By Jeremy Boulier
Special to the Aroostook Republican
FORT KENT — The Aroostook County Commissioner’s hired a public safety coordinator, elected both a Maine County Commissioner’s Association and Risk Pool representative for Aroostook, and gave the status of several items at the commissioners’ second monthly meeting for November at the Registry of Deeds Office in Fort Kent, according to County Administrator Doug Beaulieu in an e-mail interview.
The call to order for the Nov. 20 meeting came at 4:30 p.m. and began with a public comment period, with no comments given. Soon after, Norman Fournier was elected as the Aroostook County representative to the state commissioners association.
According to the MCCA website, each of the 16 counties elects a representative to the MCCA, which “is a well-respected network of regional governments that has the authority to recognize and solve regional issues.” Fournier was also representative for Aroostook on the Risk Pool board of directors. According to Beaulieu, “The Risk Pool is the entity that insures all 16 counties.”
After, a five-year contract was approved for the septage disposal of southern Aroostook County with Jane Ricci in the amounts of $1,957, $2,016, $2,076, $2,138 and $2,202 beginning in July of 2014. The commissioners also appointed Jesse Belanger of Caribou as the county’s public safety coordinator. The meeting also saw the approval of an agreement with EDP Renewables to reimburse legal costs for the proposed wind tax increment financing for the Number Nine Mountain Project.
Beaulieu also gave the county administrator’s report at the meeting, which began with the approval from the Board of Corrections to send a letter to the Maine Legislature asking for supplemental funding to help Franklin County’s bid to become a full-service jail.
Fournier then gave an update of the latest MCCA and Risk Pool meeting that he attended on Nov. 13 in Augusta.
Beaulieu also reported that Aroostook “has requested approximately $117,000 to benefit local law enforcement, WMD (weapons of mass destruction) teams, Aroostook County Region 5 Incident Management Assistance Teams, Caribou Community Emergency Response Team, and Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency as part of the County’s budget request from Homeland Security.
It was also reported that the County has applied for $2,817.50 in grant funding from the Maine Forest Service to obtain fire-fighting gear to help control wild fires. Beaulieu also noted that non-essential services of Aroostook County government will be closing at noon on Christmas Eve in observance of the Christmas holiday.
Following the report, time was given for other items of interest and an executive session. Neither period was used and instead the meeting concluded at 5:30 p.m., according to Beaulieu.
The next meeting of the Aroostook County Commissioners is slated for Thursday, Dec. 19 at Houlton.
