The Vassalboro Historical Society will hold its annual meeting and potluck supper at the Grange Hall on Main Street in East Vassalboro, on Thursday September 21, at 6 p.m. The program will feature Pearley Lachance of Winslow, speaking on real-life superheroes – World War II Veterans from Vassalboro and Central Maine.
At their Sept. 5 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members used their revised shoreland zoning ordinance for the second time since the June town meeting, approving an application to enlarge a camp at 138 Park Lane on Three Mile Pond.
Donald and Linda Lathrop got approval at the board’s August meeting to put a roof over an entrance. At the time, Codes Officer Richard Dolby told them they are now allowed a 15 percent expansion, in addition to the previous expansion in 2006.
The Lathrops therefore applied to add a screened porch to the side of the camp.
Board members found the proposed 218-square-foot expansion met the 15 percent limit and did not extend any closer to the high-water mark and unanimously approved the project.
An intense line of strong thunderstorms passed through the area with the winds uprooting this tree at the home of David “Bucky” Redmonds, on Brooks St., in Fairfield. Braden Littlefield, 11, of Fairfield, surveys the damage.
A Hannaford program has selected Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village, to be a part of the exciting and innovative Hannaford Cause Bag program, which is specially designed to support local nonprofits.
For every Hannaford Helps reusable bag purchased at the Hannaford located in South China during the month of September, $1 is donated to the library’s cause in order to help us fulfill their mission.
Tom Parent, president of the board of trustees says, “We continually appreciate all the support you give, which has allowed ACBM China Library to maintain the work we do in our community. The Hannaford Cause Bag program is a simple and fun way to continue this support.”
Please visit the Hannaford store located at South China during the month of September and buy the specially designed bag with the good karma message.
“Imagine if every one of our supporters purchases just one bag!” Parent continues. “What if everyone bought two! and, purchasing these beautiful Hannaford Helps reusable bags will support us while also helping to eliminate paper/plastic use.”
The board asks that individuals pass this exciting news on to your friends and family. Let them know that the Hannaford Helps bags are located on the reusable bag rack and at various registers.
The old Weeks Mills one-room schoolhouse, built in 1860 — newly upgraded with Wifi and electricity!
by Eric W. AustinFunny how you can spend half your life in a place and still discover something new, I think, as I head down Old Weeks Mills Road to a meeting with China’s Bicentennial Committee.
The meeting is being held in the old Weeks Mills one-room schoolhouse.
Blue lights blink at me as I enter: a modem plugged into the wall just inside. It seems out of place in such an historic setting. The building was restored seven years ago and gleams with clean, whitewashed walls and dark, stained-wood floors.
Wifi and electricity are two modern conveniences that Neil Farrington, China selectman and local history enthusiast, hopes will encourage the next generation to use the building.
“It’s the perfect place for tutoring or to do homework,” he tells me as we wait for the other committee members to arrive.
He’s right. It sounds like a library in here. I feel compelled to use my inside voice.
We’re soon joined by Betty Glidden, who attended class in this very schoolhouse until the eighth grade, her husband Sherwood, and Bob Bennett, a retired history teacher who taught at Erskine Academy, in South China.
The committee has been tasked with planning celebrations for China’s 200th anniversary next year. The talk turns to the many unknown – and unnoticed – places of historical interest in China and the surrounding areas.
“We once had more than 20 schoolhouses just like this one in the areas of China, Weeks Mills and Branch Mills alone,” says Neil. “Imagine that!”
“And there are a ton of little cemeteries all over the place,” I say. “I bet they each have a story to tell.”
“Twenty-eight,” Neil supplies. “Maybe more.”
Neil is big on getting the community involved. Everybody agrees. Bob Bennett tells us how he encouraged his students to conduct interviews to add color to their term papers. Heads nod. China has a rich, deep history, but it’s locked away in the minds of its older citizens and hidden in quiet corners of the landscape.
I pipe up and offer to interview some of our senior residents and share their unique experiences with readers of The Town Line.
“Before they’re lost forever,” says Bob. The prospect is sobering for this little group of history buffs.
A reverence settles over us as we shuffle out of the little schoolhouse. There’s something about considering the vastness of history: you get the sense both of your own insignificance and yet also of our eternal connection to what has gone before.
Do you know someone with a story to tell? Contact The Town Line at townline@fairpoint.net or visit our contact page !
From left to right, U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA, Laurie Osgood, CEO of UniTel, and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel after UniTel was presented with the Smart Rural Community Award during a ceremony in Unity. Contributed photo
Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association, visited UniTel this month to formally present the Unity-based telecommunications company with its Smart Rural Community award. Bloomfield, joined by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and U.S. Senator Angus King, presented the award in front of an audience at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts, before a listening session on improving broadband infrastructure.
“Historically enjoying Maine’s quality of life has come at a price,” said Laurie Osgood, CEO of UniTel. “Now technology has changed so much that it is possible to do the work traditionally performed in the big city from the most rural parts of Maine. Our role is to make sure that our infrastructure can support anyone who wants to live and work here. The leadership of Senator King and FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel has been vital in realizing the goals of closing the digital divide. The Smart Rural Community designation is a direct reflection of our team’s hard work. We live and work in these rural communities, so this award means a lot to us.”
UniTel received word nearly a year ago that it had earned the designation as a Smart Rural Community. Such a designation put the Maine-based company in an elite class with other broadband providers in rural areas. The Smart Rural Community designation was only awarded to eleven other companies nationally, and UniTel is the first Maine-based company to receive the award.
The 2016 Smart Rural Community award follows UniTel’s construction of nearly 100 miles of its Bluestreak fiber to the home (FTTH) network in its service area and beginning late last year in downtown Belfast. Other selection criterial of note included UniTel’s lead role in promoting and sponsoring free digital literacy training in the areas it serves. This is the second national award received by UniTel in as many years for its efforts to expand access to broadband in rural Maine.
“A broadband connection is more than a technology – it’s a platform for opportunity,” said Commissioner Rosenworcel. “No matter who you are or where you live, you need access to modern communications to have a fair shot at 21st century success.”
“Reliable rural broadband access is essential to strengthen and diversify Maine’s economy,” said Senator King. “Rural broadband can help entrepreneurs grow their business, enable farmers to practice precision agriculture and access new markets, and help students learn in an expanding digital world.”
At their Aug. 22 meeting, China Planning Board members unanimously approved Troy Bulmer’s application to turn a large garage on his property at 151 Dirigo Road into a storage facility for motorcycles, jet-skis, boats and similar seasonal motorized items.
His plan, Bulmer told board members, is that people will bring in their equipment in the fall, remove batteries and go away until spring. He plans no additional outside lighting, new construction or other external changes.
Board members voted unanimously that no public hearing was needed, given the distance from neighbors’ property, lack of external changes and minimal impact on traffic on Dirigo Road. They found Bulmer’s plan met all ordinance criteria.
The only reservation was about fire protection for the apartment on the second floor, which Bulmer said is occupied. Board members considered requiring changes, like additional insulation above the garage. Ultimately, they left it to Codes Officer Paul Mitnik to determine what, if anything, Bulmer needs to do.
Mitnik said under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), he must issue a certificate of occupancy, for which he needs to inspect the property.
Bulmer said if he is required to do extensive rebuilding he’ll abandon the project. After the discussion of Bulmer’s project, board members turned again to review of town land use ordinances, in which Mitnik has discovered inconsistencies and gaps. Board Chairman James Wilkens’ offer to draft clarifications of the first few definitions, as needed, and bring them to the Sept. 12 board meeting was accepted.
Mitnik expects at least two applications will be on the Sept. 12 agenda.
China selectman, Joann Austin
Joann Austin is retiring from the China Board of Selectmen on Nov. 1, with a year left of her current term, because, she said, she has been sick all summer.
Board Chairman Neil Farrington announced her pending resignation at the Aug. 21 board meeting. Board members accepted her decision with deep regret. Former Selectman Robert MacFarland led a round of applause from the audience in appreciation of her many years of service.
Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said nomination papers for a one-year term as selectman would be available Aug. 22. Signed papers will be due by 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, along with all other papers for candidates’ names to appear on the Nov. 7 local ballot.
Nomination papers are already available for two two-year terms on the Board of Selectmen (Irene Belanger’s and Ronald Breton’s terms end this year); three two-year terms on the Planning Board (representatives from District 1, currently James Wilkens, and District 3, currently Milton Dudley, and the alternate position held by Ralph Howe, elected from the town at large); and three two-year terms on the Budget Committee (Chairman Robert Batteese, District 1 representative Kevin Maroon and District 3 representative Sheryl Peavey).
All incoming freshmen or new students and their parents are invited to attend the Erskine Academy New Student Orientation on Monday, August 28, at 6:30 p.m., in the gym. The administration strongly encourages all new students to attend this event as it is an opportunity to become further acquainted with the faculty, facilities, and programs at Erskine. The first day of school for freshmen only will be Tuesday, August 29.
China selectmen have unanimously approved a 2017-18 tax rate of 15.9 mils, or $15.90 for each $1,000 of valuation, an increase of 40 cents per $1,000 over last year’s rate.
Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said at the board’s Aug. 21 meeting the main reason for the increase is lower state funding for education, requiring local property owners to make up the difference. Also, he said, the homestead exemption for primary residences goes up from $15,000 to $20,000, saving a little money for homeowners but adding to taxes on businesses and seasonal homes.
Selectmen heard a presentation on school spending plans from new Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley, one of three preliminary discussions of Nov. 7 local ballot items.
RSU #18 proposes seeking approval from voters in its member towns (Belgrade, China, Oakland, Rome and Smithfield) for a $14 million bond issue for repairs and updates to several school buildings plus a new athletic complex for Messalonskee High School.
Gartley, a former Erskine Academy teacher and China Middle School principal, shared a table showing that more than $2.4 million of the total amount borrowed would go to China schools, mostly for improvements to the older middle school.
If the bond issue is approved and the work is done, he said, the long-discussed possibility of closing the middle school and enlarging China Primary School would be put off for at least another 20 years.
China Middle School is the second most costly project on Gartley’s list, exceeded only by the $2.8 million earmarked for Oakland’s Williams Elementary School.
Selectman Ronald Breton objected to the bond issue, especially to the plan to include $3 million for the new athletic complex which, he said, very few China students would use.
“My responsibility is this town,” Breton said, urging that the $3 million be made a separate proposal. He added when one of the RSU #18 directors so moved at a board meeting, at Breton’s instigation, the board voted 9 to1 against the proposal.
Gartley fears if the two issues are separated, voters will reject both. He disagreed that China gains less from RSU membership than the other towns; the town has gained academically, in terms of district financial support for building renovations and especially in special education, he said.
He remembered when he was a principal in China searching for appropriate placements for special education students – Erskine Academy, a private school, is not obliged to accept them – and sometimes finding only an expensive alternative that required long bus rides for the student. Now, he said, any RSU #18 student can attend Messalonskee High School.
The second possible Nov. 7 ballot question, to be discussed again at the next selectmen’s meeting, is Board Chairman Neil Farrington’s proposed question that, if approved, would require all nonprofit agencies asking for town funds to provide a financial statement demonstrating their need for the money.
Selectmen considered whether a ballot question is necessary, since a financial statement requirement has been an off-again, on-again policy, and whether information about past spending or future spending plans would be more useful.
A third question likely to be on the ballot is a request, probably for up to $8,000, to create a fire pond on Neck Road, partly on Tom Michaud’s land and partly on an adjoining lot. Michaud said he and China Village Fire Chief Tim Theriault have discussed plans, and selectmen said the other landowner does not object.
Selectmen asked L’Heureux to draft both questions for discussion at their next meeting. They have until mid-September to get local ballot questions in final form.
In other business, L’Heureux reported the state Department of Economic and Community Development approved China’s request to amend its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program. The changes, supported by voters at the March town business meeting, add the new Central Maine Power Company substation off Route 3 to the TIF base and extend the program from 20 years to 30 years.
Selectmen unanimously approved former board member Robert MacFarland’s plan to replace the supporting beams under the former Weeks Mills schoolhouse. MacFarland estimates the cost for the repairs plus adding a handicapped-access ramp to the back of the building at $9,100. L’Heureux recommended payment from the bicentennial fund and the selectmen’s contingency fund.
The board unanimously authorized TIF Committee member Frank Soares to apply for a state grant to enlarge the boat launch at the head of China Lake’s east basin. The committee is also seeking engineers’ plans for a new causeway bridge just west of the boat landing, Michaud said.
Michaud said the next TIF Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Aug. 28. Selectmen rescheduled their next meeting, which would fall on the Labor Day holiday, to 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6.