Vassalboro select board reviews manager’s budget draft

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members held their first review of Town Manager Aaron Miller’s draft 2025-26 town budget at a Feb. 4 workshop meeting. They went through the document category by category and frequently line by line.

This part of the budget includes neither the 2025-26 school budget, which will be larger than the town budget, nor the 2025-26 Kennebec County tax.

Board members started with an increase of about $270,000 over the current year’s budget. By the end of the more-than-two-hour meeting, they had about a $560,000 increase.

All numbers are preliminary; many will change as the budget process continues. After select board members reach consensus, budget committee members will make their recommendations; if the two boards differ, they will try to reach agreement before voters make final decisions in June.

Miller reminded those watching the Feb. 4 discussion that all taxpayers, as well as town employees and volunteer board and committee members, are welcome to attend discussions. The meeting schedule is posted on the town website, Vassalboro.net.

One of the largest expenditures is replacing the deteriorating Dunlap bridge on Mill Hill Road. Select board members have three different plans with three different price tags. Last summer they received a $200,000 federal grant that requires town matching funds.

Miller said the public works budget might decrease slightly, although it is incomplete and subject to change. It includes the second payment on the new skidsteer and other equipment expenses. Miller said Public Works Director Brian Lajoie recommends buying a new, smaller truck for plowing narrow and dead-end roads, at a cost of around $71,000.

The paving budget might increase, depending on the price of materials and how much paving is done. Miller said Lajoie’s preliminary plans for 2025 would repave or pave Crowell Hill Road (1.9 miles, last done in 2010-11), Priest Hill Road (2.2 miles, last done in 2015), Carll Lane, Dow Road and Town Farm Road.

One question is whether the town will save money by paving unpaved roads; extra costs of maintaining them might be high enough so that paving would quickly pay for itself in savings. Miller plans further discussion with Lajoie.

Miller is recommending a 2.9 percent cost of living increase, plus 2 percent merit raises, for town employees. He expects increases in several lines in the town office budget, including insurance, legal fees and perhaps postage.

Election expenses, however, should go down about $1,000, with no 2025 presidential election, Miller said.

Delta Ambulance service’s fee increase, from $25 to $35 per resident, will raise that budget line. Miller said volunteer firefighters also request an increase.

Some of the smaller budget items look as though they will remain the same as this year. Miller mentioned cemetery maintenance; select board member Chris French asked whether a tree maintenance plan discussed last fall might require an increase.

Miller replied that planning tree maintenance five years ahead is difficult, given cost changes. Board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., observed that removing dying trees is probably less expensive than repairing tree-damaged gravestones.

The manager foresees an increase in assessing costs, as the assessor’s salary goes from $33,500 to $35,000. He recommends adding $40,000 to the reserve fund for a future town-wide revaluation.

Board members intended to continue budget review at their regular meeting Feb. 6, but canceled it due to snow.

The next budget workshop was originally scheduled for Feb. 13, but Miller later changed it to Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 5:30 p.m. Beforehand, he promised to “sharpen my pencil” and review smaller items in the Feb. 4 draft.

China planners OK flood hazard development permit for landing

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 28 meeting, China Planning Board members approved a flood hazard development permit for the town’s planned rebuilding of Town Landing Road, in South China Village.

When board members approved a conditional use permit for earth-moving at their Jan. 14 meeting, approval was conditioned on getting a flood hazard development permit. The board has not granted one for so long that Codes Officer Nicholas French needed to create an application form.

He did, and presented a completed application at the Jan. 28 meeting. It asked approval “to pave/stabilize the [Town Landing] road, armor the end with concrete planks and crushed stone, install a drainage ditch, check dams, + a vegetative buffer.” The size was given as 25-feet-by-550-feet; the cost was estimated at $125,000.

Board members quickly found the project met flood hazard requirements (most deal with structures in flood zones and were irrelevant) and approved the permit. French will create an approval form for them to sign at their next meeting.

In an email after the meeting, French said the Town of China now has all needed permits for the road rebuilding project.

Discussion of the second item on the Jan. 28 agenda, timber harvesting regulations, led to a broader discussion of ordinance amendments.

Board Chairman Toni Wall and French explained that in November 2024, China voters approved an ordinance amendment that transferred authority to regulate timber harvesting (in shoreland, resource protection and stream protection districts) from town officials to the Maine Forest Service. Forest Service officials have asked for additional deletions of references to town authority, from lists of responsibilities to definitions.

Ordinance amendments need voter approval. Newly-appointed (and former) board member Milton Dudley asked about presenting other changes at the same time.

At various times in 2024, board members discussed updates and additions to several parts of the town’s Land Development Code. They lacked time to develop wording.

French said any changes proposed for the June 10 town budget meeting need to be drafted by the end of February, so voters can comment at a public hearing before the final version goes on the meeting warrant early in April.

The next town wide vote after June 10 will be in November 2025.

French’s report to the board included announcing that he has been selected as the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce municipal employee of the year, with seven nominations. An awards banquet will be held in April. Board and audience members congratulated him.

The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11.

China select board hears manager’s initial budget draft

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by Mary Grow

All six China Budget Committee members and four of the five Select Board members watched Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s Feb. 3 on-screen presentation of the initial draft 2025-26 town budget. Each went home with a binder containing an inch of paper detailing past, present and proposed finances.

The introductory page shows Hapgood’s proposed budget, totaling $4,996,148. This figure is $191,752 higher than the current year’s budget.

Major recommended increases include more than $70,000 for public works; more than $60,000 for public services; and more than $54,000 for emergency services. The manager proposes decreases from the current year in five accounts; the largest is $18,500 from the transfer station, mainly achieved by moving a part-time employee to the public works payroll.

This person will continue to work in both departments as needed, Hapgood said.

Her presentation summarized some of the budget highlights. New expenditures she proposes include adding a part-time Community Program Director, at an anticipated cost of $11,000; and creating a new reserve fund for replacement scales at the transfer station, starting with $12,000.

The manager is recommending a 3.5 percent cost of living pay increase for town employees. The figure matches the CPI (Consumer Price Index) increase for northern New England, she said.

After review by the budget committee and select board and approval by the latter, the budget will be presented to voters at the June 10 annual town budget meeting. The 2025-26 fiscal year begins July 1.

Hapgood pointed out that not all the almost $5 million will come from property taxes; excise taxes and state revenue sharing are important contributors. And, she said, new homes and new businesses have increased the tax base.

A major concern that surfaced repeatedly in Hapgood’s presentation is emergency services. How will 911 calls be answered in the future? she wondered.

Delta Ambulance is one aspect. The Waterville-based service essential to transport sick or injured residents is charging towns it serves $25 per resident this year and will increase the fee to $35 in 2025-26. This year China was billed $110,200; next year’s bill will be $154,280.

Hapgood proposes paying for 10 hours a week coverage by Kennebec County deputy sheriffs, instead of the current eight hours, increasing that budget line from $36,000 this year to $44,200 next.

And she worried about the decline in volunteers for China’s three fire departments and China Rescue. Members are aging out, and not enough younger members are replacing them, she said.

Hapgood urged select board and budget committee members to review the information in their budget books and send her any questions, preferably well before the Feb. 10 select board meeting.

China select board OKs kayak, paddleboat rental station

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by Mary Grow

The three main issues at the Jan. 27 China select board meeting were town trucks; a proposed kayak and paddleboard rental station; and recreation programs. Board members postponed decision on a new truck for two weeks and, on a split vote, authorized the rental station.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood and Director of Public Services Shawn Reed described expensive problems with some of China’s older plow trucks. Two are 10 years old; Reed recommends replacing one this year.

Reed reminded select board members he proposed buying a new truck a year ago. They did not include the purchase in the 2024-25 budget; but they recommended, and voters approved, a $200,000 increase in the public works equipment reserve, bringing it to about $305,000.

Since last spring, Reed said, the price of the Western Star he recommends has increased by $13,000, to close to $300,000 with plow gear. When he suggested the delay had wasted $13,000 of taxpayers’ money, board chairman Wayne Chadwick replied that it also resulted in a newer truck that hadn’t started depreciating. But, Hapgood countered, during the year there had been repair expenses.

“As these trucks age, nothing with them is getting better, and the cost to replace them is going up,” Reed said. He favors a replacement schedule, so town officials won’t find they need several trucks all at once.

As a China taxpayer, he agreed with select board member Blane Casey that raising taxes isn’t desirable. But neither is having too few trucks to keep roads clear and residents safe, he said.

During the most recent storm, he said, one truck quit in the middle of Route 3; another had to be sent to haul it off the road.

After 20 minutes’ discussion, board members postponed a decision to their Feb. 10 meeting.

Sheriff alerts residents of power scams

Kennebec County Sheriff’s Deputy Ivano Steffanizzi shared the department’s message for county residents at the Jan. 27 China select board meeting: if someone shows up at your door offering to lower your electric bill, send him away: it’s a scam.

Official-looking imposters have been collecting electricity bill numbers and credit card numbers or other payment information on the pretext of representing Central Maine Power Company, Stefanizzi said.

He also urged residents to keep an eye on their elderly, live-alone neighbors in winter weather, if possible helping them feel less isolated.

Recreation Committee Chairman Martha Wentworth first presented the rental idea in January 2024. She recommended the town contract with a Michigan company named Rent.Fun.

In return for an upfront fee from the town, the company would provide four kayaks and four paddle boards, with paddles and lifejackets, in a secure cage. People could rent the equipment, using a phone app and a credit card.

Revenue would be split evenly between Rent.Fun and the town. The company would pay for repairs and maintenance, using local labor if the town requested, and for liability insurance.

In October 2024, Wentworth applied for TIF (Tax Increment Financing) money for the town’s share. She said the project was deemed ineligible.

This year, Wentworth said, the town’s fee had increased, from $29,000 to $35,000; she had talked with a Rent.Fun official and negotiated it down to $33,500. Rent.Fun had made other contract changes she thought undesirable, but the official agreed to honor China’s 2024 understanding.

Select board members talked another 40 minutes about all aspects of the plan before voting 3-1, with Edwin Bailey, Casey and Jeanne Marquis in favor, Chadwick opposed and Thomas Rumpf absent, to approve it. In addition to money appropriated last year, they authorized $14,000 from the recreation reserve and $5,000 from the select board’s contingency fund.

Chadwick said he believes the enterprise should be privately, not municipally, funded.

Hapgood said the exact location of the approximately eight-by-eight-foot structure near the China Lake boat launch by the causeway will be determined, considering convenience and safety, minimal interference with already-inadequate parking and winter plowing around it.

In addition to the China Recreation Committee that Wentworth heads, there is a China Recreation Sports Committee, headed by Mike Sullivan. Sullivan attended the Jan. 27 select board to ask for the select board’s support in what he described as a competitive situation with out-of-town interests.

Sullivan and Wentworth disagreed over aspects of the programs. Chadwick recommended investigation before the select board considered any action.

In other business, board members awarded the 2025 mowing bid to the low bidder, Littlefield Lawn Care, of China, for $26,500.

They unanimously authorized Hapgood to sign a 2025-26 State of Maine dispatch contract for emergency services dispatching, for $51,199.

Hapgood issued a reminder that nominations for Spirit of America awards are due by Feb. 1. The agenda says there is an on-line nomination form at https://chinamaine.org/images/PDFs/Spirit_of_America_Award_nomination_form.pdf.

Hapgood suggested people call the town office before submitting a nomination, to find out whether the person previously received the award.

The manager announced a budget workshop at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, in the town office meeting room. She intends to present a draft 2025-26 budget.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10.

Applications for 2025 TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds are due by Feb. 28.

Vassalboro transfer station members focus on wetlands

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by Mary Grow

Much of the Jan. 23 discussion among Vassalboro Transfer Station Task Force members focused on wetlands.

Task Force members have talked for months about a rearrangement of the waste disposal facility on Lombard Dam Road. Their main goal is to increase safety by traffic changes. They would like to eliminate the need for residents to back up to the waste hoppers and simplify traffic flow.

Town officials intend to buy most of a foreclosed parcel immediately east of the transfer station to provide more space for a redesign. The land includes a right-of-way, wetlands and a small steam.

Town Manager Aaron Miller will try to find out if the right-of-way is still valid; the property it serves to the south apparently now has another access from the east. The extent of the wetlands, and the restrictions imposed, are under discussion with staff from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Task Force chairman Chris French plans to notify DEP that town officials intend to avoid infringing on wetlands.

Task Force members agreed their next step should be to have engineer Jeff Senders, of Senders science, engineering & construction, of Camden, revise plans he prepared in May 2024.

They also talked about adding roofs over open waste containers and pads under waste piles (like compost), projects recommended by transfer station manager Adam Daoust. Miller plans to prepare requests for bids for various projects.

To give Senders time to revise his plan, the next Task Force meeting will not be until Thursday, March 5, at 5:15 p.m., before the select board meeting scheduled for that evening.

Vassalboro trails committee discusses maintenance work

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Vassalboro Trails (photo by Laura Jones)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Trails Committee members discussed maintenance work for 2025 at a Jan. 21 meeting. At chair John Melrose’s suggestion, they agreed by consensus to ask town voters for a $1,250 budget allocation for 2025-26, the same amount as in the current year.

Melrose said this year’s funds are two-thirds spent, and the rest will be used before the fiscal year ends June 30. Town funds are supplemented by a great deal of volunteer work, assistance from the public works department and gifts.

The meeting agenda listed trails for which the committee is responsible: Town Forest/Red Brook, Seaward Mills, Davidson Preserve, Spectacle Pond, Sturgis Sanctuary, Willow Walk and Vassalboro Wildlife Habitat, plus snowmobile trails.

Individual committee members reported on several trails they had checked recently. They found only minor storm damage and generally good conditions.

Proposed projects include widening parts of some trails by cutting brush; dealing with wet areas in various ways, from adding gravel to building bridges; and adding signs, both trail signs and, if possible, signs identifying different tree species.

Committee members endorsed working with the Kennebec Land Trust to provide additional parking for the Seaward Mills trail. Melrose said public works director Brian Lajoie intends to have the town crew improve parking at the Sturgis Sanctuary later in the spring.

From the audience, resident Dave Richard offered assistance with trail work in general and especially if committee members were interested in allowing mountain biking on some trails.

Committee members did not set a new meeting date. They will schedule a trails work day this spring; Melrose suggested in May.

CORRECTION: The January 30, 2025, issue of The Town Line contained an article on the Vassalboro Trails Committee Meeting. It was mistakenly reported the current appropriation at $1,250 which was reported as stated. The current year is set at $1,100 and that’s what they will be requesting in the upcoming budget. It was a source error.

VASSALBORO: All town voters can vote for sanitary district trustees

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members settled two issues that have been on their meeting agendas since November 2024.

They agreed that all town voters, not just those who live in the area the Vassalboro Sanitary District serves, can vote for VSD trustees. And they approved a handicapped parking space at Hair Builders on Oak Grove Road, in North Vassalboro.

Initially, select board members and Town Manager Aaron Miller believed state law let only people served by a sanitary district elect its board of trustees. However, in the last few weeks two attorneys, the VSD’s and the town’s, have said all voters may weigh in.

In a related matter, select board members appointed Donna E. Daviau a member of the VSD board. Like Ericka Roy, appointed in October 2024, she will serve until the next election. Both are eligible to run for election for a full term in June.

Board members also had an attorney’s opinion that they could create the handicapped parking space requested by Hair Builders, and that since it was in an area where parking is allowed, they do not need to hold a public hearing. The handicapped space was approved 2 – 1, with board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., and Michael Poulin in favor and Chris French opposed.

The space will be in an area where overnight parking is prohibited, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Miller and board members plan to provide signs that identify the handicapped space and prohibit using it, and adjoining areas, overnight.

Also on the Jan. 23 agenda were continued discussion of town personnel policy and recreation committee bylaws; another discussion of transfer station fees and revenue; and a topic Poulin proposed, expanding uses for Vassalboro’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) money.

Board members almost finished reviewing the personnel policy. They have been debating options for giving time off for holidays, complicated because some holidays fall on days when not all staff would be working (like the day after Thanksgiving, a Friday when the town office is closed) and some (like Independence Day and Christmas) are tied to a date, not a day of the week.

Denico described other towns’ policies that Miller had collected as “all over the map,” with no consistency.

A draft personnel policy will be reviewed at the next board meeting.

Miller and Recreation Director Karen Stankis had developed draft revised recreation committee bylaws. Stankis plans to seek committee members’ input; she said the next committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10.

The question of transfer station fees was again postponed after a brief discussion. It has two components: as part of the total Vassalboro transfer station budget, and in relation to nearby towns. Station manager Adam Daoust started the discussion, concerned that Vassalboro’s comparatively low disposal fees for some items lead to out-of-towners trying to bring them in.

Poulin had compiled pages of information on other central Maine towns’ TIF plans. Board members discussed the amendment process, which includes a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for their Feb. 20 meeting, and getting approvals from the state Department of Economic and Community Development and from town voters.

Board members will hold their annual workshop meeting on the draft 2025-26 budget at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 4. Their next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Feb. 6, preceded (according to the calendar on the town website, vassalboro.net) by a 5:30 p.m. workshop.

CHINA: Most residents agree with $2 stickers at transfer station

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by Mary Grow

China transfer station staff and Palermo representatives on China’s Transfer Station Committee agree that the majority of residents of both towns are cooperative about paying $2 for their 2025 transfer station windshield stickers.

As usual, some complain, they reported at the committee’s Jan 14 meeting.

The point of requiring the stickers on the windshields of vehicles registered in China or Palermo is to prevent China taxpayers from paying to dispose of out-of-town trash. Palermo and China have an agreement under which Palermo contributes money annually to the China facility and Palermo residents use special trash bags that they pay for.

China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood explained that the sticker requirement sometimes gets complicated. A not uncommon case, she said, is when an older China resident (and taxpayer) has an out-of-town family member – whose vehicle is ineligible for a China sticker – transport the resident’s trash.

Committee member Benjamin Weymouth asked how often these sorts of issues arise.

“More than you’d expect,” Hapgood replied.

Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio agreed, estimating irregular situations several times a week.

Before vehicle stickers were reinstated, transfer station users had placards to hang on their rearview mirrors, which could be removed and shared. Maraggio said trash volume went down after the change to stickers.

Stickers are available at both town offices and at the transfer station. Town office staff can look up vehicle registrations; transfer station staff cannot, and need to see the document.

Hapgood and Maraggio mentioned pending projects, possible grants to help fund some of them and preliminary suggestions for the 2025-26 budget request.

Maraggio said the station’s scales, used to weigh demolition debris and brush, are 20 years old and have an expected lifetime of 20 years. He has no cost estimate for new ones.

Hapgood said the transfer station staff consists of three full-time employees and one part-time employee. Public works staffers help when needed.

She and committee chairman J. Christopher Baumann emphatically rejected the apparently-overheard comment that employees “stand around” doing nothing. Baumann said he stops by frequently, and always finds them busy.

Director of Public Services Shawn Reed praised employees for keeping the transfer station clean and saving taxpayers money, for example by taking furniture apart to salvage recyclable metal parts.

“They do an amazing job,” Reed said.

Palermo representative Chris Diesch suggested the committee review the transfer station mission statement, last updated in the fall of 2021. After a brief discussion, the issue was postponed to a future meeting.

On Baumann’s recommendation, the China town office later sent committee members a list of half dozen ordinances, policies and other relevant documents that are on the town website, chinamaine.org.

The next China Transfer Station Committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the town office meeting room.

Winslow council repeals public safety department

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by Jonathan Strieff

In a first reading of the ordinance at the January 13, Winslow town council meeting, council members voted 4-3 to repeal the Winslow Public Safety Department adopted on November 21, 2022, and reinstate the previously separated Police Department and Fire and Rescue Department.

The ordinance, sponsored by the newly-appointed Council Chairman, Fran Hudson, seeks to address staffing shortages, high rates of overtime pay, and the lack of cross training of officers promised by transitioning to the public safety model adopted in 2022.

“Since adopting the Public Safety Department, Winslow has lost six police officers and eight firefighters,” Hudson cited for pursuing the restructuring. “If I were a new graduate from the police academy or the firefighters academy, I would be looking for a job at a Police or Fire Department, not a Public Safety Department.”

Hudson also referenced other Maine municipalities like Gardiner and Old Town that transitioned to Public Safety Departments only to revert back to more traditional models after a few years.

Council members in favor of preserving the Public Safety Department, like Second District Council Member Dale Macklin and Councilor-at-Large Jeffery West, noted that overtime pay was on pace with what the council had budgeted for the fiscal year and that personnel disputes, common when the Police and Fire Departments had been managed separately, seemed to have disappeared since adopting the unified Public Safety Department’.

Public Safety Director, Leonard McDaid, and Deputy Fire Chief, Michael Murphy, both spoke favorable about the operations of the Public Safety Department, but both acknowledged that they, “serve at the will of the council,” and will run organize the departments accordingly.

The council also heard a presentation from Winslow Town Sexton, Jason Fitch, about the potential to expand McClintock Cemetery. Fitch shared that an abutting landowner has offered to sell the town up to two acres of land for new burial and cremation plots, but the Sexton needed to receive council approval to even sit down to negotiations with him. Fitch estimated the additional land would meet the towns needs for 10 years of burials and pointed out that there is currently no inventory available for burial or cremation plots in Winslow.

At the council meeting, Deputy Fire Chief Murphy also awarded Captain Adam Burgess with the award of Firefighter of the Year for 2024 and recognized retiring firefighter Paul DuCett for 28 years of service.

Vassalboro school board discusses major work at school

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

The Jan. 14 Vassalboro School Board workshop and meeting included more discussion of plans for major work on the Vassalboro Community School (VCS) building, a presentation on the Gifted and Talented Program and a discussion of board members’ stipends.

The official meeting was preceded by a workshop presentation by engineer Erik Rodstrom, of Portland-based Energy Management Consultants (EMC). EMC representatives have attended prior meetings to talk about updating the building, which opened in 1990.

Rodstrom shared a spreadsheet that helps board members establish priorities, consider what projects might be combined and estimate costs.

He discussed criteria for selecting items to be done first. One is obsolescence: if an operating unit is so old neither replacement parts nor skilled technicians are available if it breaks down, it should be high on the list.

The amount of a project’s energy savings is another consideration; work that saves more money should be prioritized when practical. And the importance of the unit is a consideration: for example, Rodstrom said the VCS boiler is only about 12 years old, but if it should break down, the school would have to close.

Board members intend to review EMC’s multi-page report and make priority recommendations to be discussed at their February meeting.

When the school board meeting convened after Rodstrom’s presentation, Gifted and Talented (GT) teacher Rod Robilliard talked about his program, which has 40 VCS students enrolled. The purpose, he said, is to provide individualized learning that emphasizes each student’s talents and strengths.

“They want to stretch. They feel proud when they take on a challenge and succeed,” Robilliard said of his students.

When board member Jessica Clark asked if Robilliard needed anything, he said he might need minor funding, for example for transportation – but perhaps parents or the Parent-Teacher Organization will step up.

Robilliard’s half-time position is new and has expanded the GT program. Principal Ira Michaud praised Robilliard’s work, calling him a “phenomenal asset” to VCS.

A survey of GT students brought two main responses, Michaud reported: some said the program is perfect, others wanted longer and/or more frequent G/T classes.

Board chairman Jolene Gamage proposed discussion of board members’ stipends, for the first time in the dozen years she has been on the board. Given the lack of people willing to run for this and other town boards, she wondered if more money would help.

Probably not, she and other board members concluded; people serve on the school board because they want Vassalboro to have an excellent school, not for $400 a year. Several members did not know there was a stipend until the first check arrived.

Gamage did recommend that the board chairman – starting with her successor – be given extra money for extra time. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer agreed; he communicates with the board through the chairman, he said, and frequently calls Gamage.

The issue was tabled for more information, including about other Maine school boards: how many members do they have, and how much are members paid?

In other business, Pfeiffer reported several pieces of good news, like ongoing cooperation with the town’s public works department under new director Brian Lajoie and a sound financial report from Director of Finance Paula Pooler.

Pooler was too busy preparing 2025-26 budgets for Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow schools to attend the meeting, Pfeiffer said. He plans to present some parts of Vassalboro’s proposed budget at the board’s February meeting.

Board members accepted the resignation of special education teacher Kathleen Cole, effective at the end of the school year. Pfeiffer said Cole is retiring, after teaching at VCS since 2000.

The next Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, preceded by another 4:30 p.m. workshop discussion of building work.