BY BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff writer

FARMINGTON $ Franklin County's emergency-management director told county commissioners Tuesday that area social-service agencies, towns and religious institutions are working together to help as many people as possible facing soaring heating-oil bills this winter.

"Our main concern is the elderly. There are the people who qualify for programs and there are the people who walk a fine line and don't qualify for LIHEAP (the federal Low-Income Energy Assistance Program) by a few cents," said EMA director Tim Hardy.

Hardy said Western Maine Community Action and other groups will hold a series of community meetings to find effective ways to get the message out to those in need about where they can get help.

He said one approach will be to target people during Farmington Fair next month, especially the elderly who get free admission on Senior Citizen Day. Many towns, churches and organizations have funds available but there needs to be a centralized source for the information.

Also on Tuesday, Sheriff Dennis Pike and Jail Administrator Sandra Collins said ARCH, or Allied Resources for Correctional Health, the jail's medical-care provider, is breaking its contract and a new contract is going out to bid.

But under the 60-day termination procedure in the contract, ARCH must continue providing services until Sept. 31 instead of Aug. 31, the date the company would prefer to stop work, according to a July 31 letter ARCH sent to commissioners.

At the last board meeting, Pike and Collins said ARCH was losing $600 a month on the Franklin County contract.

The problems stem from a U.S. Department of Justice Immigration & Customs Enforcement inspection in June that found problems with ARCH's oversight and evaluation of medical services.