Branch Mills Dam project update

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The Branch Mills Dam before the mill was razed. Photo from Krisweb

by Bob Van Riper

Branch Mills Dam is one of three major barrier removal projects in the Sheepscot River corridor being undertaken by the Midcoast Conservancy, the Atlantic Salmon Federation and other conservation partners. The primary intent of these projects is the restoration of fish passage for a variety of sea-run fish species to the river. Branch Mills Dam is the only project sited on the West Branch of the river.

An example of an Alaskan steeppass fishway installed below the bridge on Souadabscook Stream in Hampden, Maine. (Photo source: Atlantic Salmon Federation)

Goals for the project are to update the structural condition of the dam to safe standards, install a Steeppass fishway, create a hand-carry boat launch for public access, develop and install security and safety structures and landscape the site.

The Branch Mill structure was removed in July 2017 in advance of a purchase and sale agreement between the owner Branch Mills Flour and Grain and the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF). In late July, ASF met with the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) to assess the structural condition of the dam without the presence of the mill structure, which had formerly rested on the spillway of the dam. No engineering plans for the original construction or subsequent repairs are known to exist. Consensus resulting from the review determined the need for an engineering evaluation of the condition of the dam, along with design details for any required repair of the structure. In addition MEMA indicated that an update of the Emergency Action Plan for the dam was necessary and MDEP said that the existing operation plan was insufficient and needed to be rewritten. Additionally, prior evaluations by MEMA indicated that the deep gates were inoperable due to partial collapse of the mill structure.

In August, the owner of the dam demonstrated that all three deep gates in the structure were operational.

This photo shows the old abandoned mill that sat on top of the dam at the outlet of Branch Pond at the headwaters of the West Branch Sheepscot River. This dam has no fish passage facilities. The mill has since been demolished.
Photos courtesy China Town Office

ASF acquired the dam and adjacent property in September 2017. Removal of the mill building, which had formerly served as access for and housed the hoisting system for the deep gates, left the mechanism exposed. ASF attempted to retain a building contractor to build a housing structure and an access walkway for the gate mechanism. For large contractors, the job was too small to be of interest, smaller contractors lacked sufficient insurance to comply with OSHA regulations. ASF then searched for a temporary means of access. Currently, ASF is working on using prefabricated metal staging planks with railings for access to the gates until construction of the project begins and permanent structures are built.

In October, ASF wrote an Operational Plan for the dam based on the current water level and outflow requirements stated in the MDEP Water Level Order for Branch Pond. The organization also developed an Emergency Action Plan in coordination with MEMA. Both plans were accepted by the respective agencies in mid-November. The Emergency Action Plan was subsequently revised and resubmitted in January 2018 after comments offered by several responders.

In November 2017, an MOU was developed and signed between ASF and the Branch Pond Association (BPA) initiating a partnership in the operation of the dam. Also in November, a Request for Proposals for engineering services was advertised. An on-site meeting was held in early December with prospective consultants to describe aspects of the work and answer any questions in regards to the proposed scope of work. As a result, ASF retained the services of Kleinschmidt Associates, of Pittsfield, in January 2018 to provide a design for a Steep pass fishway, an evaluation of the dam, provide design for correcting structural deficiencies, designing a hand-carry boat launch, design and installation of access and cover structures and other site improvements. Kleinschmidt will commence its efforts beginning with a kick off meeting in February 2018.

Bob Van Riper is with the Midcoast Conservancy of the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

The state of disrepair of the old Branch Pond Mill. Photos courtesy China Town Office

CHINA: Town manager, selectmen set warrant for town meeting

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by Mary Grow

By the end of the China selectmen’s Jan. 29 special meeting, board members and Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux were satisfied they had the warrant for the March 24 town business meeting in final form.

Selectmen plan to sign it at their Feb. 5 meeting. By email, L’Heureux invited budget committee members to find a meeting date later in the week of Feb. 5 to review proposed expenditures and make their recommendations.

Selectmen’s recommendations were unanimous on 4-0 votes, with board member Jeffrey LaVerdiere absent due to illness. Items discussed and decisions made resulted in several proposals that will be new for town meeting voters.

For example, Art. 14, dealing with annual appropriations for emergency services, asks voters also to implement a new state law allowing the town to give each volunteer fire department its appropriation as a lump sum from which the department pays its bills, rather than having the departments submit bills to the town for payment.

Selectmen established that the law applies only to the China Village, South China and Weeks Mills fire departments, not to China Rescue.

Voters will be asked in Art. 18 to appropriate $80,613 to buy a pre-crusher/compactor and a new forklift for the transfer station, taking the money from a reserve fund and the town’s unassigned fund balance (commonly called surplus).

Art. 26 asks for up to $20,000 from surplus to provide a septic system and water system for the former Weeks Mills schoolhouse.

In Art. 41, voters are asked to appropriate up to $100 from surplus for purchase of the Branch Mills Union Church, adding another historic building to town ownership. The amount is intended to cover transaction fees; the article also requests authorization to use up to $80,000 from grants, donations and Tax Increment Finance funds to restore the building.

Art. 43, requested by the planning board, proposes using up to $22,000 in TIF funds to develop and implement a new town comprehensive plan.

Selectmen made final decisions on two local service organizations’ fund requests they debated inconclusively at their Jan. 22 meeting. They recommended a $3,000 appropriation for The Town Line newspaper as in past years – the item was debatable this year because the newspaper is renting the old town house basement for a nominal fee. And they recommended a $4,500 appropriation for the South China Library and a $100 appropriation for the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library in China Village, basing the difference on the growth of the latter’s endowment fund.

The possibility of reappearance on a June local ballot. One would have requested up to $10,000 to buy the land around the new fire pond on Neck Road; the other would have requested up to $110,000 to buy the Bailey property at the head of China Lake, as part of the expansion of recreational opportunities there.

The fire pond was again discussed at some length, and selectmen reaffirmed their Jan. 22 decision to get some kind of barriers around it as soon as possible.

Engineer Rick Pershken, attending the meeting at board Chairman Robert MacFarland’s request, gave his professional opinion that the steep sides of the pond would gradually erode into milder slopes, cutting away the edges including toward Neck Road. Selectmen agreed to ask someone from the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for advice on stabilizing the pond.

The Feb. 5 selectmen’s meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The Budget Committee meeting, when scheduled, will be posted on the town web site. Both meetings are open to the public.

VASSALBORO: VBA to host ice fishing derby, indoor mountain bike races

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source: Frank R. Richards

The Vassalboro Business Association will be sponsoring a fishing derby on Sunday, February 11, 2018. You don’t have to fish at all to win big with this derby!

However any fish entered between 1 and 5 p.m., must be accompanied by a pre-purchased raffle ticket. Many, many prizes will be raffled off at 5 p.m., at the Olde Mill, in North Vassalboro. A light supper cooked by Victor Esposito’s students will also be available for sale. Tickets are available at The Olde Mill Store, Maine Savings FCU, and the Vassalboro Town Office, or by calling 631-3303.

Proceeds this year will benefit the “Save the Mill” initiative!

On the same day, Sunday, February 11, from 10 a.m., the American Woolen Mill Urban Mountain Bike fundraiser will be hosted at the Mill. Two floors of indoor bike racing. This race will also benefit “Save the Mill.”

Major prizes are $300 from Duratherm Window Corp.; Golf for four with cart ($209), Natanis Golf Course; $100, FutureForest Logging; $100 Reliance Fire Pump Repair. There will many more donated prizes.

First, second and third place winners ($25, $15 & $10 respectively) in the fishing tournament: largemouth bass, sponsored by Bridget’s Place; smallmouth bass, The Country Store; white perch, Maine Savings Federal Credit Union; brown trout, Green Valley Campground; brook trout, New England Battery & Tire; splake, Pleau’s Market; salmon, China Lake Auto; togue, American Legion Post #126; pickerel, V-Town Paint Ball; Children 12 and under, non-winners of above, Attention 2 Detail Lawn Care. There will also be a $100 prize plus trophy for the largest fish, except northern pike.

Weigh-in time is 1-5 p.m. Refreshments will be available. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 , one entry per ticket.

VASSALBORO: Selectmen to bid out new alewives harvest contract

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 25 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen acted on waste-hauling bids and decided to bid out the new contract for harvesting alewives.

The board had five bids to haul solid waste after April 1, first to the Crossroads Landfill in Norridgewock and later to the new Fiberight facility in Hampden.

Town Manager Mary Sabins said Greg Lounder, executive director of the Municipal Review Committee representing Vassalboro and other Maine municipalities that intend to use the Fiberight facility, advised her to plan on at least six months’ use of Crossroads. Each company bidding offered different prices for the two hauls; Sabins did some math, based on the estimated six months, and recommended Vassalboro stay with the current hauler, Bolster’s Rubbish Removal, of Burnham.

Bolster’s charges during the one-year contract will be $200 per trip to Crossroads and $225 per trip to Fiberight. The company is the only bidder willing to remove a full container from Vassalboro’s transfer station on 12 hours’ notice; the other four asked for 24 hours’ notice. Sabins said Transfer Station Manager George Hamar is happy with Bolster’s service.

The town’s three-year contract with Ronald Weeks to harvest alewives at the Webber Pond dam ends this year. On advice from Nate Gray of the Department of Marine Resources, selectmen decided to seek bids for a new five-year contract. They emphasized that they are not dissatisfied with Weeks.

Gray recommended a five-year contract because alewives born in Webber Pond return to the ocean for four years and come back to spawn the fifth year. The harvester thus has an incentive to make sure he or she leaves a generous number of fish for the future.

There are 22 alewife runs in Maine, as dams are removed on rivers like the Kennebec to let the small fish go inland. Gray said Vassalboro did well to create a sustainable harvest so quickly.

Alewives are trapped as they return from the ocean in May and early June and sold to be used as lobster bait. Gray said increased need for bait has raised the price in recent years. It is standard procedure, he said, for the town to get one-third of the sale proceeds and the harvester two-thirds.

Board members discussed costs of counting the fish, ways to provide information the state and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission request annually and perhaps adding a count of fish sold. They asked Sabins to draft a proposed contract for their review, with Gray’s input.

In other business Jan. 25, selectmen renewed the liquor license for Natanis Golf Course on a 2-0 vote, with board member and Natanis owner Robert Browne absent due to illness.

They approved a resident’s request to tap sugar maples in Union Cemetery.

Sabins and board and audience members commended Road Commissioner Eugene Field for checking Vassalboro’s roads during the night whenever the weather forecast is doubtful and for calling out the road crew when they are needed.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus announced a Feb. 11 fishing derby sponsored by the Vassalboro Business Association. More information is on the town website.

The next two Vassalboro selectmen’s meetings are scheduled for Feb. 8 and Feb. 15 (a one-week interval instead of the usual two weeks to avoid meeting during school vacation week) at 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room. The 2018-19 municipal budget will be a major topic at both meetings. On Tuesday, Feb. 13, selectmen hold a budget workshop at 1 p.m. in the town office.

China planners to prepare a revised comprehensive plan

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members have decided to start carrying out their responsibility to prepare a revised town comprehensive plan before the current one expires in the summer of 2020.

The three members at the Jan. 16 meeting directed Chairman Tom Miragliuolo to ask selectmen to appoint a new comprehensive plan committee and to try to get a request for funds on the warrant for the March 24 town business meeting.

Miragliuolo promptly got in touch with Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux, who replied that he would put the requests on the selectmen’s Feb. 5 agenda. Miragliuolo proposed an estimated cost of not more than $24,000, based on information from Kennebec Valley Council of Governments about other municipalities’ costs.

Residents interested in serving on a new comprehensive planning committee are invited to contact the town office.

Miragliuolo’s state job used to involve reviewing towns’ comprehensive plans. He told the other planning board members that they are created under the state Growth Management Act, passed in the late 1980s with general goals like creating orderly development and economic growth, providing housing and recreational opportunities and protecting natural, agricultural, historic, archaeological and other resources.

China’s current plan was developed by a committee, with major assistance from a paid consultant. The committee reported to the planning board; at the board’s request, selectmen presented the plan to voters, who approved it in November 2008.

Miragliuolo expects the process of revising the plan and getting local and state approval to take a minimum of 18 months. Few towns do it that fast, he said.

The consultant’s fee will be the major expenditure, he predicted. The person with whom the town contracts will be expected to attend committee meetings and draft the plan based on committee members’ and residents’ input.

China is not required to update its plan. However, a town that does not have a current state-approved plan cannot do some things, like adopting an impact fee ordinance, and is disadvantaged in other ways, for example in applying for state grants. The second topic at the Jan. 16 planning board meeting was Codes Officer Paul Mitnik’s draft revisions to China’s Planning Board permit application and conditional use permit application checklist.

Board members agreed the documents should be discussed in more detail at their Jan. 30 meeting, after they have time to consider them.

CHINA: Selectmen schedule special meeting for budget workshop

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen have scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, to continue work on the warrant for the March 24 town business meeting.

At their Jan. 22 meeting, board members spent almost two hours going over the draft warrant Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux prepared. Major items they did not discuss, or did not decide on, include:

  • Almost $340,000 for transfer station operations, more than $30,000 higher than the current year’s appropriation. L’Heureux said the increase was mostly due to more demolition and debris; costs offset by demo and debris fees that are not reflected in the fund request.
  • Two other transfer station requests, recommended by the Transfer Station Committee: more than $56,000 for a pre-crusher and compactor, and more than $24,000 for a new forklift.
  • About $50,000 to reconstruct the north end of Dirigo Road and about $150,000 to replace a culvert on Bog Road.
  • Up to $20,000 for a water system and septic system – but not a toilet — at the former Weeks Mills school house. Selectmen were not sure whether the building could be connected to Weeks Mills Water Company’s line or whether a well would be needed. (ep)

Potential expenditures not yet presented as warrant articles include: (ep)

  • Possible purchase of the Bailey property at the head of China Lake as part of the Tax Increment Finance Committee’s plan to expand recreational opportunities there, a question on which TIF Committee member Ronald Breton said he intends to seek a vote when the committee meets at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29. The landowner is asking $120,000 for the land; Breton proposed offering $110,000, with the purchase conditional on the land being found suitable for a parking lot.
  • A request from the Planning Board to appropriate funds — $20,000 and $24,000 have been suggested – for a consultant to update China’s comprehensive plan, an item tentatively scheduled on the selectmen’s Feb. 5 agenda.
  • Possible purchase of land around the new fire pond on Neck Road, with no cost estimate. (ep)

The fire pond was the other major topic at the Jan. 22 meeting. China Village Fire Chief Tim Theriault and others involved described it as 10 or 12 feet from the shoulder of Neck Road; about 35 by 75 feet; and about 20 feet deep, with steep sides so that a person, animal or vehicle that went into it would not be able to get out.

Selectmen agreed they should have given more thought to safety before asking voters to appropriate up to $8,500 for the pond, money that has been spent digging it. They debated various options for half an hour – temporary fencing until the ground thaws? Permanent fencing now? Snow fence, guard rails, Jersey barriers, chain-link fencing?

A related issue was how much liability would be the town’s and how much the landowner’s if there were an accident. L’Heureux said so far there is no easement or other document defining respective rights and responsibilities.

Ultimately, selectmen voted 4-1 to direct L’Heureux to get bids on buying and promptly installing steel guardrails, with a maximum cost of $6,000 to be taken from the $55,000 contingency fund voters granted selectmen in March 2017. Donna Mills-Stevens voted against the motion on the ground that the cost was too high, especially since voters had been asked for $8,500 on the assumption that amount would cover the project.

A majority of the board informally recommended redesigning the interior of the pond to add a way for a person or animal to get out.

In other business Jan. 22, selectmen made three appointments: Milton Dudley as Planning Board member from District 2, until November 2019; Bill Van Wickler as chief of the Weeks Mills Volunteer Fire Department; and Linda O’Connor as a member of the Transfer Station Committee.

CHINA: Selectmen’s meeting to be preceded by RLF committee meeting

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The Jan. 22 China selectmen’s meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m., will be preceded by a 6:30 p.m. meeting of the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) subcommittee of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee. Both meetings will be in the town office.

The RLF subcommittee is meeting to approve an agreement with the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments to administer China’s revolving loan fund. The fund uses money from China’s TIF program for small auxiliary loans to help start or expand local businesses.

The full TIF Committee is tentatively scheduled to meet Monday evening, Jan. 29.

CHINA: Varneys withdraw application for commercial gatherings; to explore other options

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by Mary Grow

Parris and Catherine Varney have withdrawn their controversial application for a permit to allow commercial gatherings and events in their barn at 701 Neck Road.

In a Jan. 9 letter to Codes Officer Paul Mitnik, Palermo attorney Matthew Evans, representing the Varneys, said, “In light of the irrational, to the point of being delusional, opposition to the Barn Venue,” the couple decided to make no additional financial investment in the project.

“Unfortunately, the process has been dominated by a mob mentality,” Evans added.

He wrote that the Varneys will continue to use the barn as a private venue. They have plans for a different use and will apply for appropriate permits.

The Varneys first applied for a planning board permit in September 2016. Neighbors expressed a variety of concerns, arguing that traffic, noise and lights from the proposed activity would disrupt a quiet rural area and create inconvenience and hazards.

Subsequent proceedings involved the planning board, board of appeals and Kennebec County Superior Court.

At their Dec. 2017 meeting, planning board members agreed they needed to begin re-reviewing the application. They had scheduled a Jan. 16 public hearing to give neighbors and other interested residents another chance to comment; the hearing was deleted from the Jan. 16 agenda.

Because China has minimal zoning, commercial development is allowed almost everywhere in town if the developer can meet ordinance criteria. The criteria include traffic safety, lack of adverse effects in adjacent property values and the most discussed in the Varney case, the requirement that the project “will not have a significant detrimental effect on the use and peaceful enjoyment of abutting property as a result of noise, vibrations, fumes, odor, dust, glare or other cause.”

VASSALBORO: Groups agree communications are good among agencies

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by Mary Grow

At the instigation of new board member John Melrose, Vassalboro selectmen invited town emergency responders to their Jan. 11 meeting to talk about response to the October 2017 windstorm, which left many parts of town without electricity for days.

Representatives of police and fire departments, First Responders and the public works department agreed that cooperation among town agencies was generally good. The main area of misunderstanding, Fire Chief Eric Rowe said, was between local residents and Central Maine Power Company. He questioned whether CMP officials put as much emphasis on public safety as local people do.

Rowe said emergency responders cannot touch anything that touches a power line, like a tree blocking a road, no matter how sure neighbors are the line is dead. Should a generator be feeding into the line, anyone trying to remove the tree could be electrocuted.

Consequently, he said, firefighters had to tell frustrated residents they could not help until CMP showed up. When the firefighters left, residents often dealt with the problem themselves, he said, despite the danger. The policy leaves no one happy.

Road Foreman Eugene Field added that he offered equipment to assist CMP, but his offers were not accepted.

Vassalboro emergency personnel recognized that CMP and imported crews were dealing with a major situation and delays were unavoidable.

Field said his crew and state transportation people had no problems working together.

When Melrose asked about hypothetical future needs, the only suggestion was a large well-equipped emergency shelter with handicapped access and a guaranteed power supply.

Selectmen dealt with routine business items for the rest of the meeting, including:

  • Completing the sale of a tax-acquired former subdivision on Ilona Drive;
  • Renewing the annual agreement with Kennebec Water District for operation of the China Lake outlet dam in East Vassalboro; and
  • Signing a letter of intent to apply for Community Development Block Grant funds on behalf of Vassalboro Sanitary District to help with the planned hook-up of Vassalboro sewers to Waterville and Winslow.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday evening, Jan. 25, at the new time, 6:30 p.m. Town Manager Mary Sabins said the agenda is likely to include an updated presentation on LED streetlights.

Erskine to hold parent/teacher conferences

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Erskine Academy has scheduled Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, January 17, from 3 to 7:30 p.m. (snow date will be Thursday, January 18). Progress reports will be emailed to parents by January 16. For those parents who have not yet submitted a primary email address, please stop by the Guidance Office for a printed copy of your student’s progress report. No appointments are necessary as teachers will be available to speak with parents in their respective classrooms. Refreshments will be available in the library and the Sports Boosters will be selling Erskine apparel and other merchandise during the evening.

In addition, a representative from the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) will be at the school to present information on paying for college. Soup and salad will be served in the cafeteria from 5 – 5:30 p.m., for attendees. The FAME presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria and will end at approximately 6:20 p.m. In addition to financial aid information, the Guidance Department will provide information about course offerings and dual enrollment opportunities.

Please feel free to contact the Guidance Office at 445-2964 with any questions or concerns regarding this information.