On Jan. 15, Lincoln County Commissioners heard from Michael Hallundbaek of Mid-Coast Connector, an agency running a public transportation service for residents of Waldo, Knox, Lincoln, and Sagadahoc counties and Brunswick and Harpswell in Cumberland County. The agency, begun in Belfast, was part of the Waldo Community Action Program and picked up most of Coastal Transportation’s previous business. It partners with volunteers and other small-vehicle services, such as taxi companies, to provide affordable transportation to coastal residents.

Hallundbaek said the agency also partners with state and local agencies, such as Medicaid and the Department of Education, to provide transportation for clients to medical appointments, school and more. It also accepts paying passengers who need a ride to go shopping visit friends. Although regular published routes will tend to be along the Route 1 corridor, the volunteers and car drivers will serve the communities not immediately along the corridor, he said. He said Lincoln County residents are already being served.

Hallundbaek asked the commissioners for a donation of $1,000 toward the effort. He said he would soon be approaching local municipalities, and the support of the county government would go a long way to help convince other governmental bodies to support the effort.

Commissioner Hamilton Meserve said Lincoln County’s most serious problem is it lies along several peninsulas. “Our smaller vehicles are serving people on the peninsulas now,” Hallundbaek said. “It doesn’t make sense to send a van to pick up one person, but that’s where the taxis and the volunteers come in.”

Like many other agencies, Hallundbaek said a driver shortage is a serious problem. “There are companies paying people $20 per hour to pick up passengers, and we can’t do that,” he said. “But we’re doing everything we can to make sure people get where they need to go.”

Meserve and William Blodgett asked for a possible future plan for Lincoln County on a color coded map. “It will be easier to show our people where the money is going if they know what the plan is,” Meserve said.  Hallundbaek agreed and said he would return with a coded map.

Casey Stevens of Emergency Management announced he had received a check from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $5,929.78 for the federal share of Lincoln County’s expenses during the 2017 windstorm. A smaller amount expected from the state, of $1,185.96, has not arrived and has not yet been appropriated. Stevens got commissioners’ approval of a purchase order for incident management software, which he said would have helped keep track of closed roads, broken electric poles, and other hazards in the aftermath of the windstorm. It would have also generated reports for FEMA, local law enforcement and the press. The cost per year is $4,375 for the software; the commissioners approved the purchase order.

The Communications Department provided a purchase order for the I Am Responding software which will keep all first responders in the loop about who is and is not responding to the scene of an accident, fire, or other emergency. Most fire departments use the system, and all ambulance services, except for Central Lincoln County, also use it. Two towns not part of Lincoln County but which use dispatch services expressed a wish to use it as well, and will reimburse the county $2,323 for the service; the total cost is $14,113. This system, which was budgeted for, was also approved.

Sheriff Todd Brackett announced movement on the ARC contract, and he expects a hire within a month. He also asked for authorization to hire Sean Pfahler of Howland to fill the full-time deputy job. Pfahler, who works for the town of Lincoln, just graduated from the academy, so Lincoln County will have to reimburse the town of Lincoln for Pfahler’s tuition, once he passes all background checks. He is married with a small child, and his parents live in Nobleboro, Brackett said.

There is still one outstanding shellfish contract, for Damariscotta and Newcastle, because Newcastle hasn’t yet met to discuss it. Brackett got permission to continue the contract for vehicle maintenance with Hillside for another year.

Brackett is spending some time discussing jail funding with new legislators. “Right now, we’re focusing on state funding, county funding, and administrative best practices,” he said.

County Administrator Carrie Kipfer got approval for two recycling contracts – $5,317 for Pittston, and $25,062 for Tri-County. While both are up from last year, they are still both below the alternative, and both agencies elected to continue with Lincoln County. She also brought up the issue of jail disbursements, and said she and the finance committee would be meeting to determine what to recommend to the authority. She is leaning toward keeping back Lincoln County’s share from the next disbursement to the jail, rather than having the jail pay the county for specific costs.