County’s need to monitor two landfill wells may be over

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — In the early 1990s a pair of landfills owned by the county in Frenchtown and Lily Bay were both closed and capped. In the two decades-plus since the sites were monitored to ensure there was no adjacent ground contamination per Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations, but the county’s duties may be coming to an end soon with a DEP geologist recommending that the wells be decommissioned.

“This is good news,” County Manager Tom Lizotte said during a Jan. 5 meeting of the county commissioners. “The county used to have two landfills in the Moosehead region and they both closed in 1994 and were capped. Every year since 1994 we have gone up and checked that.” Lizotte added that the parcels will still need to be mowed indefinitely, to help prevent trees from taking root and possibly breaking the seals.

In order to fully decommission the former landfill sites, an engineering study would be needed. “I don’t know how much that would cost,” Lizotte said, but per the commissioners’ instructions he will contact CES, Inc. to bring an estimate back “for whether you want to do it this year or whether you want to do it next year or not at all.”

In other business, Lizotte said, “We are still waiting to get the signed union contract back from folks, they have voted to accept that.”

Last month the commissioners had given their approval to both the 2016 county budget and 2016-17 Unorganized Territory budget as well as a pair of union contacts with deputies, dispatchers and corrections employees as well as for the sheriff’s department administration, the jail administrator, patrol lieutenant and telecommunications director. The contracts needed to be ratified by members in order for the agreement provisions to be in place.

Lizotte also said that he should hear back soon from a pair of contractors on estimates for possible lease-to-buy buildings for the sheriff’s department. Lizotte told the commissioners the estimates “would at least give you a ballpark proposal on what that might cost,” as county officials are considering different options for the sheriff’sdepartment facility.

He said should an option requiring a voter referendum be pursued, June would likely be a better time than on a full November ballot.

Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Tom Capraro introduced Brenda Clawson, who recently joined the county in an EMA administrative/probate clerk position. “She is my new administrative assistant, she started yesterday,” Capraro said. “We have a lot to do in the coming weeks and I think she will do a great job.”

During the first meeting of the new year, the commissioners made several appointments among themselves with Fred Trask serving as chair again in 2016 and Jim Annis resuming the vice chair position. Trask said his intention is for 2016 to his “12th and final year” as a county commissioner.

Commissioner James White will continue as the representative to the Chief Local Elected Official board and Lizotte will once again be the county representative to the Eastern Maine Development Corporation — this seat can be filled by the county manager.

In 2016 Annis will stay on as the ex officio member of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council board.