AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Commission gave initial approval Wednesday to a three-year contract extension with the Androscoggin County Employees Association.
The contract will raise wages by 3% each year, beginning in July 2020. It also adjusts some stipends given for night shift, rank and education, and also changes insurance vesting from eight years to five years.
The union representing county workers must vote for the proposal before it is ratified. That vote is expected to happen in the next couple of weeks.
Negotiations between the union and the commissioners have been ongoing for the past few months.
With Commissioner Sally Christner of Turner absent, commissioners voted 5-1 to support the proposal with Isaiah Lary casting the negative vote. Lary, who was a member of the negotiating team, refused to comment on the negotiations or his exact reasons for voting no. He said he supports and appreciates the work that the county employees do and believes they should be compensated, but is concerned about the contract’s impact on the budget and the likely increase in county taxes.
For the second consecutive meeting, an amendment to the bylaws failed concerning the number of meetings per month. Two weeks ago, a proposal offered by Chairman Noel Madore of Lewiston to change the number of meetings required per month from two to one, to match the County Charter, failed because it lacked the supermajority of five votes instead of a simple majority of the seven members.
On Wednesday, Lary offered a competing amendment stating that two regular, business meetings must be held twice a month, and that workshops could not count as a meeting.
Terri Kelly of Mechanic Falls called it “a glaring contradiction to the Charter” and said she would not support it. John Michael of Auburn felt commissioners should have the freedom to hold one meeting per month due to holidays or lack of business.
Lary’s proposal was defeated on a 2-4 vote with Lary and Brian Ames of Lewiston casting the only yes votes.
Commissioners did support a policy change offered by Lary to require the agenda and supporting documents to be made available to the public by the end of business on the Friday before the Wednesday meetings. Madore and John Butler of Lewiston opposed the measure.
Also, Sheriff Eric Samson brought a representative from Dirigo Communications to update the ongoing work to eliminate the gaps in the communications grid. Samson called it a “workplace safety issue.” He described there are times when his officers arrive at the scene of an incident and must fumble around to find the right channel.
The new system being worked on would link all the towers together. That could cost as much as $600,000, Samson said. The system is cost effective and meets national standards, he added.
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