FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to increase the jail administrators’ salaries.
Assistant Administrator Lt. John Donald’s salary was increased from $49,171 to $56,160, or from $23.64 an hour to $27 an hour. Administrator Maj. Doug Blauvelt’s salary was increased from $58,427 to $62,400, or from $28.09 per hour to $30 an hour.
Vickie Braley, interim county clerk, and Tiffany Baker, human resource specialist/administrative assistant, provided the information following an executive session on the matter.
The board also voted to accept a new three-year lease for the District Attorney’s Office on Main Street in Farmington from owner Craig Jordan of Farmington
The payment is $2,000 a month, an increase of $355, Commissioner Chairman Terry Brann of Wilton said. The original cost in 2012 was $1,645 a month.
In other matters, commissioners voted to spend up to $16,250 for a fuel security system on County Way, where the Sheriff’s Office, jail and communications center are located. It will be paid from the county’s $5.86 million allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act. The county has received half of the funding and the other half will come in later this year.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, about $1 million was approved for spending, program administrator Susan Pratt said.
The current fueling system is 20 years old and is from the town of Farmington. There are keys to the system for people using it so the appropriate department is billed. Besides the county, a number of Farmington departments use the system, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said. They do not know how many keys are out there, he said.
“We pay the overall fuel cost,” Nichols said, and are reimbursed.
Lt. David Rackliffe said the key box belongs to Farmington.
The new system would digitally record the number of gallons of gas used by each department. Cards would be used, not keys, to better track use.
Pratt said she asked Farmington officials to contribute but they are not willing to do so.
After discussions over the past several months with the Mt. Blue Area Garden Club, commissioners voted 2-1 to provide $20,000 for improvements to the county’s World War I Teague Memorial Arch. There is a possibility of another $20,000 after a stakeholders’ report is submitted.
Brann said he supported $20,000 but voted against the motion when up to another $20,000 was included in it.
Commissioners Lance Harvell of Farmington and Clyde Barker of Strong supported the vote.
The club had asked for $40,000.
Regional School Unit 9 Superintendent Christian Ellington and representatives of the American Legion said they are willing to get involved in the project physically, including help from students.
Commissioners agreed to keep the Farmington Grange’s request for $20,000 on the list for repairs to its hall.
They took no action on a request from Darryl Wood, executive director of Life Enrichment Advancing People, for a $240,000 employee retention grant from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The private nonprofit is in the midst of a staffing crisis, he said. There were about 200 employees prior to the pandemic and now there are about 130. Part of his proposal was to give two, $1,000 payments over the next couple of months to direct support professionals who provide residential and life skill help to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to Wood. Many of the people served are typically long-term care.
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