With Lincoln County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Bridgham retiring at the end of the month and Sgt. Aaron Beck resigning to join Boothbay Harbor Police Department, deputies Kevin Dennison and Jared Mitkus have been promoted to sergeant and were honored at the June 18 commissioners’ meeting.

Bridgham will receive his service weapon in a retirement party July 25.

Commissioners approved contracts with the state for court security and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. The cost for court security rose slightly to $191,800 for two years, and the MDEA contract, which goes to pay a detective sergeant’s salary, was $120,600 through June 2020.

The Sheriff’s Office hired Animal Control Officer Kayla Demens, and completed ACO contracts with Waldoboro and Boothbay Harbor. Discussions are underway with Boothbay. There are now three ACOs working in the county through the Sheriff’s Office.

Commissioners approved buying in-car and body cameras for $6,190. This leaves only one vehicle without cameras. Sheriff Todd Brackett said the bigger problem is videos’ storage. He is looking into options, such as cloud storage, for next year. Commissioners also approved replacing TASERS that were several years beyond their effective dates. Two Department of Justice grants will cover all but $187 of the cost.

The Sheriff’s Office and the Emergency Management Agency are working toward getting CodeRED, an integrated communications system to alert residents to emergencies. The alerts would go out to anyone who signs up to get them on their phones, emails, texts, or in social media, according to the participant’s wishes. For instance, CodeRED could alert parents whose child’s school is in lockdown about the status of the incident, and where they can meet the child. For the first year and for another three months, a Homeland Security grant will fund the program. After that, it would be a line item in the EMA budget. The current cost per year is $8,500. EMA also received permission to outfit town EMA directors with Samsung tablets. The funds for that would also come from a Homeland Security grant.

County Administrator Carrie Kipfer asked for permission to buy a new waste oil furnace for the recycling center. The cost to repair the aging furnace was nearly half  the cost of a new one. The new furnace will come with a 10-year heat exchanger warranty. The cost is $13,051.

To prevent fraud, there have been new updates on the county’s direct deposit policies. The county has signed a 36-month extension with Maine Power options for electricity, and has locked in a rate of $2.07 per gallon for fuel oil and $2.27 per gallon for diesel.

Lincoln County Dental held a public hearing needed to apply through the county for a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant. The nonprofit got a new building and is having its equipment delivered shortly. It will eventually provide low-cost dental services at its new offices in Wiscasset. It seeks more funding to help defray the costs of operations and patient services. While Medicaid will provide some services for children, many services are not covered or are covered at very low rates.

The nonprofit hopes to hire a hygienist to do basic services such as exams and cleanings soon, but the real goal is a full-time dentist and possibly interns from University of New England’s school of dentistry. According to Executive Director Holly Stover, these costs are currently beyond reach Although many people in Lincoln County who would be eligible for services, at 150 percent or less of the poverty limit, the agency does not yet  have a secure funding stream.

Some funding may come from the CDBG grant being sought, and Lincoln County Dental is looking for support in the form of cash donations and volunteers, including volunteer dentists and hygienists and volunteer handymen or women such as to mow lawns. Write to hstover@lcdental.org

The county will act as fiscal agent if the grant is approved.