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By ALAN CROWELL
Staff Writer Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Development has expanded, traffic on major roads has grown, and law enforcement coverage of the area has not kept up, he says.

"If there is anybody in the county who is not getting their money's worth from their taxes, it is that area (Jackman)," said DeLong, referring to an area that consists largely of unorganized territories -- townships with few if any residents and no local government.

Add road maintenance, emergency rescue, fire, waste disposal and a host of other services affected by increasing development in the unorganized territories -- more than half of the 975 new homes called for in Plum Creek's plan would be built in Somerset County -- and, county officials say, you have a growing demand for services in the most isolated parts of the county that the government may not be able to pay for.

Already, DeLong worries the county should be providing the most isolated part of the county with more than it is getting.

On any give day, DeLong says he has two or three deputies covering all of Somerset County.

With the bulk of calls coming from the more densely populated bottom quarter of the county, DeLong said that from West Forks north, coverage is spotty at best.

DeLong estimated the response time for one of his deputies to the Jackman area -- near the Canadian border -- may be anywhere from a half-hour to an hour and a half.

"If you have a very severe problem going on, you are going to be in trouble," he said.

As more people move into undeveloped areas, DeLong said the northern part of the county will need two full-time deputies living and working in the area.

He estimated that would cost another $100,000 a year at least.

They would also need an affordable place to live -- something that is currently hard or impossible to find in the Jackman area.

And as development in the unorganized territories and plantations in northern Somerset County continues to grow, Philip Roy, chairman of the county commissioners, worries about how the county will pay for other services that residents moving to the area will need.

"Our take on this has been services, period. We want to be able to manage the infrastructure cost." said Roy.

Roy said that commissioners support Plum Creek's plan in general, but worry about how it will affect county government.

"If you throw in a few thousand more people, it is going to tax the infrastructure to the max," said Roy.

County officials worry that they will not receive enough funding from the state to pay for the needed services.

The unorganized territories pay taxes to the state, which then gives the county money to provide services to the territories.

"We have to make sure that we have a way of getting money to pay for the infrastructure that is needed for this project," Roy said.

Historically, too much of the money paid by residents in the unorganized territories has flowed into the state general fund, leaving not enough to help the county provide the services that the area needs, said Roy.

That problem is only likely to get worse as the demand for services in the unorganized territories grows, he said.

Plum Creek project manager Luke Muzzy, of Greenville, said a study by Planning Decisions of South Portland shows that his company's development will generate many more tax dollars than will be needed to pay for the new services, six times as many.

And because Plum Creek's development is planned, Muzzy said that problems suc h as the need for more services can be brought forward as part of the planning process.

DeLong said he also believes that development in the area will be good for the county in the long run, but he said the county must be prepared for it.

"It is going to be a major undertaking, and down the road a favorable one. But the initial steps are going to be painful," he said.

Alan Crowell -- 474-9534, Ext. 342

acrowell@centralmaine.com

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