FARMINGTON — County commissioners waived their tax-increment financing guidelines to allow a Madrid Township woman to take online courses from a New York college to become a registered nurse.

The approval is contingent on the amount of the scholarship not exceeding 20 percent of the education program.

Nancy Bitondo was awarded a skills development and training scholarship in March at the recommendation of the Tax-Increment Financing Application Review Team. Franklin County commissioners approved it when they awarded $85,774 in grants to enhance economic development in the county in March.

Commissioners waived the guideline Tuesday that required an unorganized territory resident to do a program of studies from a Maine institution. Bitondo, a licensed practical nurse, will do her clinicals at a Maine hospital, Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp., said. Hagerstrom oversees the grant application review team that consists of members who live in the county’s unorganized territory and county Clerk Julie Magoon.

Bitondo is caring for her husband and trying to advance her skills and working part time, Hagerstrom said. She has extenuating circumstances, she said.

She wants to take seven courses from the college network through Excelsior College in New York.

Initially she was going to take the courses through a Maine college but there is too long of a wait for the program.

Gary Perlson of Madrid Township, who serves on the application review team, told commissioners that the closest nursing program to this area has 500 applicants and only 30 positions.

Hagerstrom said they will propose an amendment in the future that will make the county’s guidelines less restrictive so that an amendment does not have to happen each time something like this comes up. The state law on TIFs does not specify that courses need to be taken at a Maine college or university, she said.

So far, only $500 has been spent on scholarships and that was for an unorganized territory resident taking courses to become a certified truck driver. A third applicant did not end up taking a radiology course he initially planned to take, Hagerstrom said.

Commissioners entered into a credit enhancement agreement in 2008 with TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc., a wholly-owned affiliate of TransCanada Corp. The agreement is related to the development of the 44-turbine Kibby Wind Power Project on Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range in northern Franklin County.

The agreement allows for 75 percent of the new taxes to be retained by the county over 20 years, with county commissioners reimbursing the company 60 percent of those new taxes annually for 20 years. The remainder of the TIF funds would be dedicated to the county for economic development in the unorganized territory.

The county is expected to retain $4 million to enhance economic development.

The development program and TIF financing district consists of about 4,077 acres in Kibby and Skinner townships, plus additional land in the townships of Chain of Ponds, Jim Pond and Wyman.

In other business, commissioners approved Roderick Small of Industry as reserve dispatcher with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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