FORT KENT, Maine — Aroostook County Commissioners designated Emergency Management Director Darren Woods as the county’s National Incident Management System Coordinator at their March 3 meeting in Fort Kent.
Woods said the county EMA office has always provided the services needed during disasters, but that he has been undertaking a process to formalize and document its accumulated knowledge and resources.
“We are working toward a higher standard,” said Woods.
NIMS is the standard comand system employed by federal and most state agencies when dealing with natural and manmade disasters.
Woods is following the requirements of the independent Emergency Management Accreditation Program, part of which is naming a NIMS coordinator for the county.
Woods said it is is not clear at this point if the county will request formal accreditation, due to the high cost.
“But, I still want to bring our office to this standard,” he said.
In other county business last week, Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery Corporation board member David Bell presented the commissioners an overview of the group’s desire to renovate a portion of the cemetery, which was completed in 2003.
According to County Administrator Doug Beaulieu, the cemetery corporation estimates it will need to raise $50,000 to complete the renovations, which include enclosing some sections to protect them from the elements.
Bell made no specific funding requests to the commissioners, but did ask that they consider contributing.
Also at last week’s meeting, Beaulieu reported on a legislative resolution making its way through the Joint Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety that would help counties fund jail operations.
Last year, control of those jails, such as the facility in Houlton, reverted back to the counties following six years of management under a statewide Board of Corrections.
That system was an “unmitigated disaster,” according to Beaulieu.
If approved by the appropriations Committee and the full legislature, the resolution would likely result in Aroostook receiving approximately $70,000.
“That’s like putting cold patch on a sinkhole,” said Beaulieu, considering the jail budget this year is $3.6 million.
That is just for operations, and the amount is being partially covered by a transfer of reserve funds.
Even so, the overall county budget, which normally goes up approximately 2.4 percent a year is up 8.2 percent this year, due to the additional jail costs.
Among the other financial challenges left to Beaulieu and the commissioners following the return of jail control is addressing the state’s lack of building any capital improvement funding into jail budgets.
The funding issues are unwelcomed, Beaulieu said, “But, at least our fate is in our hands now.”
