DOVER-FOXCROFT — A month and a half after the Piscataquis County Commissioners voted to have $10,000 in county opioid settlement money go annually to the non-profit Recovery Wellness Community Center of Sangerville, county officials heard about the impact of the funds during a commissioners meeting on the morning of April 7.
A $10,000 check from Piscataquis County has been received, Recovery Wellness Community Center Program Manager Alan Burgess said.
DOVER-FOXCROFT — A month and a half after the Piscataquis County Commissioners voted to have $10,000 in county opioid settlement money go annually to the non-profit Recovery Wellness Community Center of Sangerville, county officials heard about the impact of the funds during a commissioners meeting on the morning of April 7.
A $10,000 check from Piscataquis County has been received, Recovery Wellness Community Center Program Manager Alan Burgess said.
The center has been open for about a year at a former Catholic church on the Douty Hill Road.
“We want to say thank you very, very much,” he said. “The money is really, really helpful, it goes a long way in what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Maine counties receive opioid settlement money regularly as part of national settlements with companies accused of contributing to the opioid epidemic. Funds can only be used for specific purposes and previous expenditures had been in the Piscataquis County Jail. With monies going to an area non-profit, as opposed to an expanded county program, there won’t be an added cost to taxpayers after the settlements end.
Burgess said the Recovery Wellness Community Center has received more support since the late February commissioners meeting — including having a story on the front page of the Piscataquis Observer.
“I have noticed a lot more conversation from a lot more people after that,” he said.
“I don’t want to say that’s equally as important, just a different kind of important,” Burgess continued. “Obviously we need money, we can’t function without it, but what we’re seeing is the whole community’s bought in and it’s really been quite an amazing thing to be a part of.”
“It gives people a place to go, something that they are hopeful for and somewhere where they can get involved in,” he said.
The Recovery Wellness Community Center is offering programs at the jail, including one on one recovery coaching.
The center offers outreach in Milo and is looking to expand to Greenville.
“Thank you very much and thank you for what you’re doing,” Commissioners Chair Paul Davis said.
In other business, County Manager Mike Williams said the safety committee has been working on a communications system should there be a severe event such as a fire.
“That way if we have an evacuation or something the department heads can let me know they’re out,” he said. Emergency responders would not need to search buildings for those who are able to radio in and say they are okay.
Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Maureen Conley helped locate some push-to-talk radios for reliable communication. Williams tested these and the radios worked nearly everywhere on the county campus — inside the jail bubble was an exception.
Williams tried some locations across the region and the only problem spot he encountered in his travels was in Blanchard, likely caused by the topography in this unorganized territory. The county manager also tried a radio in known cellphone dead spots on his way home to Greenbush and he was able to speak and hear with the device.
The county could purchase 14 radios for department heads, several locations and to have some backups, at a cost between $1,000 and $1,500. Sim cards would need annual $50 renewals moving forward.
“You will have perfect communication all day, except for a few small areas,” Williams said.
Sheriff Bob Young said on Tuesday, April 21, during the week of school vacation, there will be a “major active shooter exercise at Foxcroft Academy.” Various county police, fire, EMS and dispatch agencies will be working together.
“The idea, we have been planning this since last summer, is to make it as realistic as we can just to test systems to see how communications work, see the command structure how fire and EMS would integrate,” Young said. “We know we are going to make mistakes, and that’s the whole idea to see where we make the mistakes.”
The sheriff also said that former long-time Chief Deputy Dale Clukey Sr. passed away the weekend prior at age 89. Clukey served as chief deputy from 1991 to 2009 as part of a 38-year law enforcement career. Clukey was the chief deputy prior to Young serving in the position for close to a decade before he became sheriff in 2018.
A funeral service with military honors is scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 1 at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Exeter.
