by Mary Grow Vassalboro Community School (VCS) has lots of new technology for students and staff – and so far, the gadgets have cost town taxpayers almost nothing. But there may be big bills down the road, as things wear out and need repair and replacement. That was the gist of the message Will Backman […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members, Town Manager Mary Sabins and other residents presented ideas for future town improvements at the select board’s Oct. 21 goal setting session. Board Chairman Robert Browne summarized the three proposals that he thinks should be considered first as: Surveying residents to see whether opposition to zoning is as […]
by Mary Grow Members of China’s Municipal Building Committee (MBC) spent their Oct. 28 meeting again considering options for additional space at the town office, primarily for storage of town records. MBC Secretary Terry DeMerchant’s minutes say Chairman Sheldon Goodine and Codes Officer Jaime Hanson provided measurements on space needed and suggestions for providing it. […]
by Mary Grow China select board members spent much of their Oct. 25 meeting discussing the recent report on China’s broadband infrastructure, an issue that is at least temporarily off the radar after voters on Nov. 2 defeated a request to allow selectmen to borrow money for broadband improvements. In other business Oct. 25, select […]
by Mary Grow China voters had one referendum question and annual elections on their Nov. 2 local ballots. The referendum question asked whether voters would authorize, but not require, select board members to borrow money to finance expanded internet infrastructure in town. Town Clerk Angela Nelson reported they said no, by a vote of 547 […]
by Mary Grow Windsor residents are fortunate to have a well-researched town history by Linwood H. Lowden, published in 1993, that includes an equally well-researched chapter on schools by C. Arlene Barton Gilbert. From this book, we learn that Windsor, like many other nearby towns, began funding primary schools early in the 1800s. Windsor’s first […]
by Mary Grow At their Oct. 21 meeting, China Broadband Committee (CBC) members reviewed a report from Hawkeye Connections, the company whose employees surveyed existing power poles and related infrastructure to refine the cost of improving and expanding internet service in China. The report gives an estimated cost of $5.25 million for main construction only. […]
by Mary Grow In Waterville, in addition to the private and public schools already described, there was Waterville Liberal Institute. An on-line list of Universalists’ “higher institutions of learning” says Waterville Liberal Institute opened in 1835. It was the second such school in Maine; Westbrook Seminary opened in 1831 and ran until 1925, when the […]
by Mary Grow China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members used their Oct. 18 meeting to propose revisions to the three-year-old application form for a grant from TIF funds. TIF money comes from taxes paid on the Central Maine Power line that runs north-south through China and on CMP’s substation in South China. The funds […]
by Mary Grow CORRECTION: The headline on page 2 of the October 21, 2021, issue of The Town Line may have been misleading. In no way, shape or form was the consultant intended for fire department compliance. The presenter, Lynn Gilley Martin, of Fire Service Compliancy Associates, offers municipalities advice on compliance with state labor […]