New cameras may be added to jail security system

DOVER-FOXCROFT — He will present more information at the next meeting of the Piscataquis County Commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 17 but Sheriff Bob Young is looking to add more cameras to the security system at the Piscataquis County Jail.

“We have to now have cameras within the day areas of the cell blocks,” Young told the commissioners during a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3. 

He said he would have more information to present in two weeks but off the top of his head he mentioned a cost of $20,000. Young said there is ample money for the cameras in a capital account.

The sheriff said the office had an expectantly busy time late last month with the 137th Piscataquis Valley Fair across town. “That’s a significant week for us every year,” Young said, saying the fair went well for the sheriff’s office.

The Greenville Police Department lent the agency’s side-by-side for patrol at the fair. “That’s a big help so I want to thank them for that,” Young said.

In other business, County Manager Mike Williams said the first budget committee meeting is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the commissioners’ chambers on the first floor of the Peaks House.

“I have personally talked with all nine of the budget committee members so we should be all set,” Williams said. He said the commissioners have preliminary drafts of the finances.

The committee will be meeting well into the fall to develop budgets for both the county and the Unorganized Territories.