AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Commission adopted a proposal Wednesday by Sheriff Eric Samson to award union employees a wage hike beginning in 2022.
The Patrol Division would receive a wage increase of $2.25 per hour, while members in corrections, communications and the Civil Division would see their wages increase by $1 per hour.
The total cost of the wage adjustment would be $220,964, which will be paid through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds under the category “revenue losses,” according to Treasurer Clarice Proctor. She is administering the $21 million the county is scheduled to receive.
County officials have said that federal guidelines allow them to recoup lost revenues from the pandemic.
Before the wage hike can be finalized, union members must approve the offer. Sgt. Delbert Mason, president of the Androscoggin County Employee Association, said he would bring the offer to his members for consideration.
The proposal also includes a $2,000 raise for the four members of the administrative staff on salary, who are in a different union.
Samson made the proposal because of what he described as a wage imbalance compared to neighboring law enforcement agencies. The sheriff added that the market standards and the wage standards have dramatically changed in the past year, and he is hoping to prevent his employees from being enticed to leave by those agencies. Compensation, Samson said, would buy a lot of goodwill.
“I want something done for the employees,” Samson said. “We need to do something.”
Commissioners were sympathetic to the request.
Chairwoman Sally Christner of Turner called the wage adjustment “labor stabilizing.”
With the current contract expiring in 2023, the county plans to begin negotiating with the union in January. Commissioners Brian Ames and Edouard Plourde, both of Lewiston, and Christner were selected to serve on the county’s negotiating team.
In a related matter, commissioners raised Samson’s salary from $80,000 to $95,000.
Ames compiled data on sheriffs’ salaries from all 16 counties. With Androscoggin County the fifth largest by population — after Cumberland, York, Penobscot and Kennebec — Ames said $95,000 would put Samson in the top five wage-earners.
The board unanimously approved the salary increase.
Commissioners agreed to spend $360,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act allocation on an engineering study to replace the HVAC system and improve air circulation in the courthouse and jail. At its last meeting, commissioners had balked after initially approving the nearly $6.2 million HVAC project, when the board realized the price tag included costly renovations to the basement.
Factoring out the basement, the board estimated the cost to be about $4.45 million. The final cost will be determined by bids, once the engineering study is completed, which Administrator Larry Post said would take at least six months.
Commissioners also approved spending $35,000 of from the American Rescue Plan Act allocation to buy replacement ballistic vests for the Sheriff’s Department. Samson said the vests cost about $1,000 each.
The board postponed an action plan on the Amercian Rescue Plan Act that calls for a committee to hear requests for money from agencies within the county and recommend who should receive it and how much.
Ames objected to one provision that would place only one commissioner on the committee. He felt too much money was involved to limit commissioners’ involvement to one member.
The committee would also include Post, Proctor and one county staff member.
Commissioners John Michael of Auburn and Terri Kelly of Mechanic Falls echoed Ames’ concerns.
Kelly and Plourde said they felt it was important to meet with and hear each applicant.
The commission has heard requests from five other groups, ranging from $10,000 to $3 million.
The town of Leeds, which is seeking to build its own broadband network to reach every resident in town, had requested $450,000. Post recommended Wednesday to award the town $250,000, since it was first in line with a well-conceived proposal.
Michael agreed, adding it is difficult for anyone in 2021 to not have internet service.
While others felt the project was worthwhile, they thought it was premature to give the town funds now with the county still accepting requests through the middle of April 2022.
” I don’t think it is appropriate with the deadline in April,” Roland Poirier of Lewiston said. “It’s unfair to disperse the funds now.”
The board took no action on the Leeds request, or any of the other proposals.
In other business, Post reported that the Androscoggin Historical Society will leave the third floor of the county building in the next six months.
A nearly one-hour executive session was held to discuss the Sheriff’s Department’s potential move from the county building. Samson and a Realtor met with the board to discuss potential locations. No decision was announced following the executive session and no vote was taken during open session.
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