ROCKLAND — Knox County Commissioners held an informal forum with municipalities of Knox County this afternoon, January 7, in the Commissioners' Hearing Room at the Knox County Courthouse.

Commissioner Roger Moody, of Camden, opened the forum, saying he got the idea for the forum from the Maine County Commissioners Association. This is the fifth forum to be held by the county commissioners since 2009.

"Everyone is under a financial squeeze," said Moody. "One of the things that we thought we might be able to do as a county is create a forum where we could talk about what needs you have, what strategies we might develop that might be beneficial to the municipalities."

Those attending the forum included Knox County Commissioners Carol Maines (chairman), Rick Parent Jr., and Moody, as well as Knox County Administrator Andrew Hart.

Others included:

Ken McKinley, Rockport Select Board

Bill Chapman, Rockport Select Board

Richard C. Bates, Rockport Town Manager

Jay Feyler, Union Town Manager

Donald Burke, Appleton Selectman

Richard Carver, Owls Head Selectman

Tammy Willey, St. George Selectman

Marguerite Cutroi, St. George Selectman

Richard Bates, St. George Selectman

Bill Reinhardt, St. George Selectman

Russell Montgomery, St. George Selectman

John Spear, South Thomaston Administrative Assistant

Jon Duke, Hope Town Administrator

Moody outlined several categories where cooperation form the county could benefit the outlying communities.

County law enforcement

Sheriff's patrol

EMS/Ambulance Services

Economic Development

Contracting with municipalities for services; i.e., assessment/reevaluations

County Services in Unorganized Territories and Plantations

County Board of Assessment Review

Contracts to provide any municipal service

All the municipalities agreed that animal control is or is going to be an issue. Reevaluations, EMS service and waste removal were all topics that came up for discussion during the forum.

Ray Sisk, Emergency Management Agency director and Hope resident, said combined buying is always cost effective. He cited the purchase of radios on a countywide basis that saved thousands of dollars in expenses.

He also said that if two or three municipalities bought a truck with a snow plow, they could get a much better price then if the purchase was made as one single truck.

The forum ended with Moody thanking everyone for coming and for their participation, stating that he would have minutes drawn up and distributed to everyone. He said animal control, technology services, bidding and government assistance were areas on which to focus. No date was set for the next meeting.

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