Amid a routine Lincoln County Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 16, commissioners posed a surprise question to Major Ken Mason, who was speaking on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office and Two Bridges Regional Jail.

“Isn’t there any way to use some of the excess bed space to provide a place for detox?” Hamilton Meserve, District One Commissioner, whose region covers Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, Southport, Westport Island, and Wiscasset, wanted to know.

Mary Trescott, from District Three (Alna, Damariscotta, Dresden, Jefferson, Newcastle, Somerville, Whitefield and Hibberts Gore) also expressed an interest. “Heroin is such a serious problem for our county,” she said.

“It’s a problem for the whole state,” Mason said, pointing out that the jail is not really designed to be a drug treatment facility, even though, from time to time, staff members find themselves helping an inmate detox at the jail. “You need social workers, medical personnel ...”

County Administrator John O’Connell interrupted him. “What the major is trying – politely – to say is that jail is already left with some of these people long after we should be taking care of them because of inadequacies by the state,” he said. “Heroin is just the latest problem that the state isn’t dealing with.”

Meserve said that he wasn’t expecting jail personnel to deal with the patients themselves. “But if bed space is a premium, and we have bed space that isn’t being used, I am just wondering if there is any way that one of the pods, maybe, could be set aside for drug treatment for people from our counties.”

Mason said that for numerous reasons, he wasn’t sure that a jail was the best place to treat drug patients.

“They would have to be isolated from the other inmates,” he said. “They’d need permission to come and go, and that would be a logistical ... a problem for the jail personnel.”

As of yet, the idea is simply a question the commissioners have to better utilize the space at the jail and provide a needed service, commissioners said.

Meserve also informed Mason of the theft of firewood gathered by a small group of people in the Boothbay area. The wood collected by the “Woodchucks” was being stored at the recycling facility to be given to families in need of firewood. Recently, there were two thefts of the firewood. “If you could just make the Sheriff’s Department aware of it, I’d appreciate it,” he said.

Commissioners also agreed to the cost involved in changing the Sheriff’s Office firearms over to new models, which is initially $17,081.50.  Most of the cost will be refunded when the old weapons are returned, leaving the cost to the county at about $6,000. About $366 of that will come from forfeiture funds.

Susan Young, a part-time animal control officer in Damariscotta, resigned to accept a full-time position elsewhere.  The Sheriff’s Office is accepting bids for the purchase of a 2007 Dodge Charger, no longer running, that would be sold to a scrapyard.

Todd Hartung, director of Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, made commissioners aware of the Defense Reutilization Marketing Office (DRMO), which distributes no longer needed materials to fire departments throughout the country. In recent months, fire departments in Lincoln County and the county EMA have obtained for free several generators.

“We have to be willing to go and pick them up within two weeks of when we ‘tag’ them,” Hartung said referring to the process of stating that the county or a fire department wants a piece of equipment. “But if we are willing to pay a very small price for travel and gas, we can get a very expensive piece of equipment for free. I wanted you to be aware of the opportunity.”

He said that different agencies in the county had obtained about $161,000 worth of equipment through the program for the cost of going to pick it up. One of the beneficiaries is expected to be Great Salt Bay School in Damariscotta.

Hartung and O’Connell also announced that a three-year process to include Gardiner in the Lincoln County Communications system will not go forward, due to the cost of the equipment that would be required.  Hartung said that Gardiner was informed will in advance that there would be an expense involved, but the selectmen in Gardiner balked at the $10,000 price at the last minute.

Hartung also said that he has meetings scheduled for Feb. 17 with Lincoln County Firefighters Association, a meeting with CMP to come to a better agreement about estimated time of arrival when power lines are down on Feb. 22 at 10 a.m., and an introductory HAM radio meeting on Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. for people interested in becoming HAM radio operators. That meeting will take place at the Jefferson Town Hall, and all interested parties are welcome to attend. Training and licensing will be offered later at EMA headquarters in Wiscasset.