Vassalboro tax rate raised at town meeting

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Selectman Rob Browne, left, presents the 2018 Spirit of America Award to Steve Polley for his volunteer efforts for the Town Recreation Department and his involvement with the local Scouts Troop, in addition to community projects and fundraisers. The award was presented at the annual town meeting on Monday, June 4, at the Vassalboro Community School. Steve’s wife Hillary and family were present as Steve accepted the award. (Contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

At Vassalboro’s annual town meeting June 4, voters raised their tax rate by 90 cents for each $1,000 of valuation – plus a fraction of a cent more – by siding consistently with the board of selectmen and school board over the more fiscally conservative budget committee and by giving the Family Violence Project more than either the selectmen or the budgeteers recommended.

As the meeting started, Town Manager Mary Sabins said if voters accepted all budget committee recommendations, the tax increase for 2018-19 would be about 31 cents per $1,000. If they accepted all competing recommendations, they would see a 90-cent per $1,000 increase.

On the articles with differing recommendations from two boards:

  • Voters approved $445,805 for town administration, rejecting the budget committee’s recommendation to save $500 by postponing new town office software (Art. 5).
  • They took $37,500 for the capital reserve fund from taxation instead of from the town’s surplus as the budget committee recommended, agreeing with selectmen it was prudent to maintain a healthy savings balance (Art. 7).
  • They approved a public works budget totaling $485,053, allowing $3,000 more for future fuel costs than the budget committee proposed (Art. 8).
  • They rejected the budget committee’s proposal to cut $50,000 from the school budget, specifically from administration at Vassalboro Community School, although the differing recommendations did generate the school budget discussion that Budget Committee members hoped for (Art. 48). When Moderator Richard Thompson reached Art. 34, a list of 11 social service and similar agencies asking for town funds, Holly Weidner urged funding the Family Violence Project at the $4,925 requested, instead of the $2,250 recommended by the selectmen and the budget committee.

Weidner presented statistics showing that domestic violence is a growing problem in Vassalboro. Budget committee member William Browne said the recommendations on that and some of the other agencies were based on flat funding. On a vote of 52 to 34, the higher figure was approved.

Budget committee member Peggy Shaffer and retiring member Elizabeth Reuthe asked for thoughts about long-term approaches to changing school funding, before rising education costs make Vassalboro unlivable.

Shaffer pointed out that school costs are increasing faster than state aid for education, creating an ever-larger local tax burden. Most expenditures are required by law or otherwise fixed, leaving the budget committee few options. She and others also faulted administrators in the now-dissolved AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 for a confusing budget format and delays in getting figures to the budget committee.

Reuthe said that by allowing students their choice of high schools, Vassalboro offers a benefit, but an expensive one. Special education is another cost driver, she and school board member Jolene Gamage said: especially, as more babies are born to drug-addicted mothers, more youngsters will need special attention to succeed in school.

Except for the questions involving differing expenditure recommendations, voters approved the rest of the town meeting warrant with little or no discussion. For example, the proposed generator at Vassalboro Community School and the revised Building Permit Ordinance were approved without discussion.

Rick Denico Jr., Douglas Phillips and Richard Phippen were re-elected to the budget committee, Denico and Phillips for two years and Phippen for one year, to finish Eddie Scholz’s term after Scholz resigned. New budget committee members are Peter Allen, Barbara Redmond and Richard Suga. Voters also:

  • Recognized Steve Polley, winner of this year’s Spirit of America award for volunteerism;
  • Recognized Town Clerk Cathy Coyne for 20 years of service to Vassalboro;
  • Recognized retiring Vassalboro Community School Principal Dianna Gram for 24 years of service at the school; and
  • Heard short presentations from state Senate candidate John Glowa, House District 80 candidate Stephen Ball and District 80 incumbent Richard Bradstreet.

The annual town meeting continues at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 12, in the town office meeting room, with polls open until 8 p.m. for voters to re-approve or reject the school budget approved June 4 and elect two local officials. John Melrose and Gamage are unopposed for re-election to the board of selectmen and the school board, respectively.

Vassalboro Appeals Board upholds permit to So. Stanley Rd. resident

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by Mary Grow

At a May 22 meeting, Vassalboro Board of Appeals members unanimously denied Jonathan Blumberg’s appeal of a March permit granted by Codes Officer Richard Dolby to Bernard Welch of South Stanley Hill Road.

On March 20, Dolby issued a permit to allow Welch to modify a previously-approved auxiliary building, described as a shed for processing vegetables, by adding a stairway to upstairs living quarters. Blumberg believed the permit was improperly granted, for a variety of reasons.

In a preliminary action when the appeal was first presented May 8, Blumberg challenged the adequacy of public notice. Board members John Reuthe, Leon Duff and Gary Coull voted unanimously that notice requirements were met for the May 22 meeting.

Blumberg again challenged the list of abutters who were notified, claiming it should have included residents across South Stanley Hill Road and across Outlet Stream. Welch’s lot with the building for which the permit was issued extends west to the stream; he owns a separate lot on the east side of the road.

Board members, guided by town attorney Kristin Collins, found that Welch’s second lot was not involved and that Outlet Stream is a barrier.

In other preliminary issues, board members rejected Blumberg’s claims that Collins and Reuthe were not impartial. Collins said she had nothing to do with granting the permit. Coull and Duff voted that Reuthe’s connection with Welch’s wife Jody through the Oak Grove Foundation did not constitute conflict of interest or bias.

Oak Grove Foundation spokeswoman Joann Austin said Jody Welch is on the foundation’s board and Reuthe is a candidate for membership who attended an April board meeting.

With the preliminary issues out of the way, Blumberg presented arguments against the permit, starting with Welch’s violation of Vassalboro’s subdivision ordinance in 2015 and 2016. The town ordinance prohibits issuing a permit to someone in violation of any ordinance or who has done something requiring a permit without getting the permit.

He also questioned the validity of the curb cut permit issued by the state Department of Transportation; questioned the type or types of business in which Welch engages, whether farming, a bed-and-breakfast or something else, and whether a site review permit should have been required for a new commercial operation; and claimed the septic system approved with the building was too close to a wetland.

Board members found Welch’s earlier violation had been resolved before the March 2018 permit was issued. They emphatically rejected Blumberg’s interpretation of the town ordinance as meaning that someone who acted without a required permit was thereby forever barred from getting any other town permit.

They ruled that they had no jurisdiction to review the curb cut approved by the state.

They found that the septic system permit had been properly issued, based on information Dolby supplied from state shoreland maps and his report of an inspection by state officials and local soils scientist Jack Lord.

They ruled that the modification to the building did not require a site review permit. Collins read from the town ordinance that site review requirements do not apply to residences, home occupations or agricultural occupations.

Having unanimously rejected Blumberg’s arguments, board members voted unanimously to deny his appeal.

Blumberg asked that his objections to several board actions be recorded. Collins stated Blumberg’s right to ask for a reconsideration or to appeal the board’s decision to Superior Court. The board’s decision is final as of May 22, she said, but board members will need to reconvene at a date to be determined to sign a formal notice of decision in a public meeting.

Ranked choice voting explained, along with summary of people’s veto of RCV

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On June 12, voters will cast ballots in a statewide Special Referendum Election and Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is reminding all Maine voters of an informational resource that can help them make an informed decision at the polls: the 2018 Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/pdf/guide618.pdf .

The Citizen’s Guide is intended to provide as much information as possible so that voters have a convenient resource to educate themselves before casting their ballot. The Department of the Secretary of State, in collaboration with the attorney general, prepared the guide as an unbiased and non-partisan review of the People’s Veto question that voters will consider at the polls this June.

Question 1 asks: “Do you want to reject the parts of a new law that would delay the use of ranked-choice voting in the election of candidates for any state or federal office until 2022, and then retain the method only if the constitution is amended by December 1, 2021, to allow ranked-choice voting for candidates in state elections?

In the guide, voters can read the full text of the People’s Veto legislation, along with an analysis of its intent and content. Voters can also learn the impact of a yes or no vote. Election law also allows for citizen advocacy statements to be published supporting or opposing questions, which provides voters with those viewpoints to consider; one public comment was filed in support of this question and no public comments were filed in opposition.

Voters can request absentee ballots online at http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl via the Secretary of State’s website. Absentee ballots can also be requested in person, by phone or by mail from the voter’s municipal clerk. For more information http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/munic.html.

The final rules governing the tabulation of ranked-choice voting ballots are now available on the Maine Department of the Secretary of State website, along with an animated video  (see above) that shows how the tabulation will work. On June 12, 2018, this method of voting will be used for the first time ever in a statewide election as voters cast their ballots in the primary election.

The Ranked-Choice Voting Resources page offers several informational resources for voters who are seeking to educate themselves about ranked-choice voting, including:

  • the final version of the rules that will govern tabulation of the votes;
  • an animation explaining how the ranked-choice ballot can be marked and the tabulation;
  • sample ballots for the four ranked-choice voting races;
  • sample marked ballots with explanations of how such markings will be tabulated;
  • frequently asked questions (FAQ);
  • a printable .pdf “RCV Fact Sheet” for voters to review and share with others;
  • an implementation plan showing the Department’s progress and preparation; and a timeline showing how the State of Maine came to use this voting method.

Public Comment Period is Now Open On Wording of November Referendum Question.

Demacratic Sample ballot

To vote, fill in the oval. To rank your candidate choices, fill in the oval; In the first column for your first choice candidate; in the second column, for your second choice candidate, and so on. Continue until you have ranked as many or as few candidates as you like. FILL IN NO MORE THAN ONE OVAL FOR EACH CANDIDATE OR COLUMN. To rank a write-in candidate, write the person’s name in the write-in space and fill in the oval for the ranking of your choice.

Republican sample ballot

RSU #18 2018 budget hearing scheduled

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Messalonskee Middle School (photo source RSU 18 Messenger)

Regional School Union #18 district budget meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 29, at 6 p.m., in the cafeteria at Messalonskee Middle School, in Oakland.

Julia candidate for Senate District #15 seat

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Kellie Julia

Last year at this time Kellie Julia never thought she would be running for the State Senate Seat in our district, she was deeply mourning the death of her son who passed away in February 2017. But now a year later she is working hard to hopefully win the June 12 primary vote for the Democratic party and then on to the general election in November. Kellie has always been a hardworker, a survivor and strives to be a role model for her daughter and other young people.

Kellie has never been involved with politics before and when asked why she thinks that she would be a good representative of the people of Oakland, China, Sidney, Vassalboro and Augusta, her answer is, “Because I believe the people in our communities need someone who will really listen to them and be their voice in Augusta. I will work hard to make a difference and a much needed change for all of us.”

Kellie’s background is in education and behavioral health. She worked for Child Development Services and in local schools for the past 15 years. Kellie feels that there are funds available within the state’s budget that could be better appropriated to education, mental health services and for senior needs so that her constituents’ taxes do not need to be raised even more than they already have been to fund them. Kellie feels that in the past few years it seems like money just keeps getting taken away from programs that are important to our families in Maine, and she is ready to fight to get those back.

Kellie and her husband Dawson have owned a few small businesses over the years. Their current business is East Coast CBDs, in Unity, and she knows how hard it is to keep a small business operating. She plans on drafting bills that will help small businesses flourish in Maine and hopefully lead to more young people deciding to settle down here. In a state whose median age is 48 she feels we need to start being proactive with ideas to keep our young adults from wanting to leave our beautiful state due to lack of being able to make a sustainable living.

Kellie feels that green energy resources are not only important for the conservation and health of our environment in Maine but are also a way to lower our everyday bills. She is committed to helping all of the residents of our state who would like opportunities to have access to these resources and also tax breaks and incentives for those that utilize them.

Kellie has lived in Maine her entire life. She is proud of her Franco-American heritage. (Her maiden name was Allain.) She resides in China with her husband, daughter Kyli and several furry family members. Please find her information on her webpage and on Facebook at Kellie Julia for State Senate District #15.

Vassalboro board of appeals gives farm stand go ahead

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Board of Appeals members unanimously granted Parker Denico the variance from shoreland requirements that should let him open a farm stand in North Vassalboro.

Raymond Breton’s lot on which Denico has permission to put the stand does not extend far enough east from Outlet Stream to let Denico set the temporary building the required 100 feet from the water. He estimates it will be about 50 feet from the stream. He therefore needed a variance from the setback requirement.

Codes Officer Richard Dolby told the three board of appeals members at the May 15 meeting they are required by the town’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance to find that failure to grant the variance would create an undue hardship. There are four criteria by which “undue hardship” is measured, he said:

  • The “land in question cannot yield a reasonable return” without a variance.
  • The variance is needed “due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general conditions in the neighborhood.”
  • Granting the variance “will not alter the essential character of the locality.”
  • The “hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner.” The ordinance gives the board of appeals the right to impose conditions on any variance granted. Board members added two conditions:
  • The only building allowed will be the planned seasonal farm stand, to operate between June 1 and Oct. 31.
  • The variance will be reviewed after one year.

Dolby was not sure that a temporary, reviewable variance would be accepted by state regulators who oversee variances granted by local boards.

Denico’s next step is to return to the planning board to get his shoreland permit. Since the next regular planning board meeting is not until June 5, a special meeting might be scheduled late in May.

Vassalboro auditor happy with town finances, but not the school’s

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro’s auditor is happy enough with the town’s financial position, but not with the school department’s.

Reviewing the audit for the year that ended June 30, 2017, with selectmen at their May 17 meeting, Ron Smith, director and managing partner of RHR Smith & Company, in Buxton, began by pointing out the inequitable distribution of the total Vassalboro budget, about $7.5 million in school funding and about $2.5 million in municipal funding.

Based on annual expenditures and depending on what time frame is used, a municipality with a $10 million budget should have an unassigned fund balance (also known as an unrestricted or undesignated fund balance, formerly called surplus) of at least $800,000 and maybe more than $2 million, Smith said.

Vassalboro was showing a surplus of around $1.2 million at the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year, or about enough to cover 45 or 50 days’ expenditures in the event of some kind of total national financial catastrophe.

But, Smith said, the surplus is masking a deficit in the annual school budget of more than $325,000 – about $70,000 in annual loss in the school lunch program and the rest in teachers’ salaries to be paid over the summer and not funded in the school budget. “You’ve got a healthy fund balance,” Smith assured selectmen, but if school funds were not counted in with municipal funds, the municipal surplus would be a healthier $1.5 million and the school would be visibly in deficit.

From an auditor’s standpoint, there are two ways to deal with the imbalance, Smith said: raise taxes to cover the school deficit, or ask voters to approve transferring town funds to the school budget. Neither can be presented to voters at the June 4 town meeting, since the articles for the meeting are already approved and being printed.

He recommended two prompt actions:

  • Town Manager Mary Sabins should call the AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 office and find out what the school’s current deficit is, and
  • Selectmen should meet with school board members.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus explained that as of July 1, 2018, the AOS will be dissolved, by the March vote of the member towns, and Vassalboro will have its individual school department. The school board’s plan is to hire a part-time superintendent and to contract with Waterville and Winslow for most of the services now provided by the AOS central office.

Selectmen concluded from listening to Smith that in addition to dealing with school-municipal relations, they need to revise the town’s investment policy, a one-and-one-half page document adopted in 2012. Smith agreed and offered to send Sabins copies of other municipal policies and help her craft one specifically for Vassalboro for selectmen’s review.

In other business, selectmen scheduled a public hearing on the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s application for Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funds to help with the planned sewer connection to Winslow. The hearing will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 31, during the selectmen’s meeting that begins at 6:30 the same evening.

Board members approved a liquor license for a wine and beer tasting event, part of the Save the Mill fund-raising series, scheduled for Saturday, July 7. Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus abstained on the vote, because his wife Linda heads the Vassalboro Business Association that is sponsoring the event.

China welcomes new town manager

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Selectmen Neil Farrington (left) and Bob MacFarland (right) shake hands with China’s new town manager Dennis Heath (middle).

At their May 14 meeting, the China Selectmen introduced Dennis Heath, of Oklahoma, as the new town manager. He will begin appearing at the town office on May 29, and will take over from retiring town manager Dan L’Heureux, on July 1.

China resident named new Maine State Police chief

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From left to right, State Sen. Scott Cyrway, Lt. Col. John-Paul Cote, Tami Cote, Noelle Cote, and State Sen. Rosen. (Contributed photo)

Senator Scott Cyrway congratulated Lt. Col. John-Paul Cote, of China, following a unanimous vote by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to confirm him as the next Chief of the Maine State Police.

“Lt. Col. Cote has dedicated much of his adult life to law enforcement in the state of Maine, and we on the committee are honored that he will be continuing that work with the Maine State Police,” said Sen. Cyrway.

Lt. Col. Cote will be finally confirmed following a vote in the Maine Senate.

China bicentennial committee to bury time capsule

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Bicentennial coordinator Neil Farrington shows off the time capsule that will be buried on June 9, to be recovered 100 years from now.

Neil Farrington, China’s bicentennial coordinator has announced that on Saturday, June 9, at 10 a.m., they will be burying a time capsule for 100 years. The capsule will contain a paper scroll with China grammar school children’s thoughts written in cursive. They will tell what it’s like in the world today and what they imagine life will be like in 100 years.

Why the children? They have an untainted view with their limited knowledge of adult life. They are brutally honest and will not second guess if they are politically correct. Hopefully, with the advancement in medicine and increased longevity, they will be alive to witness the opening of this capsule.

The monument above will celebrate the bicentennial with a granite symbol of the incorporation as the town of China by the Massachusetts Legislators on February 5, 1818. It also shows how the south end (Harlem) joined China in March 1822 and “The Gore” part, of Palermo, in March 1830. On the front will celebrate the first settled date of 1774.

Finally, on a black plaque, it will show the slogan, “The friendliest town in Maine,” and identifying the four distinct villages: China, South China, Weeks Mills and Branch Mills. At the front bottom are instructions to open the time capsule on the first day of summer 2118.

Farrington stated, “Please join in our celebration and enjoy some BBQ chicken cooked by the South China American Legion. The meal and cake are free but only 120 meals will be cooked. Show everyone that we truly are ‘The friendliest town in Maine.’”