County may increase paving due to ‘excess’ undesignated revenue

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County appears to be in good shape financially with plenty of cash in the undesignated revenue fund, commonly known as surplus.
    But according to the county’s auditing firm, RHR Smith Inc., there is too much money in the account according to state guidelines, County Manager Marilyn Tourtelotte told the County Commissioners at their July 1 meeting.

    “Part of the money they’re talking about is funds we’ve set aside for capital expenses like paving,” Tourtelotte said. “When you figure it’s about $200,000 to do a mile-and-a-half, you’ve got to set money aside. The same with bridges; when you replace one, it’s going to be $300,000.”
    So Tourtelotte recommended that more money be spent on paving this year on areas such as the Abbot Road in Blanchard. “We did a lot of work on it last year. We replaced culverts and did some ditching, so it’s pretty well set to be paved,” she said. The additional cost to pave the road would be $170,415, and there would still be more than $200,000 left in the account, she added.
    Commissioner Fred Trask said that he supported the idea, but said that the proposal should have been on the agenda as a separate item, not as part of Tourtelotte’s report. But the county manager said that the information “came in pretty fast” and she didn’t have time to adjust the formal agenda.
    Chairman James Annis said that the proposal made sense to him. “When the opportunity comes up, we should take it,” he said.
    Trask eventually made a motion to accept Tourtelotte’s proposal and it passed 3-0. Commissioner Eric Ward attended via conference call from his work site in Louisiana.
    County Commissioners also approved the liquor license renewal for Woody’s Bar and Grill in Moosehead Junction Township; signed an agreement with RHR Smith Inc. to do the unorganized territories’ and jail audit; and extended an agreement with the Bodfish ATV Riders to use 1.7 miles of the Elliottsville Road as part of their trail system.
    Sheriff John Goggin said that a group of Monson ATV’ers also approached him about using part of the Elliottsville and Blanchard roads to access existing trails. “I’d like to see the Monson folks consider forming a club so they’ll be able to get some guidelines and benefits from the state,” Goggin said.
    But he said that one request — to access almost four miles on the Blanchard Road — “would be nearly impossible,” Goggin said. “So they’re looking at ways of shortening that down to about a half-mile.”
    Tourtelotte said, however, that the Bodfish Riders only wanted an extension of an agreement “they’ve had for years and years” and wasn’t related to the issues Goggin brought up.
    The next county commissioners’ meeting will be held Tuesday, July 15 at the Bowerbank town office.