AUBURN — Sally Christner is the only Androscoggin County commissioner left from when Larry Post was hired as the county’s first administrator nearly seven years ago.
At Wednesday’s meeting — Post’s last as county administrator — the commissioner from Turner and board chairwoman praised Post for his accomplishments and ability to steer the county clear of the multiple crises it faced in 2015.
Christine rattled off the turmoil Post faced when he began his tenure — a union working four years without a contract, a weakened relationship with the Budget Committee after commissioners walked out of a meeting with them one week before Post started, and towns preparing to file suit against the county over whether commissioners could raise their own salaries.
Peace with the unions, the municipalities and the Budget Committee is mostly the rule and not the exception.
“He’s certainly not leaving the county as he found it,” Christner said.
Having submitted his resignation last month, Post’s last day working for the county is Friday. He told commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting that, “I just feel very blessed to have spent time in Androscoggin County.”
Post said one of his final acts will be to write his recommendations on how the county should spend its American Rescue Plan Act funds, which the county received from the federal government to help recover from the pandemic.
“We need to, first, look at the county’s needs so we’re not out there three years from now asking for a bunch of money from the towns that we could have used ARPA money for,” Post said.
Among the issues the board should consider, Post said, is building maintenance — especially the basement area, which requires significant renovations — cybersecurity and potential expansion if nearby properties come up for sale.
County Treasurer Clarice Proctor will serve as interim county administrator.
Considering the county has yet to receive the second half of the $21 million in ARPA money, the board tabled any discussion on how to disperse the funds.
Commissioners decided to no longer video record their meetings and then post recordings to its website. Commissioner Garrett Mason of Lisbon said the county has gone above and beyond the law in video recording then posting meetings online.
Facilities Director David Cote said it takes him nearly 90 minutes to compile the recordings and post the following day. He has volunteered his off-hours for the past couple of years to run recording equipment and to manage the system that allowed those watching the meeting live to comment.
Saying it has taken too much time away from his family, Cote said he is no longer willing to volunteer his time every other Wednesday.
Commissioner Edouard Plourde of Lewiston expressed concern about ending the practice of recording the meetings.
“Our minutes are very minimal,” Plourde said. “They tell us what we discussed, but not what we said. If you’re relying on our minutes for a record of what happened, it’s not going to be fulfilling.”
Commissioners agreed to consider expanding the minutes without writing an actual journal.
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