FARMINGTON — Selectmen on Tuesday approved funding for seven printers for police cruisers, enabling officers to submit traffic tickets to the state faster than through the mail, to type and print search warrants from crime scenes and other required paperwork.

Deputy Chief Shane Cote told selectmen that the Police Department has applied for a grant to purchase and install the printers for the Maine eCitation system.

The printers will help with organization and timely submission of traffic tickets to the violation bureau, Cote said.

The grant from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety would provide up to $600 per printer, cables, docking station and paper used for traffic enforcement, Cote said. Seven printers would be installed in cruisers, he noted. There is a 20% match required, with the total cost about $8,200, he added.

“If we do get the grant, the funds need to be (accepted) by April 1,” Cote said.

The next selectmen’s meeting is April 12, he said.

The match could pay for installation, Cote said. It’s pretty involved, to get those connected and working properly, he noted. “If they do it, they can come up and do all seven in a couple hours as opposed to us spending a couple hours per car.”

Cote said, “Currently we have 10 days to get summons copied and to the violations bureau by mail, that’s a pretty quick turnaround. If they don’t get it on time, (the ticket) is dismissed.”

Tickets will be submitted electronically but the person driving the car still needs a copy to know what to do, Cote said.

“Is there an ongoing computer program that we’d need to pay for?” Selectman Joshua Bell asked.

The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety has purchased the licenses, intends to continue paying for it, Cote said. The cost would be minimal should they choose not to, he noted.

“It funnels money to the state,” police Chief Kenneth Charles said. It gets money to them in a more timely fashion, they will support that, he added.

“One nice thing about having printers in the cruisers, if we had a barricaded subject on Temple Road we would be able to type and print off a search warrant rather than take a resource away from the scene,” Charles said. “It gives us a lot of capabilities.”

Printing witness statements and trespass notices were examples shared.

“It makes you more efficient,” Selectman Matthew Smith said.

Selectmen accepted $4,200 in anticipation of the grant being awarded and approved spending up to $4,500 from the Police Department Computer Reserve Account once the grant is awarded for the project.

In other business, the board:

• Approved spending up to $100 from the special events account to go toward buying two dog poop stations. Resident Pam Poisson offered to donate $400 toward the stations, which would be installed in Meeting House and Bjorn parks.

• Adopted an amendment to the Adult Use and Medical Marijuana Ordinance regarding distance between adult use and medical marijuana businesses. The amendment will allow Blue Sky to relocate its adult use license from Mercer to its Farmington facility on the Wilton Road and add 12 or more new jobs. The downtown will not be affected.

• Adopted an amendment to the Adult Use and Medical Marijuana Ordinance stating once a license has been issued by selectmen the holder has one year to begin business activity and become licensed by the state.

• Learned of Earth Day activities planned for 1 to 3 p.m. April 22. Participants should meet in front of the Pierce House. Prizes for various categories have been donated by downtown businesses.

« Previous

Rep. Pingree meets with Romanian leader on Ukrainian humanitarian crisis

Next »

Report on Boston Asylum Office finds disproportionately low acceptance rates, bias against applicants