At a short special meeting Thursday, Aug. 3, China select board members appointed Ryan Page the town’s licensed plumbing inspector (LPI).
The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Aug. 14. Comments on the South China boat landing are due at the town office by Friday, Aug. 11 (see The Town Line, Aug. 3, p. 3).
by The Town Line staffAt the July 18 meeting of the Windsor Select Board, Windsor Elementary School Principal Heather Wilson reported that she is very excited about the daycare that will be opening at the school for RSU #12 employees. The daycare would accommodate ages birth to five years old. The board then voted unanimously to instruct Codes Enforcement Officer Arthur Strout to inspect a site for a holding tank installation at the school’s daycare future site.
Wilson also reported four new hires at the school: one ed tech, one secretary, one physical education instructor and one support specialist.
Public Works supervisor Keith Hall reported much damage on town roads from downed trees. The Greeley Road, in particular, will need more work. Washouts have also been a problem and are being addressed.
Select board member Ray Bates brought forward the discussion of the Choate Road Bridge. Town manager Theresa Haskell reported that according to records, the last inspection was made in 2020, and found the bridge overall in fair condition. Since it is a state owned bridge, Hall said he would reach out to the Department of Transportation, in China, to see if the bridge can be assessed or if they have any recommendations moving forward.
The daycare would accommodate ages birth to five years old.
In other business, Haskell reported there has been only one application for the vacant animal control officer position, and that it is from a person who does the same for other surrounding towns.
The next board meeting was scheduled for August 1.
by Mary GrowBy their Aug. 1 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members had much more information on the application they postponed at their July meeting, from town records and from the applicant.
Peter Tomasz applied for an addition to his year-round home on Three Mile Pond. After discussion, board members unanimously denied his application, because they found the project failed to meet two requirements of the town’s shoreland zoning ordinance.
The house is about 20 feet from the high-water mark, within the current 25-foot setback. Such a non-conforming building is “grandfathered” and can continue to be used, but with limits. One is that it cannot be expanded more than 30 percent from its footprint in 1989; another is that no additions are allowed less than 25 feet from the high-water mark.
Board member and former codes officer Paul Mitnik had found a 1983 tax card (specific 1989 information is not always readily available, he commented). After discussion of when additions had already been made and much calculation of percentages, board members determined that the addition Tomasz designed would add more than 30 percent and therefore is not allowed.
They also found that part of the addition would be inside the 25-foot water setback; that, too, is not allowed.
Tomasz said a smaller addition was a lesser problem than moving farther from the water, which would make connecting the addition to the existing house difficult. When he left the meeting, he intended to see if he could develop a revised plan and submit a new application.
Board members had no other business. Their next regular meeting night is Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Mitnik said Vassalboro codes officer Robert Geaghan has submitted his resignation, effective in October. Geaghan was on vacation Aug. 1; Mitnik expects he will be at the September and October planning board meetings.
by Jonathan StrieffPalermo town council members, Bob Kurek, Ilene McKenny, and Pam Swift met July 27 to vote on bids for three 2023 paving projects, gather comments from community members concerned about the proposed LS Power transmission line , and offer updates on several ongoing municipal projects.
Thursday’s meeting began with the reading of bids from four contractors responding to the towns request for paving two sections of Banton Road and one section of Level Hill Road. Hager Enterprises Inc. was chosen unanimously without discussion. The council also voted unanimously without discussion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and to accept warrant #15 to pay the municipal bills.
The majority of the meeting was spent gathering comments from the nine community members in attendance concerning the high-voltage transmission proposed by Missouri based LS Power to cross several Waldo County towns, connecting King Pine Wind in Aroostook County to the existing substation in Coopers Mills. Many expressed fears about how the electricity would interact with the aging Buckeye Petroleum distilled gas pipeline already present along the proposed route, as well as the risks posed by the blasting and drilling of ledge that would be necessary to complete the project. Others expressed concern about the impact of trucks and heavy machinery to posted and dirt roads along the route. One attendee encouraged those present to voice
their opposition at the Public Utilities Commission public meeting on September 23, while another participant claimed the PUC had already, “released all management authority,” of the project over to LS Power.
The council agreed to consider circulating a petition for a special town meeting to vote on new land use ordinances that could make the proposed route less cost effective to pursue.
The ongoing municipal business discussed included procedural changes to selling tax-acquired property. A new legislative package passed in Augusta stipulates towns must now contact the previous owner and list the property with a realtor for six months before putting it out to bid. Towns must also repay the previous owner any amount over the assessed value when the property sells.
The council also shared updates to the status of Waldo County Broadband Corporation. The 501c3 corporation was formed to act as a public utility to bring high speed internet to the towns of Palermo, Liberty, Montville, Searsmont, and Freedom without affecting the tax base and without going into debt. Unfortunately, promised funding from the state never materialized, leaving the corporation to act in an advisory role, negotiating an Internet Service Provider owned solution
with either Great Works Internet or Unitel.
The council also spoke to the draw down of Branch Mills pond ahead of dam work expected to start on July 31, changes to mooring guidelines in Sheepscot Lake and the creation of a Harbor Master position, delayed reimbursement from FEMA for road damage from rain storms this summer, and the need to obtain an FCC license for the fire and rescue radio operating at the town office.
South China boat launch. (photo by Roland D. Hallee)
A long, well-attended, amicable and informative July 31 discussion of the boat landing in South China Village revealed a lot of overlapping issues and a variety of opinions.
Several of the almost two dozen residents who spoke criticized the present landing, at the foot of the dirt road named Town Landing Road that runs from Village Street to the lake. The area is full of mud and accumulated leaves; vehicles get stuck in the road, or damage nearby trees as they try to maneuver with limited room; there is inadequate space to park; and run-off down the road is polluting China Lake.
The last point was emphasized repeatedly, on environmental and economic grounds – China Lake is an asset to the town in both respects.
South China fire chief Richard Morse pointed out that the problem is not new. The landing has been full of mud and leaves the 50 years he’s been in town, he said. In 2007, he thought town officials had agreed to engineer the road to divert run-off.
Select board chairman Wayne Chadwick agreed there had been pollution-control measures, like plunge-pools, installed; but the town failed to maintain them “and they’re gone.”
Opinions on improving the situation varied widely. Three options are closing the landing completely; limiting use to carry-in canoes and kayaks (and swimming); or improving the area for use by all boaters, including owners of large party boats that one person said are already being launched there.
Speakers pointed out that China Lake has two other landings, in the west basin at East Vassalboro and off the causeway outside China Village at the head of the east basin. Completely closing the South China landing was not a popular idea, however – two speakers said it would be “a shame.”
The July 31 China public discussion was intended to inform select board members; no action was expected and none was taken. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood welcomes additional comments, written or emailed, submitted by Friday, Aug. 11.
Several people, including some who now put their motorboats into the lake from the landing, recommended limiting access to hand-carried canoes and kayaks. The advantages they cited included fewer large vehicles both on Town Landing Road and in the village, less need for parking and more compatibility with swimming.
Morse was among those who considered it unfair to make residents of southern China drive to East Vassalboro or China Village to put their powerboats in the lake. He and others who agreed the landing should be open to all types of boats suggested ways to limit pollution from the access road; recommended continuing not to publicize the landing so it wouldn’t get as overbusy as the one at the north end of the lake; and talked about the driving distance from southern China to either other lake access point.
South China resident Robert Fischer’s emailed comments suggested doing something about the “prop-killing rock” not far off-shore.
If the landing is to remain open to all boaters, the next question was the road. People referred to an engineering study done this spring and to still-uncertain boundaries of the town-owned land as they discussed parking and especially whether to pave the road.
The majority said not to pave. Among them were China Region Lakes Alliance executive director Scott Pierz and Fire Road 54 resident Wayne Clark. Clark called a paved roadway “a runway for the water to go right into the lake.”
Alternatives like what Pierz called “crushed ledge,” used in camp road rehabilitation projects, or permeable pavers were recommended.
The lone proponent of paving was Chadwick, who argued that “Dirt needs constant maintenance” or pollution will not be abated. He recommended paving sloped toward the ditch on each side with a hump at the bottom to finish diverting water. A paved road, unlike a dirt one, won’t develop ruts channeling run-off into the lake, he added.
A related issue was access to the lake for the South China volunteer fire department. When select board member Janet Preston asked Morse, who is fire chief, how often the department used the landing, Morse replied, “Whenever there’s a fire down there.” So far, he said, he can remember only one instance.
Morse said the ideal situation for his department would be installation of a dry hydrant, a major undertaking because the hydrant would need access to water under the ice in winter and shallow water extends far from shore.
Two people asked about fire department access at Jones Brook (or Turtle Brook), which goes under Village Street a short distance west of the landing. Morse said his department would consider any options.
Three points garnered near-unanimous support:
Greene said the China Lake Association has applied for a state grant for work at the landing. He checked before the meeting and grant awards have not yet been announced.
Select board members will continue discussion of the issue at future meetings.
Wynn Pooler, in white, in action as one of the representatives from Maine at the Maine-Nebraska Wrestling Exchange. (contributed photo)
Wynn Pooler finished his sophomore year at Erskine Academy, in South China, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, ranked second in his class. During the 2023 Maine wrestling season, he repeated as KVAC, Southern Maine Regional, and State Champion – at 113 pounds (up from 106 pounds as a freshman), becoming the first two-time state champion in Erskine Academy Wrestling history.
Nationally, Wynn was named a Scholar All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). He was also named a First Team Academic All-American by the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA), the only student-athlete from Maine to achieve first team honors, while two swimmers from Ellsworth achieved second team recognition. This was the second consecutive year Wynn was named an NHSCA Academic All-American.
Due to his academic and athletic successes, Wynn received an opportunity to continue his high school education at The Hill School, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. This fall he will join fellow Maine wrestler Cole Albert, of Lincoln, at Hill, where he will have access to some of the finest resources, facilities, and coaches in the country; a notable difference from Maine high schools where wrestling is often overlooked or takes a back seat to other sports, even amongst athletic directors and the MPA.
From June 22 – July 3, Wynn, along with 18 other standout Maine wrestlers, represented Maine in the Maine-Nebraska Wrestling Exchange. They traveled to four different regions of Nebraska where they wrestled some of the best from that state. At each stop, they stayed with host families and experienced the local culture. On July 14 – 15 he had the opportunity to attend a camp in Veazie, where he had the chance to train with three Princeton University wrestlers, one of whom was three-time NCAA All-American, Quincy Monday. It was the third camp he’s attended since the school year ended as he prepares to make the transition to national prep wrestling.
Wynn aspires to graduate near the top of his class at Hill and become a High School All-American before moving on to wrestle in college.
by The Town Line staffAt their July 3 meeting, the town of Windsor select board unanimously approved all items on the agenda.
Board members approved the appointment of Andrew Ballantyne as the Windsor Educational Foundation and Reed Fund member.
Following that, William Appel Jr. made a motion to suspend as select board and convene as board of assessors, to include the town manager. Town Manager Theresa Haskell handed out a letter from the assessor’s agent, Vern Ziegler, regarding a supplemental tree growth withdrawal penalty to Martin and Walida Smith for voluntary withdrawal of land from Tree Growth in the amount of $5,280. The assessors unanimously approved. They then reconvened as the board of selectmen.
Haskell mentioned there was one expense category in elections in the amount of $121.91 that was overspent at year end. Haskell said partly this was overspent because of having traffic control from the public works department, but was charged to the elections. The amount was transferred from public works to elctions account.
Also, $192.30 in the town hall line was overspent, due to additional plumbing/heating repairs, elevator inspection and increases in electricity and website email. The funds were transfered from the administration line.
In other business:
The select board then voted to go into executive session to discuss personnel matters and to include the town manager.
At an abbreviated meeting on July 11, the Windsor Board of Selectmen voted to enter into executive session, along with Town Manager Theresa Haskell, and Codes Enforcement Officer Arthur Strout, to discuss personnel matters. Following that, they voted to enter into executive session, again, with Haskell and Road Supervisor Keith Hall, to discuss personnel matter.
Select board members held a vote to determine the board’s chairman. Ray Bates received two votes and was selected. Thomas McNaughton and Andrew Ballantyne received one vote each.
The board again voted to enter into executive session to discuss personnel matters.
Farmers with equipment and local residents showed up at the Besse Building, in Albion, to protest the installation of an electric transmission line through their town. (photo by Jonathan Strieff)
On July 19, representatives from LS Power, an electric transmission developer from Missouri, hosted an open house in Albion to begin community outreach among landowners impacted by the proposed transmission line. The event was the fifth of six such meetings along the proposed route, starting in Mattawamkeag, and concluding in Windsor.
Prior to the event, nearly three dozen farmers from Albion, China, and Palermo and their supporters gathered outside for a “tractor drive-in” and press conference to vocalize opposition to the project.
The Aroostook Renewable Gateway is a new 345 kV transmission corridor approved by the state legislature to connect King Pine Wind near Webbertown Township to the existing power grid substation in Windsor.
The new transmission lines would deliver up to 1,200 MW of electricity from 170 new wind turbines in Aroostook County to the regional power grid. Sixty percent of the energy generated would be purchased by Central Maine Power and Versant, while the remaining 40 percent would go to Massachusetts.
Ahead of the open house series, LS Power sent more than 3,500 letters to landowners impacted by the proposed route with the goal of soliciting feedback.
(photo by Jonathan Strieff)
Representative Doug Mulvey explained on Wednesday each letter included a unique code corresponding to a map of the corridor. In addition to informational posters and promotional materials, LS Power representatives brought a bank of laptops to each open house event to allow landowners to identify to the company unseen constraints on individual parcels. While the application and permitting process is already underway, LS Power is seeking landowner input to modify the final route to be submitted to the Public Utilities Commission by the end of the year. Outside, local farmers parked their tractors along Main Street decorated with signs opposing the project. Chuck Noyes, owner of Noyes Family Farm in Albion, addressed the economic, environmental, and cultural concerns that the transmission line poses.
“This is one of very few areas still being intensively farmed. Our farms are the backbone of the regional economy and we don’t need to make it harder for us.” Noyes farms 370 acres that have been in his family for over 100 years. Troy Nelson, a beef producer, from Palermo, farms land over a distilled gas pipeline from Buckeye Petroleum and worries about the risks posed by the power lines crossing the aging infrastructure. Matt Dow, from Sweetland Farm, in Albion, sought clarification about how the development might impact his organic certification. Lincoln Sennett, owner of Swan’s Honey, spoke to the harms to his bees and other wildlife by electromagnetic fields created by the power lines. “Honey bees, migratory birds, and other animals depend on geological magnetism to be able to navigate,” Sennet said, and EMFs from high transmission main lines have been shown to disrupt this. “Bees and beekeepers don’t need one more stressor.”
The farmers are reaching out to town and state officials for any kind of help protecting their farmland and businesses from the impacts of the transmission line.
“We can’t fight with the money and lobbyists that LS Power has,” said Holly Noyes. “But we can show the will of the people, that the project does not have local support.”
If the PUC approves the final route proposal next year, LS Power anticipates completing right of way acquisitions by late 2025, beginning construction in early 2027, bringing the project in-service by mid-2028.
by Mary GrowVassalboro planning board members had on their July 11 agenda four shoreland permit applications and a discussion of keeping phosphorus out of water bodies. They had in the audience two representatives of ReVison Energy to talk about a solar project that was not on the agenda.
In a short meeting, they learned one application had been withdrawn and one did not need their action; approved one permit; postponed another and the phosphorus discussion; and said Vassalboro’s new solar ordinance does not apply to ReVision’s project.
ReVision representatives Alexander Roberts-Pierel and Annalise Kukor were asking about the Kennebec Water District’s proposed solar development.
Roberts-Pierel said the project had received an interconnection permit from Central Maine Power Company just before Vassalboro’s local moratorium took effect in November 2022. The moratorium ended after voters at the June 2023 town meeting added commercial solar regulations to the town’s site review ordinance.
Roberts-Pierel said power generated by the KWD project will go into the grid, but it will be entirely credited against KWD’s usage. KWD will be “the sole beneficiary,” and no power will be sold to other entities.
In that case, planning board chairman Virginia Brackett said, the solar regulations do not apply. By the definition of “commercial solar energy system” in the ordinance, they apply only when the “primary purpose” is to sell power off-site.
Because of the area to be covered by the proposed solar panels, KWD will need an ordinary site review permit for the development. Roberts-Pierel said he would report to KWD officials and prepare an appropriate application.
The shoreland permit approved was for Stephen Hahn to enlarge the deck on his camp, at 5 Baker Road, on Webber Pond. The new deck will be slightly smaller than he originally requested, in order to meet ordinance requirements.
The postponed application was from Peter Tomasz, to enlarge a building, at 62 Three Mile Pond Road. Tomasz was not at the July 11 meeting, and board members reviewing the application found they had several questions for him.
His application was therefore postponed to the board’s August meeting.
Codes officer Robert Geaghan said the Town of Vassalboro does not need a permit from the planning board for proposed developments at Eagle Park, on Outlet Stream; the codes officer is authorized to act.
Town Manager Aaron Miller added that the town needs a state Department of Environmental Protection permit by rule for adding fill. He and Paul Mitnik (former codes officer and current planning board member) will take care of it.
The next regular Vassalboro planning board meeting night is Tuesday, Aug. 1.
by Mary GrowVassalboro select board members’ July 13 topics covered the entire town, especially the northern half: continued discussion of the recreation program and the Vassalboro Sanitary District; a state Department of Transportation (MDOT) presentation on plans for a new bridge on Bog Road in 2025; a resident’s proposal for traffic control in East Vassalboro; and the board’s own meeting schedule through the end of November.
Some members of the current recreation committee and town recreation director Karen Hatch have had difficulty sorting out respective responsibilities. The committee in the past focused on youth sports; the town program Hatch directs is expanding to serve residents of all ages.
Town Manager Aaron Miller said he met with recreation committee members, talked with other residents and consulted the town’s attorney. On his recommendation, select board members voted unanimously to seek volunteers for an expanded recreation committee that will include individuals in charge of fundraising, baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, the snack shack at the town fields on Bog Road and senior programs and events.
Residents who would like to serve on the new recreation committee are invited to contact the town office. Appointments are to be made at the Aug. 17 select board meeting. Miller said the attorney advised him that the current sports commissioners may continue as usual in the interim.
After members are appointed to the expanded committee, Miller sees their first priority as revising committee bylaws to fit into the new town structure. Committee member Karen Howard reminded everyone that Vassalboro’s bylaws need to conform to the bylaws of the Augusta-based Dirigo League in which town sports teams play.
Select board chairman Chris French said reconciling the recreation committee bylaws with the town personnel policy should – and would – have been done soon after Hatch was hired, if board members had not been fully occupied with finding a new town manager and preparing for the 2023 town meeting and new fiscal year.
Discussion of Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD) financial issues repeated concerns explained at the June 22 select board meeting: to cover its debts and current expenses, the district needs either to raise rates to levels some of its 200 customers say are higher than their annual tax bills, or to find other funding sources (see the June 29 issue of The Town Line, p. 2).
Miller said state Representative Richard Bradstreet had offered suggestions that VSD official Becky Goodrich said led to some financial help for some customers.
Part of the problem is an increase in the rate Winslow charges Vassalboro to send its sewage via Winslow to Waterville’s treatment plant. Select board members planned to request a meeting with Winslow officials. Miller offered to arrange it, and, if Winslow agreed, to host it.
Brian Nichols, a project manager in the MDOT bridge program, came to the July 13 select board meeting to ask permission to use town roads as a detour while the Meadow Brook bridge on Bog Road, between East Vassalboro and the Hussey Hill Road intersection, is replaced.
Nichols’ proposal is to close Bog Road and send traffic over Taber Hill and Gray roads. Before and after the detour, he said, MDOT and town representatives will inspect the roads; if the extra traffic does any damage, the state will pay to repair it.
At the end of the meeting, long after Nichols left, resident William Pullen pointed out that the sharp left (south) turn where Gray Road meets Taber Hill Road would be dangerous for big trucks going south. He recommended extending the detour north to Oak Grove Road, instead of using Gray Road.
Nichols would like an answer from the select board by September, when MDOT should have a final plan and be ready to seek bids. He expects construction in the summer of 2025, with Bog Road closed for about 45 days.
The current bridge was built in 1960 on 1911 abutments, Nichols said. It is no longer stable enough to be rebuilt one lane at a time, and there is no place to put a temporary bridge, leaving detouring traffic the only option.
East Vassalboro resident Raymond Adams proposed another traffic change: a four-way stop at the East Vassalboro four corners. Currently, drivers coming east off Bog Road and west off South Stanley Hill Road face stop signs; drivers on Main Street (Route 32) go through, mostly much faster than the 25-mile-an-hour speed limit, Adams said.
Ben Gidney, who also lives near the four corners, agreed speeding – and running the stop signs – are problems. But, he said, vehicles accelerating noisily away from the stop signs are another problem that would increase with two more signs.
Miller said he consulted with David Allen, Vassalboro resident and DOT regional engineer, who said if the town asked for additional stop signs or any other change, the department would evaluate the request.
Miller said Allen reported “one crash at the intersection within the last three years.” Gidney said Allen must count only serious accidents, as he has seen more than one.
After hearing other suggestions, like rumble strips, a blinking light or a portable sign recording drivers’ speeds, select board members decided to hold a public hearing at their Sept. 7 meeting.
North Vassalboro residents added that excessive speed is a problem in their village, too.
In other business July 13, board members:
Miller will follow up on resident Raymond Breton’s complaint about superfluous utility poles in North Vassalboro. At board chairman French’s suggestion, the manager will look into the cost of updating Vassalboro’s strategic plan, which was approved in June 2006.
Select board members agreed to consider at their Aug. 17 meeting questions for an opinion survey to be sent with tax bills.
After Aug. 17, they scheduled meetings for Sept. 7, Sept. 21, Oct. 5, Oct. 19, Nov. 2 and Nov. 16. On Nov. 30, instead of a third regular November meeting, they plan a workshop session to develop priorities for the rest of the fiscal year.