CHINA NEWS: Planners adopt mission statement

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members adopted a mission statement and approved an application at their May 23 meeting, both by unanimous votes.

The application approval allows William Pettipas, of New England Imports, 632 Lakeview Drive, to add a 20-by-40-foot bay on his existing commercial garage. Board members had no comments from neighbors; they decided an expansion of an existing business with no changes affecting the neighborhood did not need a public hearing. Before the meeting several board members researched mission statements and three prepared drafts for the China board. The agreed-upon version, based primarily on a draft by Tom Miragliuolo, reads: “It is the mission of the China Planning Board to balance public and private needs while promoting development which integrates environmental protection and community economic goals.”

Board members asked Codes Officer Paul Mitnik to print the statement on future agendas, both as a guide and to give them a chance to reconsider and amend it if necessary.

The next China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 13.

Vassalboro Board approves 5-cent increase in school lunches

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by Mary Grow

At their May 16 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members unenthusiastically approved a five-cent increase in the price of school lunches for next year, because if they didn’t they would risk losing federal subsidy money.

Finance Director Paula Pooler explained that federal funding for school lunch programs depends on a “price adjustment calculator” that says Vassalboro should be charging $2.85, instead of the current $2.60, for each full-price lunch. The federal program allows for gradual adjustment, however, so for 2017-18, $2.65 will satisfy the requirement.

If the board failed to act the federal subsidy might be reduced, Pooler said.

Board members also approved a 2017-18 school calendar, after wondering whether they should build in more than three snow days.

They discussed a letter from Vassalboro selectmen asking them to advertise future school board vacancies and agreed they will post any opening on the school website and notify the town office. By state law, the school board is authorized to appoint a new member to fill a vacancy until the next election, and must act within 30 days, Superintendent Eric Haley said.

Board members unanimously approved advancing 13 probationary teachers, nine moving from first-year to second-year, three moving from second-year to third-year and kindergarten teacher Danielle Smith finishing her probationary period and getting a continuing contract.

They accepted with regret resignations of Katherine Ladd-Cyrway, who is retiring at the end of the year; custodian Claire Young; and Kelly Donato from her position as English Language Arts Curriculum Coordinator. The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 20.

Local resident volunteers to clean and repair cemetery headstones in Vassalboro

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by Mary Grow

At their May 18 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen met resident Jody Kundreskas, who has volunteered to donate her labor and some of the materials to clean and repair old headstones in Vassalboro cemeteries.

Selectmen accepted her offers with pleasure.

Kundreskas said last summer she attended a workshop on proper cleaning and repair techniques; she is insured; and she knows other restorers who can advise as needed. Town Manager Mary Sabins offered the services of the Public Works Department if heavy lifting is required.

Vassalboro’s 27 cemeteries would provide “more than a lifetime of work for me,” Kundreskas said. She plans to start with a single-stone cemetery near her house.

Cemetery Committee Chairman Jane Auidi said there are legal requirements for working on headstones. She believes an annual legal notice in the spring, before work starts, will meet the requirements.

Auidi also reported the cemetery committee plans to use the rest of the Cross Hill cemetery account to finish surveying and laying out plots in the new section of the cemetery.

In other business, Road Commissioner Eugene Field shared results of a traffic speed survey on Church Hill Road early in May. Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus summarized: “Eighty percent of them were going way too fast.”

The road has a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit. Of a total of 1,819 vehicles recorded, 379 were driving within the limit. The highest speed recorded was 67 miles an hour. Selectmen decided they cannot approve Beth Morse’s request for a designated handicapped parking space in front of Hairbuilders on Oak Grove Road, because there is not enough room for the space without extending it into the road.

Sabins plans to discuss with Morse alternative ways to provide safe access to her business for people with canes, walkers or wheelchairs.

Selectmen signed a Spirit of America award certificate to the late Jim Mitchell, to be presented to his widow, Libby Mitchell, at the June 5 town meeting.

They approved a catering permit to allow serving liquor at a June 3 wedding in North Vassalboro.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 1.

Vassalboro News: 66 warrant articles to be decided at town meeting; two more by written ballot

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro’s two-part town meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at Vassalboro Community School, with voters discussing and acting on 66 of the 68 warrant articles. The final two articles will be decided by written ballot on Tuesday, June 13, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.

On June 13, voters will ratify or reject the school budget approved on June 5 and elect members of the Board of Selectmen, School Board and Sanitary District Board of Trustees.

The June 5 agenda includes election of five budget committee members; the 2017-18 municipal and school budgets; enactment of two revised town ordinances; annual requests for permission to sell alewives (river herring) and to put tax revenue from the natural gas pipeline through town into the Program Development Fund, also called the TIF fund; and requests for small donations to a number of in-town and out-of-town nonprofit organizations and social service agencies, including a new request for $1,000 for FAVOR (Friends Advocating for Vassalboro Older Residents).

Also in the warrant are requests for authorizations to:

  • apply for grants to map and inventory town cemeteries;
  • buy out of the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company as the town changes to a new trash disposal option, with expected reimbursement of more than $13,500;
  • apply for state aid to renovate the China Lake boat launch in East Vassalboro, using previously-approved local money as matching funds; and
  • let selectmen use the $4,125.25 proceeds of a fire truck sale to help equip the volunteer fire department’s new truck.

During long discussions of the 2017-18 school budget, Town Manager Mary Sabins calculated that if state school funding currently planned for next year does not increase, if Vassalboro’s property valuation goes up less than usual and if voters approve all town meeting requests, the property tax rate will increase by 88 cents for each $1,000 of valuation, from this year’s 14.05 mils ($14.05 per $1,000) to 14.93 mils.

However, everyone involved in budget negotiations expects the state legislature will increase education funding before the session ends, and Sabins expects a valuation increase similar to previous years’. By the time selectmen set the tax rate in August, they will have firm information, and most town officials expect they will be able to avoid a major tax increase.

To deal with possible state school funding changes, the June 5 warrant includes an unusual final school budget article. It asks voters to require that if state funding exceeds the current figure, the School Board will use part of the additional money to decrease the share of the education budget to be taken from local property taxes.

The two ordinances voters will act on are a revised Shoreland Zoning Ordinance (Art. 24) and a revised Vassalboro Sanitary District Charter (Art. 25). Selectmen held public hearings on both documents at their May 4 meeting.

No one had questions or comments about the Sanitary District charter, which district trustees have said updates their governing document, approved in 1972, to match current conditions and policies.

The Shoreland zoning amendments are the ones that Vassalboro voters rejected in November 2016. Planning Board Chairman Virginia Brackett said many are intended to make Vassalboro’s regulations match the state’s.

The town meeting warrant and copies of the ordinances and of a two-page summary of the differences between current and proposed shoreland zoning rules are available at the town office and on the town web site.

Vassalboro News: One contested race on June 13 ballot

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro voters have one contested race and two vacancies on the local election ballot for June 13.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office. In addition to elections, voters will accept or reject the school budget approved at the June 5 open town meeting and a state bond issue.

The only local contest is for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. Larisa “Reese” Batchelder, of East Vassalboro, is challenging incumbent Lauchlin Titus, of North Vassalboro.

For the school board, there are three openings, two for three-year terms and one for two years to fill out an unfinished term. Erin Loiko, whose term ends this year, seeks reelection; there is no candidate on the ballot for the other three-year position, currently held by Susan Tuthill, who was appointed in 2016 for the remaining months of the late Frederick “Rick” Denico’s term. Jessica Clark is unopposed for a two-year term on the school board. That seat is now held by Lori Fowle, appointed to succeed Elizabeth Mitchell after Mitchell was elected Probate Court judge in November 2016.

On the Sanitary District Board of Trustees, Paul Mitnik’s and treasurer Rebecca Goodrich’s terms end in 2017. Only Goodrich’s name is on the June 13 ballot. Voters have space to write in names for as many positions as are open. The candidate with the most votes, whether listed on the ballot or getting write-in votes, is elected, assuming he or she is willing to serve.

The two candidates for selectman replied to a questionnaire from The Town Line. They were asked what they would like to accomplish if serving on the board of selectmen and what else they would like voters to know about them. Their answers follow. Batchelder, 38, has lived at 371 Main Street, in East Vassalboro, since December 2015. She is co-owner of Cozy Barn Antiques.

Batchelder said: “I go into this venture with an open mind. My goal is to open communication between the community and the board of selectman. I want to have an open mind when listening to the community and only make decisions after they have been heard, not before. I want to be sure that our small town government is free of cliques that can hinder good choices and cause favoritism. My aim is to vote according to the law and the people of Vassalboro of whom I would represent.” (ep)

She added: “I bought my forever home in this town, because I love this town and the people in it. I have made this town the home of my small business and the place my child will grow up. I would like to use my education in political sciences as well as my time and desire for positive change, to be of assistance to the town I love.”

Titus, 62, has lived in Vassalboro 30 years. He is a Certified Professional Agronomist, owner of AgMatters, LLC, “a private agricultural consulting business that works with Maine farmers providing crop consulting services as well as food safety training.” He also has a small farm and sells vegetables from the family home at 1063 Main Street, in North Vassalboro.

Titus wrote that two recent useful developments “are implementation of an Employee Manual and improved handling of the town’s finances with a sound investment strategy and the use of detailed audits. These both need periodic review and adjustment.”

He continued, “I want to see the work being done by town staff and a core group of volunteers continue toward providing and improving services to the aging population of the community. Lastly, always looking to save money where possible, I want the town to monitor the work of other Maine communities to possibly transition streetlights to LED lights,” a change selectmen have been told “could reduce the cost of electricity to the vicinity of 25 percent of what we pay now after a four-year project repayment – which will be at our current budgeted amount for streetlight usage.”

Titus included a summary of other town positions he has held or now holds: “I was on the school committee for three years, budget committee for several years, and on the board of selectmen for the past nine years. When the town had a road committee I served on that, have served as a library trustee, am an active member of Vassalboro Grange and Vassalboro Business Association, and I’m an interested, but admittedly less active, member of the Vassalboro Historical Society.”

CHINA NEWS: Planners postpone action on mission statement

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by Mary Grow

For the second time this spring, China Planning Board members postponed discussion of developing a mission statement because not all members were at a meeting. Chairman Jim Wilkens was unable to be at the board’s May 9th meeting. Vice Chairman Milton Dudley proposed no action, and the other members agreed.

They decided they will discuss the statement at their May 23rd meeting, whether or not a full board is present.

Dudley expects agreement on a single sentence, which will become the basis for discussion of how much regulation is appropriate to implement the board’s mission. Board member Toni Wall said the town’s comprehensive plan and the Planning Board Ordinance were the two basic documents on which board goals and policies should be based.

Codes Officer Paul Mitnik expects there will be at least one permit application on the May 23rd agenda as building season begins.

CHINA NEWS: Selectmen award some work at Thurston Park

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen discussed a range of issues at their May 15 meeting and made decisions on some of them, including authorizing expenditures.

They reviewed responses to requests for price quotes on work at the north entrance of Thurston Park and awarded part of the work. Payment will come from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) account, as approved by voters at the March town meeting.

To improve access to the town-owned park in northeastern China, three steps are needed, selectmen and Thurston Park II Committee member Steve Nelson agreed. The bridge, currently under water because of beaver activity, needs to be made accessible and repaired; the gravel pit and the road need to have trees and brush removed; and the road needs extensive repair, using gravel from the pit. Additionally, the gate needs repair, because of repeated abuse by vehicles accessing park roads.

Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said he had second-hand information that beaver removal discussions are under way with state officials.

Selectmen awarded a contract to repair the bridge to S. D. Childs and Sons, of Palermo, for $7,500. They authorized South China forester Tim Basham to clear brush for $3,500. And they approved Nelson’s offer to repair the gate for $1,500.

Reviewing two bids for the road work, selectmen were not clear that they were exactly alike. They therefore postponed awarding a contract until they receive clarification.

They approved L’Heureux’s request for $2,300 to improve insulation of the town garage.

L’Heureux reported that the town will do maintenance on the boat ramp at the head of China Lake’s east basin within the next 10 days, adding crushed rock to fill gaps between the cement planks.

He further reported that a ConnectME grant application for up to $125,000 to extend internet access through a gap on Route 3 has been filed. If the grant is approved, the town will contribute up to 20 percent of the cost of the work, according to a prior Selectboard vote.

Selectmen approved the proposal from the Weeks Mills fire department to buy a second-hand brush truck for $50,000, assuming it appears satisfactory to department members who go to Pennsylvania to inspect it.

Board Chairman Neil Farrington said the Weeks Mills Schoolhouse, one of China’s historic buildings, has sustained water damage that should be repaired before China’s 2018 bicentennial celebration. The building should also have a ramp to the back door to provide handicapped access, he said. He did not ask that the work be done immediately.

Non-monetary actions included the selectmen deciding they did not want to accept as a town building the old shed on the Jones property in South China, even though it is said to be an early home of the South China fire department. The South China library now owns the property.

In response to continued complaints about vehicles speeding and ignoring stop signs in the China Village area, selectmen agreed to post the town’s Black Cat radar in one place and to request a state traffic study in another. The board appointed Robert Kurek to replace Dwain McKenney as one of Palermo’s representatives on the Transfer Station Committee.

The May 15 meeting was preceded by public hearings on the three local ballot questions for June 13 and an executive session to discuss legal issues pertaining to the stipends for volunteer firefighters and rescue personnel approved at the March town meeting.

After the executive session, selectmen asked fire department and rescue representatives for a proposal before the next selectmen’s meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday May 31 (since the usual Monday is the Memorial Day holiday).

Vassalboro News: Finally, agreement on school budget

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by Mary Grow

After a series of serious and occasionally contentious meetings, Vassalboro Budget Committee members, school board members and selectmen have agreed on budget recommendations to voters at the June 5 town meeting.

The total budget they support, if it remains unchanged, would increase the local property tax rate by 0.88 mils (88 cents for each $1,000 of valuation), a result that does not please most of the officials involved – and that they expect will not stand.

The two factors that encourage them to predict the actual result will be easier on taxpayers are:

  • The estimated amount of state subsidy for the school department is about $3.644 million, a decrease of more than $249,000 from the current year, based on figures and a state education plan proposed by Governor Paul LePage. Vassalboro officials expect the legislature to amend the figures to the town’s advantage, but they do not anticipate a final figure until after town meeting.
  • Town Manager Mary Sabins’ estimated property valuation is likely to increase when assessor Ellery Bane finishes his review. A higher valuation spreads the tax burden over more property, lowering the tax rate.

The total municipal budget endorsed by the selectmen and budget committee is $60,450 above the current year’s budget, including a three percent pay increase for town employees (except Sabins, who by contract gets two percent). Because income from sources other than taxation is expected to increase, the municipal budget alone would lower the tax rate slightly.

The town’s required contribution to the Kennebec County budget has gone up a grand total of $258, making an almost invisible 0.08 percent impact on taxation.

Even the school budget has increased very little, less than $10,000 in an almost $7.4 million total. The outsize impact on local taxes – a request for $338,681 – comes because revenues other than taxation have declined, especially the state subsidy.

Voters will make final 2017-18 spending decisions at their annual town meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at Vassalboro Community School. The meeting will continue Tuesday, June 13, at the town office, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voters to ratify or reject the school budget approved June 5 and elect local officials.

Vassalboro News: Selectmen sign final warrant for June town meeting

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen signed the final warrant for the June 5 and 13 town meeting at their May 4 meeting, after public hearings on two ordinances that are included and a final discussion of school funding.

The ordinances, in Articles 24 and 25 of the 68-article warrant, are titled “Town of Vassalboro Shoreland Zoning Ordinance as revised November 2016” and “Vassalboro Sanitary District Charter, as revised March 2017.” Copies of both are available at the town office and on the town web site.

Planning board members and sanitary district trustees attended the hearings to answer audience questions. There were none about the sanitary district charter; several people were interested in the revised shoreland ordinance. Planning Board Chairman Virginia Brackett told them:

  • The revisions presented June 5 are the same ones that voters rejected in November. She said without exit polling, she did not know why voters did not approve the changes. Selectman Lauchlin Titus surmised that voters did not understand the changes and therefore voted against them.
  • The major change is from volume to floor area or impervious surface as the standard for deciding how much a building in the shoreland can be expanded. The change means, for example, that basements can now be allowed, as they do not change the area of impervious surface. Brackett and others think voter approval of the changes would increase expansions of camps and houses within 250 feet of lakes.
  • The revised ordinance transfer authority over timber harvesting in the shoreland zone from the town to the state, a change Brackett expects would provide more expert regulation.

A two-page handout summarizing changes from the current to the proposed ordinance is also available at the town office and on the web site.

Selectmen commended planning board members for their hard work on the ordinance revisions.

The one issue remaining in the town meeting warrant presented May 4 was a wording question in the article added to deal with possible additional state school funding, beyond what the school board currently expects.

Over a series of meetings, school board and budget committee members and selectmen have predicted the legislature will provide more than the $3.644 million in the current list of school revenues. That figure is more than $249,000 lower than the current year’s subsidy.

However, no one knows what the final figure will be, and legislative action is not expected until after Vassalboro’s town meeting.

To deal with anticipated post-town-meeting changes in the state education subsidy, school officials proposed an article at the end of the school budget asking voters to authorize giving part of any additional state revenue to the town to make up for the amount required from property taxes, $338,681 in the budget as it now stands. Initially, the school board approved that wording, while selectmen endorsed an article that would have given the town all unanticipated state revenue.

At the May 4 meeting, School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur asked indignantly if town officials expected a million dollars if the state should somehow provide that much. Selectmen agreed on an article saying the town will receive up to $338,681 in additional state revenue, if it materializes; should the state subsidy increase even more than that, the rest would go to the school budget.

In other business May 4, selectmen again discussed the request to designate a handicapped parking place in front of Hairbuilders on Oak Grove Road. Town Manager Mary Sabins said a representative of Lucas Striping told Road Commissioner Eugene Field that marking the area would cost about $100, and that it needed a 16-foot-wide area. Selectmen advised asking Field to measure to see if that much space is available without running into the road or onto the sidewalk.

Sabins and Selectman Philip Haines reported briefly on a meeting they attended at which a preliminary plan for a fishway at the China Lake Outlet Dam was displayed.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18.

CHINA NEWS: Expanded internet service debated

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by Mary Grow

At their May 1 meeting China selectmen made progress on two of three ongoing issues.

The most complicated – and potentially expensive – is the question of expanding and improving internet access for China residents. Robert O’Connor, for the Broadband Committee, outlined three alternatives:

  • Fairpoint, which currently offers comparatively slow service and would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade and millions of dollars to provide house-to-house fiber connections.
  • Redzone wireless, which would cost at least $250,000 to add towers to cover the whole town, plus monthly fees, and would require a minimum of 500 subscribers.
  • Spectrum/Time Warner, which currently covers 88 percent of China’s homes and would need an estimated $364,000 to add the remaining 12 percent, and whose monthly charges under the new ownership have increased dramatically, two selectmen said.

Selectmen had no advice for committee members, who intend to continue discussion with all three providers. They did act on a related issue, reviving the unsuccessful 2014 application for a ConnectMe grant to fill in a gap on Route 3 between Windsor Road and Alder Park Road.

Board members unanimously approved offering town payment of 20 percent of the $114,000 for which they are applying and authorized Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux to sign the grant application. Selectmen rediscussed how to implement the March town meeting vote authorizing stipends for volunteer firefighters and China Rescue members. Federal law defining independent contractors versus employees is complicating the issue. They postponed further action until fire department and rescue members report back to them; they considered asking the town attorney to weigh in, but made no decision.

Bill Van Wickler, Weeks Mills Fire Department Assistant Chief, reported on progress toward finding the second-hand brush truck the department was authorized to buy some time ago. He has found a promising candidate in Alabama, he said.

After considerable discussion of specifications and options, selectmen unanimously authorized spending up to $50,000 for a used brush truck plus up to $500 to get it inspected by a knowledgeable person. They further authorized Van Wickler to put down a $500 refundable deposit to hold the Alabama truck, if it is still available.

L’Heureux would prefer a newer truck than the Alabama one, but Van Wickler said most trucks less than 12 to 15 years old are still in service. A brand-new one would cost a minimum of $99,000, he said.

The next China selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, May 15, preceded by a 6:30 p.m. public hearing on June 13 local ballot items.