The Town of Whitefield became the fifth town in Lincoln County to enroll in the county-wide animal control program, intended to centralize and stabilize the services of animal control officers.
Following a presentation by Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett April 22, the Whitefield Board of Selectmen voted 3-1 to enter a contract with the county to provide the town’s ACO services.
Sheriff Brackett told selectmen the goal of the service was to help towns who struggle to provide with animal control services. “Its hard to find someone to do the job consistently,” Brackett said.
All of Whitefield’s animal control calls will now go through the Lincoln County Communications and then be dispatched to the officer on call. The system will be able to better track the number of calls for the participating towns.
Selectman Frank Ober said the town has gone through four animal control officers in five years. He said he has had had to step into the role when the town’s officer wasn’t available.
“It wasn’t a comfortable situation, when you haven’t had the proper training,” Ober said.
Selectman Lester Sheaffer, who opposed the contract, expressed concerned of having two legislative bodies involved in the decision making process. Because the ACOs will be paid mileage, Lester said the service could end up costing the town more if the individual had to travel a distance to get to Whitefield.
Brackett said the new program wasn’t aimed at saving towns money, but it should not cost towns more either. “The idea was to improve efficiencies and provide better coverage,” he said.
The service will likely require adjustments after it begins and an advisory board is being set up involving selectmen from each participating town to seek suggestions to improvements.
“We want it to work for towns,” Brackett said.
According to Brackett, Jefferson, Damariscotta, Bremen, and Bristol have also signed on to the program
In August 2013 Baker told the board of selectmen Whitefield is one of 30 communities in Maine that does not participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. At that time selectmen agreed there were not many properties in Whitefield located in a flood zone.
The only expense the town would incur adopting a floodplain ordinance is the cost of developing and enforcing the local ordinance.
“I see this as nothing but a service to homeowners,” said Board Chairman Dennis Merrill
If Whitefield adopts a floodplain ordinance residents would be eligible to purchase federally backed flood insurance. Other benefits include being able to apply for funds available through the Post Disaster Hazard Mitigation grant program and other disaster assistance programs, which are not available to communities that do not participate.