Vassalboro conservation committee discusses two parks

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Janice Clowes, president of the Vassalboro Historical Society, captured the silhouette of the monument in the park, next to the historical society building.

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Conservation Com­mission members spent most of their June 11 meeting discussing the two parks they supervise, Monument Park, in East Vassalboro at the China Lake outlet, and Eagle Park, on Route 32, north of East Vassalboro.

For Monument Park, they agreed on committee member Steve Jones’ earlier suggestion of adding a buffer along the water, with low plantings that would hold back runoff but not block the view.

Chairman Holly Weidner said planting the buffer might qualify for a grant from the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. The organization provides up to $4,000 for projects that promote volunteerism and protect the environment, she said.

The next round of applications is due in September, with funds awarded in December for work in 2026. Jones and Matt Pitcher volunteered to prepare a grant application.

Commission members praise public works crew for work at Eagle Park.

Commission members further agreed to add three trees along a small stream in the park, using money remaining in the current year’s budget. Jones, owner of Fieldstone Gardens, in Vassalboro, offered to provide the labor and equipment to plant the trees.

Weidner accepted with pleasure, saying to Jones, “When you plant trees, they don’t die.”

Weidner reported that Kennebec Water District has informally offered to help with run-off control on its side of the stream.

Commission members praised Vassalboro Public Works Director Brian Lajoie and the public works crew for their additions at Eagle Park. Crew members built a pavilion and installed three picnic tables from Maine Adirondack Chairs, in Vassalboro, one handicapped accessible; and improved the lawn and the parking area.

Other additions include a second fishing pier and a granite bench – the bench under a tree for shade, Weidner noted. She and Jones favor adding more trees.

Minor projects remain, like installing appropriate handicapped signs. Commission members intend to have an outhouse built to use the septic tank already on the property. Jones offered to talk with Lajoie about plans and costs.

In other business, Weidner reported that the China Region Lakes Alliance has hired Riley Field as head of the 2025 Courtesy Boat Inspection program, intended to keep invasive plants out of area lakes. Vassalboro will have inspectors at three boat landings, on China Lake, Three Mile Pond and Webber Pond. Town meeting voters approved $10,000 for this project.

Weidner said Paul Mitnik has resigned from the commission; it now has five members, instead of the authorized seven. Vassalboro residents interested in serving are invited to contact the town office.

On Weidner’s recommendation, commission members took a summer recess, scheduling their next regular meeting for Wednesday evening, Sept. 10.

Cemetery committee deals with erosion at East Vassalboro site

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Cemetery Committee members have another item on their maintenance list, after their June 16 meeting.

They were already planning the summer’s work, to include stonework by Joseph Ferrannini from July 10 through July 13 in the North Vassalboro cemetery and tree removal in the Nelson Road and Farwell-Brown cemeteries. Select board members are scheduled to open three bids for the tree work at their June 26 meeting.

Resident Simone Antworth came to the June 16 meeting to report an erosion problem on the east boundary of the East Vassalboro, or Methodist, cemetery, on Bog Road opposite the Vassalboro Public Library.

Land at the edge of the cemetery is washing away, to the point where burials are threatened, she said. She has discussed the problem with Public Works Director Brian Lajoie, who recommended a better drainage system.

Lajoie and committee members need to determine exact cemetery boundary lines, so they’ll know where they can cut brush and improve drainage without trespassing on private property. Once the boundary is known, they can decide what to do, and if necessary talk with the abutting landowner.

In other business, committee chairman Savannah Clark answered two questions left over from the May 19 meeting (see the May 29 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

She said Vassalboro fire department members put flags on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day, a town responsibility.

When she asked Town Manager Aaron Miller about separate email addresses specifically for members’ committee business, he replied there is not money left in the current year’s budget for technical additions.

Committee members again discussed trees growing in cemeteries – attractive, but as they age an increasing menace to headstones. Committee member David Jenney shared two thoughts: most people don’t realize that trees were not planted, but “just grew”; and given the age of Vassalboro cemeteries, some could be 200 years old by now.

Member Cara Kent asked about trees on private land beside cemeteries that pose a threat to gravestones. Jenney replied that as a landowner abutting Cross Hill cemetery, he would not pay to remove trees; but if the town asked permission to cut trees on his property, he would probably grant it.

Jenney’s question about reappointments to the committee sparked a discussion of how many members would accept reappointment. Jenney referenced Miller’s notice on the town website that select board members will re-appoint/appoint members of seven town committees at their Thursday, July 17, meeting.

The notice includes instructions for filling out an application form. At least two cemetery committee members indicated they would serve again if asked, but might not bother to fill out a form.

Jenney sympathized with residents who do not volunteer, especially people with jobs and families. He understands the reluctance to spend unpaid time on seldom-appreciated committee work.

Cemetery committee members scheduled their next meeting for 6 p.m. Monday, July 21.

Vassalboro resident asks for action on after school traffic

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Vassalboro Community School

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Resident Albert Ferland was welcomed at the June 11 Vassalboro School Board meeting, as he urged board members and school administrators to do something about the traffic congestion weekday afternoons when parents come to pick up their children at Vassalboro Community School.

Board members and school officials have been concerned about the on-going safety issue, as parents meeting their children mingle with motorists trying to get through the intersection of Bog and Webber Pond roads. Ferland pointed out that when cars idle to keep occupants warm in winter, often for half an hour or more, the exhaust fumes get sucked into the school’s ventilation system.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and board members are consulting with local officials and experts. Earlier this year, Pfeiffer said, a tentative plan for more off-road parking had the school grounds festooned with surveyors’ tape. That plan has been abandoned, but adding parking on school grounds remains an option.

In addition to physical rearrangements, they’re considering school schedule changes; changes in school bus schedules and/or routes; and signage. They chuckled at, and did not dismiss, Ferland’s suggestion of a congestion toll. “Revenue,” Pfeiffer said.

The main other business June 11 was the budget, for this year and next. Board members formally accepted the $10,414,498.24 budget for 2025-26 that voters approved at the annual town meeting.

Pfeiffer reported for Finance Director Paula Pooler that the current year’s budget still appears likely to end in the black on June 30, although keeping it balanced will require using a “pretty hefty” share of the allocated amount from the school’s undesignated fund balance. He commended Pooler and the business office staff for their hard work preparing a new budget while managing a current one.

Looking at the calendar for the next academic year, board members decided to continue to meet the second Tuesday evening of the month, with any meeting that conflicts with a holiday – like Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 2025 – moved to the second Wednesday.

Board members will not meet in July. To accommodate summer schedules, their August meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening, Aug. 20, preceded by a 5 p.m. workshop.

China planners prepare for ordinance discussions

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

China Planning Board members held a very brief June 10 meeting to prepare for ordinance discussions, to start at their June 24 meeting.

First priority is a new ordinance to regulate high impact transmission lines through town. In November 2024 voters approved a moratorium on such developments, to give the board time to prepare an ordinance. The moratorium expires in November 2025.

Chairman Toni Wall had just distributed a draft new ordinance, based, she said, on the Town of Benton’s. Board members agreed they should review it individually before discussion.

Also pending is a change in China’s subdivision ordinance to allow what are called cluster developments or open space developments (see the April 3 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). In addition to previous information, Wall had documents from the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments; and resident Robert Bernheim had sent board members information they found useful.

Again, board members needed time to review and integrate available information before drafting ordinance language.

Board members thanked Wall for her work, and Bernheim for his contributions. The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 24. Interested residents are welcome at all planning board meetings.

China transfer station committee discusses future of facility

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by Mary Grow

At their June 10 meeting, China Transfer Station Committee members started what is planned as an ongoing discussion of the future of the facility.

They had been invited beforehand to consider three issues: plans for the next five years, potential improvements and “one really great thing about our transfer station.”

The “really great thing,” committee members made clear, is the staff. With station manager Thomas Maraggio listening, they commended the crew for being helpful; praised the decorations (mostly by Maraggio and his wife) that change frequently, and the informational signs; and commended staff for extra work, like the time Maraggio and Cheyenne “Cj” Houle spend applying for grants.

Committee member James Hines suggested the staff do too good a job: perhaps if the place were less welcoming, traffic would move faster.

Replying to committee chairman Chris Baumann’s invitation to discuss future plans, Maraggio said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is encouraging consolidation of transfer stations. Palermo residents already use China’s transfer station, by contract. Other area towns that do not have their own facilities, like Freedom or Albion, might join a China-based regional facility, he said.

Maraggio would like to see a revised traffic pattern that would eliminate the need to back up to the waste hopper. A one-way drive-through would be safer and faster – and would require a costly redesign.

Bob Kurek, one of two committee members from Palermo, suggested if DEP wants a regional facility, the department should help pay to design and build it.

Committee member and free for the taking building volunteer Rachel Anderson said a redesign should relocate and enlarge the building where people leave usable things for other people to take home. Meanwhile, she said, more volunteers to help keep the area orderly would be welcome.

Committee members’ next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 8. On Baumann’s recommendation, they agreed by consensus not to meet in August.

China select board presented with two traffic problems

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

China select board members were presented with two different traffic problems at their June 16 meeting, and took preliminary steps toward solving both.

Seven residents of Danforth, Dutton and Pleasant View Ridge roads attended the meeting in person, another zoomed in and more sent emails, all urging a lower speed limit on the three roads in the northern part of town.

Currently, people said, Danforth Road is posted at 40 miles an hour. The limit is 45 on the other two roads. Either limit they consider too high to be safe on a narrow road with inadequate shoulders, overhanging tree limbs, hills, curves, driveways and unmarked school bus stops.

Residents had tales of problems getting out of their driveways, “scary” attempts to walk along the roads, pets killed by vehicles, cars veering off the road and nearly hitting houses.

Drivers’ behavior is a significant part of the problem, they indicated. Cars and trucks speed recklessly, and their drivers are discourteous to anyone who tries to slow them. They asked for better enforcement of speed limits, as well as lower limits.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the June 16 discussion was the first step toward getting the state Department of Transportation, which sets speed limits, to review the situation. Select board members unanimously approved the next step, a letter to DOT requesting a review.

DOT experts will inspect the roads, count driveways, review accident records and collect other relevant information before making speed limit recommendations. Hapgood said the process is likely to take about three months.

The second issue brought to select board members’ attention was parking along Peking and Canton streets, two short, very narrow intersecting streets in China Village. Board members talked briefly about no parking signs and about making the streets one-way.

They scheduled a public hearing on parking on Peking and Canton streets for their June 30 meeting.

In other business, two Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG) staff members attended the June 16 meeting, Executive Director, Joel Greenwood, and Community and Economic Development Director, Jessie Cyr. Their list of things KVCOG does for its members included:

— Technical assistance with ordinances and amendments, used by China for work on the Solid Waste Ordinance, at no charge.
— Assistance with finding out about and applying for grants, another free service China has used.
— Providing a joint purchasing program for municipal supplies, like culverts, road salt and snowplow cutting edges.
— Sponsoring household hazard waste collection events.

Greenwood said KVCOG is currently working with China Primary School staff and students to set up onsite composting, and a new China business recently used KVCOG’s revolving loan fund to help get started.

After the presentation, select board members unanimously approved allocating $7,504 from China’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund for KVCOG dues for 2025-26.

They also approved spending $16,992 to replace the aged and often malfunctioning two-sided digital sign at the town office on Lakeview Drive, taking the money from the contingency fund.

They signed a 2025-26 contract with Delta Ambulance, as authorized by town meeting voters.

Hapgood reported that deputy clerk Julie Finley was recently added to a municipal clerks honor roll. In October, Finley will have worked for China for 25 years, Hapgood said.

From the audience, former select board member Brent Chesley asked when the kayak and paddleboard rental station near the causeway at the head of China Lake’s east basin will be installed. Select board members approved it in January.

Hapgood had heard that Rent.Fun has assessed the site. Chesley commented that people are already enjoying the lake.

In other updates from town employees:

— Town Clerk Angela Nelson said the 277 voters who participated in the written-ballot June 10 annual town business meeting amounted to 8.8 percent of China’s registered voters, an unusually low turnout.
— Director of Public Services Shawn Reed reported the well on the town-owned property south of the town office complex has been connected to provide water for the new community gardens; and work has started on the new storage vault at the town office.

Hapgood reminded those present that town departments will be closed Thursday, June 19, for the Juneteenth holiday; and on Monday, June 30, the town office will close at noon to give staff time for end-of-fiscal year business.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, June 30.

China select board approves purchase of second-hand ambulance

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

At their June 2 meeting, China select board members unanimously approved China Rescue Unit’s request to buy a second-hand ambulance.

Benjamin Loubier, from China Rescue, explained that the unit recently received a $50,000 state grant, with no local match required, which can be used for equipment. Members found a used four-wheel-drive 2013 Ford ambulance with under 100,000 miles on it, for $80,000.

Autotronics, the Bangor dealership that has the vehicle, will provide a three-month warranty, Loubier said. Loubier and Webb Shaw took it for a test drive and were satisfied.

Loubier asked for and got select board approval to spend $30,000 from the rescue reserve account, which he said has $56,000 available. For now, the new unit will be housed in the China Village fire station with the rescue truck.

Also on the select board’s June 2 agenda were three bids to finish the building at the China School Forest, behind China Primary School. Board members unanimously accepted the lowest, $4,285, from Wentworth Enterprises, LLC, doing business as J & J Home Improvements, on Branch Mills Road, in China.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said she and resident Jacinth Allard had continued to collect information on hanging flags on existing power poles to honor veterans through the Hometown Heroes program (see the May 22 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Hapgood described Central Maine Power Company’s policy as “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” She said CMP employees ignore flags attached to their poles unless they need to use a pole; then they’ll remove the flag.

Board members again discussed where in town the flags should go, reaching no conclusion.

Hapgood announced that all China town departments will be closed Thursday, June 19, for the Juneteenth federal holiday. On Monday, June 30, the town office will close at noon so staff can finish end-of-fiscal-year financial work.

The select board meeting was followed by visits to China’s three fire stations, in China Village, South China and Weeks Mills. Hapgood said members of China Rescue and the volunteer fire departments gave board members tours of the buildings and equipment.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, June 16.

Vassalboro select board hears plans for fishway enlargement at Webber Pond dam

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Vassalboro Town Officeby Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members’ June 5 meeting featured an update on planned enlargement of the fishway at the Webber Pond outlet dam from Matt Streeter, of Maine Rivers.

Streeter previously reported to board members in February and March, when he explained that closing Dam Road between Webber Pond Road and the southwest shore of the pond will be necessary, because big construction equipment will be on site.

The closure means residents will have to detour and come in from the southeast over the private McQuarrie Road. After discussions with area residents, Streeter said he has reached agreement with five of six McQuarrie Road residents; one is still considering.

Plans include improvements intended to make McQuarrie Road safer, he said. The project also includes enlarging the parking lot at the dam, extending it into a grassy area, to make more space for boat trailers.

Closing the road requires select board approval. Board members and Town Manager Aaron Miller had several questions that Streeter answered. He told them work is scheduled to start July 15, but he would like to start preparations a week earlier.

Board members recommended consultation with the town’s attorney; Streeter offered to meet with him. They plan a final decision at their next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 26 (a three-week gap because the June 5 meeting was a week earlier than usual).

Later in the meeting, there was a brief discussion of providing electricity at the dam, to operate power gates and a security camera. Select board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., did not think the town should pay for it, because “It’s not our dam.” The Webber Pond Association was suggested as the power customer.

In other business June 5, board members:

— Reviewed the town’s remote participation policy, created during Covid days when many meetings were on-line only, and the related topic of broadcasting and recording live meetings. Miller plans to ask the town’s attorney to review the document.
— Spent another half-hour discussing more changes and clarifications in the town’s personnel policy, which has been reviewed repeatedly this spring with input from town employees.
— Planned to meet only once a month in July and August, as usual, and scheduled the meetings for Thursday evenings, July 17 and Aug. 14.

Vassalboro voting results (June 2025)

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by Mary Grow

At the polls on June 10, Vassalboro voters filled local offices and endorsed the 2025-26 school budget approved at the June 2 portion of their annual town meeting.

Those re-elected or elected are:

— For the select board for three years, incumbent Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., with 207 votes.
— For the school committee for three years, incumbents Jessica Clark, 205 votes, and Amy French, 199 votes.
— For Sanitary District trustee for one year, incumbent Ericka Roy, 251 votes.
— For Sanitary District trustee for two years, incumbents Donna Daviau, 207 votes, and Lisa Miller, 222 votes.
— For Sanitary District trustee for three years, write-in candidates Timothy Connelly and Raymond Breton, with two votes each.

The school budget was reapproved by a vote of 193 in favor to 106 opposed.

Town Clerk Cathy Coyne said 299 ballots were cast.

China voting results (June 2025)

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by Mary Grow

The small number of China voters who came to the polls on June 10 approved all ballot questions presented.

A 34-article annual town business meeting ballot authorized town government funding and various select board actions for the 2025-26 fiscal year, plus repealing two ordinances and amending two others.

Town Clerk Angela Nelson’s tally said 277 voters filled out these ballots. Of the 34 questions, only three received fewer than 200 “yes” votes.

— The vote to repeal China’s recreational marijuana ordinance (because state regulations supersede it, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood had explained) was 156 in favor, 112 opposed.
— The vote to repeal China’s quorum ordinance (because it is not legal, Hapgood had said) was 163 in favor, 107 opposed.
— The vote to appropriate $64,000 for community support organizations was 199 in favor, 76 opposed.

On the two-question Regional School Unit #18 ballot, 192 voters approved the annual budget referendum, endorsing the 2025-26 school budget approved in May. Seventy-nine voters were opposed; five left the question blank.

The second question, whether to continue the annual referendum for another three years, was approved 199 to 68, with nine blank ballots.

Complete results from the June 10 voting are on the town website, chinamaine.org, by clicking on the Elections tab on the right-hand side of the main page.