Cpl. Eugene Cole’s wife leads a charge for community

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Some of the hundreds of placards along the motorcade route to Cpl. Eugene Cole’s funeral at the Cross Insurance Center, in Bangor. (Photo by Tawni Lively, Central Maine Photography staff)

by Mark Huard

On April 25, there was literally a shot fired in the heart of Somerset County. Corporal Eugene Cole is a 13-year veteran of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, and on that date his life was viciously taken from him, his family and his “Brothers in Brown.”

This county is used to its share of tragedy, but this hit like none other. Corporal Cole was a real person that epitomized country life and honest living. He was professional and kind to all those he came into contact with.

In many ways, this act took an icon in the county and brought the residents to their proverbial knees. What happened next is a charge, a charge led by those seemingly the most impacted. The wife of Cpl. Cole, and Sheriff Dale Lancaster stood up, and with a battered heart they found the courage to lead a charge. Mrs. Cole picked herself up and she brought a community together by speaking calmly and with the wisdom and benevolence that her husband lived each day of his career.

At this point, something magical began to happen. The people of Somerset County stood up, grabbed a hold of their emotions and followed the lead of Mrs. Cole and Sheriff Lancaster until the capture of the man that took Cpl. Cole from us all occurred. Community members brought food, gifts, supplies and whatever else was needed. The law enforcement officers worked tirelessly and selflessly to continue to protect the community. Law enforcement from all over New England and the state came to assist.

As the capture of the suspect occurred, the community didn’t stop. They began working on the next task at hand, which was to honor Cpl. Eugene Cole. This charge was again led by his wife, who pledged to forever remain his wife and never be called a widow. She showed more courage and grace than imagineable and she rallied her family together. She ensured they held their heads high as the patriarch of the family would have wanted, because after all if you hang your head then you better be praying.

Cpl. Eugene Cole

The day of the funeral was a day of closure for many closest to Cpl. Cole. The streets of the county were lined with officers, firemen, security guards, business owners, students and concerned citizens. A flag hung in the center of town and evoked through this sadness a sense of pride. Pride to be a member of this county, built on hard work and a genuine desire to be better today than yesterday.

So while this was a day of closure for Cpl. Eugene Cole’s family, perhaps it was a day of new beginnings for the community. This county came together in a way that was virtually gone in recent days. It’s apparent that Cpl. Cole’s work was not done, it was just done here on earth. His last call on earth, but certainly not his last call. His family and the close to 4,000 people in attendance at his funeral paid their respects to a law enforcement officer that gave his life to protect others. His family conducted themselves with dignity and respect and again led the charge for the rest of community to follow.

Dennis Heath named new China 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).

by Mary Grow

China selectmen have chosen as the new town manager Dennis Heath, an Oklahoman who will be moving to China.

Heath is expected to start appearing at the town office late in May, for a month’s training before current Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux retires June 30.

Selectmen made the announcement at the end of their May 14 meeting, which included another long discussion of the already much-discussed fire pond on Neck Road and varied other items.

Repeating their finding that the fire pond was dug incorrectly, with too-steep sides, selectmen decided they need to wait for a plan from an A. E. Hodson engineer before talking about additional costs.

Meanwhile, however, they authorized spending up to $1,000 from their contingency fund to spread the pile of clay dug up to make the pond that is obstructing planting a field. Tom Michaud, on whose land the pond was dug, offered to use his bulldozer at no charge to assist the contractor with the work.

Abutting landowner Leo Panda attended the meeting and supported the pond as valuable protection for the neighborhood, as long as he’s not asked for funds and his water supply is not affected.

Board Chairman Robert MacFarland blamed “ill-advisement” for the steep-sided pond. The to-be-engineered revised version is tentatively planned to have sloping sides plus a shelf about three feet below the water line as a safety measure in case a person or animal falls in.

Meanwhile, Michaud said, someone who did fall in could get into Panda’s side of the hole and get out from there.

The fire pond has already cost the entire $8,500 voters approved in November 2017. Additional funding will require voter approval; since a November vote would be late to start construction, MacFarland mentioned the possibility of calling a special town meeting.

Selectman and Bicentennial Coordinator Neil Farrington is pictured with the time capsule that will be buried beneath an obelisk near the town office, to be opened in 2118. (Contributed photo)

In other business May 14, selectman and Bicentennial Coordinator Neil Farrington showed plans for a granite obelisk to be put up near the old town house beside the town office, with a time capsule to be buried under it and opened the first day of summer 2118.

Farrington is planning a ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 9, at the obelisk site. If Heath is available, he would like to follow it with an informal welcome party for the new manager.

Selectmen appointed Jean Conway and George Weber to the Comprehensive Plan Committee and Conway also to the China for a Lifetime and Tax Increment Finance committees.

Selectman Irene Belanger reminded those present of the Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 budget vote scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at the Performing Arts Center at Messalonskee High School, in Oakland. Selectmen signed China’s warrant for the June 12 referendum at which local voters in the five RSU towns will accept or reject the budget approved May 17.

Because the next regular selectmen’s meeting date would be Memorial Day, board members rescheduled the meeting. As of May 14, it is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29.

China TIF committee members get update on causeway, other projects

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The causeway bridge update by Joe McLean, from Wright-Pierce Engineers, was intended as part of a public information session. (Contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

China’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Committee members got an update on the causeway and other projects and on internal application forms and heard more fund requests at their May 7 meeting.

The causeway bridge update by Joe McLean, from Wright-Pierce Engineers, was intended as part of a public information session, but only people who had business with the committee attended the meeting.

The causeway project starts with replacing the current bridge at the head of China Lake’s east basin. Future plans include making more room for recreational use east of the bridge, including additional parking. McLean had an artist’s rendering with a bigger boat ramp and large new areas of concrete north of the causeway and some on the lake side.

McLean showed plans for a new bridge that will be close to 50 feet wide, with a wider two-way lane for vehicles, a 10-foot pedestrian way on the lake side and an eight-foot space on the muldoon (north) side for ATVs and snowmobiles.

The bridge will be enough higher than the current one to let canoes and kayaks pass under it.

Working in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Army Corps of Engineers, McLean expects to have needed permits within the next two months. Meanwhile, he said, Wright-Pierce is ready to seek bids on the work, which is scheduled to be done in October and November of this year, during China Lake’s fall drawdown.

McLean said Maine Department of Transportation officials told him the Causeway Road speed limit is 45 miles an hour – left over, people suggested, from the days when Routes 202 and 9 went across the causeway and through China Village. The bridge is therefore being designed to safely accommodate pedestrians, recreational vehicles and 45-mile-an-hour traffic.

The MDOT might do a speed study, McLean said, and the study might result in a lower speed limit, especially if it showed that most traffic moves at less than 45 miles an hour. Several people endorsed a lower limit.

TIF Committee members voted unanimously to start studying the proposed next phase of the project, which includes parking, the boat launch and reconfiguring the shoreline. They hope to make enough progress by late September to know whether future plans will require any changes in the bridge plan.

In other business, Christopher Hahn, chairman of the China for a Lifetime Committee, reported that the committee is working on improving communication within the town, especially to and from the town office.

Landis Hudson from Maine Rivers said the project to restore alewife access to China Lake is proceeding, with one of the Outlet Stream dams removed, a second to be removed in 2019 and fishways planned at the others.

Neither Hahn nor Hudson asked for TIF funds. Committee members did hear two fund requests, one indefinite and one with a preliminary price tag.

Robert O’Connor and Tod Detre of the Broadband Committee are still exploring ways to expand and improve internet access in town. They are considering various alternatives, including one that would require one or two more telecommunications towers. TIF Committee Chairman Amber McAllister asked them to develop a proposal with a cost estimate.

Anita Smith repeated her request for funds for a building in the China School Forest behind China Primary School. Local contractor Blane Casey designed a four-season center for storage, programs and classes, at an estimated cost of $270,000.

McAllister asked for other, less costly designs and whether grant money could supplement town funds.

The TIF Committee does not yet have an application form for people seeking funds. Committee members agreed they need one.

Also lacking is an application form for the planned Revolving Loan Fund. Amy Gartley, head of the RLF subcommittee, said the group has a draft form and a draft program outline. The RLF is intended to provide bridge loans for China businesses seeking to open or to expand.

As the meeting ended, Joann Austin reminded committee members that China’s comprehensive plan puts gaining public access to China Lake as a high priority.

CORRECTION: This article previously stated incorrectly that Landis Hudson was with American Rivers. He is not. He is with the Maine Rivers organization. We apologize for the error.

Vassalboro board of appeals schedules two meetings; Denico veggie stand, Welch permit

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

by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro Board of Appeals has two meetings scheduled, one tentatively on May 15 and one on May 22, both at 7 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

On May 15, board members plan to hear Parker Denico’s request for a variance from shorefront setback requirements, if Denico submits his application soon enough. He seeks to open a seasonal vegetable stand in North Vassalboro less than 100 feet from Outlet Stream, and learned at the May 1 Planning Board meeting that he cannot get a Planning Board shoreland permit unless the Board of Appeals first grants him a variance.

The May 22 meeting, a continuance of the board’s May 8 meeting, is to hear Jonathan Blumberg’s appeal of a permit granted by the codes officer to Bernard Welch. At the May 22 meeting Blumberg objected that the required notices in a newspaper and to abutters had not been given.

Owners of properties sharing a boundary line with the Welch property at 78 South Stanley Hill Road were notified, but not those across the road. Attorney Kristen Collins said if South Stanley Hill Road is a state-owned road, across-the-street residents are not abutters. Since no one knew whether the road is owned by the state, the town or perhaps the property-owners on either side, Collins advised sending additional notices.

Vassalboro selectmen appoint Conservation Commission member; award bulk waste contract

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

by Mary Grow

In addition to approving the warrant for the June 4 and 12 town meeting, Vassalboro selectmen dealt with two other issues at their May 1 meeting.

They appointed Laura Jones as a new member of the Vassalboro Conservation Commission for three years.

On Town Manager Mary Sabins’ recommendation, they awarded the bid for hauling bulky waste – mattresses, furniture and similar items – to low bidder Central Maine Disposal, also for three years.

Sabins is not optimistic about trash disposal in the near future. With the opening of the new Fiberight facility postponed from April to at least September, many communities are landfilling trash; and prices for most recyclables have dropped dramatically, she said.

All three Vassalboro selectmen are philosophically opposed to landfilling on environmental grounds, but they accepted it as a temporary measure.

They agreed that they will not abandon Vassalboro’s single-sort recycling program, regardless of current financial effects. They hope they or larger recyclers can store materials until prices rebound.

Sabins said Public Works Department head Eugene Field reported the town’s cemeteries and lawns have been cleared of winter debris and are ready to be mowed.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17.

Vegetable stand gets site approval in Vassalboro; still needs shoreland zoning permit

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

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members were able to give Parker Denico one of the two permits he needs for a seasonal vegetable stand in North Vassalboro. For the other, he needs to go first to the Board of Appeals.

Denico said he would like to build his stand on Ray Breton’s Main Street lot, near the gazebo. Planning Board members found he needed a site review permit for the business. They went through the site review criteria and unanimously approved that permit, finding the new business would have no adverse impacts on the neighborhood.

Denico also needs a shoreland zoning permit to put the temporary building less than 250 feet from Outlet Stream. He estimated the distance to the stream at 50 feet or maybe a little more, well within the 100 feet where no new building is allowed without a variance from the setback requirement.

Board members told Denico only the bard of appeals can grant variances. The variance, if approved, would go with the land, not with Denico’s business, Board Chairman Virginia Brackett said, so Breton would benefit as well.

Breton tore down a house that had been even closer to Outlet Stream, and local ordinances say such a non-conforming building can be replaced within one year, board members said. However, they and Codes Officer Richard Dolby found the house was torn down more than a year ago and Breton’s application to replace it had expired. Denico plans a stand that would be a maximum of 10 by 20 feet, he said. He would like to open in June and plans to close no later than the end of October. He grows cucumbers himself and intends to sell produce from other area growers, starting with strawberries from Benton if he can get the stand approved and open early enough.

The board of appeals already had a May 8 meeting scheduled. Dolby said he would ask members how soon they could meet again to hear Denico’s variance request.

Vassalboro proposed budget shows 0.90 mil rate increase

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

by Mary Grow

After hours of meetings, Vassalboro school and town officials have come up with a budget to present to voters on June 4 that pleases few if any of them.

The major problem is that if voters approve the expenditures proposed by the school board and selectmen, they will increase their tax rate by 0.90 mils (90 cents for each $1,000 of valuation), from the current 14.55 mils to a projected 15.45 mils. According to figures Town Manager Mary Sabins prepared for the May 2 selectmen’s meeting at which the town meeting warrant articles were approved:

  • The proposed $2.061 million municipal budget for 2018-19 has gone up a little more than two percent over the current year, but because non-tax revenues are expected to increase, the municipal budget will require over $27,000 less in taxes.
  • The $335,327 Kennebec County tax, which the town is obligated to pay, is up four percent, adding close to $13,000 due from taxes.
  • The $7.731 million school budget, by far the largest of the three, will require well over $328,000 in additional tax revenue, by Sabins’ calculations.

The town meeting warrant consists of 56 articles to be decided June 4 and two more that voters will act on at the polls on June 12, ratifying or rejecting the school budget approved June 4 and electing local officials (one selectman and one school board member).

The June 4 open meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Vassalboro Community School. In addition to budget issues, voters will elect budget committee members, set various policies and approve or reject amendments to Vassalboro’s Building Permit Ordinance. There are currently two vacancies on the budget committee, and Elizabeth Reuthe said she does not intend to serve again.

After long discussions, the budget committee voted to differ with selectmen on one expenditure article and with school board members on another.

The selectmen propose setting aside $37,500 from taxes for two reserve funds, $25,000 to go toward a new plow truck and $12,500 as half the estimated cost of a new metal roof on the Riverside fire station. The budget committee recommends the same amounts, but advocates taking the $37,500 from the town’s surplus (also known as unassigned or undesignated fund balance) instead of from taxes.

In the school budget, the school board recommends for Vassalboro Community School administration $329,119.48, a 14 percent increase from the current year, primarily because the incoming principal will command a higher salary than the outgoing one. The budget committee recommends $279,119.48, or $50,000 less.

Several budget committee members said their goal is to make sure there is a debate over school spending on June 4. In recent years, voters impatient to end the meeting have approved voting on all the school budget articles as a group, an action that has had the effect of limiting discussion.

The school board approved its budget recommendations at a special meeting on April 25, after earlier discussions in March and April. The vote was not unanimous; Susan Tuthill was absent and Jessica Clark voted against the budget request, explaining afterward that she believes the resulting tax increase is “too much for the town.”

School board members have repeatedly revised the budget downward. At the April 25 meeting, AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 Superintendent Eric Haley and Finance Director Paula Pooler presented what they consider the final cuts and rearrangements they can safely recommend.

They hope for state approval for two new buses this year. They could ask for one, Haley said – and risk student safety. Similarly, they could assume one fewer home-schooler will enter high school at town expense in 2018-19 – and risk a major hole in the budget.

School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur and retiring Principal Dianna Gram urged support of the budget request. Gram said Vassalboro Community School is dealing with the difficult task of accommodating special-needs students without shortchanging regular students. The number of very expensive out-of-district placements has declined during her tenure, she said, especially since the school’s student support center opened.

Gram said 29 percent of VCS students need some kind of special help. School board member Jolene Clark Gamage expects the number will increase, primarily due to Maine’s drug problem.

If voters reject the budget, Pooler said the only way to get a meaningful decrease would be to cut personnel, a move Haley said “would decimate the school.”

Budget committee members are distressed at the tax increase, and also unhappy with the school board’s decision to sign a three-year contract to continue using Waterville’s central office services despite the dissolution of the AOS. Several committee members suggested school board members had accepted Haley’s advice to stay with Waterville without adequately researching alternatives.

Budget committee members pointed out repeatedly that school choice – allowing Vassalboro high school students to go wherever they want – is a costly option. Eliminating choice and requiring town-supported students to attend only one high school would need voters’ approval, and they are aware that school choice has wide support among residents.

China planners talk about procedures, ordinance changes

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members spent their April 24 meeting talking about board procedures and potential ordinance amendments.

Two procedural questions revolved around signing the formal findings of fact document to support their April 10 approval of Wesley and Susan Horton’s permit to open a teen leadership camp at 24 Pond Hill Road.

The first issue was whether board members were reopening review of the criteria on which they previously voted. They decided they were not, and that in the future the board chairman and the codes officer could sign the findings of fact, representing the board.

The other question was when the Fire Marshal’s permit had to be in Codes Officer Paul Mitnik’s hand. Obtaining the Fire Marshal’s permit was made a condition for getting China’s permit for the project; so board members concluded Mitnik should not give the Hortons their final okay until they have it.

Mitnik said he found discrepancies in China’s land use ordinances and suggested an approach to correction, which board members seemed to like. They have been reviewing the definitions section of the ordinance for the last several months, as time permitted, and might eventually ask voters to approve changes.

The codes officer also suggested revising and re-presenting the part of the proposed amendments to match town requirements with state guidelines that China voters rejected in 2016 and 2017. Although board members agreed neither the present ordinance nor the state guidelines are entirely satisfactory, they decided not to pursue the issue now.

Chairman Tom Miragliuolo said he planned to submit names of two volunteers for a new committee to update China’s comprehensive plan to selectmen at their April 30 meeting. More volunteers are welcome; Planning board members would like to have a committee of six or eight people, at least.

The next regular planning board meeting is scheduled for May 8.

China selectmen revisit causeway project, fire pond

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Neck Road fire pond, winter 2018

by Mary Grow

At their April 30 meeting, China selectmen returned to two often-discussed issues, the causeway project at the head of China Lake’s east basin and the fire pond dug last fall off Neck Road.

Board members are concerned about reports that the steep sides of the fire pond are falling in, moving it closer to Neck Road and creating a possibly dangerous situation. After reviewing alternatives, including guard rails, creating sloping sides and filling in the pond, they decided they can do no more until they talk with landowner Tom Michaud, due back from Florida in a day or two. Board Chairman Robert MacFarland said he and Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux will meet with Michaud as soon as possible.

On the causeway project, board members compared engineering companies’ quoted prices for different phases of the work to replace the causeway bridge and reassigned oversight responsibility from A. E. Hodson of Waterville to Topsham-based Wright-Pierce. They decided since they already hired Wright-Pierce to design and bid out the project, it is the logical entity to supervise the work of the contractor selectmen choose to do the work.

L’Heureux said A. E. Hodsdon is engineering two other China projects, Hunter Brook culvert replacements on Bog Brook and Pleasant View Ridge roads. The town has a $95,000 stream crossing grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection to cover two-thirds of the estimated $142,000 cost of the Pleasant View Ridge Road culvert, the manager said, with the rest to come from town funds.

The TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Committee will offer interested residents information on the causeway project at the beginning of its May 7 meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room. TIF money is funding the work, part of a larger plan to enhance recreational uses at the head of the lake.

In other business April 30, Selectman Irene Belanger announced that the RSU (Regional School Unit) #18 meeting at which registered voters from the five member towns vote on the 2018-19 budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at Messalonskee High School’s Performing Arts Center in Oakland. The meeting is open; voters will have a chance to ask questions and propose budget amendments. The budget voters approve May 17 will be subject to validation or rejection by written ballot in all five towns on June 12, along with state primary elections and any other local questions.

On Tuesday, May 8, Belanger said, Thurston Park Committee members will meet at 7 p.m. at the town office to plan the annual spring clean-up in the town-owned park. People who are not committee members are welcome to help, as they have done in past years. Those interested should contact Belanger, committee Chairman Jeanette Smith or the town office.

Selectmen made four appointments to a new Comprehensive Planning Committee charged with updating China’s comprehensive plan. Members so far are Joann Austin, Irene Belanger, Kevin Rhoades and Carrol White III. Others interested should contact the town office.

Selectman Jeffrey LaVerdiere commented on residents who rake their lawns and throw the leaves and other trash into China Lake. Several people said the practice is both environmentally unsound and a violation of state law.

Selectman Neil Farrington said the selectmen have 30 applications from people interested in succeeding L’Heureux as town manager when he retires at the end of June. Board members went into executive session after their meeting to begin review of the newest applications.

Ice out…boats in!

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Photo courtesy town of China

It’s official! Ice is finally out on China Lake, following what seemed an endless winter. The Town Line’s judge ruled ice went out on the lake on Monday, April 23, 2018. With her dead-on correct guess of April 23, Maggie Hanigan, of North Vassalboro, is the winner of the 2018 ice out contest.