AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Commission agreed Wednesday to shift $20,000 from the sheriff motor vehicle expense line to establish a sheriff vehicle reserve account for future druiser purchases.
That specific expense account has a surplus of $28,291. County Treasurer Clarice Proctor noted that even with the transfer of funds, the Sheriff’s Office will still be underbudget by $147,000.
The $20,000 will be placed in a reserve account to be used only for buying vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office and must get approval of the commissioners before being spent.
In other business, commissioners accepted an anticipated forfeiture of money in a criminal investigation involving Raymond Denbow of Mechanic Falls, which involved the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Eric Samson said he anticipated it to be about $1,200.
Commissioners modified the employee vacation policy to line up with state and federal law. Instead of one year, employees will have access to their accrued vacation time after 120 days. Part-time employees will be able to accrue one hour of vacation time for every 40 hours worked.
Commissioners heard a presentation from Community Little Theatre of Auburn seeking American Rescue Plan Act funds from the county. The initial request several weeks ago was for $3 million, but leaders stressed Wednesday that $870,000 would cover the first phase of their renovation project that includes repairing masonry and other features on the building exterior to prevent water from seeping through the cracks.
Commissioners began the meeting with a 34-minute executive session with their attorney, but no specific action was taken afterward. They did have property acquisition listed on the agenda, but there was no discussion or action on any potential purchase of property.
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