Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett asked county commissioners to table the contract with the Addiction Resource Center for another couple of weeks while he looks into the costs and benefits of a 24/7 on-call system that would provide immediate drug addiction treatment anywhere in the county, every day of the year.

The additional cost quoted to Brackett by Eric Haram of ARC was $6,700 for the on-call service. In addition, Brackett plans to increase the number of hours that the in-jail ARC counselor, Bill Ellsworth, is currently working, to 20 hours per week.

“Bill’s caseload has increased,” Brackett said. “We’re hoping to find some grant or private funding to pay for the additional resources.”

Initially, however, he hoped that the commissioners would provide the funding in advance while grants came in.

Brackett said that law enforcement officers would be training as part of the Lincoln County Recovery Collaborative on Sept. 21. They would be learning about the new treatment options, and learn to administer Narcan, which reverses an overdose, saving lives.

Commissioner William Blodgett asked him how many times officers used Narcan in Lincoln County, since the law enforcement agencies had received free quantities of the drug from the Attorney General’s office. Brackett said he wasn’t sure, but not often. He believed there might have been two instances last year, and another where an officer was present but the drug was administered by EMS personnel.

Administrator Carrie Kipfer said that the Probate offices flooring would be replaced during the court shutdown week in October. Because the tile currently in the suite contains asbestos, the tiles must be removed by a firm that can do mitigation. In this case, RJ Enterprises of Brunswick was the only company that submitted a bid. The firm will do the mitigation for $4,500. The new floors will be installed by H.T. Winter of Edgecomb for $2,310 or less, depending on the conditions of the floors.

Kipfer also said that she now has more details on the upcoming state claims hearing on Oct. 20 regarding the eminent domain seizures of five parcels of land in South Bristol, Southport, and Boothbay and Edgecomb.

The two parcels in South Bristol are the Wharf House LLC, owned by Rick Calve of Oceanport, New Jersey, and Rutherford’s Island Wharf, owned by Dianne L Haas of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The two parcels in Southport are both owned by Arthur Leon Paquett and Patricia Joyce Paquett of Austin, Texas.  The parcel in Boothbay/Edgecomb is owned by Christopher Doherty of Wiscasset.