Two Bridges Regional Jail employee Matthew Atwood received the Colonel’s Commendation for saving a fellow jail employee from choking. He was publicly recognized at the Jail Authority’s meeting on Wednesday, March 9.

Atwood performed the Heimlich maneuver, dislodging a bit of food the other employee had eaten, and according to Colonel Mark Westrum, “saved him from serious bodily harm or even choking to death.”

Looking on at the presentation were Atwood’s wife and small child.

The Jail Authority committee also considered the jail’s budget, which Westrum described as “scrimping, saving, no frills.” Westrum said that he was pleased that Waldo County was open to the idea of signing another contract with the jail. This contract would be for 18 months, for $1.2 million, with a possible return to the table if conditions change, he said.

Westrum said that after the contract expired, he would recommend considering a five-year contract with a three-percent increase per year. Waldo is not quite ready to sign on to that yet, mostly because of the uncertainty around state funding issues, according to Westrum. Waldo is waiting to see what future legislative sessions will propose, e said.

The goal, however, is to create a four-county regional jail system, that would include Knox, Westrum said. While Waldo wants to continue contracting, Knox is open to considering a partnership, he said.

Westrum is sending a classification team to Knox, to examine their facility, look at the population served, and see if Two Bridges could accommodate Knox County inmates. He said Knox would likely want to begin with a short-term contractual arrangement, and then begin to consider a mission change for their own facility and become more of a partner with Two Bridges.

The board unanimously approved continuing the conversation with Knox County.