FORT KENT, Maine — At their May 17, 2017 meeting in Fort Kent, Aroostook County Commissioners approved an emergency management recovery plan for The County in case of a natural or man-made disaster.
The plan, which contains procedures and information that would be useful following a disaster, is designed to assist communities in their efforts to get back to “normal” following such an event, according to the county’s Emergency Management Agency Director Darren Woods.
This particular plan also includes an annex for debris removal, since that would be such a large part of the operation, Woods said.
“This plan was created in an effort to continue elevating the emergency management program in Aroostook County, but it included a lot of information on lessons learned from events that have occurred in Aroostook,” said Woods, who provided commissioners a summary of the plan.
Although this is a “county plan” and does have a focus on county government, it also includes procedures that would be helpful for individual communities throughout Aroostook, Woods said.
“While Aroostook is the first county to get a disaster recovery plan completed and approved, we will be sharing it with the other 15 counties to try to assist them in completing theirs,” Woods said.
Commissioners also approved a temporary increase of hours for a part-time employee at the registry of probate office. The employee is now authorized to work up to 40 hours per week for a 12 week period while the deputy register is on family medical leave.
Darlene Guy told commissioners last week that without such authorization the backlog of work and scheduled hearings would become unmanageable.
In other county business, commissioners appointed Martin Dionne of Sinclair to a one-year term on the Northern Maine Development Commission Board. Dionne will represent the Unorganized Territory in Aroostook County.
Commissioners also appointed one of their own, Norman Fournier to serve as an “at large” member on the NMDC board, also for a one-year term.
Commissioners also approved a winning bid of $24,480 from Powers Roofing and Sheetmetal of Caribou, for roof repairs at the North Lakes Fire and Rescue station in Cross Lake.
