The committee includes Andy Mendes, Maine Preparedness Director of the American Red Cross; Stephen Bunker, operations manager of the Emergency Services Communications Bureau; and Rayna Leibowitz, senior planner at the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

The committee will be asked to reduce the applicants to the top five candidates. The commissioners will interview each of the five candidates and meet with the independent committee before making a final decision.

The committee is expected to start work this week.

District Court Rental

The District Court will be notified by the commissioners that their rental space must be re-negotiated.

The lease has not been reviewed since 1991.

"The District Court rental lease has lapsed," Commissioner William Blodgett said at their meeting Tuesday morning. "It should have been reviewed in the mid '90's."

County Administrator Mike Huston provided a list of other county rentals for District Courts within the state.

For 13 years, the state has paid Lincoln County $6.42 per square foot. Knox County, at $11.71 per square foot, is paid the most among the counties surveyed. Lincoln County was the lowest; next to Lincoln is Washington County which receives $9.18 per square foot.

According to Huston's survey the average rent per square foot is $9.77.

Commissioner Sheridan Bond said the leases were entered into, in some cases, 13 years ago; the most recent was 2001. Therefore, the average should be higher now, he said.

"We (the county) have been absorbing the increased cost in fuel and electric these past 12 years," Huston said.

"We will notify the District Court we want to begin negotiations immediately," Blodgett said. Hibbert Gore Bridge Repairs

The commissioners have tabled the repairs on the Hibbert Gore Bridge until early spring as a cost savings to the county.

The county received a letter from the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) estimating the cost to the county for the work to be done during the winter months.

The cost would be approximately $65,000, which does not include the cost of the timber decking, nailing strips and back walls which the county would provide.

According to the letter from MDOT if the project is postponed until May, the county could save $10,000 to $15,000.

The cost savings would be realized from longer and better work days, "summer versus winter construction techniques and the utilization of inmate crews to paint and fabricate the steel beams during the winter months," John Buxton, Assistant Bridge Maintenance Engineer said in his letter.

The commissioners opted to wait, and include the money the county will need for the repairs in next year's budget.

County Receives Grant

County Planner Robert Faunce told the commissioners the county had received a $15,000 grant for a study on what counties and towns are using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

The scope of work in the study will include a list of current and anticipated county GIS needs, inventory of GIS data currently maintained by counties, and to determine the use of GIS to improve county services.

Commissioner John O'Connell will contact the National Association of Counties (NACO) for information to help in the study. NACO collects information on counties which, according to Faunce, would be very helpful in the study.

According to Faunce, up-to-date GIS and land use information is important to towns in developing future growth.

"But limited budgets and small town staffs make it impractical for many towns to create and maintain GIS based mapping," Faunce said.

Part of the study will include funding options, and determining how counties in other states fund GIS systems. Jail Inmate Count

Sheriff Todd Brackett said the county is responsible for 35 inmates.

There are 23 males housed at the jail, and four males and two females boarded in other facilities.

Three males and one female are on medical furlough, one male on furlough, and one male is on an electronic monitor.