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County official flags $465,000 ballot-printing contract and warming-center controversy
Summary
A county representative told commissioners about athletics recognition, a controversial Utica warming-center funding vote, a $465,000 ballot-printing contract for 2026–27, and other county projects including the Harriet Tubman byway and plowing contracts.
Keith (county representative) opened the officials' reports with a series of county items that he said could affect neighboring municipalities and countywide services.
He highlighted local athletics (Waterville High track and Utica Notre Dame girls basketball) and said a docket to approve funding for a warming center in central Utica drew a 13–9 split at the county-level vote. Keith said most of the warming center contract is funded through federal and state funds and that the facility's rule requiring people to "leave" afterward has prompted public concern because "their definition of leave is go hang out on the sidewalk." He said the split vote reflected community dissension.
Keith also flagged a contract to print ballots for 2026–27, saying the cost to print ballots is $465,000 and that this is separate from the county's multi-million-dollar investment in machines and equipment. He noted a presentation on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad byway and county municipal plowing contracts he said amount to about $7,000 per mile in some areas.
Commissioners thanked Keith for the report; no formal action was taken on the county items during this meeting.
