County commissioners meet

By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
    FORT KENT — Assimilation of prisons statewide to relatively new State of Maine Board of Corrections (BOC) has been a pretty bumpy ride for the past year, especially for Aroostook County where among other budgetary issues that seemingly contradict the BOC adopted logo “One Maine, One System,” Aroostook prison guards are paid less than their equals across the state.
    In an attempt to rectify many of these issues, County Administrator Douglas Beaulieu attended a meeting last Wednesday solidifying the county’s commitment to participate in an initiative headed by Commissioner Peter Baldacci of Penobscot County to reform the Jail Consolidation Act.
    “We are going to be recommending reform legislation to the next legislature in regard to this Jail Consolidation Act,” Beaulieu said. “It’s just not working well, and were going to have a lot to say about that in the future.”
    Beaulieu updated the Aroostook County Commissioners on details from the meeting when they met last Wednesday at the Registry of Deeds office in Fort Kent.
    Other statewide news discussed at the meeting included the Public Utilities Commissions (PUC) process to reduce the number of Public Service Answer Points (PSAPs). PSAPs are where 9-1-1 calls are diverted to and currently there are 24 PSAPs in Maine. Aroostook County has a contract with Penobscot County to utilize the PSAP services there.
    According to Beaulieu, the PUC aims to reduce the number of PSAPs by nine to seven points.
    “The PUC will be studying this issue and getting public feedback on it this summer,” he explained, “then in the fall they’re going to make a recommendation to the legislature on establishing 15 to 17 PSAPs in the state instead of 24.”
    In other 9-1-1 related news, Public Works Director Paul Bernier was present at the meeting to discuss with the commissioners road signs on private roads in the unorganized territory; keeping with the decision they made years ago, the commissioners approved placing road signs on private roads to facilitate 9-1-1 emergency response situations.     The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Stockholm Community Center, 1636 New Sweden Rd. in Stockholm.