Vassalboro school board chairman stepping down

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — The May 17 Vassalboro School Board meeting was Chairman Kevin Levasseur’s last, after 21 years on the board, and was marked by expressions of appreciation on both sides.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and board members thanked Levasseur for his service, and Pfeiffer assured those present that, “I still know where he is” in case his experience is needed.

Levasseur thanked all those he’s worked with over the years, especially the present board members. “You’ve come through the worst two years we’ve ever had with flying colors,” he told them.

At Vassalboro’s June 14 local election, school board member Jessica Clark is unopposed for re-election and Amy French is unopposed to fill the vacancy on the board. One agenda item at the first post-election meeting, scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 21, will be election of a new board chairman.

Counselor Meg Swanson is also resigning. In an April 24 letter posted on the school website, vcsvikings.org, Pfeiffer said Swanson will move to the state Department of Health and Human Services and oversee a special program on school readiness.

Pfeiffer told board members at the May 17 meeting that the process of seeking new administrators and staff members to replace those resigning or retiring is going well. He is pleased that five new substitute teachers have qualified and been hired since the April board meeting, making it easier to maintain in-school classes despite staff illnesses.

Board members unanimously approved two new staff members, Ashley Smith as a custodian and Megan Sutherburg as school nurse.

Curriculum Director Carol Kiesman said Vassalboro Community School (VCS) has received a grant for a four-week summer school program. It is currently scheduled to start the last week in June; classes will be three days a week, with transportation provided and a field trip at the end.

The program will focus on reading and mathematics. Student enrollment is by teacher recommendation or parental request.

Finance Director Paula Pooler said it appears that both the overall school program and the school meals program will be within budget when the fiscal year ends June 30. Pfeiffer anticipates no unusual building and grounds maintenance issues over the summer. School grounds have been treated for ticks, he reported.

For the June 21 meeting, Pfeiffer has invited the executive director of the Maine School Management Association to discuss responsibilities of superintendents and school board members.

CHINA: Committee will not recommend new storage building

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Transfer Station Committee members decided at their May 17 meeting they will not recommend a new building to shelter the second compactor just north of the main trash hopper, because cost estimates are too high.

Instead, they plan to investigate a cover to protect the controls and container contents from rain and snow, both to extend their useful lives and to avoid paying to truck away water as well as trash for disposal.

Committee Chairman Lawrence Sikora said he had an estimate of $238,000 for a 20-by-20-foot metal building – to protect an $80,000 piece of equipment. Such an expenditure would make sense only if the building were multi-purpose, in Sikora’s opinion, and neither he nor others present suggested other uses.

Sikora asked committee member Mark Davis to see about prices for waterproof tarps from an Augusta source. Director of Public Services Shawn Reed commented that town truck bodies have canvas covers; the only problem is that they’re hard to roll up when covered with snow.

Committee members again agreed to recommend that select board members buy a new loader as soon as possible. They took no vote because, Sikora pointed out, they already made a formal recommendation at their April 12 meeting (see The Town Line, April 21, p. 3).

Reed said the prices he had as of March 1 have already gone up, one by $14,000, another by $20,000.

Reed strongly recommended the new machine have a quick-connect bucket that can be removed and replaced with a 12-foot “pusher” to remove snow. That addition would have cost $10,000 and is now $11,790, he said; but the overtime money it will save over the life of the machine – which could be 25 years — makes it still worthwhile.

Another pending improvement at the transfer station is a cement pad on which to store appliances, tires and other items awaiting disposal. Reed, referring to a map of the transfer station on page 60 of the newly-printed China town report (for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021), pointed out the shortage of unoccupied space. He intends to talk with Codes Officer Jaime Hanson about setbacks from boundaries and other regulatory issues before suggesting a site.

Robert Kurek, one of Palermo’s representatives, shared information compiled from RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags by his colleague, Chris Diesch. The pages show how often a given tag was recorded, without giving any information about the person to whom it was issued.

Committee members have previously discussed making fuller use of information the RFID system can provide. They have also considered scrapping it and returning to stickers on vehicles; and installing a “guard station” at the entrance.

Site Manager Tim Grotton said if there were a manned entrance, some type of placard or sticker would still be needed, unless newcomers were expected to produce a driver’s license to get in. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood would like an annual renewal requirement for RFID placards, if they continued to be used.

Committee members again reached no conclusions.

The committee’s next regular meeting date would be June 14; since that is voting day, the committee will not meet June 14. Sikora announced his pending resignation from the committee, due to time constraints, and suggested others should choose a meeting day.

China select board moves to purchase new loader

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — After a long discussion at their May 23 meeting, China Select Board members unanimously voted to buy a new Volvo loader from Chadwick-BaRoss, Inc., of Westbrook.

Director of Public Services Shawn Reed urged them to make an immediate decision. Prices are rising weekly, he said; if board members put off action until their June 6 meeting, he would need to ask for new bids.

The proposed price, $154,300, was the lowest of five bids received, and the Volvo was one of two loaders Reed recommended. Select board members authorized Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood to negotiate for a lower price.

Hapgood said the balance in the equipment reserve fund is just under $370,000.

The bids included, separately, prices for a snow pusher and a grapple. These auxiliary pieces can be attached to the loader in place of the bucket. Reed recommended buying the attachments, eventually: the snow pusher, he said, would save time cleaning up after storms, and the grapple would make piling brush more efficient.

Select board members expect Reed to continue investigating the attachments, for example evaluating new versus used (if available), and seeing if he can obtain one or both, with connecting links compatible with the Volvo, at a lower price from another dealer.

Board members discussed several options before their decision, including keeping the town’s 25-year-old loader a few more years, or leasing instead of buying a new machine.

Hapgood had asked board member Wayne Chadwick, who is familiar with heavy machinery, to try the loader. His comment: “It’s startin’ to show its age, more so than I thought it was before I drove it.”

William Terry, a representative of one of the unsuccessful bidders, warned of expensive repairs and extensive down time if China tried to keep so old a machine operating. Local resident Brent Chesley, another man with expertise, said leasing a loader would cost taxpayers more than buying one.

The other unanimous decision made May 23 was to adopt a resolution approving the Kennebec County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Kennebec County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Goodwin explained that the document is updated every five years, based on information towns supply. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already approved the current draft, he said; municipal approvals are the final step.

Goodwin said the major advantage of adopting the plan is that it speeds relief funding in case there is a disaster in town. Towns are not required to deal with every listed risk, like a culvert that is likely to wash out; local officials are free to act according to their priorities and budgets.

The plan, dated 2021, is on the Town of China website, china.govoffice.com, the final item under the Emergencies tab at the left-hand side of the home page.

Sections of the document cover four types of potential hazards: floods, severe winter storms, wildfires and severe summer storms. The plan provides historical information and evaluates risks for each town.

For example, in China there are no areas known to be at risk for wildfires. Albion, Belgrade, Benton and Chelsea are among towns in which wooded areas, especially those with houses among the trees, are considered at risk. Clinton, Monmouth, Oakland and Readfield officials consider areas along railroad tracks as at risk.

Hapgood reminded those present that the town office will be closed Saturday, May 28, and Monday, May 30, for the Memorial Day holiday. The town office will also be closed Tuesday, June 14, because staff will be at polls in the portable building, and Monday, June 20, for the new Juneteenth federal holiday.

Absentee ballots for local, Regional School Unit 18 and state voting are now available, and the ballot return box is outside the town office building.

Windsor select board OKs purchase of new tanker truck

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by The Town Line staff

WINDSOR, ME — At their April 12 meeting, the Windsor Select Board unanimously gave the go ahead for Town Manager Theresa Haskell to sign the contract with Greenwood Emergency Vehicles LLC for the purchase of the new E-One/Freightliner Tanker for the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department.

In other business, Road Supervisor Keith Hall informed the select board that the public works department is preparing to begin shoulder repair on town roads. They will be fixing the culvert on Coopers Mills Road and do some ditching on Legion Park Road. Hall will also be contacting the state Department of Transportation about repairs on the end of the Crosby Road, since it is a state road.

Public works also reported the posted road signs have been removed.

Haskell reported the transfer station numbers for the month. Revenues are down $278.80 from the same time last year, and up $863.84 for this time in April of last year for a monthly total of $5,961.70.

The select board approved a blood drive be scheduled by KVCAP this spring.

The town received a proclamation from the Maine State Senate congratulating the members of the Veterans Memorial Monument Committee on being honored with a 2021 Spirit of America Foundation Award.

The select board went into executive session for approximately 23 minutes to discuss personnel matters.

The next meeting was scheduled for April 26.

CHINA: Road paving plan to use chip seal process

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Director of Public Services Shawn Reed has consensus support from the town Road Committee for his paving plans for this summer, which involve extensive use of chip seal rather than asphalt resurfacing (see The Town Line, May 12, p. 2).

Reed and Doug Fowler, representing All States Construction, of Richmond, the company to which select board members awarded the paving bid on May 9, explained the process to the committee

A road is first shimmed, given a coat that evens its surface. Fowler said sometimes as much as four inches of shim are needed where years of traffic have created ruts in the pavement. The shim coat cures for 30 days; then chip seal, an emulsion with hard rock embedded, is applied.

After a few days the road is swept to move any loose rock into the ditches. Fowler said All States will do the sweeping, twice if necessary.

China’s South Road is chip sealed, and Reed is pleased with the way it is holding up so far. He and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said they received two types of comments after the road was done.

Because the shim surface was so smooth, drivers questioned why the road was surfaced again after a month, Reed said. Hapgood added that until the loose rocks were gone, motorcyclists complained.

Reed plans this year to resurface all or parts of McCaslin Road, Dutton Road, Danforth Road, Pleasant View Ridge Road, Morrill Road (to the Winslow town line) Causeway Street, Canton Street, Peking Street and Neck Road.

He recommends asphalt resurfacing only on Peking, Canton and Causeway streets. Because Pleasant View Ridge Road is heavily traveled, he is considering a double coat of chip seal on the part scheduled, which runs east and then south from Lakeview Drive about to McCaslin Road.

Chip seal is less expensive than asphalt, so at present prices the planned work can be done within the proposed 2022-23 paving budget of $560,000. However, Reed and Fowler said, prices are rising weekly, and China’s contract with All States has an escalator clause allowing the company to raise its prices as its costs go up.

The paving budget includes road striping, and Reed commented that the price.

Ira Michaud chosen as new VCS principal

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — At a brief special meeting May 10, Vassalboro School Board members unanimously hired Ira Michaud as the new principal at Vassalboro Community School (VCS).

Michaud will take office July 1, succeeding Megan Allen, who resigned earlier this spring and plans to return to teaching.

He is currently ending his first year as principal at Nobleboro Central School, in Alternative Educational Structure (AOS) #93, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Before that, he said, he was principal for four years at Edgecomb Eddy Elementary, a pre-school through sixth-grade school in AOS #98.

Michaud was born in Windsor, some of his family lived in Vassalboro, and, he told school board members, 23 years ago he did his practicum (his first, supervised practice teaching) in Vassalboro. Now, he said, he is excited at this new opportunity.

Vassalboro’s 16-person search team chose Michaud from more than a dozen candidates, about half of whom they interviewed. The team included school officials and staff and town representatives, some of them parents of VCS students.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and school board member Jessica Clark said the search team members were unanimous and enthusiastic in their choice. Clark said when she asked for negative comments, she got none.

Pfeiffer said the same search team, with Michaud involved, has begun the process of finding a new assistant principal to succeed Greg Hughes, who resigned shortly after Allen did.

Pfeiffer has already begun talking with his opposite number in AOS #93 about making Michaud’s transition as smooth as possible from the Nobleboro end.

Vassalboro select board approves paving bid with All States Construction; postpone buying new truck

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Public works issues – 2022 paving plans and the need for a new truck – were the main topics at the May 12 Vassalboro select board meeting.

Road Foreman Gene Field said Vassalboro received seven bids for road repaving this summer, all higher than the proposed 2022-23 budget can completely cover. He recommended accepting the low bid, $86.90 per ton of asphalt mix, from All States Construction, of Richmond.

Field said Vassalboro and China bid out the work jointly, as the two adjoining towns have done in previous years. China also chose All States, with plans to use a process called chip seal on some roads instead of repaving with a new asphalt coat (see “The Town Line”, May 12, p. 2, and related [china road]article p ).

All States representative Doug Fowler explained to Vassalboro board members that chip seal involves first shimming the road to cover ruts and make a smooth surface. After the shim coat sets, a process that takes about 30 days, chip seal adds an emulsion with hard stone packed into it to create a final surface.

The chip seal coat is normally about 3/8 inch thick, but it can be doubled. A single coat costs about one-third the cost of an inch of asphalt, Fowler said; he expects it to last seven to nine years.

He and Field agreed if they use the shim plus chip seal process, Field can expect calls from puzzled residents asking why a road that was done a month ago is being repaved. Field has reservations about the quality and longevity of chip seal, though he said he had looked at the chip sealed South Road, in China, and it seems satisfactory after two years.

If Vassalboro were to choose chip seal, he recommended a double coat on Legion Park Road, which he called about the worst one on the 2022 list.

Another problem is scheduling. Field said his crew needs time to replace culverts on some roads. Fowler said his preference is to have roads shimmed by about July 15 and chip-sealed by Aug. 30 (or the chip seal coat postponed to the next spring). Town Manager Mary Sabins said payment is usually due within 30 days of completion, and Vassalboro’s first 2022-23 tax payments won’t be due until Sept. 26, 2022 (assuming voters approve the recommended dates at the Monday, June 6, annual town meeting).

Select board members unanimously approved awarding the paving bid to All States. They agreed that decisions on whether, and if so, where to use chip seal would be left to Field, expressing their confidence in his judgment.

Field told the board because of supply and price issues, the truck reserve fund is no longer adequate to cover the new town truck he recommends. Dealers aren’t seeking bids for new trucks, he said; they notify potential buyers when one might be available. If he were able to order a truck chassis in August, he might get it in October or November; then a body would need to be added.

Sabins added that with the stock market losses, Vassalboro’s reserve funds are declining. She said Vassalboro’s investment advisor had recommended cashing out the fire truck reserve, which was already about $800 too low to cover the pending lease payment, and putting the money in a certificate of deposit.

Field had planned to keep the 2009 truck that is being replaced as a back-up. One option to provide more money would be to trade it in or to sell it. Another option would be to ask voters on June 6 to increase the proposed 2022-23 public works budget.

By consensus, select board members decided to postpone a decision on buying a truck until after town meeting.

Field and Sabins reported that planned improvements at the transfer station were under way, but not finished.

In response to a resident’s request, Field said he did a speed survey on Hussey Hill Road with a radar sign and sent results to Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Commissioner David Allen. Select board members voted unanimously to ask MDOT to do a speed assessment on the road.

Hussey Hill Road is currently unposted, making the speed limit 45 miles an hour. MDOT officials have power to post a limit they consider appropriate.

The May 14 meeting opened with a public hearing on Codes Officer Ryan Page’s recommended increases in permit fees. Page briefly explained the reasons for the recommendations; there were no public comments, and select board members unanimously approved the new schedule, making the increases effective July 1.

Two other matters briefly discussed and postponed until after town meeting were whether to adopt a salary schedule for town employees, as discussed at earlier board meetings (see the report on the March 3 Vassalboro Budget Committee meeting in the March 10 issue of The Town Line, p. 3); and a request to start building a parking lot at the planned streamside park on Route 32 north of East Vassalboro.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 9, three days after the annual town meeting. It will be Board Chairman Robert Browne’s last meeting; he is not seeking re-election on June 14. Rick Denico, Jr., is the only candidate on the ballot for a select board seat.

Fish kill on Webber Pond appears to be tied to parasite

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One of numerous dead largemouth bass found on Webber Pond. (photo by Roland D. Hallee)

by Roland D. Hallee

VASSALBORO, ME — Over the past couple of weeks there has been a noticeable fish kill on Webber Pond, in Vassalboro. On the east shore of the cove, dozens of dead largemouth bass have been washing ashore. The question that has been asked is why only largemouth bass have been affected.

photo by Roland D. Hallee

Fish kills have occurred before on Webber Pond, and also on China Lake, but it usually affects all species of fish, and not one in particular.

Jason Seiders, resource supervisor for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife provided some information on the subject. There has been ongoing work relating to the fish kill. The occurrence appears to be pond-wide, and not just the east shore.

Seiders says, “our staff has visited the pond multiple times to collect water quality information and to collect specimens for our fish pathologist. The ultimate cause of fish mortality appears to be high levels of parasitization by a protozoan called Chilodonella.” (Chilodonella uncinata is a single-celled organism that affects the gills and skin of fresh water fish, and may act as a facultative parasite of mosquito larva). “Chilodonella is found throughout Maine and is usually relatively benign to fishes,” Seiders adds, “unless the fish have undergone elevated levels of stress. Stress acts as an immunosuppressor to fish, and the causes of stress include a wide variety of issues.”

Seiders went on to say that since this event seems to involve almost exclusively adult largemouth bass, it is unlikely to be anything related to a discharge or point source of pollution. Those types of events would typically kill indiscriminately, not just one life stage of one species. Some likely causes of stress to adult largemouth bass in Webber Pond include: high fish numbers, rapid changes in water temperature or dissolved oxygen levels, and spawn and pre-spawn stress. The actual cause of the initial stress may never be known.

“I realize that an event such as this is disturbing. Fish kills like this are not uncommon for central Maine waters; this one is quite similar to one experienced in the Cobbosseecontee drainage a few years ago,” he explained.

For more information on fish kills, read the blog article written by the IF&W fish pathologist back in 2020, at https://www.maine.gov/ifw/blogs/mdifw-blog/when-be-concerned-about-finding-dead-fish-maines-lakes-ponds-and-rivers-summer.

According to Seiders, Webber Pond is a very productive warm water fishery, one that has often been called a “bass factory”. Webber Pond provides outstanding habitat for warm water fishes such as largemouth bass, which will likely speed along any recovery to the population.

While numerous bass have perished during this event at Webber, this will not cause the entire population to be wiped out. Animals that feed on the bass will be unharmed because the identified protozoan is harmless to wildlife. The IF&W staff will continue to monitor Webber Pond to assess potential impacts to the bass population in the short and long term.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, contact Seiders directly and he’ll help as best he can. He can be contacted at Dwayne.J.Seiders@maine.gov.

China Planning Board meeting canceled

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The China Planning Board meeting scheduled for May 9 was canceled; board members were not ready to continue work on draft ordinances. The next regular meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 24.

China broadband committee continues talks with Unitel, Direct Communications

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by Mary Grow

At their May 4 meeting, China Broadband Committee (CBC) members continued discussion of working with Unitel and Direct Communications to bring expanded broadband service to China residents. CBC Chairman Robert O’Connor planned to present an interim report to China Select Board members at their May 9 meeting.

As at their previous joint discussion April 6 (see The Town Line, April 14, p. 3), everyone was enthusiastic about a cooperative endeavor – and how to pay for what CBC members envision remained a problem.

After voters defeated a request to borrow money through a bond in November 2021, CBC members have been determined to develop a plan that would not require financial support from taxpayers. They expect a combination of grants, user fees and other to-be-explored sources to cover costs.

CBC member Jamie Pitney summarized the committee’s relationship with Unitel: “We contacted all these people [from other broadband and telecommunications companies, including those already serving China residents] and the most promising are sitting right here.”

Michael Akers, Unitel’s Director of Network Operations, said he and Lead Communications Technician Scott Turgeon toured about half of China’s roads and confirmed and expanded information collected by last summer’s survey by Hawkeye Connections.

Notably, they found areas on main roads and camp roads where new facilities would be needed. The necessary construction would be “fairly straightforward,” Akers said, parts of it easy and parts hard.

In sum, the Unitel experts were “not supersurprised” by their findings. They concurred with Hawkeye’s cost estimate of around $6.5 million for work China would need.

They also agreed that under current guidelines and definitions for federal and state broadband grants, China could expect about $850,000, leaving a substantial amount needed from other sources.

Unitel and Direct Communications would contribute, amounts unknown. And, several people mentioned in discussion, grant guidelines will not be final until the fall of 2022 and might change to China’s advantage.

Another possible plan would be to expand China broadband incrementally over several years, starting with service to currently unserved and underserved areas.

The group agreed that CBC members should encourage China residents to do repeated speed tests on their current broadband service. Demonstrations of limited service should help show the need for change. Direct Communications, based in the small town of Rockland, Idaho, specializes in providing rural towns with broadband service. Unitel, based in Unity, Maine, is now a member of Direct Communications. Unitel’s Director of Internal/External Support, Jayne Sullivan, and Akers said they will forward a description of the local financial situation to Idaho.

Pitney asked James Dougherty, from consultant Mission Broadband, to draft a work plan for the CBC based on the May 4 discussion. After discussion of how much time would be needed, the next CBC meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, in the portable building behind the China town office.