In a quiet Lincoln County Commissioners’ meeting after the holiday, Administrator Carrie Kipfer announced that the county employees raised $213 during a “Dress-Down Friday” fundraiser held for Special Olympics. “People liked doing it,” she said, “and it was easy to get people to donate.”

She asked the commissioners if it could be a regular event, with various fundraisers for different charities. “Why not do it on Tuesday,” quipped Commissioner William Blodgett, alluding to the fact that commissioners meet on Tuesday.

Kipfer asked, “Maybe Tuesday and Friday?”

The commissioners gave their consent easily.

Although county business was light, a few items came up for review.

Sheriff Todd Brackett said he received a draft proposal from Maine Pretrial Services, requesting a 10-percent increase in fees for no increase in services. Maine Pretrial Services provides assistance with diversion programs and other programs that keep offenders out of jail prior to trial. Brackett said he was trying to keep within his budget for programs, and that this seemed like a steep increase. “It’s just the first step,” he said. “I’m sure there is wiggle room.” The two largest program costs are for Maine Pretrial Services and Addiction Resource Center. Brackett said he would not recommend renewing Maine Pretrial Services’ contract at the proposed rate, so the commissioners sent him back to renegotiate.

Brackett also provided a purchase request for $10,098 for two new in-car video systems for two of the new police cruisers. It had been budgeted for, as part of a capital plan to add the systems to all the cruisers. He said four systems were added last year, with funds from the county, supplemented by grant funds.

Tod Hartung of Lincoln County Communications said the department would like to consider overhauling its system for communicating with fire and law enforcement. Seven towers would be changed over to be able to receive and transmit signals to fire and police, instead of the current, piecemeal system where some towers can only receive signals, and some can only transmit to fire or police but not both. The new system would be called a simulcast system. Blodgett said he would like Hartung to identify what the county will need in the future, and overhaul the system according to that, rather than focusing on the budget issue alone, so the agency would not have to replace or overhaul systems in the near future. The department agreed to identify what would be needed and get a quote for a more future-oriented system.

The state will pay $11.10 per square foot to lease the court offices and courtrooms, compared to the current $10 per square foot. The spaces include the two courtrooms, offices, conference rooms, and storage rooms. A few changes were requested by the state. A window air conditioner is needed in the judge’s chambers. The lease also asked for better lighting in the Superior Court, which will probably require new ballasts or fixtures. Commissioners said that in the interest of efficiency, they should look at an LED system.

Kipfer said she would be going to Augusta to look at the state of the county’s deed microfilms, being stored at the Maine State Archives. Recently, the Archives identified a problem called “vinegar syndrome,” caused by high humidity and heat. The Lincoln County archives are temperature and humidity controlled; Kipfer may recommend storing the microfilms in the county’s archives. Most of the more recent records are digitized, she said, and the oldest records are on paper, but the microfilm records were slowly being archived as digital copies.

Kipfer said that the law library is being evaluated for its usefulness on July 14. There is no librarian, so no one is taking care of the records, and it is possible that the computers in it are not able to get to the sites they need to access. Counties are mandated to maintain law libraries, she said.

Kipfer said the county’s website will soon get an overhaul, thanks to the Maine County Commissioners Association.

The county also received a check from the state for court fines in the amount of $2,715, and the commissioners approved sending the funds to Two Bridges Regional Jail.

The Commissioners entered an executive session to deal with a personnel issue involving the Sheriff’s Office, and a legal issue. Neither were expected to lead to a public vote.