Safety screenings at the Lincoln County Courthouse will be on the rise following a decision by the Lincoln County Commissioners at their meeting on Oct. 16.
The commissioners approved a request from Sheriff Todd Brackett to accept up to $40,000 in reimbursement funds from the state to increase screenings in the courthouse.
The Sheriff’s Office will “ramp up” screening to do it every time court is in session, as much as three or four times a week, Brackett said in a phone conversation after the meeting. “We’ll see a gradual increase starting immediately,” he said.
Brackett told the commissioners the increase in screening “is a major interruption to folks” and that dialogue on the subject is important.
Commissioner Lynn (Orne) Martin said, “In our society we’re seeing a lot more violence,” adding most people won’t object to the interruption if it makes them more safe.
The commissioners also granted approval to Brackett to apply for a $10,000 OUI enforcement grant.
In the past, similar grants for $2-5000 have funded increased enforcement in condensed periods of time. This, larger, grant is for use between December and next August, Brackett said.
The commissioners accepted bids for three forfeited vehicles and two retired Sheriff’s Department vehicles.
J. Boutet Inc., of Old Orchard Beach, won the bidding on a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria with a bid of $2157.
Ken’s Drag In Auto, of Readfield, won the bidding on the four other vehicles in question: $200 each for a 1995 Buick, an Oldsmobile Bravada and an Oldsmobile Alero, and $1025 for a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria.
Ducharme is the animal control officer for Waldoboro and Bremen, and Williams is the ACO for Wiscasset and Alna.
Letters had been sent to the towns of Lincoln County asking about interest in such a position, but only a few of those towns have said positively yes, said Commissioner Sheridan Bond.
Right now, “a couple towns have trouble getting or keeping their animal control officer,” Ducharme said. Without that coverage, no one is able to cover calls for assistance, she said.
Some current ACOs are hard to get out on calls, said Williams. Only a handful of ACOs are active, she said.
Ducharme, who also works at the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, said staff from the shelter is not able to respond to those calls either, since the shelter doesn’t have insurance that covers those activities.
Bond asked if the shelter would consider having people on their staff act as ACOs if more towns were on board with the idea.
Ducharme said any decision on that would need to go through the shelter’s board of directors.
Commissioner William Blodgett asked whether a county ACO position would be better to have with fixed monthly pay or hourly pay.
Hourly would be more beneficial to whoever is doing the job, Ducharme said. ACOs use their own vehicles and there could be a lot of calls to respond to, she added.
“We’re on call 24/7,” Ducharme said.
The imagery is different from overhead photographs such those on Google Maps because it is ortho-rectified, Faunce said. That difference makes features on images with a six-inch resolution accurate to within six inches, he said.
The six-inch resolution imagery, as opposed to the basic 24-inch resolution, will provide more accurate information to be used for automating tax maps, planning sewer and water improvements, and emergency response, Faunce said.
“Every town in Lincoln County has the opportunity to purchase upgraded imagery” but if the county buys the upgrade, it will come at a discount, Faunce said.
A chart provided by Faunce shows that the cost for each town purchasing the upgrade individually would cost a total of $113,000. Purchase of the upgrade by the county as a whole would cost $84,000, for a savings of almost 26 percent.
Faunce said the county would need to contract for the upgrade by February 2013, with payment due by March.
