FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to sign a contract with Fore Solutions, high performance green energy building consultants, for $9,750.

The contract applies to the two buildings in the county-wide Nov. 2 referendum vote and outlines what the firm will do prior to the decision. The vote involves the purchase and renovation of Church Street Commons, and building an addition onto the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department building for the communications center. If voters approve the project, all offices that are currently housed at the Franklin County Courthouse, except the District Attorney’s Office, would move into the Church Street Commons, located across the street from the courthouse. That project also includes adding an upper level above the annex.

The total cost of the projects is estimated at about $4.3 million.

Fore Solutions would provide consulting services for project management and design assistance among other services to help the county achieve sustainable, green energy sources in the buildings.

If the project is a go, then the firm also offered a contract price for the second phase, at $23,000, that would occur after Nov. 2. Those services would include evaluation of design documents and specifications, construction administration and project management in the design phase and construction administration.

If the county wants to go forward with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, a green building rating system, then the firm would provide services at an additional $19,000.

Commissioners will discuss phase two of the project if voters approve it.

John Cleveland, a consultant working with the architectural firm designing the building, said the green energy consulting services could be included in the bond for the project.

Farmington Planning Board will take up a preliminary site review of the county’s project at 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 9, at the Farmington Municipal Building.

In other business, commissioners set the tax rate at $10 per $1,000 of property value for 2010-11. The rate is 6 cents more than 2009-10, which was 94 cents per $1,000 of property valuation. Commissioners also voted to have the first half due Sept. 1 and the second half due on Feb. 1, 2011.

The Commission also voted to hire Dianne Cerino as a full-time dispatcher to replace Kyle Ellis who left for another job. Cerino was a corrections officer but was laid-off when the state changed the county jail to a 72-hour holding facility on July 1, 2009.

The county is seeking to add another service to the jail to make it a pre-release center for inmates nearing the end of their sentences. The county had provided the service previously. The Maine Board of Corrections is expected to take up the proposal at its next meeting.

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