VASSALBORO: Website management topic undecided, again

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members sat behind their new laptop computers at their Oct. 5 meeting, for a long discussion that partly focused on the themes of residents’ knowledge of and involvement in town government.

One topic, left undecided again, was selecting a company to manage the town’s website, including presenting select board and other committees’ meetings live to an on-line audience and recording them for future viewing.

At their Sept.7 meeting, board members hosted a presentation on the TownCloud municipal website plan. They then created a committee to investigate more possibilities. (See the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, p. 2.)

Laura Jones, reporting for the committee, said members discussed what Vassalboro residents want and need and weighed pros and cons of TownCloud, Michigan-based Revize (serving Winslow and Camden, among other Maine municipalities) and Kansas-based CivicPlus (serving Lewiston and Belfast).

After discussing the companies’ offerings and costs, board members again tabled the issue. On Sept. 7, they had postponed a decision to Dec. 14, not expecting the committee report so promptly.

A related question about future web-shared meetings and the current Facebook page that Jones maintains was whether to allow public comment. Board members considered reports from nearby towns of people, often non-residents, interjecting irrelevant, offensive and abusive comments during public on-line meetings.

Town Manager Aaron Miller said the town’s attorney advised against allowing the public to post to the town Facebook page because comments might be inappropriate and town staff would need to spend time monitoring the site.

Select board members voted not to allow public comment on the Vassalboro Facebook page. As alternatives, Miller and board members encouraged residents to come to select board meetings, where chair man Chris French welcomes audience participation, or to contact board members, Miller or the town office by email, telephone, letter or personal visit.

Town appoints new CEO

Vassalboro’s new codes enforcement officer, Jason Lorrain, of Boothbay, attended the Oct. 5 select board meeting, where town manager Aaron Miller introduced him to board and audience members.

Lorrain was Boothbay’s codes enforcement officer, building inspector and plumbing inspector for seven years. Miller said he would start work in Vassalboro on Oct. 10.

He succeeds Robert Geaghan, Jr., who, several months ago, announced his intention of resigning by the end of October.

Board members made no decisions about what Jones and audience members said are another 20 or more Facebook pages and Instagram accounts set up by other town boards and committees.

In other business Oct. 5, Miller reported Vassalboro received state grants of a little over $95,000 for heat pumps in the town office building, the town garage and the North Vassalboro fire station. (See the town website, www.vassalboro.net, for details.)

Select board members unanimously approved appropriating $3,693 in town matching money from federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

Miller expects the heat pumps to be installed in mid or late November. He said the town can apply again for heat pumps for the Riverside fire station and the transfer station.

The manager reported on his discussion with a representative of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on what more can be done to improve Eagle Park, located on the west bank of Outlet Stream between North and East Vassalboro.

The park already has trees planted, thanks to efforts by the town Conservation Commission. (See photographs on the front page of the June 29 issue of The Town Line.) Miller expects state funds to reimburse the town for the $3,200 worth of trees.

Select board signs letter of support for Webber Pond dam grant

Vassalboro select board members unanimously agreed at their Oct. 5 meeting to sign a letter of support for a grant application that, if successful, will provide federal funds for an improved fishway at the Webber Pond dam.

Resident Nate Gray, who works for the state Department of Marine Resources, said the Webber Pond dam is one of several projects included in a state grant application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for $1.5 million. Chances of receiving the grant will increase if each local application provides evidence of municipal officials’ support and local matching money.

Vassalboro’s match of $50,000 could come from the income from the town’s alewife fishery, he suggested. The town contracts with an alewife harvester who traps and sells the small fish each spring – they’re used for lobster bait, and online sources list other uses – and shares the revenue with the town.

An improved fishway, plus the state-funded new culvert on Whitehouse Road, should double the number of alewives reaching Webber Pond and thus increase the harvest revenue, Gray said. He commended the state Department of Transportation for its help in opening culverts in various parts of Maine to improve access for migrating fish.

After considering three options, Gray said, the application is to fund a Denil fishway, like those already in place at the China Lake outlet dam and Ladd and Box Mills dams on Outlet Stream.

Gray said the deadline for the NOAA grant application is Oct. 16. He expects the grant recipients will be announced by mid-February 2024.

The manager asked select board members to consider how they want the park to look and be used, and to invite East Vassalboro resident and Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner to their Oct. 19 meeting for more discussion. Additional improvements might include a second path to the stream, picnic tables and a gazebo, though Miller also wants to leave open space.

Resident Thomas Richards informed board members of a water problem in North Vassalboro. On the east side of Main Street, he said, the ground is so saturated that the flagpole in front of the former school building is affected, and he has been told the next-door property-owner has trouble mowing his soggy lawn.

Richards does not know the cause of the problem. He wanted to make sure town officials were aware of it as they prepare to discuss Main Street repaving and related issues with state Department of Transportation officials.

French proposed a review and possible update of Vassalboro’s Marijuana Business Ordinance and TIF Ordinance. He added that the town’s transfer station committee might request a review of what he said is a 1988 transfer station ordinance.

Miller added amendments to the recreation committee bylaws and an addition to the town’s personnel policy to the list of documents board members should consider.

Resident Douglas Phillips reminded board members they had previously discussed using ARPA money to install a generator at the town office, so it could function during prolonged power outages. That topic, too, is slated for future discussion.

The next Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the town office meeting room.

CHINA: Community solar garden topic for China planners

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by Mary Grow

The topic at the Sept. 26 China planning board meeting was the proposed community solar garden on the west side of the section of Parmenter Hill Road locally called Moe’s Mountain.

Minnesota-based Novel Energy Systems has begun the application process, planning to lease 13.73 acres of the southern part of Maurice Haskell, Jr.’s land and use 6.87 acres for a fence-enclosed array of about 2,300 solar panels. The lease is for 25 years, with a five-year extension possible.

Scott Tempel, permitting specialist for Novel Energy Systems, zoomed in for what was announced as a presentation but turned into a question-and answer session.

After Tempel’s initial description, four audience members, including abutting property-owners, had many questions, mostly about effects on nearby residents and the natural environment.

Tempel explained a community solar garden signs up area customers, residential and commercial, who are rewarded with a 10 percent discount on electricity bills. Who is allowed to join depends on state regulations; Minnesota allows anyone in the same or an abutting county, but he does not yet know Maine rules.

The proposed China project would generate 975 kilowatts, power enough to support from 50 to 75 subscribers, depending on usage, Tempel estimated. The plan calls for panels that would tilt to follow the sun, maximizing daily production time.

The power generated will go into the grid. The connection with Central Maine Power Company’s line will be mostly underground; there will be five utility poles at the beginning of the access road, Tempel said.

He expects most of the power generated will stay in Maine, he told one audience member, but he cannot guarantee that CMP will not send a single electron out of state.

The application will include a maintenance plan. Tempel explained the site will be planted with native grasses and plants attractive to pollinators, and mowed minimally. He told board member Michael Brown, a farmer by profession, that sheep could be allowed to graze inside the fence, as in Minnesota, but not goats, because goats would eat the wiring and climb on the panels.

By state law, the application will include an approved decommissioning plan. Tempel said Novel has submitted one to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and is awaiting a response. He told Brown decommissioning includes removing everything, including underground wires.

Audience members were concerned about contamination, especially metals, affecting soil and groundwater. Tempel said there is little chance of the solar panels spreading invasive elements. There are not yet studies of long-term – 25-year or more – impacts.

One woman asked about electromagnetic effects. Tempel said the issue, if there is one, is not electromagnetics, but voltage; and because solar arrays are well-grounded, the usual effect is to reduce any stray voltage in the area. He offered to look up studies.

Audience members seemed skeptical of his reassurances, sometimes shaking their heads in apparent disbelief. When he said a solar farm seldom affects adjoining property values and if it does, it might enhance them, there were disbelieving snickers. Planning board co-chairman Wall asked Tempel to provide studies.

Wall said she and codes officer Zachary Gosselin will have a complete copy of the application available for review at the China town office as soon as possible. The office, at 571 Lakeview Drive, is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed on Wednesdays), and the first and last Saturday of each month from 8 to 11 a.m.

Wall said the next opportunity for questions will be at the board’s public hearing on Novel’s application. It is currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 10, probably in the China town office meeting room (if not, in the nearby portable building where the board met Sept. 26).

After the hearing, Wall said, the board will review the application for completeness and conformity with town requirements for a commercial development. China does not have an ordinance specifically for solar developments.

If the board approves the application, there is a 30-day window during which an appeal may be made to the China board of appeals.

Tempel said Novel currently plans to start construction in the spring of 2025 and finish by that fall. The active construction work usually takes from six to eight weeks, but the timetable depends on weather and availability of materials and supplies.

Palermo resident proposes intervener status in LS Power issue

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by Jonathan Strieff

The Palermo Town Council met Thursday, September 21, to finalize the necessary preparations for the special town meeting scheduled for the following day to vote on a proposed transmission line moratorium ordinance. The special meeting was called in response to public concern regarding the LS Power transmission line currently planned to connect the King Pine Wind, in Aroostook County, with regional power substation in Windsor. The board also met with a member of the study committee formed to gather more information about the project from the Public Utilities Commission and from spokespeople for LS Power.

The meeting began with council chairman Ilene McKenny, and council members Bob Kurek and Pam Swift, conferring with the town clerk about the required logistics to have in place ahead of Friday’s meeting. Based on interest expressed on the town’s Facebook page, the council anticipated the meeting could draw up to 80-100 residents and so prepared to host the meeting outside of the town office building.

After verifying the town’s voter list and voting cards were ready to be used, council members reviewed the proper procedural steps for the vote to take place; recitation of the pledge of allegiance, election of a meeting moderator by the council using a secret written ballot, reading of the proposed ordinance, followed by the formal vote. The council paid such careful attention to procedural details to avoid risking the vote being invalidated in a hypothetical legal challenge from LS Power. More than 60 residents turned out for the special town meeting and voted unanimously against the potential power line.

Next, resident Brooke DeLorme provided the council with updates from her ongoing work for the towns study committee on the transmission line project. Since the previous council meeting, DeLorme spoke at length with Harry Lanphear at the PUC and Jason Nivons from LS Power. After voicing frustration with limited documents made available to the public, DeLorme proposed that representatives from Palermo, Windsor, Unity, Albion, and Thorndike act together in applying for “intervener status” in the legal case granting LS Power the right to proceed with the project.

Intervener status would offer affected land owners, “a seat at the negotiating table” where the final decisions about the transmission line route will be made. Intervener status also grants access to over 100 private documents between the PUC and LS Power, include the power purchase agreement and transmission agreement, neither of which have yet been finalized. The council also voted to send notification postcards to more than 60 residents with property along the proposed route who were never contacted by LS Power.

A rally is scheduled for Saturday, October 14, at 11 a.m., at Capitol Park, in Augusta, across the street from the State House.

VASSALBORO: HVAC main topic for school

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

A main discussion topic at the Vassalboro school board’s Sept. 19 meeting was HVAC – heating, ventilation and cooling – with the emphasis on cooling.

Vassalboro Community School (VCS) was uncomfortably warm during the September hot spell. Assistant principal Tabitha Brewer said teachers in the top-floor classrooms were invited to move their classes to cooler spaces elsewhere in the building.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer pointed out that when the VCS building was built in 1992, cooling “was not even on the architect’s radar.” Now, he and Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips are seeking input as they consider three main options: ceiling fans, heat pumps or a whole new HVAC system.

Ceiling fans would be the quickest and least costly option, as a temporary fix. Phillips brought photos of what she labeled “newer style commercial ceiling fans:” three blades “styled more like a wind turbine,” variable speed, with a 20- to 25-year life expectancy.

Winslow High School has them, she said, and staff find them effective and not disruptively noisy. They cost around $500 each; if fans were ordered this fall, they could probably be installed over Christmas vacation.

VCS has a heat pump to cool the office area for administrators who work in the summer, Pfeiffer said. Phillips has doubts about relying on heat pumps to cool so large and complex a building as VCS, which she said has 77,000 square feet of interior space.

There would have to be many of them, at $5,000 to $6,000 apiece, she said. Although state energy efficiency funds contribute to the initial cost, the pumps would need replacing every eight to 12 years without, as far as she knows, state aid.

A third option would be to hire an energy management consultant to review the current system, talk with staff and make recommendations for the building, probably including lighting as well as HVAC. This choice would be expensive and would take time.

From the audience, Chris French, chairman of the Vassalboro select board, suggested there might be state energy efficiency grants to help with the cost.

Resident John Melrose (who was instrumental in signing up Vassalboro for a solar farm project that has reduced electricity bills for the town and the school, Pfeiffer remembered) recommended assessing building energy use as background information for a consultant. A consultant might well come up with ideas locals had not considered, he added.

School board members intend to continue the discussion at future meetings. Board member Zachary Smith is leaning toward installing ceiling fans as a temporary solution.

“I just want the teachers to hear that we hear them, and we have a plan,” he said.

In other business Sept 19, VCS Principal Ira Michaud reported the school year had begun well. Pfeiffer, speaking for finance director Paula Pooler, said the budget is in good shape so far.

French asked if there was interest in exploring joining an organic waste diversion program. Pfeiffer suggested French and Phillips talk about it; Phillips said she has heard they’re expensive.

Board members discussed beginning to plan for the June 2024 promotion ceremony, remembering more elaborate pre-Covid recognitions of departing eighth-graders.

The next Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Vassalboro Community School.

Vassalboro select board discusses changes in town operations

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by Mary Grow

At their Sept. 21 meeting, Vassalboro select board members debated at length three changes in town operations they hope will benefit residents.

One they approved: changed town office hours, effective at the beginning of the next calendar year for a 90-day trial (see box).

Updating town office electronics and adding electronic meeting information and perhaps electronic participation will take longer, and will cost money.

Updating the transfer station will take still longer and cost even more.

Town Manager Aaron Miller has been interested in upgrading electronic systems since he took office in January. A recurring theme is making it possible to broadcast select board’s – and probably other boards’ and committees’ – meetings so residents can watch from their homes. (See the report on the TownCloud presentation at the board’s Sept. 7 meeting in the Sept. 14 issue of The Town Line, p. 2.)

Making it possible for residents to participate remotely has been part of the discussion. By Sept. 21, newspaper reports of people harassing board meetings in other area towns led to expressions of doubt about that aspect.

Board members and Miller want to make sure all town committees obey state open meeting laws. However, they also want to avoid confusing residents with incomplete information. For example, they debated, inconclusively, whether draft meeting minutes, which might be subject to correction, should be made public, or whether to publicize only approved minutes.

Resident Laura Jones, a technical expert who brought a large screen to the Sept. 21 meeting and displayed relevant documents on it, will record a demonstration from Town Hall Streams for board members to review before their Oct. 5 meeting. The Town of China is among Maine municipalities using this service to broadcast and record meetings.

On a related issue, select board chairman Chris French said a needed upgrade of the Vassalboro town office telephone system will require upgrading “the whole IT [information technology] system.” He suggested Miller be authorized to ask for price quotes for the job.

The proposed changes at the transfer station are aimed at providing a drive-through building. Two lanes of traffic could go through, with drivers emptying trash into hoppers on each side; and there might be outside lanes allowing access from both sides of each hopper.

Changes in office hours

Vassalboro select board members voted unanimously to change town office hours, effective at the beginning of January 2024. Their goals were to accommodate people who want time to do business before they go to work, as well as those who stop in on the way home; and to give town office staff a four-day work week.

The new hours will be as follows:

  • Mondays: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  • Tuesdays early opening: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Thursdays late closing: 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  • Fridays through Sundays closed.

The total hours the office is open to the public will increase from 38.5 to 39, Town Manager Aaron Miller said. There will be no effect on Monday holiday closings. Staff will continue to work another 15 minutes after closing as they do now.

These hours will remain in effect for a 90-day trial, during the first quarter of 2024, select board members said.

The plan is similar to one prepared some years ago and rejected as too expensive – during the Sept. 21 discussion, Douglas Phillips, who is on the Transfer Station Taskforce, referred to it as “the million-dollar plan.” Lesser changes have been made since, implementing some of the recommendations.

Miller is envisioning a 60-by-80-foot building, perhaps a large Quonset hut, on a concrete pad. After discussion, board members decided the first step is to issue an RFP (Request for Proposals) inviting engineering firms to provide a cost for an engineering study of building needs and traffic design. Proposals will be due the afternoon of Nov. 16, before that evening’s board meeting.

The project is expected to include a new entrance from Lombard Dam Road, another issue that has been discussed at intervals for years.

Board members envision a two- or three-year project. Funding sources include the town’s transfer station reserve account, federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money, perhaps local TIF (Tax Increment Financing) money and, Phillips suggested, grant money once the town has a plan in place.

TIF funding is currently unavailable because Vassalboro’s 2014 TIF development program has a short list of TIF-eligible projects, not including the transfer station. French said the local TIF ordinance needs to be updated.

French would also like board members to consider changing transfer station hours to give employees two consecutive weekdays off. Currently, the station is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Board member Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., said those hours were approved in 1980, while his father was on the select board.

In other business Sept. 21:

  • Board members held a public hearing on state changes in general assistance funds, with, as usual, no public comments. Miller told board member Michael Poulin Vassalboro overspent its general assistance budget two years ago and underspent last year; this year, voters at the June town meeting approved $3,000 (which state funds supplement) and so far only a little over $300 has been spent.
  • Board members unanimously authorized Miller to spend $8,487 (from $10,000 budgeted) to buy a new Canon copier for the town office, with a five-year maintenance contract. It will be the office’s first color copier, Miller commented.
  • They appointed Scott Wentworth to the Cemetery Committee. Wentworth explained that he is familiar with cemetery maintenance issues through his genealogical research and work in cemeteries in Winslow.

The next Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Oct. 5.

China landowners seek moratorium on power line development

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by Mary Grow

The Sept. 25 China select board meeting began with a request from two landowners on the section of Parmenter Hill Road known as Moe’s Mountain. They seek a China moratorium on power line development, like those adopted by Albion and Palermo voters in the hope of influencing the proposed LS power line.

Joshua LaVerdiere and Jesse Haskell said one of the potential power line routes would run over the hill, including over Lowell “Moe” Thomas’s grave, destroying a scenic view, damaging the natural environment and reducing the value of their homes and farmland.

Select board members discussed options at length.

A moratorium requires an ordinance adopted by town voters. There is not time to add a question to the Nov. 7 ballot; the next annual vote will be in June 2024.

For a special town meeting, China has a quorum requirement: 100 registered voters are needed to open the meeting.

Select board members can call a meeting on their own initiative; or they can require the interested parties to collect more than 200 petition signatures requesting a meeting, in order to demonstrate public interest and increase the chance of attracting 100 voters.

A draft ordinance could be part of a petition for a meeting; or select board members could present an ordinance to voters. LaVerdiere and Haskell suggested adapting Palermo’s, which was adapted from Albion’s. Daniel Pepice, joining the meeting later in the discussion, provided a copy.

Jeanette Smith, chairman of China’s Thurston Park committee, added that the LS power line might run close to park boundaries.

LS Power is supposed to send letters to potentially affected landowners. Smith has not received one referring to the park. LaVerdiere said he never got one; Pepice estimated 40 percent of potentially affected landowners in the China-Palermo area have not been notified.

Select board members voted unanimously to ask town attorney Amanda Meader to review the Albion/Palermo ordinance. They hope to have her opinion by their first meeting in October, when they will consider whether to call a special town meeting or to require a petition for one.

Smith attended the Sept. 25 select board meeting to talk about repairs in Thurston Park, still recovering from the Dec. 23, 2022, rainstorm that caused major washouts. Two trails were damaged when fallen branches blocked culverts. There were also washouts on the access road in Albion, though Smith said it is usable.

Transfer station returns to stickers Jan. 1

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, China and Palermo residents will need a sticker on their vehicle to enter the China transfer station. Stickers will cost $2, and should be available at town offices by Nov. 1.

On a 3-2 vote at their Sept. 25 meeting, China select board members adopted the new policy recommended by their transfer station committee (see the Sept. 21 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Board chairman Wayne Chadwick and member Blane Casey voted no. Chadwick said his vote was only because he opposes the $2 fee, not because he opposes stickers.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood presented a Transfer Station Access Policy that tells China and Palermo residents where to paste the stickers and explains alternatives for temporary admission (for seasonal residents or contractors working for residents, for example).

“We’ll try it for a year, see how it goes,” Hapgood said.

Residents who paid the $10 fee for an additional RFID (radio frequency identification) tag may return the tag to the town office and, with proof of purchase, get a full refund, between Nov. 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024.

Board members postponed action on the one bid for trail work, hoping for more bids. Because the access road is in Albion, they took no action on road work until Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood finds out whether it is legal to spend China money on an Albion road.

Smith explained that the park committee does not recommend access from the south because the abutting landowner objects. When, years ago, the town legally abandoned Yorktown Road, which runs north-south through the park, a public right-of-way was preserved, she said.

Smith shared a video from a group called National Fitness Campaign that helps build outdoor gymnasiums or fitness courts full of exercise equipment. The campaign approached China earlier this year, she said. She does not consider the idea appropriate for Thurston Park.

In other business:

  • Board members accepted the lowest of three bids for new gutters on the town office building, $2,457 from Builders Installed Products, of Portland and Hermon.
  • They postponed discussion of the proposed storage vault to be added to the town office building and of a new town logo, awaiting more information on both topics.
  • They accepted an emailed apology from Tyler Bragdon for any inappropriate statements at the Sept. 11 select board meeting and accepted his offer to pay a $3,500 fine for mistakes in controlling erosion at a Pond Road work site, instead of the $5,000 originally assessed.
  • They approved the state’s new general assistance payment levels, after a short public hearing.

Because the next regular select board meeting would fall on Oct. 9, the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday, board members moved it to Tuesday, Oct. 10; and because the planning board meets at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10, they scheduled the select board meeting for 5 p.m.

China town to go back to stickers at transfer station; scuttle RFID

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by Mary Grow

After another discussion of how to limit the number of unauthorized people trying to use the China transfer station, transfer station committee members voted unanimously at their Sept. 12 meeting to recommend that the town go back to a sticker system.

The town office used to issue stickers, good for a year, to be affixed to the vehicle whose license plate matched the plate number written on the sticker. With a grant, town officials changed to a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, which involved issuing each user a placard to hang on the rearview mirror.

The placard system has a major flaw: residents share their placards with non-resident friends and relatives who use the transfer station without paying the local taxes that support it.

The RFID system was supposed to provide information useful for evaluating transfer station service. In practice, the information has been only somewhat useful, committee and staff members said.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said a few residents object to stickers, either because they don’t want to advertise what town they live in, or because they don’t want their vehicle decorated. The new stickers will not have a town name on them, she said.

Previous discussions ran into a snag: Hapgood wants to charge a small amount for each sticker to cover the cost of buying, recording and distributing them, and she believes residents of both China and Palermo should be charged.

Palermo committee member Robert Kurek said under Palermo’s contract with China, Palermo residents should not incur any new charges. He believes the sticker cost should be taken from the annual $18,000 fee Palermo pays China.

Hapgood pointed out that $18,000 does not cover as much today as it did when the two towns’ representatives signed the contract in 2016. Kurek countered that Palermo officials have already agreed to an amendment (in 2022) allowing the price of Palermo residents’ special blue bags to be adjusted upward for inflation.

The issue was left unresolved, as were other questions, for example about stickers for part-time residents.

The recommendation to go back to stickers will be on the China select board’s Sept. 25 agenda, Hapgood said. If board members approve, she hopes to have stickers available at the China and Palermo town offices by early October and required to enter the China transfer station beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

In other business, transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio had good news: the price of recycled cardboard has gone up from $40 per ton to $77 per ton.

He reported that staff member Cheyenne “Cj” Houle is working on two grant applications, for a compost pad and for lighting in the free for the taking building. Committee member James Hsiang said he is experimenting with battery-powered or solar-powered lighting.

Transfer station committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17.

China board meets new member, codes officer

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members met briefly Sept. 12, mostly to get acquainted with a new member and China’s new codes enforcement officer.

For their Sept. 26 meeting, they might have two applications for solar farms.

Board co-chairman Toni Wall introduced new member Elaine Mather, representing District 3. Mather was appointed by select board members Aug. 28, to finish Walter Bennett’s term, and on Nov. 7 is unopposed for election to a two-year term.

Codes enforcement officer (and health officer and licensed plumbing inspector) Zachary Gosselin was appointed at the Aug. 14 select board meeting and was attending his first planning board session. Wall and co-chairman James Wilkens welcomed both newcomers and encouraged Gosselin to reach out when he needed background information.

Wall distributed copies of a revised Planning Board Ordinance, thanking town attorney Amanda Meader for her suggestions. She asked fellow board members to be ready to discuss the draft on Sept. 26.

Wall said one application that might be presented Sept. 26 is from Perennial Renewables, for a solar farm in a former gravel pit on the west side of Route 32 South (Windsor Road), about opposite the Route 32 General Store.

A second application is from Noble Energy Systems, Wall said, for a community solar farm on an 0.3-acre lot the east side of Parmenter Road, in the section between the Mann and Western Ridge road intersections that is known locally as Moe’s Mountain.

Windsor select board deals with variety of issues

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by The Town Line staff

At their August 29 meeting, the Windsor Select Board dealt with a variety of issues, and heard from some department heads.

Public Works Supervisor Keith Hall informed the board that culvert work on Coopers Mills Road has been completed, except for the paving. No date has been set for paving.

Hall, however, brought up some safety hazards that public works has been facing while doing the culvert work. A truck almost struck a couple of the workers. “It blew past road signs and a flagger,” Hall said, adding that these things happen more often than he’d like to admit. Hall explained that cones and signs are placed well in advance of the work area, allowing drivers plenty of time to slow down and be aware of the workers.

Hall also said that paving is behind schedule due to problems at the asphalt plant and the amount of rain this summer.

Town manager Theresa Haskell announced, on behalf of the town of Whitefield, that South Hunts Meadow Road will be closed until October 5, in order to replace the Joy’s Pond culvert. The closure will be from Rte. 126, Gardiner Rd., the last home before the closure is 104 South Hunts Meadow Rd., From Rte. 194, Pittston Rd., the last house before the closure is 154 South Hunts Meadow Rd.

The board also approved:

  • to accept and sign the Assessor’s 2023 Municipal Valuation Return;
  • the acceptance of three new road names, Tiny Cabin Road, Broken Ledge Road, and Bernier Lane;
  • appointing Richard H.Gray Jr., as a Conservation Commission Committee member.

It was noted that Haskell received a certificate of service “15 years” from Maine Town, City and County Management Association. Selectman Ray Bates added that while speaking with an official from Kennebec County, it was mentioned the town manager in Windsor, “was doing a bang up job!” Bates wanted folks to know that Haskell’s work was being noticed.

Haskell informed the board that the town’s auditor, Keel Hood, had recently passed away. She spoke with Keel’s son noting that he had worked with his father and helped him with his business. In a letter, Haskell said his son cordially has declined to keep clients or take over business affairs for his father. Haskell said the town will actively be looking for a new auditor, as will many other towns.

Selectman Tom McNaughton brought back to the board more discussion about the small community grant for a septic replacement that was discussed during a previous select board meeting. The select board, following more discussion, asked Tom to draft a letter to the resident letting him know the town is not at a place where they can take part in the grant request from the Department of Environmental Protection.

In other business, Hall informed the board that while working along the Coopers Mills Road, he took an opportunity to speak with a property owner about the small pond that often rises during heavy rains or long periods of rain, and can become a problem for road crews. After some discussion the property owner was happy to have the town drain the pond because he has small children. The pond has been drained.

The next meeting of the board of selectmen was scheduled for September 12.

Palermo selectmen schedule two public meetings

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by Mary Grow

Palermo select board members have scheduled two public meetings to discuss and act on a proposed moratorium on high-impact electric transmission lines through the town, in response to the proposed LS power line from Aroostook County to Coopers Mills.

Select board chairman Robert Kurek said a public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 15, in the town office to discuss the issue. A special town meeting to vote on a moratorium is set for a week later, 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 22, also in the town office.

The proposed 180-day moratorium and additional information are on the town website, townofpalermo.org.