Penobscot County Commissioners' Meeting Minutes January 30th, 2018
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Penobscot County Commissioners’ Meeting Minutes January 30, 2018 2174
9:00 AM Commissioners Peter Baldacci, Tom Davis and Laura Sanborn 21°
Approval of Minutes -
Commissioner Davis made a motion to approve the January 9th, January 16th, and January 23rd, 2018 minutes. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Vote to approve passed 3-0.
Executive Session---Commissioner Davis made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:03 a.m. 1 M.R.S.A. § 405 (6) (A) Personnel Matter. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Vote to approve passed 3-0. Present were: Bill Collins, Michelle Tanguay and Denise Molinaro. Session ended at 9:38 with no votes taken.
Public Hearing – Special Amusement Permit Sawmill Grill, IP 3
Barbara Veilleux presented the Commissioners with a permit to be signed for Sawmill Grill in IP 3 for a small restaurant, entertainment with comedy and music. Commissioner Sanborn made a motion to approve the permit. Commissioner Davis seconded the motion. Motion to approve passed 3-0. Signed.
Sheriff’s Department Update –
Sheriff Troy Morton stated that today’s jail population is 187 inmates comprising 152 males, 35 females with 50 boarded out to other county jails. There are currently 52 inmates involved with pre-trial services. There are no federal inmates.
Sheriff stated the he had a positive meeting with Miller Drug representatives yesterday. There has been billing discrepancies since September 4, 2017. Approximately $40 K is being claimed as owed for medications. The representatives will revisit the invoices as some errors have been noted.
The new medical service MEDPRO officially started on Sunday and everything is running smoothly. There is full staffing. MEDPRO cross trains their med techs to do all the clerical work after the medications are issued to the inmates. This is something that was not done by the previous vendor. It is working out beautifully. MEDPRO spoke with Miller Drug yesterday and will negotiate prices on some of the less expensive medications. MEDPRO is also keeping certain medications in stock instead of waiting for an order to come in. Troy is re-implementing something Sheriff Ross did under his tenure by allowing inmates being released to take with them unused medications as long as they are not narcotics.
The Sheriff’s department assisted Aroostook County with one of their inmates that was taken to EMMC. We staffed the hospital with no charge to Aroostook County. This was is the right thing to do. The Commissioners agreed.
Sheriff told the Commissioners that the candidate that is coming to us from Kennebec County Jail has a buy-out. He was not aware of this. Commissioner Davis told the Sheriff to see if he can negotiate with Kennebec.
Troy updated the Commissioners that it was decided that there was no need to place a bid our for a new jail cargo van. They made a mistake on the mileage reported.
Sheriff stated that he and Commissioner Baldacci will be meeting with Judge Pat Larson on Friday. They will hold discussions on the jails overcrowding.
There has been discussion that lawyers feel there isn’t enough time to meet with their clients. Sheriff explained that sometimes it is impossible to add an additional person to meet with said inmate. Sheriff also reported that it would be beneficial to know which attorney is representing the inmate especially when they are moved to another facility, on in Maine pre-trial, etc.
Bill stated he received a note indicating that MSA is not going to vote unanimously to support the supplemental Jail funding request to the State.
Copier Bid Opening
Judy Alexander brought before the Commissioners four bids received for new copiers, EMA, DA’s Office and the Jail Medical Unit and services.
1. A-Copy - Kinney/Bangor Toshiba Copiers $12,225 Service Contract .0042/copy
2. Budget Document/Hermon Konica Minolta $11,245 Service Contract .0039/copy
3. Ricoh/Portland Ricoh Copiers $15,655 Service Contract .0049/copy
4. Transco Business/Hermon Xerox Copiers $14,012 Service Contract .0039/copy
Commissioner Davis made a motion to take the bids under advisement to review/prepare a spreadsheet of bids. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Motion to approve passed 3-0.
When Judy returned and reported, Commissioner Davis made a motion to approve Budget Document out of Hermon to win the bid of the new copiers with the bid of $11,245. The service contract will be .0039/copy. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Motion to approve low bid results and award to Budget Document, 3-0.
UT Update –
Commissioner Davis moved to approve the Animal Control contracts for the towns of Milford and Veazie. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Move to approve passed 3-0. Signed.
Barbara updated the Commissioners on the plowing contract for Millinocket Lake area. Barbara stated that George Buswell is in Millinocket this morning checking on the progress of the repairs to Wayne La Pierre’s plow trucks. Barbara was finally able to speak with Mrs. LaPierre. She is no longer residing in the area. Barbara gathered from the conversation that she is not aware of what is going on. Barbara informed Mrs. LaPierre that our only option is to hire another contractor to plow and sand if her trucks are not fixed and ready. Any costs to the County associated for operations will be withheld from their next contract payment. Barbara has sent a letter of this to Mrs. LaPierre. George has lined up another contractor in the event we need his help.
Executive Session---Commissioner Sanborn made a motion to go into Executive Session at 10:13 a.m. 1 M.R.S.A. § 405 (6) (A) Personnel Matter. Commissioner Davis seconded the motion. Vote to approve passed 3-0. Present were: Bill Collins, Dan Tremble, and Chad LaBree. Session ended at 10:45 with no votes taken.
Administrative Update –
Bill told the Commissioners a panel for interviews for the PRCC Assistant Deputy Director was held yesterday. There are good candidates.
The Spillman access for the DA’s Office is with DA Central. Their people are not ready yet. DA Almy will notify Bill when his office is ready to move forward.
Sheriff and the Staff met with Corrections Officers Supervisors Unit this past Friday.
The Tax Abatement decision from January 9th, 2018 for State of Maine vs Edward DeRoche was mailed to the State and Mr. DeRoche.
We have received another Tax Abatement Hearing request from a resident of Eddington.
There were nine Human Resource Manager Applicants for the new opening. Bill would like to see the number reduced to three for interview. The applications are being sent to the Commissioners for their input.
Bill provided an updated Building Committee list to the Commissioners.
Bill presented the Commissioners tentative RFQ for prepared by the Building Committee. The Commissioners stated it would be best to change the date on the RFQ from February 6th to February 13th.
Bill received an email from Lauren Haven to request to have the Commissioners or Sheriff host the Spirit of America Award for our county. There was discussion on what should happen next with no decisions made.
The two grievance decisions that the Commissioners’ ruled on a couple weeks ago have been appealed and sent on for an arbitration hearing.
The DA’s office has a clerical position opening with a recent resignation.
The EMA Deputy Director's request to rescind her resignation was unanimously accepted by the
Commissioners. Commissioner Sanborn made a motion to move the EMA Deputy Director to Administrative Assistant. Commissioner Davis seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0.
Payroll change notices signed for: Beau Seekins – Hired Full-Time; Rebecca Woodard – Resignation
Payroll Warrant to be approved for: $ 224,389.60
Account Payable Warrant to be approved: $283,140.62
Unorganized Territory Warrant to be approved: $8,656.74
Public Comment – None
Meeting Adjourned-
Commissioner Davis moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:08 a.m. with no further business on the agenda. Commissioner Sanborn seconded the motion. Moved to approve 3-0.
