New SO dispatcher hired, another promoted

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Commissioners approved the recommendations of a screening panel last week and hired Holly Kishbaugh of Dover-Foxcroft as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s department and promoted current dispatcher Gary Grant of Parkman to sergeant.

    Kishbaugh is a unit coordinator for the emergency room at Mayo Regional Hospital and was one of 23 applicants for the position, according to Sheriff John Goggin. She was one of five finalists to be interviewed and “did very well during the process,” said interim County Manager Tom Lizotte.
    Grant fills a position vacated by Tom Harvey who retired almost two years ago. He and Jay Murano were the only two applicants for the position, according to Dave Roberts, the sheriff’s department’s communications director. “They both did very well during the interview,” Roberts said. “But Gary has 16 years of experience while Jay has three. If I had two positions, I’d fill them both with these gentlemen.” Roberts also noted that both candidates had perfect attendance records.
    In other news related to the corrections department, Lizotte recapped a recent Maine County Commissioners’ Association meeting where pending legislation on restoring local control of jails was the hottest topic.
    “It was hard to walk away from that meeting feeling anything but pessimistic about the prospects,” Lizotte said. “The testimony from county officials on the bills was almost an embarrassment because you had people asking for three different levels of funding. So the legislative committee was not impressed because of the lack of a unified message.”
    Commissioner James Annis, who also attended the MCCA meeting, said that the best deal for the counties would be a “soft landing” for decreased state funding for the jails over a three-year period.
    But he said that MCCA insisted that the state should continue to subsidize the county jails at a cost of $18 million per year. “And that isn’t going to happen,” Annis said. “They’re going to get their noses bloodied on that one.”
    The commissioners also learned that the new sheriff’s department cruisers won’t be delivered until July. Lizotte said that the good news is that they’ll be 2016 models at the same price quoted for the 2015 cruisers and they’ll have extra features not available on the other models.
    But Goggin noted that the department will now have to keep some of the old vehicles on the road longer than anticipated. The sheriff said that his own assigned vehicle, a 2002 SUV, couldn’t pass inspection in January so it’s been taken out of service.
    Lizotte also updated the commissioners on repairs to the courthouse cupola which were scheduled to get under way April 15.
    Earlier this year, they approved spending $13,550 to restore the copper roof system, replace the clapboard siding, restore existing trim with aluminum coil stock, repair flashing components and repaint adjoining surfaces.
    Weather has been a factor in completing the project, but the scaffolding is in place and work should begin any day now, Lizotte said.
    Also at last week’s meeting, commissioners approved liquor license renewals for North Woods Trading Post in T1R9, Mount Kineo Golf Course in Big Moose Township and Raymond’s Country Store in North East Carry Township.