FARMINGTON – Franklin County commissioners plan to hold the jail’s health contractor to its agreement, which requires a 60-day written notice before termination.

Allied Resources for Correctional Health Inc. of Augusta wrote in a letter dated July 31 that it would terminate its contract with the Franklin County Detention Center on Aug. 31.

Its three-year contract with the county expires Dec. 31.

Jail administrator Sandra Collins said her reading of the contract requires Allied to provide written notice of termination 60 days beforehand. That would require Allied to provide the services through September.

Calls by the Sun Journal to Allied on two occasions to get its comments have not been returned.

Requests for proposals to provide the services have been delivered to two other companies and must be returned by Sept. 16.

Sheriff Dennis Pike and Collins restated Tuesday that the issue is the company has been losing about $600 a month for more than a year providing service to the jail.

Commissioner Gary McGrane said the situation could be resolved by the end of September so a new contract could go into effect Oct. 1.

In another matter, commissioners said they would need a request from union representatives to allow the donation of sick time from a union employee to a nonunion employee.

The issue is not addressed in the union contract that covers county corrections officers, deputies and dispatchers, but under the county’s personnel policy it allows nonunion employees to donate up to five days of sick time to another nonunion employee.

As long it does not create additional expense to the county and the union agrees with it, Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay said, it could be considered. But the request must come from the union, he said.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ray Meldrum denied a request from union workers to donate sick time to a nonunion employee because the issue is not addressed in the contract.

Collins said she reviewed the contract and sick time donation was not addressed in that document but was addressed in the county’s personnel policy.

She said she has two corrections officers out on family medical leave, one who has exhausted sick time. She put out a notice for sick time donations, and three union employees volunteered to donate a week each.

“I had a generous response,” she said.

Both Fred Hardy of New Sharon and McGrane said while they have no problem with union employees donating sick time to nonunion employees, a formal request must come from the union to do so.

Collins said she was not presenting it as a piece of union contract but was presenting it under a piece of the county’s personnel policy.

After more discussion, Collins was asked what she was thinking.

“I think you guys are handing the union more power,” Collins said. She said the personnel policy needs to be changed in the future if the union employees don’t fall under it.

“I was under the impression the personnel policy was for all employees,” Collins said.

Sheriff’s Department Office Manager Penny Camfferman said she was under the impression that the personnel policy was for nonunion employees and the union contract covered union members.

Treasurer Karen Robinson said she thought the same as Collins, but when she brought it to the attention of county Clerk Julie Magoon, the request was put to commissioners.

In other business, commissioners voted to advertise for a legal secretary for the District Attorney’s Office to replace Mary Young, who submitted her resignation effective Aug. 29. Young has taken a program analyst job for the Maine State Housing Authority, she said after the meeting.