by Mary Grow The Kennebec River was a highway into the interior of Maine, but it was also a barrier to travel. The Native Americans found safe places to cross; European settlers did the same, learning either from the Natives or by trial and error. As early as 1757, Kingsbury’s History of Kennebec County refers […]
by Mary Grow In addition to the 2020-21 budget, Vassalboro selectmen made progress on two other ongoing issues, solar energy and transfer station improvements, at their April 16 meeting. Plans to add a large amount of solar energy to the town’s energy mix started as a voter-approved proposal to develop a solar array in town. […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro School Board members have given preliminary approval to a 2020-21 school budget that, for the second year in a row, will not increase the town’s tax rate. At the April 14 school board meeting, board members thanked Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer, who in turn thanked staff members at Vassalboro Community School (VCS) […]
by Mary Grow In successive meetings April 14 and 16, Vassalboro Budget Committee members reviewed and endorsed proposed 2020-21 school and municipal budgets. They reviewed an almost-final draft of the town meeting warrant and agreed with selectmen’s and school board members’ recommendations on proposed expenditures. Because the annual town meeting at which voters act on […]
by Mary Grow Fairfield, the southernmost town in Somerset County, differs from Augusta, Vassalboro/Sidney, and Winslow/Waterville in being surveyed and settled only on the west bank of the Kennebec. However, the Charles Hayden survey map copied pursuant to a Feb. 4, 1813, vote of the Kennebec Proprietors and published in the Fairfield Historical Society’s Fairfield, […]
by Mary Grow China selectmen made three major decisions at their April 13 virtual meeting. All were by unanimous vote of the four board members participating; Irene Belanger was absent. The action voters need to know about first is that the annual town business meeting, initially scheduled for early April, is postponed for the second […]
by Mary Grow Two Vassalboro Budget Committee meetings April 7 and 9 plus an April 7 school board meeting led to three conclusions. The first was that nobody had final figures for a 2020-21 school budget, and if the town meeting were to be postponed from June 1, both committees might have their April deadlines […]
by Mary Grow As previously described, what is now the Town of Sidney, on the west bank of the Kennebec River north of Augusta, began as the western half of Vassalborough, now a separate town on the east bank of the river. (See The Town Line, March 26) The Kennebec Proprietors hired Nathan Winslow to […]
by Mary Grow In a normal year, Vassalboro selectmen and Budget Committee members get increasingly reliable figures as they move through the municipal budget process, from initial requests in January to definite figures in April for town meeting voters’ action in June. In 2020 uncertainties are increasing as fast as they’re decreasing, on both the […]
by Mary Grow Demonstrating their increasing comfort with virtual meetings, Vassalboro selectmen resolved several issues and consulted with their consultant the evening of April 2. The three board members made decisions on work on two big culverts, on Cross Hill and Gray roads; on adding solar power to Vassalboro’s energy mix; and on use of […]