A five-man panel will interview candidates for county Emergency Management Agency director Friday.

The post was vacated Dec. 31 by longtime Director Clyde Barker of Strong, who retired from the part-time position for health reasons and because it was becoming full time.

In response, county commissioners agreed to make the position full time and allotted $30,000 for salary in the 2004 budget.

County Clerk Julie Magoon said the county received a good response to the job positing and will be interviewing four well-qualified applicants Friday.

Those on the interview panel include several of those who deal with emergency response in the county including Franklin County Commissioner Fred Hardy, Rangeley Fire Chief Rudy Davis, Jay police Chief Larry White Sr, Waldo County EMA Director Richard Farris and Barker.

-Samantha C. DePoy
Farmington:

Space crunch

at courthouse

A space race is on in the Franklin County Courthouse.

At Tuesday morning’s county commissioners meeting, Register of Deeds Susan Black told the commissioners that this time next year, she’ll be out of space for storing records for the public to peruse.

The Register of Probate expects to run out of space in three years.

The county had the foresight to put money into the budget for a study, knowing that space at the courthouse was becoming cramped but with some direction, perhaps the county could find new areas in the same old place.

Black said that many counties are going paperless with their records, but that’s a route Franklin County shouldn’t go she said adamantly, citing that many people aren’t comfortable enough with computers.

“I just don’t like the idea,” she said. “There is still a generation that is frightened by computers.”

Commissioners Fred Hardy and Meldon Gilmore said he sympathized with that sentiment, but Commissioner Gary McGrane suggested that Black at least look into the pro’s and con’s of digital record keeping.

In the meantime, the county agreed to a temporary fix, telling Black she could move records into the E-911 area in the basement of the courthouse, a space that will be vacated in less than a year.

Perhaps a security camera could be installed so employees in the register’s office on the first floor could keep on eye on the basement so no records were yanked.

County Clerk Julie Magoon said the county will be conducting a space study at the courthouse sometime in the next year or so.

-Samantha C. DePoy
Madrid Township: Madrid Bridge being rebuilt

The Beech Hill Road bridge will get a complete makeover sometime this spring as county commissioners awarded a contract Tuesday to NF Luce of Anson.

The winning bid of $21,212 was the lowest and met all of the county’s specifications. Bids from Rafford Bridges of $28,000 and CPM Construction for $63,000 were put aside.

The crumbling bridge with its corroded abutments falling into Saddleback Stream is located less than a mile off Route 4 from the center of Madrid on Beech Hill Road.

County road agent Paul McKeen closed the bridge last fall by putting up cement barriers.

On the other side of the bridge are a handful of second-home camps and trails used for ATVs and snowmobiles. That land is accessible by a more roundabout way, McKeen said.

-Samantha C. DePoy
Madrid Township: Road complaints to get hearing

Franklin County commissioners will meet with the contractor who keeps the roads clear in Madrid after receiving multiple complaints.

Drivers have expressed concern that water is building up on the roads and freezing because the snow isn’t pushed back far enough on the shoulders, among other complaints.

“It’s been a constant complaint,” said Commissioner Fred Hardy after Commissioner Meldon Gilmore, road agent Paul McKeen and county treasurer Karen Robinson all said they’ve been bombarded with complaints.

Commissioner Gary McGrane suggested meeting with the contractor, George Berry of Avon, to discuss what the expectations of the contract were and to clarify areas of confusion, saying sitting down with contractors in the past has proved successful.

An example, he cited, came last year when residents in Perkins and Washington townships spoke to commissioners and the plowing contractor for the towns about their concerns and since then, complaints about road conditions have slowed down.

The public is invited to comment. The meeting will take place at the next commissioners’ meeting at 9 a.m. Jan. 20.

-Samantha C. DePoy

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