The biggest single factor in county spending is the jail system, according to District One Commissioner Hamilton Meserve (R-Southport). The county jail encompasses over a third of the $10,673,017 budget.

“Our biggest concern is the jail. It’s about $3.5 million and a million of that is for debt service,” Meserve said. “Once we find a solution to the whole jail consolidation mess it will go a long way toward providing relief to taxpayers.”

Meserve was the Edgecomb Board of Selectmen’s guest during the Sept. 14 board meeting. The first-term commissioner updated the board about county government. Meserve explained that Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, which operate the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, were seeking more funding options. The counties believe the 180-cell prison would serve taxpayers best as a regional facility.

“Our preoccupation is getting the jails right,” Meserve said.  “If we want to survive, the key is self-sufficiency. And to do that is getting free of state aid.”

The Lincoln and Sagadahoc commissioners believe they rid themselves of state aid by accepting Waldo and Knox county prisoners. Two Bridges Regional Jail already has a one-year contract with Waldo County, and are now negotiating with Knox County, according to Meserve.

In 2007, the 15 county jails agreed to consolidate with the state. Meserve described this decision as a “disaster” for local taxpayers.

“It never had a chance. The two populations were too different. The state (has) felons serving five years to life. And county jails are 80 percent filled with inmates awaiting trial,” Meserve said. “The state also promised a lot of cost-savings measures which never happened.”

Meserve also explained changes in how county government will bill local municipalities in the future. An audit uncovered that county government was billing only 95 percent of the tax levy. This resulted in using reserve funds to offset the difference. Over the next four years, the county will gradually move toward billing 100 percent of the levy.

“The auditor told us this had to change because the county was down to about a 15-day reserve,” Meserve said.

Fire Chief Roy Potter questioned him about the county’s communication center handling outside calls.

The chief was dissatisfied how the county officials handled his two previous complaints. The command center failed to notify the town’s first-responders during incidents in May and September.

“Who do I go to when I have a problem,” Potter asked. “On one, I got ‘my bad’ and it won’t happen again. The other one happened Sept. 6, and I still haven’t gotten a response.”

Meserve asked him to send the details of both incidents, and he’d discuss it with County Emergency Management Agency director Tod Hartung.

In other action, the website committee is expected to contact Stuart Smith about acquiring the edgecomb.org domain name. Smith has owned the domain name and site since 1999. The town is working towards created its own site.

Website committee member David Nutt told the board he’d contact Smith this week about acquiring the domain name.

The committee also recommended the selectmen hold a special town meeting to secure funding for the website. Nutt is the planning board’s representative on the committee. He reported the planning board is contemplating a November special town meeting for adopting ordinance review committee (ORC) recommendations.

“It’s imperative that we have a website, as soon as possible. If the town doesn’t have the funds, then we should have a special town meeting. This would be a good time to do it, along with ORC,” Nutt said.

But the selectmen aren’t willing to commit to a special town meeting. Selectman Mike Smith advised that the town should continue searching for an alternate website funding source.

“We’re all in agreement that we need a new website. That’s not the issue. But I think we should look under a few more rocks, first,” he said.

The selectmen voted 2-0 to access $3,000 from the Hammond Fund to repair the municipal building. A recent Maine Municipal Association insurance inspection discovered several defects. The repairs include replacing the building’s wooden gutters and rotted fascia board, and repairing the utility room’s roof.

The selectmen will meet next at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 28 in the municipal building.