March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Extension funds get county approval

ROCKLAND — After the annual hearing on the Knox County budget Monday night, the budget committee voted to increase the $4.2 million budget by $7,000 for the Knox-Lincoln Extension, but voted unanimously against a $10,000 request to study regional dispatch.

Both items had their supporters out in force.

Rockland Mayor Robert Peabody said the dispatch study could save communities thousands of dollars in duplication of services. To reject the study would be “penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Peabody said. The study could include the implementation of the sophisticated Enhanced-911 system, he said.

Camden Town Manager Roger Moody said the study could improve service and lower costs across the county. Merging the county dispatch services would be very difficult on the local level and easier on the county level.

“It is the role of county government to help all the communities and set the direction for common issues,” Moody said.

Rockport Town Manager Don Willard also endorsed the study, which “makes sense on a regional level. It is a reasonable thing to include in the budget. This is an ideal situation for county government to tackle.” A new study would start with a clean slate to determine the best path for all the towns, he said.

Rockport Selectman James Annis said, “We want to do what is best for the county, but we don’t know what that is yet. The study could help.”

Outgoing County Commissioner Gene Kenniston in his last 48 hours of service encouraged the committee to fund the study for “substantial savings if it is done correctly. But no study will satisfy everyone in this room,” Kenniston said. To reject the study would be to “shoot every county taxpayer in the backside,” he said.

But the item found not a single supporter on the committee.

Jean Chalmers said the study could be done on the local level without spending $10,000. “I don’t want to shoot taxpayers anywhere,” Chalmers said.

Thomas Molloy questioned how Rockport and Camden officials could come to one budget session to complain about excessive costs, then return to another session and ask for a $10,000 increase. It appeared that the $10,000 figure was “picked out of a hat,” Molloy said.

Molloy also recommended local talent over some unknown “expert,” who he defined as “anyone with a necktie who lives more than 25 miles from Rockland.”

The greater problem is a “turf battle” among communities in Knox County, said committee Chairwoman Mary Waterman. “We have to be grownups. We have to lay down our egos and get to the table. This is absolutely ludicrous and I take personal offense to being charged with `rampant spending’ by the same people who are now requesting a $10,000 increase,” Waterman said.

Howard Hawes said selectmen in his area have told him that “county taxes are high enough,” without a $10,000 increase for a study.

Although several budget committee members chided the Knox-Lincoln Extension for an ill-advised move from Rockland to Waldoboro without a suitable budget to support the move, the committee voted 5-4 to approve a $7,000 increase requested by the group.

Hawes called the move “financially irresponsible,” but a parade of supporters praised the work of the agency, especially the Tanglewood Camp in Lincolnville.

Les Hyde of the Extension said the agency was forced to move from its second-floor Rockland office to meet demands for access for the handicapped. Lincoln County commissioners wanted the agency in a more central location than Rockland, he said.

No budget meeting could be complete without an attack on the county jail. This year it was an $11,000 floor repair in the jail, only a few years old.

Waterman said the county was “sold a pig in a poke” with the jail design. The same architect who designed the jail will come before the school board to seek the job of designing the new school.

“I will be there to greet him,” said Waterman, an SAD 5 board member.


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