded as we approach it

[45:26] and stay focused on what our real

[45:28] function is, right? And and and my real

[45:30] function is public safety, right? And um

[45:34] to me uh my stance is and and the way

[45:38] I've uh tried to uh address it with my

[45:41] staff is that our that that's our

[45:43] primary function is keeping people safe

[45:45] here in Lincoln County. If we encounter

[45:47] someone who's a felon, I don't care

[45:49] where what country they're from. If

[45:51] they're a danger to to the citizens here

[45:54] in Lincoln County, we're going to take

[45:55] action on that as long as we're able to

[45:57] within the law.

[45:59] um the fact that they happen to be from

[46:01] a foreign country is irrelevant to me at

[46:03] that point. You know, we we we have a

[46:05] job to do and that that is is to promote

[46:07] public safety and we're going we're

[46:09] going to continue to do that. That

[46:11] haven't been said. We're not looking.

[46:13] That's not my job. Right. Have the

[46:15] protesters been working with the

[46:17] sheriff's department to make sure that

[46:18] there's a safe protest and Yeah. Any any

[46:21] I I don't I don't want to call them

[46:22] protest, right? I mean, you call them

[46:23] whatever you want. Call them gatherings,

[46:24] call them vigils, call them protest. um

[46:26] peace peaceful assemblies. Peaceful

[46:28] assemblies, right? Yeah. So, um so, uh

[46:32] yes and no. Okay. Right. So, uh we've

[46:34] had a lot of communication especially

[46:35] when there's something planned ahead of

[46:37] time. Uh you know, there was a few

[46:39] months back uh again, I'm I lose track

[46:41] of time. There was a launching at BW. It prompted some some uh gatherings both

[46:49] in Bath and over here in West Cassid. We

[46:51] planned ahead for that. Um, and listen,

[46:54] I have, it's interesting because we work

[46:56] closely with the Wisconsin police, with

[46:58] the state police in preparation for that

[47:00] because it was really injunction

[47:01] conjunction with a with a protest that

[47:03] was going on in BA at BIW where several

[47:06] people were arrested um for obstructing

[47:09] a public way. Um, so we were prepared

[47:11] for that. We were working with local law

[47:13] enforcement

[47:15] um on that. We didn't have any issues

[47:16] over here. Uh, we were prepared in the

[47:18] event that we did. Um but uh but but we

[47:21] didn't. Um and those folks were somewhat

[47:24] communicative. Mhm. Sometimes not so

[47:27] communicative. Our our local folks who

[47:29] have been gathered, they usually let us

[47:30] know. Um you know, and uh if they have a

[47:32] special event going on, almost always

[47:35] they reach out to us um to try to

[47:37] communicate. Um but you know, those events are pretty hard for them to

[47:41] control, I suspect. Right. You never

[47:42] know who's going to show up with either

[47:45] uh more passionate opinions or opposing

[47:48] opinions and they can be, you know, but

[47:50] communication ahead of time. We try to

[47:51] reach out if we know who's sponsoring

[47:53] those events. Um just try to keep that

[47:55] communication going so we can be as

[47:57] prepared as we can. What would it be a

[47:58] best practice for those organizations to

[48:01] contact you too or any local law

[48:04] enforcement agency just to just to keep

[48:06] us you know apprised of the situation

[48:09] and um you know and so on. So, okay,

[48:12] that helps. Thank you. That's really

[48:14] helpful. That's all right. No

[48:16] problem.

[48:18] Um, looks like our jail count this

[48:20] morning, Mr. Chair, out at two bridges

[48:22] is

[48:24] 173. We have 21 31 from Saget Hog, 23

[48:27] from Knox, 51 down from Ponobscot, 21

[48:30] from Waldo. Four federal inmates and uh

[48:33] which are US Marshall inmates, and 22

[48:35] from uh from ICE. Uh today, 142 of those

[48:39] are pre-trial. Well, you can see the

[48:40] numbers

[48:44] there. Do I have any questions on the

[48:46] count? The next item I have on the

[48:47] agenda is uh is a recommendation to uh

[48:51] make a uh conditional offer of

[48:53] employment uh to Brandon. I'm going to probably uh uh mutilate his last name. I think it's uh I don't I

[49:03] don't know. Muba, maybe.

[49:06] I don't know. Machuba. Machuba. You want

[49:09] to spell it? M A C I U B A. That's

[49:13] assuming that the chief spelled it

[49:15] right.

[49:17] Yep. Sorry, I didn't see it there.

[49:19] That's okay. Yeah, my tech

[49:22] Brennan comes to us with uh a

[49:24] significant amount of experience uh uh

[49:26] in New York. Um and uh we look forward

[49:30] to the opportunity to get him a waiver,

[49:32] training waiver because he was a

[49:34] full-time certified officer out of

[49:35] state. We can get him a waiver here in

[49:36] Maine hopefully. um which will save us

[49:38] having to send him off to the academy

[49:39] for 18

[49:41] weeks. Um but there are still some uh

[49:43] some hoops to jump through as far as

[49:44] background and things like that go. So

[49:46] looking for your approval um to move

[49:49] forward with with Brandon conditional

[49:52] move to approve the hiring authorization

[49:53] for Brandon Mashuba. Second move and

[49:57] seconded. Any other comments? Just a a

[50:00] question on where does that put your

[50:03] patrol division with this hire? Is it

[50:05] are you fully staffed at that point or

[50:07] is it you still need more? I I think

[50:09] that will leave us one down. I think

[50:12] that leaves one vacancy to work in

[50:14] patrol. Well, I'll see if I can fit in

[50:17] my schedule, right?

[50:20] I think that leaves I'm over the age

[50:21] limit, I think, no, you're really

[50:24] pulling me in. Yeah, we have a motion.

[50:26] All in favor? I I three to zero in

[50:29] favor.

[50:32] Next, uh, the next item I have is a

[50:34] payment authorization. Uh, this is a

[50:35] budgeted payment for two new vehicles,

[50:38] uh, from, uh, two new, uh, excuse me,

[50:40] three new Dodge

[50:42] Durangos.

[50:47] Um, in the amount of

[50:52] $113,273. It's a budgeted amount for for

[50:55] replacement uh, vehicles.

[50:59] Is there a motion? Move to approve

[51:01] payment authorization key Newcastle

[51:03] $113,273.

[51:06] Second. Kenny any questions? I have some

[51:08] information to add. So, we generally use

[51:12] the bid process, but we received

[51:15] information from U Key Chrysler that the

[51:19] prices were going up May 1st. And in

[51:22] order to take advantage of the lower

[51:24] price that was pre-incre, I reached out

[51:28] to Commissioner Blahett for approval to

[51:30] go outside of the bid process to secure

[51:33] these vehicles. Uh, our historic most

[51:37] recent cruisers that we've purchased

[51:39] have been in the low to mid40 range and

[51:43] the price per vehicle on these was about

[51:47] 38,000. So, it was already less than

[51:50] what we were anticipating for last

[51:52] year's prices. And with the bid openings

[51:55] happen happening after May 1st, our

[51:58] concern is that the prices that come in

[52:00] with these bids would be higher than the

[52:02] amount we would be able to secure

[52:04] through this opportunity.

[52:07] Thank you. And then we have to outfit

[52:10] them once you have them. Oh yes, that's

[52:12] the purchase and that cost is pretty

[52:15] except for uh two out of those three

[52:17] vehicles are going to be replacing Dodge

[52:18] for Dodge. They're already dodge

[52:20] triangles and what I'm told from the

[52:23] installer is that equipment should

[52:25] transfer. So, it actually will save us

[52:28] some money. If we had gone to Fords, we

[52:31] would have had to buy um new equipment.

[52:33] So, two out of those three vehicles, the

[52:36] equipment should transfer. So, there

[52:38] should be some savings on that side,

[52:40] too. But inevitably, Commissioner,

[52:41] there's something either the the siren

[52:43] box doesn't fit or so there will be some

[52:46] new equipment, but it should be reduced.

[52:47] Yes. Great. Thank you. Any

[52:50] other comments, questions? All in favor

[52:52] of the motion? I I three to zero in

[52:55] favor. Thank you. Uh the chief has uh an

[52:57] update on uh some of the fraud activity

[53:00] that's going around uh that you know

[53:01] that we've been experiencing here in

[53:03] Lincoln County for the last couple

[53:04] years. Yeah. Just briefly, I know I know

[53:06] in a previous meeting I told you I was

[53:08] going to sort of make this a quarterly

[53:10] or or every 3 or 4 months uh event just

[53:13] simply to uh because our media partners

[53:16] were here and Brad LCTV is here. Um

[53:19] because uh the sheriff and I were

[53:21] talking about this on the way over the

[53:23] investigations that we do and I think we

[53:25] do um significant to track some of these

[53:28] fraud events down almost always end up

[53:32] outside our country. Um so the

[53:34] likelihood we're going to recover or

[53:37] locate the the offending person

[53:40] um almost always ends on a dead end. So

[53:44] really the the the real best u option

[53:47] here is education prevention ahead of

[53:49] time. So my point to that is uh to bring

[53:52] some information out so the public hears

[53:55] about it. So if they're if they're

[53:56] approached by one of these scammers or

[53:58] they have an issue to before they do

[54:01] something, before they go buy something,

[54:02] before they transfer money to reach out

[54:05] to law enforcement, a trusted friend,

[54:06] somebody to say if it's too good to be

[54:09] true, it probably is true. Um, so I just

[54:13] I I just uh you know, so for rough

[54:16] numbers, in 2023,

[54:18] um, we recorded over

[54:20] $290,000 in loft lost money here in

[54:23] Lincoln County. Um, in 2024 that was

[54:28] $450,000 plus in lost money from fraud.

[54:32] Um, some of that I think is uh just

[54:34] better reporting, re better reporting,

[54:37] uh, more encouragement for people to

[54:39] report. One of the things I told you at

[54:41] your last meeting, if we if we're

[54:43] getting 450 or 290,000 reported, how

[54:46] many people aren't reporting it because

[54:48] they're either embarrassed and and they

[54:50] just don't want to deal with with what

[54:52] they look at as shame. Uh we we

[54:54] encourage you to report that. We'll try

[54:56] to mitigate try to to to reduce the the

[54:59] harm as quickly as we can. Currently

[55:01] through uh April, that number is at

[55:05] $78,000

[55:07] um lost. And you know, and I just wanted

[55:09] to highlight a couple quick couple cases

[55:11] so that people understand um you know,

[55:15] um in uh we had $1,500 uh from a

[55:20] contractor scam. Somebody says, "I'm

[55:22] coming to do work at your house. I'm

[55:24] paying

[55:25] $1,500 and they never come back." Um

[55:28] there's things we can do in Maine.

[55:30] Maine's law requires a contract before

[55:32] you begin business. If your contractor

[55:35] shows up and to do work and they don't

[55:37] want to sign a contract, you don't want

[55:38] to do business with them. Um uh and and

[55:41] that's that those that's an example of a

[55:43] scam. Um we had a a local business where

[55:49] their credit cards were hacked um in

[55:51] excess of

[55:53] $8,000. Um and we're still working on

[55:56] that to see see where that's coming

[55:58] from. Um we have a um one of the more

[56:02] common scams that seems to be increasing

[56:05] is uh this one totaled uh uh over over

[56:09] $18,000 where uh the victim gets a call

[56:12] um they get a voice that someone

[56:14] identifying as a granddaughter says

[56:16] they've been in a crash and they need

[56:18] money for bail and conveniently the bail

[56:21] commissioner will show up at the house

[56:23] which is really brazant, right? Most of

[56:25] the stuff we've had in the past is is

[56:27] stuff stealing money, sending money or

[56:29] whatever. But for someone actually to

[56:31] show up at a house, um that person was

[56:34] out

[56:35] $18,000. Um the the next one was another

[56:39] grand granddaughter. Uh um and and these

[56:42] people um will will keep going to the

[56:45] well and co until it goes dry. This was

[56:48] back in February where um the the total

[56:52] reached $45,000 in bail money before we

[56:55] got involved in it. Um and and that was

[56:58] a case where they they would uh instead

[57:00] of them coming to the house, they had

[57:01] them going and meeting them at different

[57:03] places around the mid coast.

[57:06] Um cryptocurrency and we talked about

[57:09] that last time. Um somebody's account

[57:12] was hacked. They were on 2041, Um, and these

[57:18] are another one where somebody got

[57:21] notified. Again, if it's too good to be

[57:23] true, it probably is. Someone was

[57:25] notified they won an award for $90,000

[57:28] from the Donald Trump grant. I'm not

[57:30] sure what that is, but all they had to

[57:32] do was pay 3,000 now to collect money.

[57:35] Um, and they paid uh

[57:39] $2,558. So, they're out close to 3,000.

[57:43] Um, if anytime if anybody is asking you

[57:46] to pay with gift cards for anything

[57:49] other than you're buying a gift for a

[57:51] friend, it's a scam. Um, if someone's

[57:55] asking you to transfer money, bitcoins,

[57:58] if it's a if it's a government agency

[58:00] trying to collect money for bail to

[58:02] avoid your arrest warrant, um, we've had

[58:05] some, uh, recently where people have,

[58:07] uh, um, you know, using state databases,

[58:10] reached out to sex offenders, telling

[58:12] them, um, you know, there's warrants for

[58:15] your arrest, um, identifying them as us.

[58:17] You need to pay this amount of money or

[58:19] we're going to we're going to come

[58:21] arrest you. Um and and and some of these

[58:24] people have contacted us. Who knows who

[58:26] hasn't? Um so we're just going to keep

[58:28] bringing this this this issue out. Don't

[58:31] really need any action from you. I just

[58:32] uh want the community to be aware of it.

[58:34] Understand that if if something seems

[58:36] too good to be true. If someone's trying

[58:38] to get you to do something urgently. Um

[58:41] it's probably a scam. You have to make a

[58:43] decision now. Right now, there's

[58:45] probably something that's fishy. It's okay. we are getting more

[58:49] communication from um businesses and and

[58:52] banks um where people may be going to

[58:54] draw money out. So, I think that they're

[58:56] starting to get on top of this thing um

[58:58] and and they're probably preventing

[59:00] stuff that we don't even know about.

[59:01] Someone goes to the bank, they're

[59:02] saying, "Hey, I think you you may be

[59:04] getting scammed." Sometimes we get

[59:05] called, sometimes we don't. Um, but if

[59:07] you if you know a friend, a loved one,

[59:09] somebody you care about, somebody you

[59:11] don't even care about, if you hear that that you know they're they're

[59:14] involved in something. We have we have

[59:16] the dreaded romance scams, right? Where

[59:19] somebody meets somebody online um and

[59:22] they may be lonely and may looking for a

[59:23] friend, they're paying them money uh to keep their life up and maybe come

[59:27] visit them and they they'll just keep

[59:29] draining them until they finally, you

[59:31] know, the relationship ends. So, uh

[59:34] we'll keep updating you. um and passing

[59:37] it on, but it's really all going to vote

[59:38] about communication and education.

[59:43] Thank you. Thank you. I think the last

[59:45] item we have this morning is opening of

[59:47] bids, I think, for what is the last new

[59:50] vehicle purchase for this year.

[59:53] We hope. We

[1:00:01] hope I guess

[1:00:05] around here. You know the road you

[1:00:09] ride to your alley? Well, I think we

[1:00:11] received two bids. Is that right, Ken?

[1:00:13] Two bids. Two bids. Identify. These two

[1:00:16] bids are for These two bids are to uh

[1:00:19] for another new uh vehicle to replace

[1:00:21] one of our vehicles. I think it's C. No,

[1:00:23] this is a patrol vehicle. Patrol

[1:00:25] vehicle. The three vehicles we just

[1:00:27] purchased. Two are patrol supervisor

[1:00:30] cars and one of them is a C vehicle.

[1:00:32] David, would you identify

[1:00:35] I will try. Let me see if So, this is a

[1:00:37] this will be a full uh this will be a

[1:00:39] marked unit, right? So, yeah.

[1:00:43] Were there any other um requirements for

[1:00:46] the bid submitters to make sure they

[1:00:49] cover?

[1:00:51] Yes,

[1:00:53] we open give them out and then give it

[1:00:55] to the sheriff. Okay. To let me just

[1:00:58] check this.

[1:01:01] Uh, this one is from Ford. Dalins Ford

[1:01:06] in Bangor.

[1:01:10] How much,

[1:01:11] if I'm reading the number right, it's

[1:01:20] 45 40. Oops, I'm sorry. Not 45. I wish

[1:01:25] it was

[1:01:27] 45. 4880.

[1:01:32] That's a little higher than the other

[1:01:33] one.

[1:01:35] That 38 sounds pretty good right now,

[1:01:36] doesn't it?

[1:01:38] So that we'll give it to the sheriff.

[1:01:40] We'll have a table it and then they'll

[1:01:44] You want me to read these? If you would,

[1:01:45] please. Two from Cork Auto Group. The

[1:01:47] first for a detective SUV. We've

[1:01:50] got with these specs in pen,

[1:01:55] $44,928. And then for a

[1:01:58] supervisor vehicle with these specs,

[1:02:02] $45,520.

[1:02:07] So could we have a patrol? That's what

[1:02:10] uh that's the first second one I read.

[1:02:13] Yep. 45520 patrol and supervisor spec.

[1:02:18] So if we could uh just table it for now,

[1:02:21] please motion to table. So moved.

[1:02:24] Second. All in favor? I I So,

[1:02:29] okay. Now, so you we'll take a look.

[1:02:32] Sure. Yes, we'll take take a look for

[1:02:35] you, Commissioner, and uh and come back

[1:02:37] when you have your recommendations.

[1:02:40] Yeah.

[1:02:41] You have three minutes to do that. All

[1:02:43] right. I'll be right on it.

[1:02:47] Yeah. Really?

[1:02:49] Bring back Amazon gift cards. Yeah. See,

[1:02:52] now you're paying for that vacation,

[1:02:54] right? When you come back, let's get it

[1:02:55] done. Thank you very much. I appreciate

[1:02:57] it. Thank you.

[1:03:01] Okay, I have the other

[1:03:04] one. What they do with

[1:03:15] it? Fancy.

[1:03:18] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Hello.

[1:03:24] You're all right.

[1:03:26] It's all right. I'm going to flip our

[1:03:28] agenda topics because I want to do the

[1:03:30] less exciting one first. We'll do a lead

[1:03:34] up. Um so we have before you two ask

[1:03:38] purchase orders for ask grant

[1:03:40] dispersement of funds. So this is our um

[1:03:43] annual assistance with specific knowhow

[1:03:45] grant that the RPC has been awarding for

[1:03:48] a number of years now. Um, in the last

[1:03:51] budget cycle, we were able to increase

[1:03:53] the award amount um and the total amount

[1:03:56] to be able to award um up to five $5,000

[1:04:00] grants to communities in Lincoln County.

[1:04:03] Um, this is the first year in a while at

[1:04:06] least, I think at least since Laura and

[1:04:07] I have been here where we had more

[1:04:09] applications than funding, which was

[1:04:11] excited to see, but also talks about the

[1:04:13] need from communities. Um, and so we

[1:04:16] awarded a total of five. The first two

[1:04:18] towns have signed their ask grant

[1:04:21] agreement letter which I'm why I'm here

[1:04:22] with you today and I'll be back

[1:04:24] hopefully on the 20th with the remaining

[1:04:26] three. Um so the first is the town of

[1:04:29] Breamman. The broadband committee for

[1:04:32] the town of Freeman with support from

[1:04:34] the select board um applied and was

[1:04:36] awarded an ask grant in the amount of

[1:04:38] $5,000 to engage a consultant to analyze

[1:04:41] their internet for all program with the

[1:04:43] goal of being able to provide permanent

[1:04:45] program solutions to the town and

[1:04:47] residents needs for widespread internet

[1:04:49] access. Um and the consultant that they

[1:04:51] will engage is going to provide a

[1:04:52] costbenefit analysis of the program to

[1:04:55] see how it can move forward. And

[1:04:57] essentially what the town is looking to

[1:04:58] do is cover the costs of internet to all

[1:05:02] residents in Greenman. Um trying to

[1:05:05] create uh true digital equity is what

[1:05:07] they put in their application. So I am

[1:05:10] here um today to ask for approval to on

[1:05:14] the purchase authorization request to

[1:05:15] issue the ask grant to the town of

[1:05:17] Breamman.

[1:05:19] So, wasn't the um and Evan, you may

[1:05:22] know, didn't Tidewater already commit to

[1:05:26] reaching every home in Breeman? That was

[1:05:28] one of the first towns that I would say

[1:05:30] that their definition of reaching a home

[1:05:32] and our definition of reaching them

[1:05:34] might be different. So, where they might

[1:05:36] say there is access may require a

[1:05:38] substantial fee to get hooked up. A few

[1:05:41] homes are really out in the bully ways.

[1:05:45] That's like another way to put it. Yeah.

[1:05:47] And the town has asked for that to just

[1:05:49] truly make sure everybody has access.

[1:05:51] Yes. Move to approve the payment

[1:05:55] authorizations to Breeman in the amount

[1:05:56] of $5,000. Seconded. Move and seconded.

[1:06:01] All in favor? I. I. Breeman's approved.

[1:06:06] Thank you. So, the second purchase

[1:06:08] authorization request is to award the

[1:06:10] town of Walder their $5,000 ask grant.

[1:06:14] um to assist with a yellowbook appraisal

[1:06:16] review for the former Sylvvenia site um

[1:06:19] which is necessary for the town to then

[1:06:21] be able to pursue future funding,

[1:06:23] especially federal funding, uh to

[1:06:25] repurpose the site into an outdoor

[1:06:26] recreation complex. So, what they'll use

[1:06:28] this $5,000 for is bring someone on to

[1:06:32] do that appraisal um and then submit it

[1:06:34] to um the appropriate agencies at the

[1:06:38] state level to then move forward and

[1:06:39] hopefully access um land and water

[1:06:41] conservation funds as well as possible

[1:06:43] other federal funding. They have support

[1:06:45] for the project from the um former land

[1:06:50] owner as well as the public and they've

[1:06:52] had conversations with EPA D um who are

[1:06:56] all on board. So this is um a investment

[1:07:00] in continuing to get that project moving

[1:07:02] ahead so that they can access greater

[1:07:04] funds to actually implement turning the

[1:07:06] former Selenia site into the outdoor

[1:07:08] recreation complex that they have

[1:07:10] envisioned. You mentioned Yellowbook.

[1:07:12] What's that? So, my understanding is

[1:07:16] that they had an agreement um and a

[1:07:18] former land and water conservation grant

[1:07:21] for tennis courts at the former AD Grey

[1:07:23] School. And those are supposed to remain

[1:07:25] in perpetuity, but obviously that's

[1:07:27] being changed. And so, they need to um

[1:07:30] correct their error, if you will. And

[1:07:32] this appraisal is part of that to show

[1:07:34] that what they'll be creating at the

[1:07:35] Sylvania site is in comparison to what

[1:07:38] was at AD Grey with the tennis courts.

[1:07:41] Move to approve the ask grant payment uh

[1:07:45] to Walder for $5,000. Seconded. Move and

[1:07:49] seconded.

[1:07:50] Any all in favor? I I three to zero in

[1:07:54] favor of that.

[1:07:58] wasn't too boring. I said it's

[1:08:01] exciting but not as exciting here. All

[1:08:03] right.

[1:08:04] [Applause]

[1:08:17] Good shuffling going.

[1:08:41] Thank you

[1:08:43] for those are yours. Ready to take?

[1:08:47] Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank

[1:08:49] you.

[1:08:51] So, I'm going to tee Laura up and then

[1:08:53] I'm going to give her the floor because

[1:08:54] she has really been um our project

[1:08:57] manager on this project and and we're

[1:08:58] excited to be here today. Um almost

[1:09:01] exactly two years ago, we released the

[1:09:04] Lincoln County Housing Needs Assessment,

[1:09:06] which I'm sure you're all familiar with.

[1:09:07] Um and as you can see, our copy from the

[1:09:09] office is a little beat up because it's

[1:09:11] not one that just sits on the shelf. Um

[1:09:13] we have been working to implement some

[1:09:15] of the 21 strategies that were

[1:09:17] identified two years ago to advance

[1:09:20] housing in Lincoln County. Um those

[1:09:22] strategies include working with

[1:09:23] municipalities to set goals and foster

[1:09:26] public support through leading on

[1:09:27] education with the public and building

[1:09:29] internal capacity at the RPC to address

[1:09:31] affordable housing needs. Um we've also

[1:09:34] been working to implement projects and

[1:09:36] ensure long-term affordability by um

[1:09:39] public private partnerships with

[1:09:40] development developers. the ARPA funding

[1:09:43] especially as well as ensuring those

[1:09:45] ongoing affordability of housing units

[1:09:47] that are created through um those

[1:09:49] partnerships with

[1:09:51] developers. Um what we're here to talk

[1:09:53] about today is really um strategy four

[1:09:56] under our housing study which is

[1:09:58] prioritizing sites and advancing shovel

[1:10:00] readiness. So one of the strategies it

[1:10:03] was compile a prioritized inventory of

[1:10:06] potential housing development sites. We

[1:10:08] were also asked in in as one of the

[1:10:10] strategies was to look at acquiring

[1:10:12] sites with housing development potential

[1:10:13] which again falls under the ARPA funds

[1:10:16] um that you have dispersed over the past

[1:10:18] couple years and then also looking at

[1:10:20] addressing infrastructure gaps for key

[1:10:22] development sites and if you'll recall I

[1:10:24] was here at your last meeting to talk

[1:10:25] about a grant that we were awarded by

[1:10:26] the state recently in order to start

[1:10:28] implementing that. Um what's exciting is

[1:10:31] that we have compiled that prioritized

[1:10:33] inventory of potential housing

[1:10:35] development sites which is the report

[1:10:36] you have in front of you nicely bound

[1:10:39] today. Um so I'm going to turn it over

[1:10:40] to Laura to talk about the process that

[1:10:42] we went through with that which was in

[1:10:43] partnership with Kamoy Associates who

[1:10:45] was also

[1:10:46] um we have a nice one for you today.

[1:10:51] Yeah. So here are the um final copies of

[1:10:55] the priority site inventory.

[1:10:58] Um like Emily said, we have been

[1:11:01] engaging with Kim Associates um for a

[1:11:04] little over a year for this process on

[1:11:06] the uh site inventory which kind of used

[1:11:10] two different mechanisms to look at

[1:11:12] potential affordable housing development

[1:11:14] sites. Um one of those being Koine

[1:11:16] leading a geographic information systems

[1:11:19] desktop analysis which is just a fun way

[1:11:21] to say a mapping process. So they were

[1:11:24] looking at a bunch of different factors

[1:11:26] including environmental factors of um

[1:11:29] properties that would make sense for

[1:11:32] development and also talking with towns

[1:11:34] to see what their priorities are for

[1:11:36] those sites as well. So whether that's

[1:11:38] proximity to schools for areas that

[1:11:40] might make sense and then also um

[1:11:42] looking pretty deeply at towns

[1:11:44] comprehensive plans to see um their

[1:11:47] identified growth areas for um the

[1:11:50] potential sites. So, the prioritized

[1:11:53] part being those sites that make sense

[1:11:55] not only just for housing, but make

[1:11:57] sense for the town um and the future

[1:11:59] that they want to see moving

[1:12:01] forward. So, as you flip through this,

[1:12:04] you'll probably see um some of the fun

[1:12:06] pictures that Camo added in of the

[1:12:09] potential different types of housing. Um

[1:12:11] so, you could see some might look a

[1:12:14] little bit different uh depending on the

[1:12:15] town and the location that they're in.

[1:12:17] Um so through this process we also

[1:12:19] talked with the sewer and water um

[1:12:21] districts to ensure that these sites

[1:12:23] would make sense and that they would be

[1:12:25] able to um maintain and continue uh to

[1:12:29] add on um the number of houses that are

[1:12:32] proposed from the housing study itself

[1:12:34] as well as um from this process. Um

[1:12:37] Kamoy also did direct outreach to all

[1:12:40] the properties that are listed in this

[1:12:42] document. Um so all the properties

[1:12:44] listed here, the um property owners

[1:12:47] either agreed that yes, they would be

[1:12:49] interested to um sell these properties

[1:12:51] to affordable housing developers or they

[1:12:54] never heard back from the property. So

[1:12:56] there could be a potential um if some

[1:12:59] extra steps are taken.

[1:13:04] I haven't been able to tell yet, but are

[1:13:06] is it for single family residents or

[1:13:08] multiple unit? U it's a mix. It's a mix.

[1:13:12] Yeah. So you can see

[1:13:13] depending on the property. Yeah.

[1:13:14] Depending on the property and really

[1:13:16] depending on the town. Um so when you're

[1:13:19] looking at like you'll probably see the

[1:13:22] single family homes versus if you're

[1:13:24] looking in the growth areas within

[1:13:25] Deercata um you'll see some of those

[1:13:27] more multi multifamily um styles of

[1:13:30] housing.

[1:13:32] And those are all just suggestions from

[1:13:34] KON um taking images that have been done

[1:13:38] throughout the state. Yes. Yeah. So all

[1:13:39] the images that are shown are projects

[1:13:41] that have been developed in Maine. Um so

[1:13:43] we weren't looking at, you know, what's

[1:13:45] been done in Seattle or San Francisco.

[1:13:47] We're looking locally. Um Laura is also

[1:13:50] being incredibly modest about the GIS

[1:13:52] analysis. She played a huge role in

[1:13:54] that. Um creating a lot of data layers

[1:13:56] looking at the comp plans. Um what you

[1:13:58] see in here is approximately 30 sites.

[1:14:00] We started with about 90. Um and Laura

[1:14:03] did the GIS analysis for all of those

[1:14:05] alongside Kimoyne as well as did a

[1:14:07] buildout potential analysis. So

[1:14:09] reviewing uh zoning ordinances for all

[1:14:11] the municipalities to see what the

[1:14:13] development potential could be on that

[1:14:15] dry acreage for the site. So it was a

[1:14:17] significant excuse me a significant

[1:14:19] amount of work um on both her part as

[1:14:21] well as Camoy to put this together. Um

[1:14:24] what was exciting to see was some that's

[1:14:26] that 90 some of them whittleled down

[1:14:28] based on feedback from the

[1:14:29] municipalities or saying you know I

[1:14:31] don't know if that's the right location

[1:14:32] but here's another one to look at. Um so

[1:14:34] there was a little bit of horse trading

[1:14:36] if you will on some of these. Um but

[1:14:38] what was encouraging was that a larger

[1:14:41] number than we expected of property

[1:14:43] owners had interest when Kamoy contacted

[1:14:46] them to say yes we have an interest if

[1:14:49] there's the right person out there to

[1:14:51] develop this site um to come and talk to

[1:14:53] us. Now certainly we're not saying that

[1:14:55] as the county or the RPC that this must

[1:14:58] be a site that is developed for

[1:14:59] affordable housing. Um, simply what

[1:15:02] we're looking for this to be is a

[1:15:04] catalog, if you will, for developers or

[1:15:06] even the property owner themselves if

[1:15:08] they have an interest in developing

[1:15:10] affordable housing, what could be done.

[1:15:12] There would be more diligence that would

[1:15:14] need to be required, but again, this

[1:15:16] allows developers to come in and have

[1:15:18] some sense of what's out there in

[1:15:19] Lincoln County rather than trying to

[1:15:20] figure it out on their own. It seems

[1:15:23] like it would be very helpful to

[1:15:24] developers. Are you is it going to be

[1:15:26] pushed out to a number of developers too

[1:15:29] so that you don't have to wait for them

[1:15:31] to ask for your resources? Yes. You'll

[1:15:33] get it out to them. Do you want to talk

[1:15:34] about the workshop or Yeah. Yeah. So,

[1:15:36] we're looking um we're working out the

[1:15:38] specific date with Kamoy to make sure

[1:15:40] that they could be there to talk about

[1:15:41] the work that they did. But we're

[1:15:43] looking to hold a workshop at the end

[1:15:45] this month where we'll invite

[1:15:47] developers, other regional planning

[1:15:49] agencies because they've been really

[1:15:50] interested in the work that we've been

[1:15:52] working on um for this process as well

[1:15:54] as uh different stakeholders that make

[1:15:56] sense as well as municipalities. Um to

[1:15:59] have a workshop to kind of outline uh

[1:16:01] what went into this, the methodology

[1:16:03] behind it, but also the the next steps

[1:16:06] for this process. Do you have some

[1:16:07] developers, a list of developers who are

[1:16:10] potential candidates for going to that

[1:16:12] workshop? We do. Um, all the ones that

[1:16:15] have got ARPA funding to start um as

[1:16:18] well as we have other stakeholders um

[1:16:20] and developers across the state that

[1:16:22] we're aware of. So, we're going to

[1:16:23] spread this. We're going to distribute

[1:16:24] this widely. You're the first ones

[1:16:25] seeing it. We even um got some slack

[1:16:28] from our co-workers because we hadn't

[1:16:30] even shared it with them. We wanted you

[1:16:31] all to see it first.

[1:16:34] Um, so we'll be dispersing this this

[1:16:36] afternoon to all of our municipalities,

[1:16:38] our board membership, developers. Um,

[1:16:40] and then when we have that date and time

[1:16:42] finalized with Ko, we'll send out

[1:16:44] another announcement. We're expecting it

[1:16:46] to be on Zoom just because the, um, the

[1:16:48] group that we've been working with at

[1:16:50] Kamoy would be coming up from Boston for

[1:16:51] this. So, um, we figured Zoom would work

[1:16:55] well. And does your list of developers

[1:16:58] include out of state developers, too,

[1:17:00] potentially? We don't, but we're hoping

[1:17:01] that we'll spread the word. So, as we

[1:17:03] get it out to the networks, um, they

[1:17:05] might spread it, too. Okay. Great.

[1:17:09] Looks great. Yes. Yep. We're going to

[1:17:10] send it to them as well.

[1:17:13] I would invite them to

[1:17:14] Okay. Does it work? Sounds good.

[1:17:20] [Music]

[1:17:24] He's shopping for a new place. While he's looking, is the Newcastle one

[1:17:28] at Zero um Mills Road or Academy? Is

[1:17:31] that the one that's owned by the town

[1:17:33] currently? Yes. Okay. So, they just need

[1:17:36] a developer. Yes. Yeah. Okay.

[1:17:42] Great. Well, that's very nice. Should

[1:17:44] there's some potential

[1:17:47] for affordable housing. And the excite

[1:17:51] the other exciting piece is as other

[1:17:52] properties appear up, we have the

[1:17:54] template. So um while our contract with

[1:17:57] Kimoy is up, they have provided us this

[1:18:00] document so we can continue to add or if

[1:18:02] properties do get developed for housing,

[1:18:04] we can take them out of the profile and

[1:18:05] add something else in. So this will be a

[1:18:07] living document just like our housing

[1:18:08] needs assessment is. So if some of the

[1:18:10] no-shows decide they call up that didn't

[1:18:14] participate in the first place. Yep.

[1:18:16] That's why Laura's phone number and

[1:18:17] contact information is at the bottom of

[1:18:19] every page. She's anticipating the

[1:18:21] phone. Right. Good.

[1:18:24] Cool. Nice.

[1:18:27] Awesome. Look no further.

[1:18:31] That's the hope.

[1:18:34] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

[1:18:36] you very much.

[1:18:38] to stay for the shar.

[1:18:48] Okay. Thank you,

[1:18:54] Miss

[1:19:02] Huber. Recommendation.

[1:19:05] I can wait though. You want to give it

[1:19:07] to us right now? Sure. If you if Emily

[1:19:10] doesn't mind. Can I stay here at least?

[1:19:12] Sure.

[1:19:14] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Down. Um, looking

[1:19:16] at the bids, um, my recommendation would

[1:19:19] be that we, uh, award the bid to Quirk,

[1:19:23] um, for a 2025 Ford Police Interceptor

[1:19:28] all-wheel drive white standard police

[1:19:31] car, if you will, um, in the amount of

[1:19:36] $45,520. Um, Darling was at 493 for the

[1:19:40] same vehicle.

[1:19:43] So it has all it meets all the bid

[1:19:45] specifications uh including the

[1:19:47] spotlight um you know the the the speed

[1:19:50] rat ratios you know all the all the all

[1:19:52] the so this is quirk out of this is

[1:19:55] quirk out of Augusta quirk Ford and do

[1:19:57] you usually um where you purchase the

[1:19:59] vehicles do you go back there for

[1:20:01] service or is there the only service we

[1:20:03] go back there for is if they give us a

[1:20:04] free oil change you know what I mean or

[1:20:06] uh anything that's warrantied and then

[1:20:08] we would take it to we might take it to

[1:20:10] West Cass at Ford if cuz any Ford garage

[1:20:12] will you know what I mean but yes we

[1:20:14] have that so the only our service

[1:20:15] contract remains with hillside okay you

[1:20:18] know what I mean so it's really price

[1:20:20] determinative really what yes city issue

[1:20:22] is it's the same ve right yeah and if

[1:20:25] it's warranted we'll certainly take it

[1:20:26] to a Ford garage okay

[1:20:28] move to approve

[1:20:31] seconded move and seconded to approve

[1:20:33] the court

[1:20:35] contract all in favor I I three to zero

[1:20:38] in favor thank you what do you want me

[1:20:41] to do with these Just leave. You got it.

[1:20:43] Thanks,

[1:20:48] Emily. The cork went up here.

[1:20:54] I'll bring it back to

[1:20:58] And the gift cards.

[1:21:00] Apple. Apple.

[1:21:04] Don't date.

[1:21:06] Oh, we do this all the time.

[1:21:10] Good morning. Good morning.

[1:21:13] Um I'm up here for a couple of reasons

[1:21:16] today, but I think not as exciting as

[1:21:18] everyone else, it feels like. Um the

[1:21:20] first thing on the agenda is um talking

[1:21:22] about the command trailer disposal. Um

[1:21:25] if you guys don't know, um our agency

[1:21:27] always carried um I don't know, a

[1:21:29] tagalong camper as a mobile command

[1:21:32] center. Um, I think we've had it since

[1:21:37] 2009, 2010 or so. Um, we in interim had

[1:21:42] purchased the 2019 Mercedes Sprinter van

[1:21:44] to replace the command trailer and now

[1:21:47] we're in a position where we're ready

[1:21:49] to dispose of the trailer. So, um, we

[1:21:54] had talked about having a proposal of,

[1:21:57] um, a putting it on the auction site and

[1:21:59] I just need some approval for that as

[1:22:02] well. Is this the one that's in storage?

[1:22:06] It's currently up at recycling right

[1:22:07] now. Um, I needed to make room for the

[1:22:10] Sprinter van to be housed in our storage

[1:22:14] unit. Um, it's been kept

[1:22:16] inside for many years. Um, it's in good

[1:22:21] shape. It It's essentially a shell of a

[1:22:24] tagalong trailer. It doesn't have any

[1:22:27] working plumbing. It still has some

[1:22:30] working um propane to a degree. Um and

[1:22:33] we can still use the kitchen in it, but

[1:22:35] it's again it's a shell. It doesn't

[1:22:37] really have anything aside from

[1:22:38] countertops

[1:22:40] and more countertops. Yeah, it it was

[1:22:43] retrofitted so it could serve as a

[1:22:45] command vehicle and not as a camper. So

[1:22:48] the the traditional beds and furniture

[1:22:51] that would be in a camper were removed

[1:22:53] so that we could put in workspace

[1:22:55] countertops. Mhm. So, typically when we

[1:22:59] have a a piece of equipment of this

[1:23:01] nature, we would put it out to bid and

[1:23:03] we have an online bid auction site that

[1:23:07] we use now for our patrol vehicles that

[1:23:09] we cycle out and we would likely use the

[1:23:11] same process for this. Is there a

[1:23:14] commission for that that you pay the

[1:23:17] online service? There's a a fee that the

[1:23:20] purchaser pays. So we we get what the

[1:23:23] bid price is and then there's the

[1:23:26] premium price that the okay I get it the

[1:23:28] purchaser needs to pay. So you're just

[1:23:31] asking for permission to go ahead to put

[1:23:34] it on there. Do we have a motion?

[1:23:37] Just ask one question first. No other

[1:23:39] use for it within the county. No. And

[1:23:41] not even throughout the the rest of the

[1:23:43] state. Um okay. Move to approve the

[1:23:47] disposal of the command trailer and to

[1:23:51] put it on the online auction system.

[1:23:54] Seconded. Moved and second. You don't

[1:23:56] You could fix it over and for camper for

[1:23:59] the wildland. Oh, I thought you were

[1:24:00] going to say a mobile law office or

[1:24:02] whatever. Well, that would be it's very

[1:24:04] small. Yeah. Well, when we needed Uncle

[1:24:07] Henry's and now they've left us. All in

[1:24:10] favor? I three to zero in favor.

[1:24:17] So the next conversation is on the

[1:24:21] ambulance. Um it's a very similar

[1:24:24] conversation but um we have

[1:24:28] to talk out some of the logistics of

[1:24:30] this. So, um, again, a little bit of

[1:24:32] history on the ambulance is it's an old

[1:24:35] ambulance that was outfitted with radio

[1:24:38] equipment of ham radio equipments, um,

[1:24:41] amateur radio equipment, and even just

[1:24:43] our public safety radio equipment. Um,

[1:24:46] we have a a very active communications

[1:24:49] team that utilized this vehicle. Um, it

[1:24:53] was donated to us in

[1:24:55] 2017. Um, it's it's had its life with

[1:24:59] us. Um, I think it's a 2000 uh 30 uh GMC

[1:25:04] 3500.

[1:25:06] Um, we were originally thinking of the

[1:25:10] same process um the bid site, but I

[1:25:14] recently have learned that there is a

[1:25:17] major engine failure happening with it.

[1:25:20] So, regardless of what we do, it would

[1:25:23] have to be towed out of my storage unit.

[1:25:26] Um, and I would recommend it be used as

[1:25:29] salvage at this point. We didn't pay

[1:25:31] anything for it. We're we're going to

[1:25:34] get a little bit of something for it,

[1:25:36] you know.

[1:25:38] So, whatever we can get for it. That's

[1:25:40] quite a sales job. I can see the phones

[1:25:42] are ringing now.

[1:25:44] So, we can put this on the auction site.

[1:25:47] They do list scrap material, so we could

[1:25:49] list it as a nonfunctioning.

[1:25:53] There's some junkers who might like

[1:25:55] that. There may be, especially there's

[1:25:57] not too many ambulances out there. Yeah,

[1:25:59] it is a niche market. One of one. Maybe

[1:26:02] if we put that in the auction detail.

[1:26:03] One of one. Put it in. It does have a

[1:26:05] lot of the hookups and the outfits. It's

[1:26:07] not going to be sold with the radios

[1:26:09] that is being completely stripped out so

[1:26:11] that they can be rehomed. Um, it it will

[1:26:15] also be essentially an empty shell of an

[1:26:19] ambulance. Um, but it has a a fold down

[1:26:22] workbench, which is kind of neat and

[1:26:24] different, I guess, about any other

[1:26:25] ambulances. And can the box come off on

[1:26:29] the back if you remove that from the

[1:26:32] vehicle with a bad engine? It might. I

[1:26:35] do crazy things. Do what you want. Do

[1:26:37] whatever. A lot of people are turning

[1:26:39] them into campers these days. They are,

[1:26:41] so there might be an interest. What do

[1:26:43] we pay to list them? I don't think

[1:26:46] there's a fee to list them. Okay. Mhm.

[1:26:49] So, is there a motion to get rid of this

[1:26:52] piece of equipment? Move to dispose of

[1:26:55] the

[1:26:59] ambulance. All in favor? All in favor of

[1:27:01] getting rid of this. I I three to zero.

[1:27:09] Now, get rid of two and buy one. And buy

[1:27:12] one. I see what you're doing. Yes.

[1:27:13] Right. I'm I'm right on it. Um, so in

[1:27:18] earlier conversations when we were

[1:27:20] looking to purchase this 2019 Sprinter

[1:27:23] van, we were looking to replace both of

[1:27:25] the vehicles that you guys just approved

[1:27:27] to dispose of. Um, in doing so, yes, we

[1:27:30] now have the Sprinter van, but we would

[1:27:32] like to purchase a trail, a pullalong

[1:27:35] trailer, 6x12 trailer, um, as an

[1:27:37] accessory to the the Sprinter van, um,

[1:27:41] and to replace a lot of the

[1:27:42] functionality of what the ambulance used

[1:27:45] to do.

[1:27:47] Could the sprinter van pull a trailer?

[1:27:49] Yep. It's already got a hookup for

[1:27:51] trailer and everything, so it's it's

[1:27:54] functioning enough to do that. Um, I

[1:27:56] have my vehicle that does that as well.

[1:27:58] My truck does that. Um, and then our

[1:28:01] radio team is all on board for being

[1:28:04] able to pull a trailer with their own

[1:28:06] vehicles as well.

[1:28:09] The nice part about a plan like this is

[1:28:11] if you need the sprinter van without the

[1:28:13] radio equipment, the trailer stays put

[1:28:15] and you take the sprinter van, but you

[1:28:18] can pull it along and it's an easy tow.

[1:28:20] It's not like trying to pull the camper

[1:28:22] van behind a pickup. Exactly. Okay.

[1:28:24] Yeah. This was already allocated. So, we

[1:28:28] originally allocated

[1:28:29] $140,000 towards the Sprinter van and

[1:28:33] its accessories. We spent $129 on the

[1:28:35] van. So, we still have an additional

[1:28:38] $11,000 to be spent specifically on this

[1:28:41] project. Move to approve the purchase

[1:28:44] authorization of the utility trailer for

[1:28:47] $5,895.

[1:28:49] Seconded. Move and seconded. No

[1:28:52] comments. All in favor? I I three to

[1:28:55] zero in favor.

[1:28:59] Have fun. Anything else you got to get

[1:29:01] rid of?

[1:29:03] You

[1:29:04] wait. I have been we've been doing a lot

[1:29:07] of inventory in the office and um making

[1:29:10] sure equipment is functioning is

[1:29:11] something that has been lacking over the

[1:29:13] years. So um this is why I'm coming to

[1:29:16] you all at once with a lot of different

[1:29:18] equipments. Um, but I I'd like to see

[1:29:21] our office being fully functioning and

[1:29:24] fully deployable at all times. Would

[1:29:26] those accessories qualify under what we

[1:29:28] allocated with the remainder for ARPA?

[1:29:32] Yes.

[1:29:33] Well, we're not sending it back. No. No,

[1:29:36] let's not send it back. And speaking of

[1:29:39] ARPA, our annual ARPA report was due

[1:29:42] April 30th, so that's been submitted.

[1:29:45] Okay, good.

[1:29:48] and it's it's all designated as lost

[1:29:51] revenue because that's the easiest for

[1:29:54] you to make decisions on usage and all

[1:29:56] of that. So, all of our allocations were

[1:29:59] done prior to the December 31st

[1:30:02] um deadline and we're moving forward

[1:30:04] with spending those dollars. Okay.

[1:30:08] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:30:13] You're staying. Yes. Okay.

[1:30:21] my turn. I have a hiring

[1:30:25] recommendation for you for the executive

[1:30:28] assistant position. And to refresh your

[1:30:31] memories, we had a administrative

[1:30:35] assistant position in our budget for

[1:30:37] several years that was not filled. And

[1:30:40] the position was restructured to give it

[1:30:42] more responsibilities to serve as a

[1:30:46] backup to some of the functions in our

[1:30:48] finance and HR offices and um it helps

[1:30:52] us with succession planning for um

[1:30:56] expected retirement that we're going to

[1:30:58] have early next year. So, I make the

[1:31:01] recommendation that we hire Wendy Noel

[1:31:04] to the position of executive assistant

[1:31:07] and her start date would be May 27th.

[1:31:12] So, moved. Second. Moved and seconded.

[1:31:14] Any questions? All in favor? I. Three to

[1:31:18] zero in favor.

[1:31:23] Okay. Next is our collection of DOT

[1:31:28] notices of layout and taking. The first

[1:31:30] one comes to us for the town of

[1:31:34] Edgecom and the second one is for the

[1:31:37] town of Whitefield and they're both

[1:31:39] related to drainage on state roadways.

[1:31:43] They've provided

[1:31:45] the typical

[1:31:47] maps where you can guess where they're

[1:31:50] located.

[1:31:51] Um, this one's state aid highway number

[1:31:54] two river road in Edgecom and it's a a

[1:31:58] coffer dam just like the ones that we

[1:32:00] previously had. The second one is on

[1:32:04] Route

[1:32:06] 194 right where Whitefield and Pittston

[1:32:09] come together and it's also a a covert

[1:32:13] situation on the roadway. Since we're

[1:32:16] recording this for the first time, could

[1:32:18] you just give us 30 seconds of this

[1:32:20] quirky action that we have to take? Why

[1:32:22] is it here? So, the

[1:32:25] DOT is uh making the recommendation that

[1:32:28] they acquire some private property.

[1:32:31] Usually, it's just a sliver of land

[1:32:33] around a roadway, a shoulder, a culvert,

[1:32:36] something like that. They

[1:32:39] record

[1:32:42] that transaction in a notice of layout

[1:32:45] and taking that is recorded with the

[1:32:47] register of deeds office. DOT prepares

[1:32:50] all of this. They notified the the

[1:32:53] property owners and they then make an

[1:32:56] offer to the property owners that are

[1:32:59] affected for the purchase of that piece

[1:33:02] of land. This notice is put on public

[1:33:05] record. So, anybody that would like to

[1:33:07] look at the the notices can come into

[1:33:09] our office and look at them. Uh, we

[1:33:12] don't scan the not the um maps from the

[1:33:15] notices. We just we put them in a file

[1:33:17] cabinet. And honestly, there's never a

[1:33:20] lot of interest in them, but they are

[1:33:22] available. If anybody wants to look at

[1:33:24] them, we'll pull them out. They get

[1:33:25] recorded, too, though. So, they This

[1:33:27] document gets recorded. The plans do

[1:33:29] not. The plans do not. DOT only records

[1:33:32] this document. Okay.

[1:33:35] They're apparently we have the

[1:33:36] physicals. We have the physical if

[1:33:39] somebody wanted to see them. Correct.

[1:33:43] So we have nothing to do with it. Only

[1:33:44] to accept it. You accept it. You place

[1:33:47] it on record and then if the property

[1:33:50] owner disputes the offer being the copy,

[1:33:54] then you participate in the hearing.

[1:33:59] And when's the last time that ever

[1:34:00] happened? It was um last year we had

[1:34:03] one. Okay. Yeah, we had down in Bristol.

[1:34:06] Yeah, they they're occasional.

[1:34:09] Not a complete antiquated thing. No, it

[1:34:11] is real. No, and

[1:34:14] DOT does all of the administration of

[1:34:16] that process. They just notify us that

[1:34:18] it's happening and usually it's the

[1:34:21] commissioner who

[1:34:23] uh represents the district that would

[1:34:25] serve on that panel and they go view the

[1:34:28] property with the other panel members

[1:34:30] and then they come back here to

[1:34:32] deliberate. That last one was a quite

[1:34:34] lengthy deliberation if I recall. It was

[1:34:37] down here. It was by the cemetery in

[1:34:40] South Bristol right by the golf course.

[1:34:42] Beyond the golf course.

[1:34:46] Move to approve the notice of layout and

[1:34:48] taking for the town of

[1:34:50] second. All in favor? I I

[1:34:56] move to approve the

[1:34:59] DOT notice of layout and taking for the

[1:35:01] town of Whitefield.

[1:35:05] Second. All in favor? I I 3 to zero.

[1:35:11] Thank you.

[1:35:14] The next item is a revisit to the Hon

[1:35:17] Hill Tower lease. Uh we have a lease

[1:35:21] right now with US Cellular. They have

[1:35:23] their cellular phone equipment on our

[1:35:26] Hon Hill Tower. That's the tower that we

[1:35:29] own as the county and they pay us a

[1:35:32] lease

[1:35:33] payment. Periodically, US Cellular will

[1:35:36] ask to make upgrades to the equipment on

[1:35:38] the tower. Uh most recently, I think was

[1:35:42] when they replaced the guide wires on

[1:35:44] the tower at their expense. They hired

[1:35:47] the contractors to do that and then they

[1:35:49] did the upgrades to those uh wires.

[1:35:53] They're now asking to do some

[1:35:55] reconfiguration of the equipment that's

[1:35:57] at the top of the tower, meaning they

[1:36:00] would put in new support uh braces and

[1:36:03] then realign the equipment. I believe

[1:36:07] that they're doing this as um a

[1:36:10] precursor to a merger with another

[1:36:13] cellular company.

[1:36:15] They've asked us to do that and in that

[1:36:19] process they would need to amend the

[1:36:21] lease agreement that they have with us

[1:36:22] because the agreement calls out all of

[1:36:24] the equipment specifically. They also

[1:36:27] suggested that we extend the terms of

[1:36:30] the lease to

[1:36:33] be four more 10-year terms which is an

[1:36:38] extensive amount of time. So, I replied

[1:36:41] back to them that the county is not

[1:36:43] interested in in pursuing pursuing a

[1:36:45] term like that. Um, they're now asking

[1:36:48] if we would allow them to make the

[1:36:51] upgrades to the equipment and remove the

[1:36:54] lease extension from the amendment if we

[1:36:56] would be willing to do that. I don't

[1:36:58] have any objections to

[1:37:00] them realigning their equipment, but not

[1:37:04] extending the the terms of the

[1:37:06] agreement. When does it otherwise um

[1:37:08] expire?

[1:37:12] I believe it's coming up quickly here

[1:37:18] and we're currently on a 10 or is it it

[1:37:21] was 25?

[1:37:24] We were on initial agreement.

[1:37:30] Hand it

[1:37:37] [Applause]

[1:37:49] here. Initial term was 20 years and they

[1:37:54] had one option to renew for an

[1:37:56] additional 10 years.

[1:37:59] So

[1:38:01] they uh amended it back on March 20th of

[1:38:11] 2018

[1:38:18] and that was for some antenna and that

[1:38:22] was the guidewire amendment.

[1:38:27] So, three more years it sounds like.

[1:38:31] So, the first lease was in January of

[1:38:34] 97.

[1:38:37] So, 2017. So, 2027 it will expire

[1:38:42] completely expire. Right. So, I'd like

[1:38:45] to make the recommendation to you that

[1:38:47] we allow them to make the upgrades to

[1:38:49] their equipment and not extend the terms

[1:38:52] of the lease. And I would also suggest

[1:38:55] that we hire a consultant to start

[1:38:57] representing us in these lease

[1:38:59] negotiations. Do you think hiring a

[1:39:02] consultant would make a big difference

[1:39:04] or um I think hiring a consultant will

[1:39:07] get you a more realistic market rate.

[1:39:10] Okay. I don't know what that rate is. I

[1:39:12] have no idea how to collect that. Right.

[1:39:14] So there is a local person that owns the

[1:39:18] Blind Hill tower that we're currently on

[1:39:21] that does this type of work for other

[1:39:23] counties. And then there's also another

[1:39:26] person that was referred to me out of

[1:39:28] Ponobskot County that is new to this

[1:39:32] field of um lease negotiation and tower

[1:39:35] management, tower site management. would

[1:39:39] um is it necessary to make that decision

[1:39:41] now or could we wait a year if it's

[1:39:44] expiring in 27 or how long would the

[1:39:48] process take? I guess I'd like

[1:39:50] permission to start asking what that

[1:39:52] process would look like, what the cost

[1:39:55] would be, what what the county would be

[1:39:57] obligated to, not to enter into an

[1:39:59] agreement, but just to start gathering

[1:40:01] information to make that decision.

[1:40:08] Um what she said I

[1:40:11] move now I forgot it. Um approve the um

[1:40:16] equipment maintenance equipment

[1:40:17] maintenance without any extension of the

[1:40:21] contract and then to authorize the

[1:40:24] administrator to uh engage in some

[1:40:27] initial discussions with potential

[1:40:29] consultants on um renewals for the

[1:40:33] future. Seconded. Thank you. Move and

[1:40:37] seconded. Can you repeat that?

[1:40:40] I think I have it right here. All All in

[1:40:43] favor? Okay. I I You're a jokester, too.

[1:40:49] Three in three to zero in favor.

[1:40:55] Just as a side, I noticed that uh the

[1:40:57] tower out here seems pretty rusty. I

[1:40:59] don't know if we have annual maintenance

[1:41:01] on that or not or painting or we don't

[1:41:04] talk about that tower. We don't talk

[1:41:06] about that this one. Yeah. Yeah, we

[1:41:08] don't talk about it. All right. Well,

[1:41:10] I'll try not to.

[1:41:13] But it's something I noticed as I was

[1:41:15] driving by the other day, man.

[1:41:20] I'm hoping at some point that tower can

[1:41:22] go away. Okay. But for today, it's

[1:41:26] functioning perfectly. Okay. Don't

[1:41:28] breathe too hard. Right.

[1:41:32] Okay. Next item is the station design

[1:41:34] conference. This is the conference that

[1:41:36] I told you about that's in Glendale,

[1:41:38] Arizona, coming up in a couple weeks.

[1:41:41] And it's specific to agencies who are

[1:41:45] looking to build public safety

[1:41:47] facilities in whatever manner that may

[1:41:49] look like. and we invited several of our

[1:41:54] department heads and between calendar

[1:41:58] conflicts and planned vacations, we've

[1:42:00] settled on three of our employees going

[1:42:03] to the conference. So, it'll be Sheriff

[1:42:06] Bracket, our communications director,

[1:42:08] Tara Do, and our EMA director, Emily

[1:42:11] Huber. They'll all be traveling to

[1:42:14] Glendale. and the cost of the

[1:42:17] registration for the conference, the

[1:42:20] lodging for all three of them, the

[1:42:22] flights, and then the the cost of the

[1:42:25] PDM for meals. The total amount is about

[1:42:31] $6,900. So, I'd like permission for the

[1:42:34] outofstate travel and to cover the

[1:42:37] expenses. When is this taking place?

[1:42:39] It's uh first day is May 18th. May 18th.

[1:42:43] It'll still be pretty warm out there

[1:42:45] then.

[1:42:47] Did you want to go? No. I could probably

[1:42:49] find you a flight. No, that's all right.

[1:42:51] Well, I assume they'll be stuck in

[1:42:53] conference room with AC that's too high.

[1:42:56] Um, as in likely they'll all come back

[1:42:58] with respiratory infections. Exactly.

[1:43:00] But uh if you could remind us there's um

[1:43:03] topics that will help us as we're trying

[1:43:05] to plan a new public safety building.

[1:43:08] So, there's many, many different agenda

[1:43:10] items specific to what we're trying to

[1:43:12] do. In addition to that, they have

[1:43:14] one-on-one consulting sessions where

[1:43:17] they can look at your project at the

[1:43:20] step it's at today and then offer some

[1:43:23] insight and some um suggestions on ways

[1:43:27] that you can design it or plan for usage

[1:43:32] that might be outside of what you've

[1:43:34] already explored. So, it'll expand our

[1:43:37] focus so that maybe we find one or two

[1:43:41] or or more different uses for that

[1:43:44] facility, ways to fund that

[1:43:46] facility, ways that it could be more

[1:43:49] streamlined or or made more efficient

[1:43:52] down the road or plan for future life

[1:43:55] expectancy on that. There's there's a

[1:43:57] lot of different and um

[1:44:01] valuable topics that they'll be

[1:44:03] covering. So, have we tasked one of

[1:44:05] those three to take the lead on that and

[1:44:08] sort of get I mean because they each

[1:44:10] come from separate departments. You're

[1:44:12] not apparently attending. So, um who is

[1:44:16] going to sort of ask that overarching

[1:44:18] question? I think Emily just

[1:44:20] volunteered. I can so I'm not going to I

[1:44:22] wondered if she was waving back. I just

[1:44:25] want to put out there that like we all

[1:44:26] did our research on it like even from my

[1:44:29] perspective as it's hard to find things

[1:44:31] for EMA. Um, and there are a lot of

[1:44:34] different individual sessions that cover

[1:44:37] EOCC's. They cover and I think that all

[1:44:39] of us are going to be able to get

[1:44:41] something out of it to the point that

[1:44:42] we're going to have to divide and

[1:44:43] conquer during the same time frames of

[1:44:46] the information that's going to be put

[1:44:48] out there. Um, we're all very excited

[1:44:51] for the one-on-one sessions so that we

[1:44:53] can discuss kind of layouts of each of

[1:44:56] our our needs and our wants. Um, and

[1:44:59] it's going to be extremely beneficial

[1:45:01] for all three of us, no matter how we're

[1:45:04] looking at it. Cuz that's what I'm

[1:45:05] curious about is that what else could we

[1:45:08] do while we're building? Is there more

[1:45:11] county services that could be delivered

[1:45:14] through there or um do we collaborate

[1:45:18] with one of the towns if wherever we end

[1:45:21] up or maybe a budding towns is there

[1:45:24] some opportunities to do something

[1:45:26] together there. So hopefully you can

[1:45:29] engage in that discussion. It will be

[1:45:30] very interesting. It's very um law and

[1:45:33] fireheavy okay based but again there's a

[1:45:36] lot of um individual sessions around

[1:45:40] each of our needs. So I don't think

[1:45:43] we'll come away with nothing. Great.

[1:45:46] I just comment when we did this when we

[1:45:48] built two bridges and it was very

[1:45:52] beneficial.

[1:45:53] I think the one one to one thing sound

[1:45:56] that really Yeah, we're great. very

[1:45:59] excited um to the point that we all had

[1:46:01] to move our schedules around so that we

[1:46:03] could make sure this a priority because

[1:46:05] we want to make sure that all of us can

[1:46:07] get something out of it and that not one

[1:46:09] of us can speak more than the other, you

[1:46:11] know.

[1:46:13] Great. Well,

[1:46:15] good. Okay, good news.

[1:46:20] You want a motion to approve? Okay. Move

[1:46:22] to approve the travel for the sheriff,

[1:46:26] EMA director, communications director

[1:46:29] for a total of $6,900.

[1:46:32] Second.

[1:46:35] Moved and seconded. All in favor? I I

[1:46:39] three to zero. Going to Glendale. Yeah,

[1:46:45] we're excited. Good. Good. Can't wait to

[1:46:48] hear the report back. How many days?

[1:46:51] three. I think it's four. We're We'll be

[1:46:54] leaving on that Sunday to make sure that

[1:46:56] we can get there for the Monday

[1:46:57] one-on-one sessions. And the last day of

[1:46:59] the conference is Thursday. So, we'll be

[1:47:01] heading out on Friday or coming back on

[1:47:04] Friday. Cool. And all the deputies will

[1:47:06] be ready to go if something happens

[1:47:08] while you guys are all away.

[1:47:11] They carry me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah.

[1:47:14] They all have deputy directors.

[1:47:16] right? We're going to

[1:47:17] get to see some fresh faces on the 20th.

[1:47:21] Oh yeah, we should have all deputy days. Put something on the agenda

[1:47:26] so they all to speak, you know. That'd

[1:47:30] be great for them. Yeah, good idea.

[1:47:34] All right. Okay. Next item is the

[1:47:37] proposal that we received from LCTV

[1:47:40] regarding the camera installation.

[1:47:43] And what that proposal would do is have

[1:47:47] a camera mounted above your head there

[1:47:50] on the wall. There'll be one on the

[1:47:52] back. Each of the seats will have a

[1:47:56] microphone. There'll be two microphones

[1:47:58] at the table here. And then it'll have

[1:48:01] all the supplementary equipment, the

[1:48:04] mixing switches, and all of that fun

[1:48:07] stuff that I'm not an expert on, but I

[1:48:10] have an expert here if you have

[1:48:11] questions. Um, it would also there also

[1:48:15] included in the proposal is the cost to

[1:48:18] have a technician attend each of our

[1:48:21] meetings to run that equipment and then

[1:48:24] upload it so that we can be live

[1:48:26] streaming it. Uh, one of the notes that

[1:48:28] I made while I was sitting here is to to

[1:48:31] start a Lincoln County YouTube channel

[1:48:34] so that we can use our Zoom platform to

[1:48:37] live stream to YouTube while the

[1:48:38] meetings are happening. So, those kinks

[1:48:41] I'm still working on. But, do we have to

[1:48:44] do anything different in that corner to

[1:48:46] house any of like like the laptop

[1:48:48] computer, um the converter,

[1:48:53] any other equipment? So, there's a case

[1:48:55] that it stores in that can stay here. If

[1:48:58] that table needs to move, we can find a

[1:49:00] different workstation or Yeah. Okay. I

[1:49:03] think once we get the equipment on site

[1:49:05] and we actually physically can see it in

[1:49:07] the space, then we can address anything

[1:49:09] else that might be needed for it. And

[1:49:11] did they say like um once approval is

[1:49:15] given how quickly it could go live next

[1:49:19] or the is the equipment readily

[1:49:21] available? the the equipment we would

[1:49:23] need to to make a payment for the

[1:49:25] equipment and then it could be ordered

[1:49:27] and I think it would arrive within a

[1:49:29] week or so and then it could potentially

[1:49:31] installation is I'm sorry I was just

[1:49:34] saying potentially at the next meeting

[1:49:36] we would yeah yes I see a nod in the

[1:49:39] back maybe it's like a a semi I say one

[1:49:42] or two weeks okay installation is a

[1:49:45] matter of putting a bracket on the wall

[1:49:47] okay the um network cables already in

[1:49:51] place Mhm. and the cameras will be

[1:49:53] powered by the network. Okay. So, it

[1:49:56] would be a very easy to install system.

[1:49:59] Okay. Move to approve uh the proposal of

[1:50:03] LCTV to outfit this room

[1:50:06] for recording and broadcasting of our

[1:50:09] meeting. I will second it. You moved and

[1:50:12] second it. Any other comments? One

[1:50:13] question. Um, have you One thing I've

[1:50:16] never looked up is why people use Town

[1:50:19] Hall streams versus YouTube as a

[1:50:22] platform. Has that come up yet? I think

[1:50:26] it's tied to their website. What's town

[1:50:28] hall stream?

[1:50:31] Just like YouTube, but they primarily

[1:50:33] house the digital record and that's

[1:50:35] where you can watch instead of on

[1:50:36] YouTube. So, some people just have it

[1:50:38] streaming through this outfit called

[1:50:39] town hall streams is the second most

[1:50:41] common thing after YouTube. Oh, really?

[1:50:43] Okay. But yeah, you think it's tied

[1:50:45] through there? I don't know. Maybe they

[1:50:47] just YouTube's too corporate. They don't

[1:50:49] want it to live there. I don't know. I

[1:50:52] don't know the answer, but I'll look it

[1:50:53] up.

[1:50:55] Behind you. Uh, most towns in Lincoln

[1:50:58] County, Walder, Wisconsin,

[1:51:01] Newcastle, Dan RCA, they all stream

[1:51:04] their select board and planning board

[1:51:06] meetings and budget committee stuff like

[1:51:08] that all to uh their YouTube channels.

[1:51:10] Uh, I don't know what town hall is.

[1:51:13] Yeah. Um I think Booth Bay uses it and

[1:51:16] Sagada Hawk uses it and a few other

[1:51:18] people out there. Yep. The only the only

[1:51:20] one I don't know about is Bristol. They

[1:51:23] uh tend to upload their stuff to Google

[1:51:26] Drive and that's where I usually get it

[1:51:27] from. Uh they don't have a YouTube

[1:51:30] channel that I know about. That's all I

[1:51:32] wanted to say. Cool. Thank you.

[1:51:35] Figure that out as it goes along. Cool.

[1:51:41] All in favor of the motion. I I I three

[1:51:45] to zero. Great. And just so I'm clear,

[1:51:48] the proposal is the equipment and the

[1:51:52] ongoing per meeting labor cost to have

[1:51:55] the technician here

[1:51:59] at the

[1:52:01] three-hour minimal.

[1:52:04] Yes, I I do have an update for you on

[1:52:08] the DA's office restitution. I reached

[1:52:10] out to their office supervisor and the

[1:52:15] um deputy district attorney contacted

[1:52:18] the county where this individual was

[1:52:20] being prosecuted and the case is still

[1:52:23] pending. So, nothing has been ordered

[1:52:25] yet as a result of the actions with the

[1:52:28] credit card here, but uh I let her know

[1:52:32] that we would be looking for a a routine

[1:52:36] update on this until the the matter was

[1:52:38] completely resolved. So, that sounds

[1:52:40] like when they say the

[1:52:42] um matter was in litigation, that's the

[1:52:46] act of using the card and then pulling

[1:52:49] it back. that charge of because I

[1:52:52] thought uh DA DA assistant DA Murdoch

[1:52:56] said that they were pursuing charges

[1:52:58] around that incident and is that what

[1:53:01] that is or um she said where where he's

[1:53:04] being prosecuted and the case is still

[1:53:06] pending and the case is still pending or

[1:53:08] like which case I guess that's what I

[1:53:11] sounds like what he's sitting in

[1:53:12] something else is why he's in the other

[1:53:14] county. Yeah. Okay. Um I guess that's so

[1:53:19] you want to know about just whether or

[1:53:21] not the new charges were brought or not

[1:53:25] um for that activity

[1:53:29] specific to the

[1:53:32] Yes. Cuz I don't see why they would say

[1:53:34] that he's still under those those

[1:53:36] charges without

[1:53:38] addressing you know what we were talking

[1:53:40] about here. I will get an update. Good.

[1:53:44] Thank you.

[1:53:48] Oh, I had it on two things. LCTV. So,

[1:53:52] the next one is the

[1:53:55] proposal that was separate from the

[1:53:57] cameras. Okay, got it. Do you want to

[1:53:59] take any action on that today? Is there

[1:54:02] anything new to

[1:54:04] report? I I guess my lingering question

[1:54:07] is is which towns would opt in

[1:54:11] enough for it to make sense to even

[1:54:16] start to think about them coming in as

[1:54:20] an organization of part of the the

[1:54:22] county cuz if only

[1:54:25] one town or no town opts in that doesn't

[1:54:28] look like it accomplishes what they're

[1:54:30] trying to accomplish. I I don't think it

[1:54:33] I don't think so. Yeah.

[1:54:35] [Music]

[1:54:36] Okay. So, I guess we'll just keep it

[1:54:38] there until we get more information. No

[1:54:41] action. No action. Okay.

[1:54:46] I do have an update for you on the

[1:54:48] public safety building project. We had a

[1:54:51] Zoom meeting with the uh consultants

[1:54:55] that we're using and right now we're

[1:54:58] doing site evaluations.

[1:55:01] We've got a list of 10 different

[1:55:04] possible locations that are in Newcastle

[1:55:08] and Noble that have a site that is large

[1:55:13] enough in acreage. We would need at

[1:55:16] least I think it's either 12 or 14 acres

[1:55:19] to accomplish everything that we've put

[1:55:22] into our preliminary um site. And of the

[1:55:27] 10, there are

[1:55:33] four six of the 10 are feasible for our

[1:55:38] needs. So what the consultant is going

[1:55:40] to do is then move it to the next step

[1:55:43] where there's um regulatory analysis

[1:55:46] done, there's mapping done. Our planning

[1:55:49] office is going to help with that so

[1:55:51] that it keeps our cost down with the

[1:55:53] consultant. And then um the other thing

[1:55:56] that we need to consider is whether or

[1:55:58] not these parcels are something that the

[1:56:01] owner would be interested in selling. So

[1:56:03] it's not their criteria wasn't just go

[1:56:07] look at properties that are for sale

[1:56:09] now. It's just where would it work and

[1:56:11] then deal with the owners or whatever.

[1:56:14] Right? So the the list was made based on

[1:56:19] proximity

[1:56:20] to the areas that we've identified as

[1:56:23] being priority and then large enough so

[1:56:26] that we could accommodate everything

[1:56:28] we're trying to do. I think only one of

[1:56:30] the 10 was for sale at the time that the

[1:56:33] list was compiled. I don't know if any

[1:56:36] of these parcels are listed on the site

[1:56:40] inventory that the planning office

[1:56:42] presented today for housing. So that

[1:56:45] might give us an idea on whether or not

[1:56:48] um there's interest in selling. Right.

[1:56:50] But Sheriff Brackett has indicated that

[1:56:54] he would be open to going and meeting

[1:56:57] with the the owners of the properties if

[1:56:59] we get to a point like that just to

[1:57:01] explain what what we're trying to do and

[1:57:03] to see if there's an interest in selling

[1:57:05] part of the property or all of the

[1:57:07] person or does a combination of a couple

[1:57:11] different owners. Yes. Are they looking

[1:57:13] at that idea too if they're overlap or

[1:57:16] next to each other? you would have to

[1:57:18] approach more than just one owner. Most

[1:57:20] of these are sta standalone standalone parcels, but there's like

[1:57:25] there's one here that's on the list

[1:57:26] that's feasible. It's 51 acres.

[1:57:29] We wouldn't need 51 acres, but are all

[1:57:32] 51 acres buildable? There there was at

[1:57:35] least one parcel that had wetlands as

[1:57:37] part of the parcel, but not in a section

[1:57:40] that would prohibit construction and

[1:57:44] road access.

[1:57:45] So there's there's a lot of different

[1:57:48] things that are going into this

[1:57:49] analysis. We do have another meeting

[1:57:52] scheduled for uh next Friday, I believe

[1:57:56] it is. This Friday, it's this Friday.

[1:57:59] And things can change after our

[1:58:00] delegation comes back from Arizona,

[1:58:02] right? And say we need more than 15

[1:58:06] acres or whatever, right? We were pretty

[1:58:08] aggressive with our request. Okay. Yeah.

[1:58:10] So, I don't know that it'll change a

[1:58:12] whole lot, but um it could Who knows? I

[1:58:16] mean, who knows what they're going to

[1:58:17] get out of this, but but we have another

[1:58:20] meeting scheduled and um we're moving

[1:58:22] this process along. We want to be able

[1:58:24] to

[1:58:26] have our timeline in line with the

[1:58:29] congressionally directed spending

[1:58:31] request window that we're hoping will

[1:58:33] open next spring. So, all of the things

[1:58:36] that we need to do on our end, grant

[1:58:38] funding that would help pay for them.

[1:58:40] Yes,

[1:58:41] [Music]

[1:58:42] that's our ultimate goal is to allow the

[1:58:45] federal government to pay for this for

[1:58:47] us. That would be very nice. I'm sure

[1:58:48] the county would appreciate that. I'm

[1:58:51] certain they would.

[1:58:53] So, it's it is moving forward. Great.

[1:58:55] Thank you.

[1:58:58] And I have an update on tax abatement

[1:59:02] hearings. We have one pending for the

[1:59:04] town of Breamman that has initially

[1:59:09] indicated that they'd be willing to an

[1:59:11] extension until the end of June and I

[1:59:14] reached out and got a response from them

[1:59:17] yesterday and um they were waiting on

[1:59:20] some records from the town. I would be

[1:59:23] of the mindset that it's time to

[1:59:25] schedule this. They've had plenty of

[1:59:27] time to gather all of their their

[1:59:29] supporting documents to build their case

[1:59:33] and prepare to present it to you. Um, so

[1:59:37] I'll be reaching out to them with some

[1:59:39] dates in June to get this scheduled. The

[1:59:42] other one that we have that you've

[1:59:44] accepted is with a property owner in the

[1:59:48] town of Whitefield and um they indicated

[1:59:51] that there may be additional property

[1:59:53] owners coming in coming with tax

[1:59:56] abatement applications for similar

[1:59:59] situations and I did receive one

[2:00:01] yesterday but it was incomplete. So,

[2:00:03] I'll be reaching out to them for the

[2:00:06] complete document that they need to

[2:00:08] prepare and I'll have that on the next

[2:00:11] agenda for you to accept if they are

[2:00:14] timely. But I I would recommend that we

[2:00:16] hold these hearings separate from each

[2:00:18] other so that the um facts of each case

[2:00:22] can be considered independently. And um

[2:00:26] I have some dates from you. So, I'll reach out to them to get that

[2:00:30] scheduled. I'm hoping that that can be

[2:00:31] made in May. Do you think we could nail

[2:00:35] that down this week? So, I mean, summer

[2:00:37] is coming up quickly and the calendars.

[2:00:39] My plan is to You don't want You don't

[2:00:41] want to spend Sundays in here listening

[2:00:42] to the tax hearings? Of course. I'm not

[2:00:44] sure if these windows open. So, come on,

[2:00:47] guys. They do, but the AC works in here.

[2:00:49] Oh, okay. Well, when the when the

[2:00:52] chiller's on and the the boiler's off.

[2:00:54] Well, can't guarantee if it's nice out

[2:00:56] there, you know that we're in here. So,

[2:00:59] Right. Right. It does get a little You

[2:01:01] can tell because the traffic's backed up

[2:01:03] and and everybody wants to go outside

[2:01:05] then. There we

[2:01:06] go. It's sell drinks to the people are

[2:01:10] stopped, right? They need a little

[2:01:13] lemonator, right? Anything to help the

[2:01:14] county, right?

[2:01:16] Uh, okay. So, I I do have an executive

[2:01:20] session scheduled for discussion of

[2:01:22] legal under 1 MRSA 4056E.

[2:01:26] And in that regard, I will move a motion

[2:01:29] that we do go into that executive

[2:01:31] session for discussion of legal and one

[2:01:34] MRSA 40516.

[2:01:37] Second move and seconded. All in favor?

[2:01:40] I I 3 to zero.

Lincoln County Commissioners Meeting - May 6, 2025

Transcript