Police protection question raised

What would Lincoln County charge for police protection if Wiscasset had no police department? Selectmen want to know.

Having the Wiscasset Police Department offices almost directly across the street from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office raises not only a logistics issue but an emotional one as well.

For years, Wiscasset has had its own police department – at one point during the wealthy days of Maine Yankee tax revenue, there were seven full-time officers. There are now three. Many residents have voiced their support for the department in the past, including voting to keep the department when asked at a town meeting.

Since the tax money dropped drastically in the years after the state’s only nuclear plant closed, the question has been raised periodically – is there a need for both departments?

Unfortunately for Wiscasset Police Lieutenant John Allen, the news that Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett had been asked to make a presentation on the issue to the selectmen at their next meeting got to him second hand.

Allen had come to Tuesday night’s meeting to tell selectmen he needed to hire another reserve officer and to announce the resignation of full-time officer Willie Simmons.

"Officer Simmons’ resignation is effective at the end of the year, and I would like to advertise for that position in-house," Allen said.

"I’ll make a difficult statement," Selectman Pam Dunning said. "You’re probably aware that we have someone from the county coming in to make a presentation. Is it fair to hire someone when in a year or so, that position might not exist any more?"

"I was never notified about this at all," Allen said. "I was never advised that the sheriff’s office was going to be coming here. I should have been notified – I found out on my own. That’s not very professional."

"I agree you should have been notified," Dunning said. "But, frankly, I don’t need any information from the Wiscasset Police Department. I know what it costs, I know what kind of coverage we get. This is no reflection on your work. But I was on the budget committee for four years, and every year people would come and ask what it would cost to privatize the transfer station or use the county for policing."

"I’m not looking at closing the department – we’re just looking at what the county could provide. It’s time to get a real number so we can answer the question in an informed way," she said.

Selectman Bill Curtis said, "When this came up a few weeks ago, I said we should have a level playing field before anyone comes in here. We should submit to the county what we expect of them. All Lieutenant Allen is asking for tonight is to advertise internally for a replacement – it doesn’t mean we’re going to hire him."

Budget Committee chairman Steve Mehrl said he was asked by Town Manager Arthur Faucher "to come up with some questions, after I said let’s get a data point going. I assume those eight or nine questions are in everybody’s box," he said, referring to the selectmen’s mailboxes.

Faucher said Dunning had submitted some questions in response to an e-mail he sent out on what the county should be asked.

"Any other councilman who wants to submit questions can do so," he said.

Former Selectman Bill Barnes said he would support getting a proposal from the county, "then put it to a vote in June."

"I think that’s fair to everyone in town," he said.

Selectman chairman Bob Blagden ended the discussion by saying, "I’ve said many times – it’s up to Arthur to hire people. Selectmen make policy decisions. I don’t know what this discussion is all about. We don’t have any action to take here."

Auditing Services

In other action, the selectmen opened bids to provide auditing services to the town for the next five years. Selectmen decided to table the matter until Faucher has a chance to review the two lowest bids, which were submitted by Ron Beaulieu of Portland for about $55,000 and RHR Smith of Buxton, the current auditor, for about $54,000. Berry Talbot & Royer of Falmouth submitted a bid for about $71,000 and William Brewer of Bath for about $73,000.

Gross Budgeting

The selectmen voted 3 to 2 to change their accounting/budgeting process to "gross budgeting," an action taken by the previous board of selectmen that was never implemented. This means the total for each department will be appropriated by voters, regardless of how much revenue is expected – although a reference to how much revenue is expected can be noted in the appropriate warrant article. Bill Curtis and Bob Fairfield were opposed while Blagden, Dunning and Phil DiVece were in favor. Curtis said he wanted keep the ambulance and airport department budgets "the way they are."

Point East

Under "other business" Blagden asked the town manager, "Have we gotten any money from Point East?" Point East, a division of National RE/sources in Connecticut, owes the town $250,000 in a loan payment due October 1.

"I have sent them an e-mail," Faucher said. "They have said they will pay by the end of October."

Budget Committee member Dick Hanson said, "I thought we were having the town attorney handle this."

"I thought we talked about having Bernstein Shur [a law firm] do this," Curtis said.

"They didn’t’ want to do it because they have Point East on their payroll," Blagden said. "That’s when we asked the town attorney to move forward on this."

Finance and Investment Committee

Greg Shea, chairman of the ad hoc Finance and Investment Committee said the committee has selected six investment firms or individuals to submit request for proposals to the town. The deadline is December 8, with interviews planned for January and a selection to be made in February. The current investment counsel, Edward Jones, has chosen not to submit a proposal.

The selectmen agreed to have the town manager come up with a proposed agreement, with the help of RSU 12 Supt. Of Schools Greg Potter, on the use of facilities in Wiscasset. Blagden suggested the agreement spell out "what we’re going to do for them and what they’re going to do for us." Dunning also suggested it cover other town services the RSU may use, like the transfer station.

The selectmen agreed to take out the four-way stop installed on Washington Street a few years ago because there doesn’t seem to be a need for it.