COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING

The regular meeting of the Hancock County Commissioners was brought to order by Commissioner Clark at 8:44 a.m. on Tuesday April 7, 2020. The Commissioners attended remotely using a Zoom meeting.  County Administrator Scott Adkins and Deputy County Administrator Rebekah Knowlton were also in attendance, as well as several Department Heads.  Attempts to make the meeting available to the public through Facebook Live resulted in poor audio transmission, so the Zoom meeting link was made available to the public.

Adjustments to / approval of agenda:

MOTION: make item 8 an executive session under MRSA Title 1§405 6(A) to discuss the process we’re going to use to address a pending personnel issue (Clark/Wombacher 3-0, motion passed)

Meeting Minutes:

MOTION: Approve the minutes of the March 17, 2020 Commissioners’ Special Meeting (Wombacher/Blasi 3-0, motion passed)

MOTION: Approve the minutes of the March 26, 2020 Commissioners’ Special Meeting (Wombacher/Clark 2-0, motion passed, Commissioner Blasi did not vote)

Airport:

GARD System Update / ME DOT Reimbursed

Maine DOT has proposed to reimburse AIP-participating airports for 100% of the cost of installing or upgrading to the 2020 version of GARD technology. 

MOTION: approve the GARD 2020 Partnership Program for $10,000 (Wombacher/Clark 3-0, motion passed)

MOTION: Approve the hire of Leroy Muise of Trenton as Airport Manager, effective April 18, 2020; annual salary of $63,000 (Wombacher/Clark 3-0, motion passed)

Sheriff:

MOTION: Approve the patrol contract with the Town of Stonington for 2020 (Blasi/Wombacher 3-0, motion passed)

Jail:

Jail Administrator Tim Richardson reported that the Jail population is currently at 33.  This level is being maintained through addressing bail situations, law enforcement issuing summons rather than arrests, and court arraignments arranged for mornings.  Inmates are given free video conferencing with friends and family, as well as free postal stamps for communication.

RCC:

The commission reviewed a change order for the RCC Expansion project- this is to add a counter next to a free hanging sink in the men’s locker room.  This requires approval as a change order and will come from contingency. 

MOTION: approve the change order for the locker counter in the men’s locker room at a cost of $931.50 to be taken from contingency (Clark/Blasi 3-0, motion passed)

Treasurer:

MOTION: approve the warrant memo as presented by the Treasurer (Blasi/Wombacher 3-0 motion passed)

The Treasurer’s memo listed the following:

March GF, Airport, and Jail Payroll Warrants #20-9, #20-10, #20-11, and #20-12 in the aggregate amount of $356,087.27;

March GF, Airport, and Jail Expense Warrants #20-13, #20-14, #20-15, #20-16, #20-17, and #20-18 in the aggregate amount of $601,133.97;  

March UT Payroll Warrants #20-35, #20-36, #20-37, and #20-38 in the aggregate of $727.45;

March UT Expense Warrants #20-16 and #20-17 in the aggregate of $18,932.17

Treasurer Boucher reported there were no expenditures from the health insurance account. 

Review of TAN bids and Commissioner / Selection of winning bid

Treasurer Boucher reported that after discussions with CA Adkins and procedural advice from Attorney Dan Pitman, he requested that the bank increase the TAN amount from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000.  The winning bid is from First National Bank at an interest rate of .90%.   The other bids were Bangor Savings Bank at 1.7%, and Machias Savings Bank at 1.99%.

There was some discussion about borrowing from the UT.  The .90% interest rate on the TAN makes drawing funds from the TAN a better option for the County.

MOTION: approval for the Treasurer to borrow up to $2,000,000 in a Tax Anticipation Note from First National Bank at an interest rate of .90% (Clark/Wombacher 3-0, motion passed)

Commissioners:

Staffing levels in Courthouse

The Commission agreed that staffing levels should be crafted to suit the unique requirements of each department, in conversation with Department Heads and Administration, as long as the personnel costs do not increase.  If a scenario arises that may require an increase to costs, the issue should go to the Commissioners for approval.  The Commissioners would like to see an outline of departmental staffing, once determined.

Following up on orthoimagery, the general consensus of the Commission was to pay the orthoimagery fees through Community Benefits.  The UT portion will come from the UT budget.

CA Adkins asked if there was interest in hosting the county convention in 2021.  The Commissioners agreed to consider the matter at the next meeting.

MOTION: enter executive session under MRSA Title 1§405 6(A) to discuss the process to address a pending personnel issue (Wombacher/Clark 3-0, motion passed)

The three Commissioners and Deputy County Administrator Knowlton attended the executive session.  Once out of executive session, Commissioner Clark reported that they established a process to deal with the personnel matter.

MOTION: to adjourn 11:02 a.m. (Blasi/Wombacher 3-0, motion passed)

Respectfully submitted,

Rebekah Knowlton

Deputy County Administrator