LIVERMORE FALLS — Town Manager Kristal Flagg told selectmen Monday that a public hearing on a legislative bill to enable the town to withdraw from Androscoggin County and join Franklin County went well last week.
“I feel we were very well received,” Flagg said.
Voters in Livermore Falls voted in a straw poll 2-1 in favor about five years ago to pursue the idea of moving to Franklin County, Flagg said.
The process did not move forward at the state level.
The town is asking permission to move forward and be allowed the opportunity to seek more information on the financial impact on the move to Franklin County versus staying in Androscoggin County.
The Legislature’s Joint Standing State and Local Government Committee held the hearing on LD 27 on Wednesday. The committee set a work session on the bill for 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, in Room 214 at the Cross Building in Augusta.
The bill entitled An Act to Enable the “Town of Livermore Falls to Withdraw from Androscoggin County and Join Franklin County” was presented by state Rep. L. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Franklin, and representatives Michael Beaulieu, R-Auburn, Paul Gilbert, D-Jay, Anne Graham, D-North Yarmouth, Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, Michel Lajoie, D-Lewiston and senators Margaret Craven, D-Androscoggin, Garrett Mason, R-Androscoggin and John Patrick, D-Oxford.
Flagg said she and police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. attended the public hearing.
They presented written copies of their testimonies. Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp. in Farmington, Rebecca Ryder, president of Franklin Memorial Hospital and Franklin Community Health Network, Rep. L. Gary Knight and one Franklin County commissioner spoke in favor of it. Another commissioner who was neither for it or against it also spoke, Flagg said.
One person spoke against the proposed change, she said.
Even if the Legislature approves the measure, Livermore Falls voters would have to approve, and then Franklin County would have to approve it, Flagg said.
According to Flagg’s written testimony, she pointed out to the legislative committee that Jay and Livermore Falls school systems combined on July 1, 2011. Livermore also consolidated with the two towns to form RSU 73.
“We are working together to erase the town line between our two towns, so no one refers to the Jay school or the Livermore Falls school,” she wrote. “We want it knows as the Spruce Mountain school.”
If the Town of Livermore Falls and the Town of Jay looked into consolidating some of their departments such as the Fire Department and, or the Police Department, it would be difficult due to the different counties. The court system and (emergency management agencies) are represented in each county that the municipality resides in, Flagg wrote.
Jay is in Franklin County.
“We have worked with Alison Hagerstrom from Greater Franklin Development over the last few years to help us attract business and improve our downtown area,” she wrote.
A former paper mill complex lies in both towns and the new owners are working diligently to get the mill occupied with businesses, she said.
“Funding for these business could involve two separate counties depending in what part of the mill they will be occupying,” she testified.
Livermore Falls’ sewer treatment plant serves Livermore Falls and some of Jay with both towns paying for operation and maintenance.
The Livermore Falls Water District also serves some of Jay’s residents.
Livermore Falls shares a rapid intervention team with the Town of Wilton in Franklin County. Livermore Falls also has mutual aid with Jay, Wilton and Farmington. The Livermore Falls Fire Department has been with the Town of Farmington for years.
Franklin County Dispatch also dispatches ambulance service for Livermore Falls because Androscoggin County does not have the correct frequency.
Livermore Falls, Jay and Wilton also have an equipment sharing agreement, Flagg wrote.
Franklin Memorial Hospital has opened a facility in Livermore Falls.
Livermore Falls police has to travel more than 29 miles one way about 45 minutes one way to take prisoners to Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn. The distance to travel to the Franklin County jail in Farmington is 14.89 miles with a 25-minute drive, she wrote.
“Going to Farmington cuts our time and costs for traveling in half, which is a substantial savings to the Police Department budget and the taxpayers of Livermore Falls,“ Flagg wrote. “The commonality that our town shares with our northern communities is more in line with our rural living then that of our communities to the south.”
dperry@sunjournal.com
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