DOVER-FOXCROFT – Few comments were made Monday regarding the proposed 2001 Piscataquis County budget, but commissioners were urged to separate the dispatch center from the operation of the jail to better protect law and safety officials in the field.

The proposed $2.7 million spending plan, which represents a 10 percent increase in expenditures, also includes an increase in assessments to municipalities and unorganized townships of 15 percent.

Monday’s public hearing represented the third time the budget has been reviewed by different parties. Next, the commissioners will review each line item before adopting a spending plan later next month.

More than 25 Piscataquis County firefighters were on hand Monday pushing for the separation of the dispatch and jail operations.

Because of a personnel shortage, dispatchers currently work out of the jail operations room, also known as the bubble. They perform functions for both the jail and the sheriff’s department during certain hours of the day.

Separating the two functions has been discussed and planned for several months in anticipation of the implementation of E-911 in August. But it has yet to be implemented because of the cost.

“We feel the time has come to move them XXXdispatchersXXX out of the bubble,” Joseph Guyotte, Dover-Foxcroft fire chief and president of the countywide firefighters association, said Monday.

Firefighters, deputies and ambulance personnel want the total attention of a dispatcher while responding to emergency situations, said Guyotte. That person should not also be responsible for the daily operation of the jail and the needs of the inmates, the commissioners were told.

Sheriff John Goggin agreed it was time to separate the functions and indicated that his budget included the addition of personnel to accomplish the move. Goggin’s budget includes a full-time dispatcher and a one-half dispatch position. Several of these posts were cut years ago due to economic difficulties.

The one-half dispatch position will be combined with a similar position approved last year, allowing for one full-time position. The addition of these two positions will bring the department up to six positions, one short of a full contingent.

Department officials plan to include funding for the remaining position in next year’s budget.

Other additions proposed by Goggin include a new corrections officer, a custodian-maintenance position, and an increase in the hours of a secretary from part time to full time.

The latter two positions were done previously by the late Edward Marsh. “He played an intricate role in the overall operation of the sheriff’s department and, in particular, the jail,” Goggin said. “Ed just did that automatically; we took that for granted.”

Also included in the proposed budget is $16,046 for a domestic violence investigator-trial assistant in the District Attorney’s Office. The position was funded last year by a federal grant, but no monies were awarded to the county this year for that purpose.

District Attorney R. Christopher Almy also requested an increase in secretarial help because his office and others across the state are changing to a more uniform software program.

Aside from new personnel, increases in the budget are reflected in mileage, wages, Social Security and health insurance.

Commissioner Eben DeWitt said Monday the commissioners had projected a 20 percent increase for health insurance but learned this week that it would be a 26-percent increase.

The need to search for less expensive health insurance was the sole recommendation made earlier this month by the county budget advisory committee.

Commissioners say they consistently search for the lowest rates and have hired a consultant to help on that end.

“Health insurance is a substantial amount in our budget, but we are committed to our employees and our union contract,” DeWitt said.