At the March 21 Lincoln County Commissioners’ meeting, Finance Director Michelle Cearbaugh said according to her calculations, towns would save $1,045,199 per year by using Lincoln County Recycling instead of paying for single-stream recycling.

Towns already pay for recycling as part of their county tax bill. In 2016, the total cost for recycling in the budget was $433,998, and some of those costs ($46,239) were picked up by other towns that participate in the county program. Lincoln County also sells much of its recyclable material. In 2016, the total sales were $169,880. The remaining $217,879 is shared by the towns that participate, based on what they recycle. The county bales the material and trucks it, and also picks it up from the local transfer stations.  The more that is recycled, which now includes food scraps as well, the less the towns pay for tipping fees for landfill trash.

But single-stream, unlike the sorted recycling program Lincoln County has, is a paid service per ton, and towns must also truck the material to the disposal site in Lewiston. Each truck can carry only nine yards of material, and trucking costs per hour are about $125. For most locations in Lincoln County, it is about a one and a half hour trip.  Tipping fees are currently $25 per ton. according to Casella Waste.

For example, according to Cearbaugh’s spreadsheet, the Nobleboro transfer station, where Damariscotta, Newcastle, Jefferson, Nobleboro and Bremen recycle, generated 713 tons and 10,745 yards of recyclables last year. If the station had not participated in the Lincoln County program but used single-stream instead, it would have cost those towns $17,825 for tipping fees and $223,854 for truck costs — more than the shared costs of the recycling program for the entire county. If those tons of recyclables had gone into the landfill instead, the tipping fee would have been $67 per ton, or $47,771, plus trucking fees for a much longer trip to Orrington.

Towns using single-stream now are being asked to remove certain things from their waste stream, such as tin and glass, which aren’t as saleable as cardboard, mixed paper, and plastic. County Administrator Carrie Kipfer has reached out to those towns to encourage them to recycle glass and tin at their local transfer stations. “I’d be happy to put a barrel there for glass,” she said. While glass is not highly desirable now, the county can hold it until the market improves, she said.

In other commission action, the job descriptions for Deputy Registrar of Probate and Probate Clerk were revised to reflect what the most recent deputy and clerk did in their jobs, now that both positions are vacant. The county also approved a purchase order for digitalizing commissioners’ records. Kipfer said the process is complete, and the invoice of $10,272 is due and payable. The commissioners approved the spending.

Sheriff Todd Brackett said the department was invited to speak at the New England Regional Probation Conference in Portland in November, to discuss its drug diversion programs that continue to meet with success. Currently, Lincoln County has 28 inmates at Two Bridges Regional Jail, while 73 were diverted via the Sheriff’s Office and Maine Pretrial Services.  Nobleboro joined the county’s Animal Control Officer program. Brackett also reported he plans to spend $9,874 on mobile radios for the cars and portable hand-held radios to use with digital equipment. Brackett said he would be making the purchases over several years to coincide with the post 9/11 federal mandate for police and fire radios to have digital access.

The new tower-based simulcast system capable of both analog and digital, was going online the week of March 20, according to Communications Director Joe Westrich. It will remain analog until all the police and fire departments in the county have equipment that can pick up the digital signal. That might take several years, but he is looking for Homeland Security grants to fund part of the cost, especially for small volunteer fire departments. “The cost to change over will be significant,” he said.

Brackett said he was happy with the progress in the Oxford County contract negotiations. Oxford had been sending more inmates to Two Bridges Regional Jail than contracted, but is willing to renegotiate the contract or end it early and negotiate a new one.

Casey Stevens, director of the Emergency Management Agency, announced training to assist local executives and emergency management directors on communications with emergency personnel in a disaster. He also said he planned to begin speaking to town boards of selectmen about what EMA does and how the agency can help the towns prepare for emergencies.