Staff Writer
At the Aroostook County Commissioners meeting on Sept. 19 in Caribou, Emergency Management Agency Director Vern Ouellette gave the commissioners an update on agency operations in Aroostook County. EMA has been focusing on helping communities become more prepared in emergency situations which included having a shelter, a contact person, and more. “If communities don’t have these things up to speed they don’t receive any federal funding,” Ouellette stated.
Ouellette began his presentation by stating that the organization received a $35,000 planning grant a couple of months ago.
Some of the money, according to Ouellette, was allocated to hire consultant Cathy Martin to compile a database of what communities have for emergency shelters. According to Ouellette, Martin called every community in the county and identified the shelter location, shelter capacity and contact person. Ouellette added that Martin helped the EMA to identify which communities didn’t have an individual trained to run the shelter.
Ouellette also informed the commissioners that the agency has been working on helping all of the towns in Aroostook to have an emergency operations plan. According to Ouellette, 51 towns that the agency reviewed did not have any emergency plan. As of today, the organizations has helped draft 23 different plans, and “hand delivered about nine of them.”
The commissioners approved a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $62,500 through the Department of Economic and Community Development for Northern Maine Development Commission to provide training and technical assistance to small business in Aroostook County. County Administrator Douglas Beaulieu stated that the commissioners had already approved this grant once, however, the DECD was asking for NMDC to have the commissioners review the matter again. The commissioners voted unanimously on the recommendation from Beaulieu to approve the grant.
The commissioners were disappointed to discover that they received zero bids on snow removal for parking lots and access roads in T17,R4 and Cross Lake. Beaulieu stated that he thinks that on this bid the commissioners’ office is going to have to “pound the pavement and request bids.” Beaulieu added that in order to meet the law, the commissioners have to make at least three inquiries.
Beaulieu informed the group that the contractor that had previously held the contract had gone out of business.
