RANGELEY – The Sheriff’s Department moved closer to being back to full staff for the first time in months Tuesday when county commissioners unanimously accepted the appointment of Aaron Turcotte as full-time patrol deputy.

The 22-year-old Dallas Plantation resident is a graduate of Southern Maine Technical College with a degree in law enforcement. He has served as a full-time officer for the Rangeley Police Department since moving to the area in 2001 and also teaches DARE and coaches soccer at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School.

In recent months, Turcotte served both the Rangeley Police Department and the county as a reserve officer.

Since the departure of Deputy Ken Charles for military service to the Middle East last year and the resignation of former Deputy Sarge Daigle, who was expelled from the state’s criminal justice academy after being caught cheating on a test last spring, the department has been understaffed, Sheriff Dennis Pike said.

Hiring Turcotte will mean the county is just one deputy down now, but Pike said that position is being held for Charles, who is expected to return by the end of 2003.

“We had five applicants and they all did very well, but Aaron stood out with all his accomplishments and special training,” Pike said. “He has been a great asset to the Sheriff’s Department in the past months as a full-time reserve officer.”

The sheriff also noted that with the appointment of Turcotte, the department hoped to expand its DARE program across the county.

Turcotte said he is looking forward to his new post, but he will stay on staff at the Rangeley Police Department as a part-time officer.

Farmington:

Fuel sharing

plan backed

FARMINGTON – Heeding the familiar call of the Baldacci administration, entities in Franklin County stoked a bulk fuel purchase plan on Tuesday that encourages regionalization.

County commissioners and representatives from the Sheriff’s Department talked at great length Tuesday morning at the commissioners’ bimonthly meeting to Richard Davis, town manager of Farmington, as well as town Selectman Stephan Bunker, to continue deciding whether setting up a common fueling station for those entities and others would be feasible.

The bulk purchase plan cut the cost of fuel down and the common fuel site would mean making less of a negative footprint on the environment, noted Bunker.

It is estimated that the town of Farmington uses 20,000 gallons of gas annually; the county 27,000 gallons; SAD 9, 10,000 gallons; and the University of Maine at Farmington 25,000 gallons, Davis said. He suggested the county move its gas tank to the old town garage from its current location just feet from the county jail.

Then, the town’s tank and the county’s tank could be attached and would hold about 8,000 gallons. The cost to move the tank, Davis estimated, would be between $8,000 and $10,000, money that would be made up in savings in just a few years. “Over a period of years,” he said, “there is considerable savings.”

Commissioner Gary McGrane noted that the initial cost would be high, but he and Commissioners Fred Hardy and Meldon Gilmore said they may be willing to pay.

“We need to show the residents of Franklin County that we want to work cooperatively,” McGrane said. “Let’s do this. I am behind this 100 percent.”

Because the county would pay the most up-front cost, Bunker said for now, the town of Farmington employees would be willing to take care of the administrative part of the fuel share plan, including putting out bids for gas.

Although they took no formal action, commissioners made a gentleman’s agreement to introduce the cost of moving the tank into this upcoming fall’s budget process and said the one-stop pump station for county, town and other entities could be in place by spring.

Weld:

Abatement request tabled by board

WELD – County commissioners opted to table a request for a partial tax abatement from a couple who has a seasonal home on Webb Lake in Weld saying they shouldn’t have to pay full price for bad land.

Pat and Tuck Eudy told commissioners they shouldn’t be taxed full price on their 1.1 acre parcel because only 43 percent of it was usable and the rest is wetland. The couple’s property has been valued at $145,000, a rate they think is unfair.

But, in order to be granted an abatement, said Mike O’Donnell, who assessed the land, the owner must prove they were overvalued or their land was valued more than others’ land. “He has shown that his land has some marshy areas, but not that he has been overvalued,” O’Donnell noted. The complicated computerized assessment, which takes into account numerous factors including the real estate market for comparable properties, is accurate for the Eudy’s parcel, he said. “We don’t value land on what it could be, or would be, we value it on what it is.”

The three commissioners said they wanted more information and to visit the property before making a final decision.

The goal, said Commissioner Gary McGrane, is to make sure everybody is treated not always fairly, but consistently.

No matter how “it all shakes out,” Tuck said he would pay the proper taxes on the land’s value. “I certainly don’t have any problem paying my fair share,” he said. “I’ve lived all over the country and this is the only place I always come back to.”

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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