County Commissioners OK Capital improvement plan

12 years ago

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer

HOULTON — A three-year capital budget request gained the support of the Aroostook County Commissioners Aug. 15 during a regular meeting in Houlton.

County Administrator Doug Beaulieu sought approval for the capital budget after the fact, as he had already submitted the plan to the state’s Board of Corrections.

“What is happening with the Board of Corrections is that we are getting very little lead time to compile this data,” Beaulieu said. “We literally get notice and then have a week to 10 days to get our request in.”

To meet the timeline for putting together a capital budget request, Beaulieu said he called staff members together — including Brian Jandreau, facilities manager for the Aroostook County Jail and Sheriff James Madore — to discuss what some of the needs were for the Aroostook County Jail.

The first two years of the capital requests featured no improvements with $398,875 for 2013; $324,259 for 2014. The third-year , 2015, seeks $6.5 million for an addition to the ACJ. Beaulieu admitted the request was an extravagant one that was not likely to be approved.

An addition to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton was originally featured in the County’s 10-year capital improvement plan from several years ago. The project would create an additional 50 beds for the ACJ.

“The first time we made this request, it was laughed at,” Beaulieu said. “We’re serious about this. We cannot continue to transport our inmates out of Aroostook County. At some point we are going to have a big liability issue.”

The current jail is rated for 72 inmates. There are far more individuals needing to be incarcerated and therefore, inmates are transferred to other facilities in southern Maine. Beaulieu said on any given day, there can be 15-40 inmates housed in other facilities around the state.

Commissioners agreed that including the request was the correct course of action.

“Do I think it will get funded?” Beaulieu said. “No, I don’t. But I think we have an obligation to let them (Board of Corrections) know we have significant needs around our facility.”

Even if the expansion project was approved, exactly how that project would proceed was a question mark.

“It is my understanding that the existing building (structurally) cannot handle another floor,” Madore said.

Ideally, a new facility, located somewhere in the Shiretown, should be built to keep everything on one floor, Beaulieu said.

The board also agreed to re-commission one full-time and two part-time deputy sheriff’s for the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department. Dep. Michael Monpetit, a veteran of the force, was approved as the full-time deputy, while Kenneth Michaud and Ryan Doughty were named as part-time deputies.

In other agenda items, Commissioners:

• Approved a five-year contract for solid waste management for the towns of Van Buren and T17, R3 in the amount of $1,830 for the first year; $1,860 in the second year; $1,891 in the third; $1,922 in the fourth; and $1,954.

• Awarded low bids for the sale of a 1999 Chevrolet 1500 truck to Chris Jackins and a 2004 Dodge Caravan to Kurt Kafferlin.

The next regular Commissioners’ meeting is slated for Wednesday, Sept. 5 in Fort Kent.