Efficiency Maine announces funding to expand electric vehicle charging

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A new initiative from Efficiency Maine will further expand the coverage of the state’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure by supporting installation of public EV chargers in rural communities. This is the first of a series of planned EV charging infrastructure incentives from Efficiency Maine using $8 million allocated by Governor Mills’ Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan.

Level 2 EV chargers add 20 to 40 miles of range per hour, and are suitable for hotels, restaurants, retail stores, and public parking lots where the vehicle can recharge for an hour or longer. Eligible projects under the funding opportunity being announced by Efficiency Maine can receive 80 percent of installation costs, up to a maximum of $5,000 per Level 2 plug for networked chargers or a maximum of $2,000 for non-networked chargers.

Thanks to the generosity of The Nature Conservancy, projects at local government-owned properties and public libraries in rural areas will be eligible for a bonus incentive of $2,000 per networked plug, with the total combined incentives covering up to 90 percent of the total project cost.

To be eligible for funding, proposed projects must be in a publicly accessible location in a rural community as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Projects in York and Cumberland counties, and the cities of Lewiston, Auburn and Bangor, are ineligible for this round, but future funding opportunities from Efficiency Maine are intended for areas not covered by this opportunity. To learn more about this funding opportunity, please visit the Efficiency Maine website. The deadline to apply is November 15, 2022.

Vassalboro select board calls special meeting

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members have scheduled a special meeting at 5:15 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the town office. The meeting will be in executive session, meaning the public is excluded, as allowed by state law for specified topics.

Vassalboro school board hears upbeat reports

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members heard a series of upbeat reports and appointed an unusual number of new staff members at their Aug. 16 meeting, the last one before classes at Vassalboro Community School (VCS) start again Sept. 1.

Both new Principal Ira Michaud, in his written report, and Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips, in her oral report, had high praise for the crew who worked on the building and grounds over the summer: head custodian Paul Gilbert and staff Jim Boucher, Ashley Smith and her mother, Bev Smith, Valerie Parent and Theresa Watkins. Michaud called the group “absolutely top-notch” and commended their “amazing hard work.” Projects included a major office renovation, reorganizing classroom spaces, the most wall-repainting ever done in a single summer, cleaning and helping teachers move from one room to another.

Phillips added a commendation to Greg Vigue, a contractor she has known for years and lined up over the winter in anticipation of the office rearrangement.

Part of that project was adding air conditioning for the benefit of administrators who worked at the school all summer. “It was a wonderful surprise,” Michaud said.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer added two more benefits: the cool air is good for the computers and electronics, and when the door is left open, it spreads into the maintenance crew’s break room. And, Phillips added, the work qualified for an Efficiency Maine rebate, as did some of the new exterior lighting (which she suggested residents drive by the school in the dark to admire).

She and Pfeiffer also recommend daylight drive-bys to admire the grounds. Phillips credited Darrell Gagnon for excellent maintenance work.

Phillips had two more pieces of good news for school board members. Two fixtures that had been blamed for lead in school water were replaced and the new ones tested fine; and, after weeks of suspense, the PFAS test results for the VCS water supply came back and the water “passed with flying colors.”

Pfeiffer added a thank-you to former select board member John Melrose, who led the project that connected the school and municipal buildings with a solar energy installation. The change saved a little more than $16,000 on the electric bill between January and July 2022, Pfeiffer said.

He also thanked Don and Lisa Breton for organizing the annual school supplies drive. Donations of money and supplies – the list on a website named “Vassalboro Community Events” ranges from pencils, crayons, notebooks and construction paper to clothing, backpacks and calculators – may be delivered to the North Vassalboro fire station Saturday, Aug. 27, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Pfeiffer called the past summer a period of “unprecedented professional mobility” not just in Vassalboro, but state-wide and nation-wide. School board members approved more than a dozen new staff members; there were still at least three vacancies as of Aug. 16.

Orientation for new staff is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 29, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with the annual introduction to the town, a bus tour led by North Vassalboro resident Lauchlin Titus. Tuesday, Aug. 30, and Wednesday, Aug. 31 are listed on the school calendar as staff in-service days. Pfeiffer said members of the Kennebec Retired Educators Association will provide refreshments and assistance.

Classes will be held Friday, Sept. 1, and resume Tuesday, Sept. 6, after the Labor Day Monday holiday.

The next school board meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 20, at VCS, will start at 5:30 p.m. with a discussion of the school’s strategic plan, with the formal agenda to begin at 6 p.m.

Webber Pond Association (WPA) members approve revised bylaws

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Jason Seiders, a marine biologist with the state explains the cause of the early summer fish kill on Webber Pond. (photo courtesy of Scott Pierz)

by Roland D. Hallee

By a split vote, members in attendance at the Webber Pond Association annual meeting passed the new, revised bylaws, as was recommended by the board of directors.

Highlights of the revised bylaws include the establishment of proxy voting, the forming of a water quality and water level management committee, adjustment in membership requirements, disqualification and termination criteria for directors and officers, and an indemnification clause.

The subject of proxy voting received the most discussion and was the most controversial item in the revised bylaws. The article would allow a member in good standing to present no more than two proxy votes for members in good standing who are unable to attend the annual meeting for various reasons. The person unable to attend the meeting would have to submit a form delegating their vote to someone else.

The dues structure was altered from the old practice of a $25 membership allowed two members of a household to cast votes at the annual meeting. That was adjusted to individual memberships of $25 per person, eliminating the two-for-one practice.

The revised bylaws created a water quality and water level management committee that would oversee the dam and determine when a mini-flush and the annual drawdown would take place.

This committee would determine if, and when, a mini flush was necessary, and set the date for the annual drawdown. All decisions would be made according to the most recent scientific data regarding the water quality with Secchi disk readings, phosphorus levels as determined by the state with lab testing of phosphorus levels in the pond, the water level – taking into consideration the level of the water at the spillway – and projected weather conditions. This would eliminate the annual vote for the drawdown which was always a contentious subject. The annual drawdown would be set for the second Monday following Labor Day, taking in all the data as described above.

The Webber Pond Association annual membership meeting was well attended as they hear association president John Reuthe speak.

That would be followed by replacing the gates in the dam two weeks following the drawdown, or around the beginning of October. The winter level would be set in November, to allow the pond to refill before ice in.

The indemnification clause would not hold board members and officers liable for lawsuits in the case of accidents at the dam. The dam has seen some vandalism in recent years.

Officers re-elected were John Reuthe, president; Tiffany Luczko, vice president; Rebecca Lamey, secretary, and Ericka Bennett, treasurer. Board members re-elected were Charlie Backenstose, Roland Hallee, Jennifer Lacombe, Kevin Luzcko, Bob Nadeau and Susan Traylor. The term of officers was changed from one year to two years.

At the beginning of the meeting, WPA President John Reuthe introduced Jason Seiders, a marine biologist with the state of Maine, who spoke on the fish kill that occurred earlier this summer.

Seiders noted that it is not unusual to have such a fish kill among adult largemouth bass in lakes with similar conditions as Webber Pond. He cited that a similar kill occurred at Three Mile Pond before Webber’s.

He noted that largemouth bass are not native to northern New England, and that they are at the northern end of their range. Following the fish kill, dead fish were taken and examined. What was first believed to be a fungus, turns out to be a parasite to which the skin cells of the fish reacted.

He explained that those types of fish kills usually happen right after ice out, especially at the time of spawning, when adult largemouth bass are stressed and more susceptible to parasites. Although Webber Pond is described by the state as a “bass factory,” it could take four to five years for the fishery to recover.

Charlie Backenstose reported that the Secchi disk reading on July 22 showed the pond was having a severe algae bloom with a reading of 1.64 meters (5.4 feet). A severe algae bloom is described by the DEP when the visibility is below two meters. The July 29 reading was 1.38 meters and the August 11 reading was 1.48 meters (4.9 feet).

“These readings are significantly lower than we normally see at this time of the year,” he said. In fact, the 1.38 reading was the second lowest reading since collecting data began in 2005.

According to Susan Bacon, at the DEP, the May fish kill was a result of a parasite, and suspects it had very little to do with the algae, despite dead fish slowly adding to the nutrient load. Hot July weather more than likely had something to do with it, as the water temperature spiked, resulting in the internal recycling kicking in at a slightly different time than usual, promoting growth of a different species.

High winds were also a factor in the algae bloom. Wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour on two different days during the first two weeks of July contributed. Heavy wind kicks up phosphorus from shallow areas of the lake, providing more feed, and also adds oxygen to the lake, which allows the algae to live in deeper waters.

In other business, the membership passed, with two dissenting votes, to contribute $1,500 to the China Region Lakes Alliance.

Seven substantive questions to appear on Nov. 8 ballot in China

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by Mary Grow

At their Aug. 22 special meeting, China select board members approved seven substantive questions to be submitted to voters on Nov. 8. They postponed deciding whether to add an eighth question until their next regular meeting on Aug. 29.

The voting in November, on the state election day, is technically China’s annual town meeting, because local elections are held then. The annual spring meeting that includes approving the budget for the following year is labeled the town business meeting.

In addition to electing town officials (see box), unless select board members change their minds, voters on Nov. 8 will decide whether to approve:

  • Appropriating $70,000 from federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds toward expansion of broadband internet service in town (see The Town Line, Aug. 11, p. 3).
  • Appropriating up to $21,590 in ARPA funds to reimburse China Rescue Unit’s reserve fund for an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) rescue personnel bought.
  • Appropriating up to $7,000 in ARPA funds for improvements to the town’s radio tower at the town office, work that Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said will improve reception for China Rescue and the public works department.
  • Appropriating up to $22,000 to buy and install three heat pumps, one for the town office building and one each for the transfer station office and scale shack.
  • Appropriating up to $75,000 – board members might adjust the amount – for a new senior citizens’ fuel assistance program, under guidelines board members still need to approve (see The Town Line, Aug. 11, p. 2).
  • Appropriating up to $30,000 to repair fences around town cemeteries (see The Town Line, Aug. 18, p, 3).
  • Amendments to China’s Quorum Ordinance.

The postponed question was whether to put on the ballot the planning board’s requested amendments to Chapters 2 and 11 of China’s Land Use Ordinance. Board member Wayne Chadwick asked for the delay because he was not sure what the proposed amendments say.

The amendments are posted on the town website, china.govoffice.org., and copies are available at the town office.

Select board members voted unanimously to recommend that voters approve six of the seven questions. The vote to put the amendments to the Quorum Ordinance on the Nov. 8 ballot was 3-2, with Blane Casey and Chairman Ronald Breton opposed and Chadwick, Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston in favor.

The ordinance now sets the quorum for an open meeting (the pre-Covid type where residents gathered to vote by show of hands) at four percent of the registered voters as of the beginning of each year. Hapgood proposed amending it to make the requirement 100 registered voters.

The manager explained that under a new state law that automatically registers as a voter everyone who gets or renews a state driver’s license, China is gaining new voters every week – whether or not they intend to vote – and therefore the quorum requirement is increasing.

Hapgood is not happy with the thought that 100 residents can set policy for the town, and neither are select board members; but she reminded them that in past years, when the quorum was between 100 and 120 voters, meetings were delayed and even canceled for lack of attendees.

There is no plan to return to open meetings, Hapgood emphasized. She recommended the change because a written-ballot meeting requires, by state law, 90 days’ lead time, and there might be an emergency in which waiting almost three months for a voters’ decision would be harmful.

The senior citizens’ fuel fund was Chadwick’s idea. The purpose, he said, is to help seniors on fixed incomes adjust to dramatically increased fuel prices. At the board’s Aug. 1 meeting, Preston asked Hapgood to draft guidelines, which Chadwick said should be as simple as possible.

The preliminary version allocates $500 apiece next winter to applicants who are homeowners at least 65 years old and who have lived in town for at least a year, with an income cut-off (currently $30,000 for one person and $60,000 for a couple). LiHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and HEAP recipients are not eligible.

Select board members propose approving final guidelines and perhaps amending the warrant article on Aug. 29.

The China Broadband Committee request for $70,000 in ARPA funds was discussed at length on Aug. 22. Jayne Sullivan and Michael Akers from UniTel, in Unity, and Daniel Parrish, from Idaho-based Direct Communications, joined select board members virtually, and local committee members attended in person.

The fund request is part of an estimated $1.2 million project that will be funded about 31 percent from China’s ARPA grant and TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund – not from property taxes, Breton emphasized; a matching 31 percent from Direct/Unitel; and about 38 percent from state grants through the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) program.

If funding works out and the project goes through, Unitel would own and manage the system, meaning, Breton said approvingly, no new responsibilities for China staff.

Parrish said although the MCA program schedule is not yet established, he expects a first round of grant applications to be offered this fall. Direct Communications will prepare the application.

Parrish called the Nov. 8 local vote the next step in the process. Sullivan told Marquis UniTel will help explain the expansion program and funding to China voters. If China is denied a state grant, Parrish said, the project is not necessarily dead; possibilities include a smaller expansion with a larger Direct Communications contribution.

In addition to decisions on the Nov. 8 ballot, select board members approved re-contracting with Purdy Powers and Company to do the town audit and spending $16,408.06 in ARPA money for a portable digital speed sign. Voters approved up to $20,000 for the sign at the June 14 town business meeting.

The board’s Aug. 29 meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

After the budget committee meeting, Hapgood said the budget committee will meet at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, August 29, to make recommendations on Nov, 8 proposed expenditures.

Declared candidates

As of Aug. 22, China Deputy Clerk Jennifer Chamberlain reported the following residents were circulating nomination papers for local elective office.

  • For three seats on the select board, incumbents Ronald Breton and Janet Preston, plus Brent Chesley and Brian Ouellette Jr. Blane Casey is the other board member whose term ends this year; he said at the Aug. 22 meeting he is considering whether to seek another term.
  • For the at-large position on the budget committee, incumbent Elizabeth Curtis. Also to be elected in 2022 are a secretary (Trishea Story is the incumbent) and representatives from District 2 (northeastern China, currently vacant) and District 4 (southwestern China; Timothy Basham is the incumbent).
  • For one of China’s two representatives on the Regional School Unit #18 board, incumbent Dawn Castner, Wallace Pooler III and Darrell Stevens.

No one had taken out papers for any of the three planning board seats open in 2022. Incumbents are Toni Wall in District 2, Scott Rollins in District 4 and James Wilkens in the at-large (elected from anywhere in town) position.

China’s local elections will be Tuesday, Nov. 8. For candidates’ names to be on the ballot, signed nomination papers must be returned to the town office by the new closing time, 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 9.

Windsor select board takes up many agenda items

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by The Town Line staff

The Windsor select board on August 2 heard from Keith Hall, road supervisor, that all the paving is done. A few driveway repairs will need to be finished, and one on the Weeks Mills Road, which has a steep grade, will need fixing. They planned on beginning to paint lines the following week. Hall also reported the Sampson Road sign was taken and will be replaced.

At the transfer station, Town Manager Theresa Haskell reported, in the absence of Transfer Station Supervisor Sean Teekema, that the compactor area and the area under the large scale have been cleaned up. The painting of the large and small scales has been completed.

The monthly totals at the transfer station indicate revenues are down $1,398.92 from this time last year in July for a monthly total of $6,971.55.

At the Rest Haven Cemetery, Sean and Moira Teekema have painted seven panels. Bob and Liz Harriman continue to spray Wet & Forget on the stones. So far, 1,040 stones have one coat and 390 have two coats. They did 325 stones on July 25 and 26. There are 26 monuments that will need a step ladder to reach.

In other matters, Carol Chavarie and Jerry Nault were present to answer questions on the Draft UtilityScale Solar Energy Facility Ordinance. The question asked was how they came up with a 0.10 M.W. number. Nault responded that it was suggested by KVCOG which came from other town ordinances. There was much discussion on the requirements of permits and land value assessments.

The select board members voted 4-0 to authorized Haskell to vote on the MMA annual election on the board’s behalf. Select board member Ronald Brann was absent.

Haskell reported the time capsule has been ordered and will have the town seal engraved on top. There was discussion on different places to bury the time capsule. Selectman Andrew Ballantyne suggested town officials write a note to the future officials to read when the time capsule is opened in 100 years.

Haskell read a letter from Delta Ambulance regarding a possible yearly transport fee. She said this may be something that needs to be added to next year’s budget with an estimated cost of $15 per capita.

There was discussion about installing a heat pump in the town office and upstairs hall. Estimates will be sought.

Haskell also read a press release from municipal officials that the town of Windsor received a $2,427 dividend check from the Maine Municipal Association for its good performance and loss prevention programs. The press release is available on the town’s website under Municipal Government, The Town Hub.

There was also discussion on creating a new website for the town which would also make it mobile friendly.

The next meeting of the select board was scheduled for August 16.

CHINA: County tax increase substantial

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by Mary Grow

China select board members held a short Aug. 15 meeting, followed by a tour of well-filled storage spaces in the town office building.

During the meeting, board members unanimously approved a larger-than-usual list of expenses to be paid – larger because it included the annual Kennebec County tax, which board chairman Ronald Breton said is over $544,000 for 2022-23.

For comparison, the auditor’s report in the annual town report for 2021 shows that China’s county tax was $472,622 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021 (not the most recent fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022), and $433,730 the previous year. The figures indicate an average annual increase over four years of between $35,000 and $40,000.

Deputy Clerk Jennifer Chamberlain led board members on the building tour, pointing out crowded storage areas. Informal discussion focused on how many documents could be digitized, eliminating the need to keep so many paper files.

China’s Municipal Building Committee is considering options for adding a new room to provide more storage space. Select board members have talked with committee chairman Sheldon Goodine at previous meetings, most recently on Aug. 1 (see The Town Line, Aug. 11, p. 2) and expect to hear from him again soon.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Aug. 29. A special meeting is almost certain to be held Monday, Aug. 22, with the time to be announced; and another special meeting is tentatively on the schedule for Tuesday, Sept. 6, a day later than usual because the town office will be closed Monday, Sept. 5, in observance of Labor Day.

China cemetery committee working to update information

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by Mary Grow

China Cemetery Committee members and guest Kelly Grotton, whose town office duties include acting as semi-official town historian, met the afternoon of Aug. 9 primarily to hear a report from summer intern Savannah Clark.

Clark has been transferring information from China gravestones and town records to a program called Crypt Keeper Cemetery Software. She visited all but two of China’s 33 cemeteries, she said, sometimes in company with committee chairman and town office staffer Julie Finley.

Crypt Keeper records names, dates, relatives and other information for everyone buried in each cemetery. Veterans’ graves are noted, with the war in which the person served listed if known. Obituaries can be added, Clark said, for more details; and records can be updated to reflect new information and new burials.

China’s cemetery records are not yet on line, but Clark and Finley said they will be when the work is finished.

Clark said she did similar work in Vassalboro in the summer of 2021. The Town of Vassalboro website has a site on which researchers can look for people buried in the town.

Cemetery committee members also talked about work that needs to be done in China’s cemeteries. The town is responsible for almost all of them; the Chadwick cemetery on Route 32 South (Windsor Road) is maintained by a private association and two are maintained by the Society of Friends.

Cutting dead trees is an essential part of maintenance, Finley stressed; living trees are an attractive benefit, but dead ones are likely to fall and damage gravestones. Several trees were removed from Lakeview Cemetery, on Lakeview Drive.

Local forester Tim Basham sent a request to authorize removing a tree, or at least part of it, that threatens stones in the Deer Hill Cemetery.

Fences are another maintenance problem, Finley said. She has received several comments about the deteriorated fence along the front of the China Village Extension Cemetery, on Neck Road, and others need work. The Lakeview Drive cemetery fence had to be taken down to do the tree work and is replaced for now by a white rope strung between the posts.

Committee members briefly discussed wooden fences – Finley likes the appearance of white-painted wood – versus vinyl fences versus other types, like chains between posts or chainlink. Finley has had trouble getting cost estimates from fence companies, but she said vinyl appears to be expensive.

In addition to tree removal and fence repairs, which Finley recommended as priorities, Clark had compiled a list of 53 broken gravestones needing repair.

The 2022-23 cemetery budget China voters approved at their June 14 annual town business meeting was $49,500. Much of it goes for mowing, Finley said, with most-visible and most-visited cemeteries kept tidy all summer and isolated small ones mowed once a year.

Planners forward land use ordinance amendments to select board

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members’ Aug. 9 meeting was only two minutes longer than their Aug. 4 public hearing on proposed amendments to Chapters 4 and 11 of the town Land Use Ordinance (see The Town Line, Aug. 11, p. 3).

They voted unanimously to forward the amendments to the select board in time for that group’s Aug. 15 meeting, with the goal of having them on a Nov. 8 local ballot for voters to approve or reject.

Other planning board members agreed with Walter Bennett’s summary: “The lack of comment [at the Aug. 4 hearing] proves we finally got it right.”

Next on their schedule, chairman Scott Rollins suggested, is a return to the solar ordinance board members have discussed off and on for months, perhaps starting with a review of town attorney Amanda Meader’s comments on the current draft.

“The more we discuss it, the more we realize how complicated it is,” Bennett said. But the final ordinance needs to be clear and simple, so that voters will understand it and, if it passes, solar developers will know what they can and cannot do.

Rollins suggested yet another possible topic, review of other sections of the Land Use Ordinance to see if provisions need to be clarified.

The next planning board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 23. Assistant Codes Officer Nicholas French said one or two pending applications might be ready by then.

Vassalboro select board sets tax rate at 14.4 mil

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by Mary Grow

At their Aug. 11 meeting, Vassalboro select board members set the 2022-23 tax rate at 14.4 mils, or $14.40 for each $1,000 of property valuation, a decrease of eight cents per $1,000 over the 2021-22 rate.

Assessor Ellery Bane offered board members several choices of rate. They considered two possible reductions or leaving the rate at last year’s $14.48 per $1,000, but dismissed any tax rate increase.

Their choice determined how much money they will have in the overlay account, set aside to cover tax abatements granted during the year. Town Manager Mary Sabins said Vassalboro seldom spends as much as $10,000 from that account; any of the proposed rates would have covered it.

Board member Rick Denico pointed out that few taxpayers would even notice a change of a few cents per $1,000 in their bills. He first proposed holding the current rate, but joined the other two board members in approving the slightly lower rate.

Board members appointed two new members of the Trails Committee, Sharon and Stephen Farrington, as recommended by committee chairman John Melrose.

The rest of the hour-and-a-half meeting was spent discussing the transfer station, the proposed solar ordinance, the town website and traffic at the East Vassalboro boat landing. No final decisions were made.

Transfer Station Manager George Hamar, who was not available to attend the meeting, wants a cover over the new trash compactor and two other minor modifications. After a brief discussion of cover options, board members put off further consideration until Hamar can join them.

Board members are considering developing an ordinance that would govern future commercial solar developments in town, because voters in a June 14 straw poll approved the idea by a vote of 239 to 58. Chairman Barbara Redmond and member Chris French have been working on a draft, with assistance from codes officer Ryan Page.

Planning board member Douglas Phillips suggested from the audience that commercial solar standards be added to the existing site review requirements, instead of writing a separate ordinance. He and Redmond agreed the planning board should be involved, and Redmond intends to get in touch with planning board chairman Virginia Brackett.

With agreement that a new ordinance or ordinance amendments cannot be ready for a Nov. 8 local vote, select board members voted unanimously to ask Sabins, in cooperation with the planning board and the town attorney, to draft an ordinance that would impose a moratorium on commercial solar development. They hope a moratorium ordinance can be ready to present to voters Nov. 8.

French would like to see a more comprehensive town presence on line – an expanded website, meetings available for on-line viewing and other changes he sees as promoting residents’ knowledge of and involvement in town government. He proposed seeking cost estimates for an update.

Audience member Dallas Smedberg asked whether people would be confused when they watched select board meetings without background on the issues discussed. Suggested solutions included reading select board minutes on the current website; or, Melissa Olson said, coming to meetings, where questions can be asked and answered.

Sabins told Holly Weidner minutes cannot be posted until more than two weeks after the meeting they document, because they are not official until select board members approve them at the following meeting.

Tom Richards described a chaotic traffic back-up at the East Vassalboro boat landing recently as people tried to park too many vehicles and trailers in the limited parking space at the landing and adjacent historical society grounds. Weidner, who lives nearby, said there are about a dozen parking spaces.

Richards is concerned about the potential for accidents when traffic is backed up and drivers are maneuvering trailers.

When boats arrive early in the morning for the bass tournaments China Lake hosts several times a summer, Weidner said, tournament organizers are there and keep parking orderly and traffic uninterrupted. However, after the bass fishermen fill the lot and local people start arriving, there is apt to be congestion.

Select board members have scheduled their annual goal-setting session for 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6. This informal discussion of pending issues is open to the public, but not to public comment; the agenda is likely to cover some of the matters left unresolved Aug. 11.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 29.

Codes officer to step down

Vassalboro Codes Enforcement Officer Ryan Page has emailed planning board members that Friday, Aug. 26, will be his last day in the position. After that date, codes enforcement issues and questions should go to Town Manager Mary Sabins.