VASSALBORO: TownCloud Inc. selected to design and maintain new website

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by Mary Grow

After another long discussion, Vassalboro select board members at their Oct. 19 meeting unanimously accepted town Manager Aaron Miller’s recommendation: TownCloud, Inc., will design and maintain the new town website.

TownCloud representatives Christopher Haywood, Chief Amazement Officer, and Dennis Harward, Wizard of Light Bulb Moments, made a presentation and showed a sample website at the Sept. 7 select board meeting. Board members created a committee to review alternatives, whose members reported at the Sept. 21 meeting. Discussion continued Oct. 5.

Resident David Trask, who has been doing the town website, is ready to step aside. He offered advice at the Oct. 19 meeting, as did several other residents with relevant experience.

The Sept. 7 committee listed some of the features they considered desirable in a website; Miller explained how TownCloud could provide each. For example, the site can include a calendar of official municipal events, like select board meetings; and forms to fill out on line, like registration for recreation department programs.

Miller thinks TownCloud will be easy for residents to navigate. An important advantage from his viewpoint is the comparatively low cost: $3,600 for a three-year contract, or $1,200 a year for the first three years.

Changes can be made if needed, the manager said. If TownCloud is unsatisfactory, he said Vassalboro could buy out the contract.

Replying to one of Trask’s concerns, Miller said he believes TownCloud is mobile-friendly, so people without computer access can use their mobile phones. The present Vassalboro website is not mobile-friendly, Trask said.

Related questions discussed were upgrades needed to town office electronics, to handle the new telephone system Miller wants and other electronic upgrades; and whether or on what terms to allow the public to join municipal meetings on line.

Board members talked inconclusively about ways public discussion could be moderated or comments could be prescreened, to avoid the kinds of abuse other Maine municipalities have reported.

Board members returned to the topic of the North Vassalboro fire station roof, assisted by aerial photos fire chief Walker Thompson said were taken by a drone. After discussion, they postponed action on bids for repainting the roof and for replacing it, agreeing instead to have it inspected.

They approved the fire department’s request for a new refrigerator at the North Vassalboro station and a new oven at the Riverside station, to be purchased with up to $2,500 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. The kitchens are used when the department hosts fundraisers and other public events, to provide cold water for firefighters and for similar purposes.

In other business Oct. 19, board members approved recreating Vassalboro’s advisory energy committee. They suggested starting by asking if members of the previous committee will serve again. Other interested residents, especially those with expertise in energy management in public buildings, should contact the town office.

Resident Holly Wiedner said state Department of Transportation staff sent ideas for experimental traffic-calming measures in East Vassalboro village.

Miller intends to propose changes in the list of projects for which Vassalboro officials can spend Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds. For one thing, he said, state law has been amended to allow expenditures on municipal buildings. TIF money might also be used for the East Vassalboro traffic issues, with an amended local plan.

Any change in a municipal TIF plan requires public input – select board members talked of a January 2024 public hearing – and approval by town meeting voters and the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

The manager reported 2023 road paving was finished, at a lower cost than expected. He suggested the possibility of using left-over funds for more paving in the spring of 2024, sparking another brief argument over whether to pave additional pieces of dirt road or repave additional already-paved stretches.

Miller shared 114 responses to the survey sent out with tax bills. On the questions submitted by the planning board, results were as follows:

  • Additional measures to control phosphorus run-off into water bodies, 81 in favor and 13 opposed.
  • Limiting commercial development to certain areas of town, 74 in favor, 20 opposed.
  • Setting aside land for conservation and recreation, 87 in favor, 15 opposed.

The select board’s survey questions were open-ended – how do residents learn about town events? What changes would they like to see? What concerns do they have? – and the answers took up several pages.

Resident Laura Jones recorded the Oct. 19 select board meeting. She has made the recording, and copies of the survey results and other documents, available on Facebook at @laurajonescommunitymatters.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Nov. 2.

China transfer committee reviews 5-year plan

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by Mary Grow

At their Oct. 17 meeting, China transfer station committee members reviewed the five-year plan for the facility and talked about relations with neighbors Palermo and Albion.

The plan includes repairs and replacements and a few minor additions, like a storage area for propane tanks and the previously-discussed lighting for the free for the taking building (both scheduled for 2024).

A main topic was what to do with the elderly skid-steer. Opinion leaned toward replacing it with a tractor, not another skid-steer; committee members listed things a tractor could do, for the transfer station and the public works department, that a skid-steer cannot do.

Director of Public Services Shawn Reed offered to look into prices of different-sized tractors.

Staff intends to do more checking on options and costs for other pieces of equipment that need repair or perhaps replacement. They are also investigating state grants.

Committee members considered investing in another storage building so transfer station staff can keep more recyclables, waiting for fluctuating prices to rise. They made no recommendation.

Palermo committee member Robert Kurek and China town manager Rebecca Hapgood sparred, again, over the new transfer station identification system scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2024. Vehicles entering the facility will need a sticker on the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag with the vehicle license plate on the sticker.

The goal of adding the sticker identified with the vehicle is to eliminate Palermo and China residents’ habit of lending their RFID tags to out-of-towners who do not help fund the transfer station.

Hapgood plans to charge $2 a sticker. Kurek insists the China-Palermo contract says Palermo residents pay no new fees. The contract took effect Jan. 1, 2017, and runs for 17 years, a term Kurek said China officials chose to match their contract with the now-closed Hampden disposal facility.

Under the contract, Palermo pays China an $18,000 yearly fee, and Palermo residents pay for and use special colored trash bags. The bag price has been adjusted, and there is a formula for future adjustments.

Hapgood said China’s town attorney called the contract “one of the worst contracts she’s ever seen.” Committee chairman Paul Lucas called it “ridiculous.”

Hapgood’s suggested alternative to a sticker fee was to have each Palermo vehicle stopped at the entrance and checked to make sure it was entitled to enter. Lucas asked how the cost of the additional labor would compare to the cost of giving Palermo residents free stickers.

The discussion ended inconclusively. Hapgood intends another discussion with China select board members, and she and Kurek exchanged assurances that they’re still friends.

Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio and Hapgood said fewer transfer station users are being rude to employees, though there are still instances Hapgood investigates.

Maraggio said the new agreement with Albion is working well. Albion residents are now allowed to bring some of the items excluded from the town’s curb-side pick-up to China, for a fee.

Hapgood reported China has hired a new town employee, who will work for both the transfer station and the public works department. The position was in this year’s budget, she said, especially to provide an additional plow driver so staff will be less exhausted by snowstorms.

The next China transfer station committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.

China select board acts on three spending requests

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by Mary Grow

China select board members acted on three spending requests at their Oct. 23 meeting.

They held a long discussion about trucks with Director of Public Services Shawn Reed. Reed reported the previously authorized new town truck, once scheduled for September delivery, is not yet even “on the assembly line,” due to a series of delays (including a major fire at a supplier’s factory).

Reed would like to buy another truck, to replace a half-ton truck China bought in 2011 that has 185,000 miles on the odometer and needs work to pass inspection in December. Despite the shortage of both new and used trucks, he has found a replacement that will cost $65,862.25.

Town manager Rebecca Hapgood said the (unaudited) public works capital reserve fund balance is $150, 939.

Two China select board members have considerable experience with trucks, so there was a detailed discussion about the truck, including considering whether it could double as a plow truck, as Reed recommended.

The unanimous decision was to authorize Reed to buy the truck but not, for now, a plow to go on it. The plow might be considered next year, board members said.

Board members had three bids for each of two projects in Thurston Park, the 400-acre town-owned recreation area in northeastern China.

The relatively simple project is a 20-by-20-foot building to store park equipment. Board members accepted the lowest bid, from Reardon Brothers Construction, of Albion, for $19,763.59.

The other project is repairing Yorktown Road, the entrance to the park from the north. The area needing attention is partly in Albion and partly in China.

Hapgood had no definitive legal opinion on whether China officials can spend taxpayers’ money in another town to access China property. Bidders were therefore asked to submit a separate bid for each town’s part of the road, and select board members took no action on the Albion part.

For work inside the China town line, they again accepted the lowest bid, from S. D. Childs and Sons Excavation, of Palermo, for $30,700.

Returning to a previously-discussed issue, Palermo’s use of China’s transfer station, Hapgood presented a revised version of the new transfer station admission policy that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Since Palermo officials object to their residents being charged $2 for the new annual access permits that will be required for China residents, the new policy offers Palermo residents two options.

  • A Palermo resident can obtain an access permit, for $2, at the transfer station;
  • Or, each Palermo vehicle must stop at the entrance and the driver must “see an attendant before unloading any items.”

Board members approved the revision on a 2-1 vote, with Janet Preston and chairman Wayne Chadwick in favor, Brent Chesley opposed, Jeanne Marquis not yet present and Blane Casey excused from the meeting.

On a related issue, Hapgood reported that she had talked with town attorney Amanda Meader about terminating the 2016 transfer-station-sharing contract between China and Palermo. Termination by either party must be for breach of contract or just cause, and requires a year’s notice, she said.

Board members asked Hapgood to invite Meader to a board meeting to discuss the topic.

In other business Oct. 23,

  • Board members appointed Benjamin Weymouth to the broadband and tax increment financing committees. The tax increment financing, or TIF, committee is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30.
  • Preston reported that China is enrolled in the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments’ Community Resilience Program, making the town eligible for certain grants.
  • Three people reminded select board members they have not yet done anything substantive about improving the South China boat landing and Town Landing Road. All three are concerned about erosion into China Lake.

One suggestion from earlier discussions, endorsed again by China Lake Association president Stephen Greene, is to limit the landing to hand-carried canoes and kayaks, minimizing vehicle traffic. Greene said grant money is available to work on the landing, and the lake association will contribute funds.

  • Resident Scott Pierz again asked about the China Lake water level (see the Oct. 19 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). Hapgood replied she had talked with Vassalboro town manager Aaron Miller and was waiting for more information.
  • Hapgood’s report included a reminder that the town office will close all day on Nov. 7, with polls open in the nearby former portable building from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Monday, Dec. 11, in recognition of China’s local Municipal Employees’ Appreciation Day that Hapgood invented, the town office and public works department will be closed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Oct. 23 meeting was held at 5 p.m. as board members consider whether to change to that earlier time. The time for the next regular China select board meeting, scheduled for Monday, Nov. 6, in the town office meeting room, remains to be determined.

CHINA: Chadwick proposes solar panels at closed landfill

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PFAS detected in area water supply

by Mary Grow

China select board chairman Wayne Chadwick suggested to his fellow board members at their Oct. 10 meeting the possibility of installing solar panels on the closed landfill at the Alder Park Road transfer station.

Palermo resident Troy Nelson proposed the idea, Chadwick said. He pointed out that the three-phase power to which a solar development would connect is already available at the transfer station.

Chadwick envisioned leasing the area to a solar developer; board member Janet Preston suggested a town-owned project.

Other board members, and town manager Rebecca Hapgood, agreed the idea is worth exploring, though they were concerned the footings for the panels would go deep enough to puncture the landfill cap. They talked of finding documentation on closing the landfill, and of other types of solar-panel ground mounts.

Hapgood reported less welcome news from the transfer station: late on Friday, Oct. 6, a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) staffer told her testing had found PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the station’s water supply, and in two private wells nearby.

Hapgood said the DEP plans to test more wells in the vicinity. The holiday weekend had delayed follow-up; board members postponed action for more information, including the extent of the contamination, whether the capped landfill is the cause and the cost of providing PFAS filters at the transfer station.

China residents presented two issues involving cooperation with adjoining towns.

Scott Pierz, executive director of the China Region Lakes Alliance (though he said he intends to resign the position soon), expressed concern about the unusually low level of China Lake.

According to a state DEP water level order, China Lake is supposed to be drawn down in the fall. The drawdown is intended to flush out algae after the lake has “turned over” – layers of deep cool water and warm surface water have mixed, so that nutrients from the bottom rise toward the surface. Pierz is concerned the drawdown is too early this year.

The Town of Vassalboro owns and controls the China Lake outlet dam. Pierz recommended establishing better communications between China and Vassalboro and perhaps seeking a role for China in dam management.

Jeanette Smith, chairman of the Thurston Park Committee, returned to the issue of access to the park, discussed at the Sept. 25 select board meeting (see the Sept. 28 issue of The Town Line, p. 2). Contrary to the report on that meeting, she said committee members would prefer the southern access to the park, if it can be made possible.

The Yorktown Road runs through the park, from Albion on the north to the Mann Road on the south. The road was discontinued many years ago, with a public right of way retained. However, the landowner on the south treats that end of Yorktown Road as his private driveway and does not want park visitors using it, Smith said.

From the north, a dirt road liable to washouts runs down a steep hill that Smith said is intimidating to some drivers. The hill is partly in Albion and partly in China, and Albion is not maintaining its section.

Smith said she attended the most recent Albion select board meeting to talk about the road and found board members “willing to work with China.” They offered to find out the legal status of their section of the road – one audience member thought it had been discontinued, Smith said – and to continue discussion.

Smith said there are now two bids for each of two Thurston Park projects, road repair and a storage building. Select board members postponed action, hoping for at least three bids to choose among.

In other business Oct. 10:

  • Board members unanimously appointed Benjamin Weymouth to the comprehensive plan implementation committee. Hapgood said there are now three committee members; she would like seven.
  • Board members unanimously appointed election workers and ballot clerks for the Nov. 7 election, and provided that pre-election hours for the registrar of voters and town clerk will be the usual town office hours. Absentee ballots for Nov. 7 are now available.
  • Board member Jeanne Marquis shared a draft of a new town logo, which met with general approval from the rest of the board. When board members adopt the new logo, Hapgood intends to use it on municipal vehicles and on China T-shirts and China caps.
  • Hapgood reported briefly on numerous violations of local land use ordinances. She encouraged all residents planning building or renovation projects to check with the town office to find out if a permit is needed, and if one is, to get it before beginning work and to read it carefully for limitations, inspection requirements and other follow-up actions.

Board members supported her recommendations, citing the need to protect China’s natural resources.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23.

Windsor residents unhappy with rescue response time

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by The Town Line staff

At their September 12, 2023, meeting, the Windsor Select Board heard from Douglas Hamm and Karalyne Rideout to speak of an incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon, September 9. Douglas was very upset that it took rescue units upwards of 45 minutes to arrive at his residence, responding to his wife having a serious medical event. He called 911, then called his mother-in-law, Karalyne. His mother-in-law arrived before rescue. Karalyne stated she called 911 for a second time and repeated the address. A state trooper arrived before Delta and began CPR with the first responders. They were both very upset with the response time and performance of rescue crews. Haskell said she will follow up on the incident.

Public Works Supervisor Keith Hall informed the board about the cost of obtaining safety signs with blinking LED lights to add extra safety for public works employees while working along the roadsides. The cost is estimated at $700. More discussion will take place. There was also a quick mention about future public works truck expenses and needs.

The monthly transfer station report for August was up from last year by $1,212.45, making the overall total of $8,623.25 for the year.

Richard and Jane Crecco came before the board to speak on their own behalf about a small community grant for a new replacement septic system they need, and would like the town to partake. The couple has done research and found a small community grant through the state of Maine that could reimburse the town, if the town pays for it up front. It wasn’t clear if the pay back was a full reimbursement. It looks like the town may not get the money at all if the grant ran out of funds before the work was completed. Following much discussion, not only at the board meeting, but through phone calls and letters between the small community grant program, lengthy discussions and meetings with Town Manager Theresa Haskell and talks with select board members, the board concluded this small community grant isn’t something they can partake at this time. There are many reasons this isn’t something the town is able to do currently.

In other business:

  • Selectman William Appel Jr. made a motion to sign an abatement tax warrant for Anthony N. and Katherine L. Trask in the amount of $2,860.85, with one supplemental tax warrant to Cynthia Trask, personal respresentative for Catherine M. Trask in the amount of $2,853.60, as per Assessor Vern Ziegler’s recommendation;
  • Road name changed from Bernier Lane to Landwork’’s Lane;
  • Haskell handed out a draft copy of the emplyee manual, indicating some changes and updates made on paid timeoff. A float holiday was discussed with no changes made.
  • Haskell asked the board if there were any changes to be made to the compensatory time off agreement time for the two public works employees. With the now approved employee manual, these two public works employees will need to sign up for the 2023-2024 year and then yearly in July thereafter.
  • Ray Bates presented Richard H. Gray Jr. with the Spirit of America Award for his many years of dedication to the town of Windsor. Gray served 15 years on the select board, 16 years on the budget committee, cemetery committe. Among many other things he continues to have unwavering dedication to the Boy Scouts of America.
  • Ray Bates read a letter from Clean Energy Connect, summarizing the construction that may happen, what it will entail and what it may look like, and sound like for surrounding communities.
  • Andrew Ballantayne spoke about his day spent in Bangor speaking with legislative bodies. He gave a presentation about underground high voltage D/C. He wants to separate the transmission line from Clean Enerey when he speaks, feeling it is important.

* * * * * *

At their September 26, 2023, meeting, the Windsor Select Board heard from Public Works Supervisor Keith Hall about the Coopers Mills Road culvert that was recently caved in, and will need to be looked at and possibly redone. Hall spoke with Maine-ly Paving and they said they would take care of it.

Town Manager Theresa Haskell said Central Maine Power Co. has been working on getting road entrance permits dealing with the proposed lines within the corridors. Hall has been meeting with them.

Arthur Strout has informed Haskell that the Windsor Fair is possibly working on an agreement to have the field area across from the fair and next to the newly-paved transfer station used by a company with big trucks and equipment for a lengthy period. Strout suggested the town put some gravel shoulders on that side of the newly-paved road and Hall said he is planning on that, and will also meet with the company to make sure they use a different entrance with heavy equipment.

Planning board members Jerry Nault and Carol Chavarie said they have approved the building code and have brought it to the select board. With much discussion it was suggested by the select board to bring this back to the planning board with the proposed revisions.

Haskell handed out the 12-month budget for 2022/2023. The actual budget ended at 90.52 percent out of the 100 percent, but will still need to be finalized with the audit.

Haskell received a letter indicating the town of Windsor is in compliance with the General Assistance Statutes and the Department of Health and Human Services General Assistance policy. The state recommended designating a fair hearing officer in the event an applicant requests a hearing. Haskell said China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood had agreed to be Windsor’s fair hearing officer, with Haskell becoming China’s fair hearing officer.

Selectman Andrew Ballantyne said local towns are writing a letter to the office of the public advocate in seeking assistance for receiving access to documents from the Maine Public Utilities Commission regarding the Aroostook Renewable Gateway’s proposed high-voltage transmission corridor that could impact about 41 towns, including Windsor. Ballantyne is asking to have the select board of Windsor to also join in and sign, along with Palermo, Unity, Albion and Thorndike, in requesting assistance in accessing the necessary information to protect the health, safety, wellbeing, welfare and livelihoods of residents. Select board members agreed unanimously.

China public hearing on solar garden canceled

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by Mary Grow

The China planning board’s public hearing on Novel Energy Systems’ proposed community solar garden on Parmenter Hill Road, scheduled for Oct. 10, was canceled due to lack of a board quorum. A new hearing date will be set and announced.

Real ID deadline is 2025

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The REAL ID deadline is now May 2025, yet the multiple extensions have caused confusion among the general public. When Maine residents were asked what they believe the deadline to be, the average answer given is on October 5, 2023.
If you still haven’t made the switch, you’re not alone: 76 percent of residents in Maine still haven’t gotten their new card, according to a poll from Upgraded Points.
Additionally, 18 percent report not even knowing what a REAL ID is and 30 percent say they don’t know how to get it. Thirty-eight percent do not plan to get one at all.

VASSALBORO: Town awarded 95K heat pump grant

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Thanks to the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, Efficiency Maine, Eco Heat Maine and volunteers from the Vassalboro Conservation Commission, the Town of Vassalboro received about $95,000 worth of heat pump systems and service at the Town Office, North Vassalboro Fire Station and the Public Works Garage.

The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future has awarded $34,745 in grants to the Town of Vassalboro. This project qualifies for $60,348 in Efficiency Maine grant money. The town was asked to contribute $3,693 toward this endeavor at the October 5 selectboard meeting.

The process began in June by joining the Community Resilience Partnership. As a result the town has shown commitment toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in energy efficiency.

Here are the improvements that will be done expected by the end of November:

North Vassalboro Fire Station – (2) 18k wall mounted heat pumps in the upstairs meeting room – $13,869.

Town Office – (2) 18k btu heat pumps in the meeting room; (1) 15k btu heat pump in the clerk’s office; (2) 7.5k btu heat pumps in the town manager and assessors’ offices; and (2) 5k btu heat pumps in the bookkeeper and CEO offices – $39,878.

Public Works Garage – (4) 32k btu heat pumps in the garage; and (1) 9.5k btu heat pump in the director’s office/meeting room – $44,038.

Vassalboro planners approve subdivision application; postpone other

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by Mary Grow

At their Oct. 3 meeting, Vassalboro planning board members approved the subdivision application they postponed at their September meeting, and postponed a new application, for a small solar development, to November.

Darrell and Jessica Field presented requested additional information on their application to divide a lot in a subdivision on Katie Drive into two lots (see the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, pp. 2-3). Board members reviewed the 18 criteria for approval of a major subdivision, found the Fields’ project met them all and approved the application unanimously.

The solar project was presented by John Korkos, a project manager with ReVision Energy, on behalf of Ryan Bolduc, owner of apartment buildings including the former Volmer’s nursing home at 332 Main Street, between North and East Vassalboro villages.

Korkos explained that the requested project is a solar installation covering less than half an acre, intended to power the adjacent apartment building and others of Bolduc’s buildings. Power generated would go into the grid, but would not be sold; Bolduc intends what he generates only to earn credits for his properties.

Planning board members could not decide whether the project is a commercial solar development they need to approve, or the equivalent of a homeowner’s personal solar installation that does not need board action.

The power is going into the grid, which suggested commercial generation to some board members. But it is not to be sold, so, others argued, it is not used commercially.

Reference to definitions in the Vassalboro solar ordinance (Chapter 11 of the site review ordinance, added by voters in June 2023) and the moratorium ordinance (approved in November 2022 to give time to write and approve the solar ordinance) did not answer the question. Board members therefore voted unanimously to table the application until they get a legal opinion.

Board chairman Virginia Brackett told Korkos she would let him know as soon as possible whether he would be needed at the November board meeting.

Board members had no additional information on Ronald Weeks’ application, postponed in September; nor did they have an application for Kassandra Lopes’ relocation from one North Vassalboro building to the one next door, discussed in September.

Because the first Tuesday in November is Election Day, the next Vassalboro planning board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the town office meeting room.

VASSALBORO: Website management topic undecided, again

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members sat behind their new laptop computers at their Oct. 5 meeting, for a long discussion that partly focused on the themes of residents’ knowledge of and involvement in town government.

One topic, left undecided again, was selecting a company to manage the town’s website, including presenting select board and other committees’ meetings live to an on-line audience and recording them for future viewing.

At their Sept.7 meeting, board members hosted a presentation on the TownCloud municipal website plan. They then created a committee to investigate more possibilities. (See the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, p. 2.)

Laura Jones, reporting for the committee, said members discussed what Vassalboro residents want and need and weighed pros and cons of TownCloud, Michigan-based Revize (serving Winslow and Camden, among other Maine municipalities) and Kansas-based CivicPlus (serving Lewiston and Belfast).

After discussing the companies’ offerings and costs, board members again tabled the issue. On Sept. 7, they had postponed a decision to Dec. 14, not expecting the committee report so promptly.

A related question about future web-shared meetings and the current Facebook page that Jones maintains was whether to allow public comment. Board members considered reports from nearby towns of people, often non-residents, interjecting irrelevant, offensive and abusive comments during public on-line meetings.

Town Manager Aaron Miller said the town’s attorney advised against allowing the public to post to the town Facebook page because comments might be inappropriate and town staff would need to spend time monitoring the site.

Select board members voted not to allow public comment on the Vassalboro Facebook page. As alternatives, Miller and board members encouraged residents to come to select board meetings, where chair man Chris French welcomes audience participation, or to contact board members, Miller or the town office by email, telephone, letter or personal visit.

Town appoints new CEO

Vassalboro’s new codes enforcement officer, Jason Lorrain, of Boothbay, attended the Oct. 5 select board meeting, where town manager Aaron Miller introduced him to board and audience members.

Lorrain was Boothbay’s codes enforcement officer, building inspector and plumbing inspector for seven years. Miller said he would start work in Vassalboro on Oct. 10.

He succeeds Robert Geaghan, Jr., who, several months ago, announced his intention of resigning by the end of October.

Board members made no decisions about what Jones and audience members said are another 20 or more Facebook pages and Instagram accounts set up by other town boards and committees.

In other business Oct. 5, Miller reported Vassalboro received state grants of a little over $95,000 for heat pumps in the town office building, the town garage and the North Vassalboro fire station. (See the town website, www.vassalboro.net, for details.)

Select board members unanimously approved appropriating $3,693 in town matching money from federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

Miller expects the heat pumps to be installed in mid or late November. He said the town can apply again for heat pumps for the Riverside fire station and the transfer station.

The manager reported on his discussion with a representative of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on what more can be done to improve Eagle Park, located on the west bank of Outlet Stream between North and East Vassalboro.

The park already has trees planted, thanks to efforts by the town Conservation Commission. (See photographs on the front page of the June 29 issue of The Town Line.) Miller expects state funds to reimburse the town for the $3,200 worth of trees.

Select board signs letter of support for Webber Pond dam grant

Vassalboro select board members unanimously agreed at their Oct. 5 meeting to sign a letter of support for a grant application that, if successful, will provide federal funds for an improved fishway at the Webber Pond dam.

Resident Nate Gray, who works for the state Department of Marine Resources, said the Webber Pond dam is one of several projects included in a state grant application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for $1.5 million. Chances of receiving the grant will increase if each local application provides evidence of municipal officials’ support and local matching money.

Vassalboro’s match of $50,000 could come from the income from the town’s alewife fishery, he suggested. The town contracts with an alewife harvester who traps and sells the small fish each spring – they’re used for lobster bait, and online sources list other uses – and shares the revenue with the town.

An improved fishway, plus the state-funded new culvert on Whitehouse Road, should double the number of alewives reaching Webber Pond and thus increase the harvest revenue, Gray said. He commended the state Department of Transportation for its help in opening culverts in various parts of Maine to improve access for migrating fish.

After considering three options, Gray said, the application is to fund a Denil fishway, like those already in place at the China Lake outlet dam and Ladd and Box Mills dams on Outlet Stream.

Gray said the deadline for the NOAA grant application is Oct. 16. He expects the grant recipients will be announced by mid-February 2024.

The manager asked select board members to consider how they want the park to look and be used, and to invite East Vassalboro resident and Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner to their Oct. 19 meeting for more discussion. Additional improvements might include a second path to the stream, picnic tables and a gazebo, though Miller also wants to leave open space.

Resident Thomas Richards informed board members of a water problem in North Vassalboro. On the east side of Main Street, he said, the ground is so saturated that the flagpole in front of the former school building is affected, and he has been told the next-door property-owner has trouble mowing his soggy lawn.

Richards does not know the cause of the problem. He wanted to make sure town officials were aware of it as they prepare to discuss Main Street repaving and related issues with state Department of Transportation officials.

French proposed a review and possible update of Vassalboro’s Marijuana Business Ordinance and TIF Ordinance. He added that the town’s transfer station committee might request a review of what he said is a 1988 transfer station ordinance.

Miller added amendments to the recreation committee bylaws and an addition to the town’s personnel policy to the list of documents board members should consider.

Resident Douglas Phillips reminded board members they had previously discussed using ARPA money to install a generator at the town office, so it could function during prolonged power outages. That topic, too, is slated for future discussion.

The next Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the town office meeting room.