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Commissioners set bid parameters for road agent, discuss COVID-19 preparations

6 mins read

FARMINGTON – Commissioners approved new bid parameters for the county’s road agent at Tuesday’s meeting, following an executive session.

The county employs a road agent to oversee maintenance of county roads in the Unorganized Territory. At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners heard from three U.T. residents who were critical of road work in the U.T., including the Freeman Ridge Road. Commissioners met with county officials in the Franklin County Courthouse’s courtroom, while other attendees listened in via a teleconferencing system.

Bob Carlton, a resident of Freeman Township, said issues included graded roads that continued to have water run down the center, brush left behind after trimming and packed ditches and culverts.

“We’re very frustrated about the amount of work done on the county roads,” Carlton said, listing some of the issues. “I just feel like nobody’s paying attention to what’s going on. I think that county dollars are not being spent well.”

Bill Gilmore, another Freeman Township resident, said that the dirt Freeman Ridge Road had significant issues, particularly for the first 600 feet. Culverts had rusted-out, Gilmore said, saying they were potentially hazardous for smaller vehicles.

Commissioner Terry Brann said that the county had a legal opinion that it was a conflict of interest for a road agent to do the work himself.

The commissioners met with Road Agent Jerry Haines in executive session for approximately half an hour. Upon leaving the session, commissioners voted unanimously to pay the road agent $14,000 plus mileage per year starting on July 1; up slightly from the roughly $13,000 he currently makes. That motion also included a series of parameters for what jobs go out to bid: the road agent can make decisions on road work up to $2,500 in cost, while jobs costing between $2,500 and $10,000 will require Haines seek out three quotes. Work costing more than $10,000 will require a formal, advertised bid process, including written specifications, County Clerk Julie Magoon confirmed Wednesday.

In the past, commissioners have toured the county’s roads and all three commissioners indicated a preference to conduct such a review later this year.

Commissioners also continued discussing how to reopen county facilities, approving the purchase of two special doors designed to limit the public’s contact with county officials. The doors will be installed outside the commissioners’ office and the Probate Court office. Additionally, the county has ordered and received shipments of masks, sanitizer, gloves as well as desk-mounted, transparent shields similar to what grocery stores have been utilizing to limit contact between employees and customers. Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Hardy has indicated that federal funds could be used to pay for most of the cost of safety-related improvements.

Due to the acoustics of the large courtroom commissioners met in Tuesday, it was at times difficult to follow the meeting through the teleconferencing line. The next commissioner meeting is scheduled for May 12, Magoon said Wednesday; commissioners will review the proposed 2020-21 budget and may have a brief business meeting to handle a few miscellaneous items. Magoon said that meeting would likely take place in the conference room in the commissioners’ office, which has better acoustics.

In the longer term, county officials have requested from the state use of the larger courtroom on the first and third Monday of each month. That would provide space for the commissioners to meet in the morning and for probate hearings in the evening, as the actual probate courtroom is a much tighter space. Magoon said that the county requested Mondays as not to interfere with trials that could run from Tuesday through Friday, uninterrupted. Magoon noted that the county’s plans could continue to change as guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic shifted over the course of the summer.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to not hold a referendum on expanding the number of commissioners from three to five. That referendum was slated for the November ballot after a bill was passed by the Legislature last summer; Franklin County residents would have voted on whether or not to expand the board.

Commissioners Terry Brann of Wilton and Clyde Barker of Strong both said they talked to bill sponsors who were no longer in favor of passing it. Commissioner Charlie Webster of Farmington and other commissioners called the bill an unfunded mandate, as it hadn’t included the estimated $5,000 it would cost to add the question to the November ballot.

Magoon said Wednesday that commissioners did have a legal opinion that indicated that it was up to commissioners whether or not the referendum was held.

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5 Comments

  1. To the commissioners, Who is going to pay for all the roads signs knocked down by the plow people in unorganized territories Freeman,Salem. Oh and yah the bridge on Rte. 145 that got hits so hard, knocked it off the foundation at least 3 inches.( Being repaired now.) And oh yah what about all the guard rails leading up to these bridges in th UT? Hope MY tax dollar isn’t in play when the this is all repaired.Time to hold them responsible.

  2. While so many County’s business are trying to open up to the community, our county departments are trying to block them off with special doors. The three (R’s) in the County Commissioner’s seats have done a horrible job. I had never been in favor of 5 County Commissioners but boy do I wish we had them now.

  3. All three county commissioners think they’re the smartest person in the room so I’m sure they know everything about road repair with a tiny budget. If I were road commissioner I’d tell them to stick it way up there! Let them take over, I can’t wait to see what these small repairs cost when put out to bid! Then the Freeman residents can complain about the budget as well as the roads.
    The contractor plowing Freeman just got a huge increase this year yet we taxpayers foot the bill for the damage done by inexperienced drivers. Where’s the executive session for this outfit you big tough commissioners?

  4. Just to clarify the issue of doors at the Courthouse. The Register of Probate and her staff are located in a room where social distancing is impossible based on the space available. To call it a small room would be an understatement. The Commissioners office is larger but based on the fact that a couple of the employees have preexisting health issues the Commissioners felt we needed to do everything we could to protect both the public but in this case especially our employees. The Register of Deeds has a better space for contact with the public and thus the Register of Deeds, Susan Black, suggested the door was unnecessary. This expenditure like any was discussed at length and seemed to be the best solution without adversely altering our Historic Building.

  5. That’s a poor excuse Charlie. It’s another expense the tax payers in this county can’t afford. There is no bottom less pit pool. I’ve heard all of you complain about other budgets and let the people know that the Probate doesn’t work for the county commissioners she is elected by ballot along with Registra of Deeds. County commissioners are not the boss of these two people.

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