ROCKLAND – Knox County Commissioners and Knox County Budget Committee members wrestled jointly Thursday, February 17, via Zoom over the county’s list of proposed uses of the $7.7 million American Rescue Plan Act funds available through the Knox County apportionment process.

Before the meeting got underway, Knox County Administrator Andrew Hart informed the joint session that Appleton’s request for broadband funding in the amount of $220,736 was not put on the list of applications. Hart said Appleton had submitted three applications for funding and the broadband did not get added although the other two did.  

Hart said it was an honest mistake and that it had subsequently been added to the list from municipalities.  

Hart also said that the committee would have to decide how groups would be allowed to address budget members and commissioners at the March 3 joint session.  

“One of the problems with deciding on where to spend the money that you’ve been given by the government is the fact that all of the towns that are in Knox County are kind of feeling that they deserve some of that money,”  he said.

Peter Beckett, Vice Chair of the Appleton Select Board, addressed the Feb. 17 joint session during the public comment section. He did not bring up the omitted application but rather offered an alternative method of dispersing the funds.

“I would like to recommend that you take 50 percent of that money and allocate it to requests that people have made, the high priority requests, and allot the other 50 percent to all the towns based on head counts,” he said.

“I think that would cut down the amount of work that you guys have to do,” said Beckett. “I think it is a much fairer way of dealing with it. Each town has got needs and the towns know better where they would rather spend the money. We are all paying taxes to both the federal government and Knox County. How will the money go off into a few projects that appear to be pet projects for certain people just seems to be thumbing our noses to the rest of the towns in Knox County.

“I just suggest that you may want to take this away and think about it. It seems to me that it would be a much easier way of streamlining this process and I think you would get all the towns behind it.”  

Commissioners and budget committee members debated the items on Knox County’s own lists of requests for a share of ARPA funds. Most were connected to County Corrections and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.  

Knox County Sheriff Tim Carroll said the Maine Department of Corrections had $1.7 million to disperse to counties for needed projects. Carroll said that because of the expense of the medical contract, items removed from the regular budget were placed on the county’s list in hopes of getting them funded.  

Carroll said 12 counties made requests for funds and the Maine County Commissioners and the DOC funded 60 percent of the requests.  

Carroll said the MCC and the DOC had been working to help counties with funding. Carroll said he had asked for $464,000 of which he received $278,000, which would cover the jail's water valve replacement, paving, the dishwasher, and masonry work.  

Carroll said these items could now be removed from the list. He asked for three positions to be funded from the APRA funds, including a discharge planner, diversion planner, and a community liaison officer.  

A discharge planner would help persons released to transition back into the mainstream. Carroll said it was important to not just walk people to the door and let them go back into the community.

Carroll said a job, medical care, transportation, and a place to live was important to help them succeed. 

Budget committee member Nick Lapham asked if that would be added to future budgets going forward. Carroll responded yes if it could be funded going forward, but this would give us the opportunity to see if the position works.  

Charles Grover said he did not see the position as an ARPA project and he worried about the budgeting going forward. He said later in the conversation this should be considered at budget time.

Budget Committee member Bob Duke, of Rockport, said that while he was sensitive to the issue, he did not feel this was the place to add a new employee. Duke said it should be put in for next year’s budget and let it stand on its own merits. Duke said he would not be in favor of it.  

Commissioner Dorothy Meriwether supported funding for the position and said she would rather see it in place, as opposed to funding premium pay for departments. She said the cost of treatment on the streets as compared to the cost of a day in jail justifies the money in the long run. She said whatever can be done to keep someone out of jail is worth every cent.   

Duke questioned his fellow budget members about the need for the funding and the immensity of the task of paring down the list.  

In the end, Budget Committee members voted the request down unanimously, while commissioners were in favor of it 3-0. 

Budget Committee members also opposed the sheriff's request for a community liaison officer.  

Budget Committee members and commissioners approved $180,000 for a full-body scanner for the jail with only budget committee chair Shawn Levasseur voting against it. 

One of two information technology items from the list was approved. Members voted to approve an audio/video upgrade for the commissioner’s meeting room and turned down a telephone upgrade for analog to digital.  

Requests for a watercraft for the sheriff’s department and the replacement of doors at the jail resulted in debate.  

The county’s own list of proposed expenditures hovers between $8 and $8.5 million.

Then, there is the $6 million in requests from nonprofits and municipalities comprising Knox County. Which means there remains $14.5 million in requests for the $7.7 million. And that means there is a lot of work yet to do. 

Commissioners and budget committee members will now address the list from municipalities and nonprofits at their March 3 meeting. That meeting will also be on Zoom.