FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Monday to get bids to replace the roof on the Franklin County Detention Center.

The roof was installed when the jail was built in 1983.

Former county Facilities Manager Greg Roux had developed some specifications for the replacement prior to leaving his position last year. The specifications will be reviewed prior to the project going out to bid. The original estimate for the replacement was about $120,000.

“It’s a huge project,” Jail Administrator Maj. Doug Blauvelt said.

The county has about $205,000 in a reserve account, county Clerk Julie Magoon said.

“We will give everybody sufficient time to come up and look at it,” she said.

They will put a completion date on the bid forms.

Commissioners also voted to renew a contract with Evergreen Behavioral Services of Farmington to provide mental health and substance abuse services at the jail. The cost is $89,000, the same as this year, Blauvelt said.

“I am very pleased” with their services, he said. They not only provide programs for the inmates, they also help jail staff when there is a crisis, he said.

The contract runs from April 1 to March 31, 2017.

In other business, commissioners voted to increase the rate of pay for part-time dispatchers from $13.83 an hour to $14.13. Part-time dispatchers are required to have the same training as full-time dispatchers, said Stan Wheeler, director of Franklin County Regional Communications Center.

Commissioners increased the pay for part-time corrections officers at their last meeting from $13.07 an hour to $14.01 an hour because they also must be certified.

Commissioners also rehired Blaine Rackliff as a utility dispatcher. He has been with the county since 2008. He recently left for another job but has asked to come back, Wheeler said.

They hired Kristianne “Kit” Edwards, a member of the Jay Fire Rescue Department, to fill a night dispatcher position. She was the unanimous choice by the oral board, he said. She will need to be trained.

Commissioners also hired three new patrol deputies to fill vacancies, pending results of polygraph testing and other requirements.

There were 18 applicants and 12 showed up for interviews, Chief Deputy Steven Lowell said. Oral board interviews were conducted last week, he said. Hired are Derrick Doucette, currently a Farmington police officer; Brian McCormick, currently a sergeant in the military in Hawaii; and Keith Madore of Sanford.

Doucette is certified, and the county will need to reimburse Farmington for his training. McCormick and Madore will need to go to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Lowell said.

“They all interviewed extremely well,” Magoon said.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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