by Mary Grow Vassalboro Budget Committee members began their pre-town-meeting considerations at their March 3 meeting with a two-way virtual discussion with human resources consultant Laurie Bouchard, of LBouchard and Associates of Jefferson. Bouchard explained the salary schedule she and Town Manager Mary Sabins have been working on for weeks. When select board members approved […]
by Mary Grow At a special meeting March 2, spokespeople for the Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD), the Vassalboro Volunteer Fire Department and the Vassalboro First Responders told select board members how they would use federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds if they got some. Select board members made no decisions. Renewed discussion is tentatively […]
by Mary Grow War of 1812 veterans In the course of reading about the War of 1812, your writer found information on Maine soldiers of less exalted rank than brigadier general, which she hopes readers, too, will find interesting. Colonel Elnathan Sherwin (born in 1759 from his cemetery record, or 1762 or 1763, from on-line […]
by Mary Grow Pickleball, anyone? Reacting to local requests, China Recreation Committee members discussed the possibility of adding a pickleball court to the town’s recreational facilities at their Feb. 23 meeting. Pickleball requires a paved court. Committee Chairman Martha Wentworth’s first idea was to convert a corner of one of the two ballfields near the […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members held a special Feb. 24 meeting, partly to act on a tax abatement request (approved after a discussion in executive session) and partly to consider again Road Commissioner Eugene Field’s request that the town buy a roadside mower. Specifically, Field wants a mower that can be attached to […]
by Mary Grow China Planning Board members decided at their Feb. 22 meeting that they need at least two public hearings. They scheduled one, on SunRaise Investments’ expanded solar project on Route 3 (see The Town Line, Feb. 3, p. 3), for their March 8 meeting, with a review of the application to follow. One […]
by Mary Grow China Select Board members held a brief meeting Feb. 28. With one member absent and another participating remotely, board Chairman Ronald Breton had postponed continued review of the proposed 2022-23 town budget. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood reported that she and Robert Kurek, who chairs the Palermo Select Board and is one of […]
by Mary Grow Generals Chandler and Ripley Two national military leaders in the War of 1812, Brigadier General John Chandler and Brigadier General Eleazer (or Eleazar – sources differ) Wheelock Ripley, were from Maine, according to Louis Hatch’s state history. Both had connections with the central Kennebec Valley: Chandler lived most of his life in […]
by Mary Grow At their Feb. 15 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members again heard from half a dozen mothers who do not want their children to wear masks in school. Board members corrected two pieces of misinformation the parents had heard, and Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said he is “incredibly hopeful” that if Maine’s covid cases […]
by Mary Grow Chad Caron pleaded emotionally with Vassalboro select board members at their Feb. 17 meeting, asking for more time to work at the former church building he owns on Priest Hill Road in North Vassalboro. They unanimously rejected his request, as advised by Codes Officer Ryan Page. At their Jan. 6 meeting, board […]