FARMINGTON – Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to award a $33,000 contract to Bruce A. Manzer of Anson to pave two county roads.

Manzer will start work on Reeds Mills Road in Madrid and Lee Road in Salem Township immediately. He plans to have both roads completed by next spring.

Olive Toothaker has been working on a mitigation plan for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Tim Hardy of the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency. Toothaker noted that the towns have submitted plans and proposals for projects that need completion. Projects include road and bridge repairs as well as water and sewer improvements to implement the safety plan.

Sheriff Dennis Pike asked commissioners to approve his hiring of Mitchell Ryan of Phillips as a full-time corrections officer to replace Rudolph Dyer, who was promoted to corrections sergeant when Irene Greenwood retired last week. Ryan has been working part-time for the department on reserve for about five months. His appointment was approved. He will begin work Monday at the jail.

New communications consoles are expected to be installed in the Sheriff’s Department dispatch office by month’s end. Pike and Hardy expect the new equipment to eliminate some the radio communications “dead” spots. The two public safety officials requested $2,100 in funding to construct work surfaces and purchase cabinetry to accommodate the equipment.

The communications equipment was purchased with funds from a 2003 federal emergency management grant for $79,851. Another $92,000 remains in the county pool from a 2004 Homeland Security grant. Commissioners asked the officials to appropriate money from that pool to fund the new installations.

Funds from the 2004 grant can be used until November 2005. Pike and Hardy expect to use some of that money for communications towers. Areas still troublesome for radio communications include the more mountainous regions in the county: the Weld and Carthage area, Eustis and Rangeley region.