The Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency has received approval for a $48,675.70 grant through the Homeland Security Grant Program, according to LCEMA Director Tod Hartung.
Hartung told the Lincoln County Commissioners about the funding at their meeting on Dec. 4.
LCEMA was required to submit a budget for the funding, and expenditures needed to fall within certain guidelines and be justified to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, according to an earlier conversation with Hartung.
According to a document Hartung provided on Dec. 4, the breakdown of the funds is: $29,744.98 for law enforcement projects, $9796.93 for special team support, $1520 for exercises, and $7640.79 for homeland security equipment.
The $7640.79 will be used to provide equipment and improvements to the agency’s Emergency Operation Center, including new telephone and data lines, computers, and telephones, Hartung said.
In other business, the commissioners voted to allow Hartung to seek outside applicants for an open emergency communications officer position.
Hartung said he already has received six applications from outside the agency for the position, and finding a qualified person from another communications center would save both time and money.
The commissioners authorized a request from Sheriff Todd Brackett to purchase a replacement cruiser for $22,799.
The cruiser will replace one lost in a head-on collision in Whitefield, Brackett said after the meeting.
The commissioners authorized Bracket to spend $875 for the purchase and installation of a lock system for an employee/staff entrance to the court house.
Brackett and Maintenance Supervisor Jim Hopler presented three options to the commissioners, including the $875 option from Cincinnati Time of Maine, $2939 from New England Security, and $3694 from Main Security Surveillance.
Cincinnati Time does work for the administrative office of the courts, Brackett said.
The reason for Cincinnati Time’s “substantially lower” cost is because the “infrastructure [for the system] is already set up here,” Hopler said.
Going with Cincinnati would be “less redundant” because of that infrastructure, said Commissioner Sheridan Bond.
“Are we going to be relying on the state?” asked Commissioner Chairman William Blodgett.
Only for the use of the system’s server and for printout of reports, Brackett said.
Personnel authorized to use the staff entrance – likely the left-hand entrance as viewed from the court house’s patio – would use a swipe card to gain access, Brackett said. The system includes both a key and keypad backup in case the swipe system fails, he said.
Brackett said he believes the state will reimburse the county for half of the $875.
The lock system could be installed within the next two weeks but depends on the company’s availability, Brackett said after the meeting.
The commissioners approved the $11,226 purchase of a scanner for the Registry of Deeds, including installation and three years of extended service.
According to a document provided by Lincoln County Register of Deeds Rebecca Wotton, 37,000 pages of “daily work” were scanned by the registry last year, along with 30,000 pages of “older recorded documents.”
