China selectmen get glowing report from school super

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by Mary Grow

Regional School Unit #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley (a China resident) and China’s representatives to the RSU #18 board talked with select board members at the Oct. 11 select board meeting.

The new school year is going well, Gartley reported. RSU officials are making progress on three goals: improving attendance, strengthening students’ math and reading skills and involving parents. The number of AP (Advanced Placement, or college-level) courses has increased, giving graduates who attend two-year or four-year colleges a head start – and cost savings.

Despite the national teacher shortage, RSU #18 started the school year with no vacant positions, Gartley said – perhaps the only central Maine district to do so.

“The facilities look great,” he said. Plans for next year include new siding for China Middle School.

Gartley told select board chairman Ronald Breton that when he planned the current year’s school budget a year ago, he budgeted for substantial cost increases, for example in fuel. He also makes as many long-term arrangements as he can, to minimize unexpected year-to-year changes.

RSU board member Jamie Bachinski said the three children who came to the meeting with him were his reason for serving on the board. He commended Gartley and the rest of the administration for “doing an excellent job.”

RSU board member Dawn Castner, who is a candidate for re-election Nov. 8, said after enjoying teaching for five decades, board service keeps her involved in education from a different perspective.

RSU #18 includes Belgrade, China, Oakland, Rome and Sidney. The administrative office is in Oakland.

Later in the meeting, Brent Chesley withdrew as a China member of the RSU #18 Cost Share Committee, because he is unable to attend the first scheduled meeting. Select board members unanimously appointed Dennis Campbellton in his place, joining Breton and Castner.

Gartley explained that a five-town, 15-member committee is created every five years to review the formula that divides the local share of RSU costs among the towns. The current formula is based 75 percent on each town’s property valuation and 25 percent on its student population, he said.

During the public comment period near the end of the meeting, Campbellton asked if public comment could be moved to the beginning of the meeting, so that audience members could speak before select board members made decisions. Board member Wayne Chadwick said if an audience member asks to be recognized at any point in discussion, the board chair normally obliges. Chesley, one of three candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot for three select board seats, agreed.

In other business Oct. 11, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood reported “a great head start” in response to the amnesty program for residents who made changes on their properties without required town permits (see The Town Line, Sept. 29, p. 3). Many people are appreciative and want to become compliant, she said. She plans to meet with town attorney Amanda Meader to discuss known offenders who do not come forward.

The codes officer has a list of “major issues,” she said, and as the assessor’s quarterly reviews proceed, more unpermitted changes are likely to be reported.

Hapgood shared photos of digital signs she and South China fire chief Richard Morse looked at as they planned to buy a new sign for the South China fire station. She recommended, and select board members unanimously approved, the least expensive one, sold by Neokraft Signs Inc., of Lewiston, for $22,938, plus the cost of an electrical connection to the fire house.

After the meeting, Hapgood said the price might change slightly, depending on the final design. At the June annual town business meeting, China voters approved spending up to $33,000 in federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money for the sign.

Hapgood reported that after extensive review, attorney Meader concluded that the shore frontage in front of The Landing restaurant at the head of China Lake’s east basin does not belong to the town and is part of The Landing property. Ownership has been unknown since the State of Maine relocated Route 202 in 1972.

Select board members agreed unanimously to settle the issue by starting to bill the company owning the restaurant for property taxes on the area.

The manager reported that Lynn Martin, the consultant from Fire Safety Compliance Associates working with the town, had useful talks with town fire and rescue officials. Transfer station and public works staff need to continue to work with Martin, she said. Select board members unanimously approved using $2,800 in contingency funds to extend their two contracts another year.

Hapgood shared with board members another summary report from the digital speed monitoring sign, this time from locations on Deer Hill Road. Average vehicle speeds were consistently above the posted 25 mile-an-hour limit.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Oct. 24. The agenda will probably include discussion with Delta Ambulance representatives of their planned request for town financial support beginning in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

VASSALBORO: 18 residents attend town manager search forum

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by Mary Grow

NOTE: Participants in this meeting were promised by the leader that their comments would be shared anonymously. This writer will therefore not identify speakers.

Eighteen Vassalboro residents attended the Oct. 12 forum that was called to collect answers to two questions: what are the “major issues and challenges” facing the town in the next five years; and what “qualities, education, background and experience” should the town manager who succeeds Mary Sabins have.

Cornell Knight, of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group, led the discussion. He explained that he has 40 years’ experience as a manager in half a dozen Maine municipalities, most recently Bar Harbor.

Sabins announced earlier this fall that she is retiring, effective Jan. 2, 2023. Select board members chose Eaton Peabody to help them find her successor.

Knight said ads have been placed in appropriate places locally, state-wide and on New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts sites and the International City Managers Association website.

Vassalboro staff was asked for their answers to the two questions earlier on Oct. 12. Answers, from discussions and from emails received by Oct. 14, will be published on the town website, www.vassalboro.net. The information will guide Knight and select board members as they evaluate candidates.

Suggested issues and challenges included:

  • A need for more long-range planning, which could include an updated strategic plan (Vassalboro’s is dated 2006); a new comprehensive plan instead of the strategic plan, if voters are ready to accept one; and/or a capital improvements plan. A related suggestion was a review of Vassalboro’s charter, an action that could lead to a change like replacing the select board with a town council.
  • More, and more advanced, technology, a topic that included expanded and improved broadband access for residents and the capacity to hold virtual public meetings and to stream live meetings.
  • Attention to environmental issues, including water quality in the town’s lakes and recycling and waste management.
  • A need for more law enforcement and for improved rescue and ambulance services.

Moving to the second question, the qualities a town manager should have, there was much emphasis on connections and coordination. The manager should make sure town boards and committees are working well, collaborating when needed and communicating with each other and with town departments. Now that Vassalboro’s school department is independent of regional school organizations, school and town cooperation should become closer.

People also called for a manager with problem-solving skills – creative ones, one speaker specified – and the ability to communicate with staff and townspeople. Communication had to be two-way; the manager should be curious, should “listen first and talk second,” and should not try to dictate.

The manager should be good at finding and applying for grants for state and federal funds, and at long-term capital planning.

He or she should take advantage of continuing education opportunities and should communicate and cooperate with colleagues in other towns.

Knight said the deadline for applications is Nov. 1. He and his colleague, Don Gerrish, will do an initial screening. He expects select board members to do a first round of interviews in November and a second round by early December, and to be ready to sign a contract by Dec. 9.

In reply to a suggestion that town office staff be involved in the decision, Knight said staff members usually have an opportunity to meet candidates chosen for second interviews.

Asked if he thought Vassalboro’s salary and benefits package was competitive, he said yes.

If no satisfactory candidate is found, he said, Vassalboro will operate with an interim manager while a new search and selection process goes ahead.

VASSALBORO: Delta Ambulance plans financial requests from served towns

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by Mary Grow

The topics that took the most time at a long and varied Oct. 13 Vassalboro select board meeting were a presentation by Delta Ambulance representatives on plans to request financial aid from towns served, and a discussion with Cross Hill Road residents about getting a new business to comply with conditions on its town permit.

Timothy Beals, Delta Ambulance’s executive director, gave select board members a multi-page handout and supplemented it with a verbal description of the service. He was accompanied by director of community relations, Bill McKenna, and director of operations, Chris Mitchell.

Beals said Delta was organized in 1972 and became a nonprofit corporation in 1975. Its 13-member board includes representatives from area hospitals and from some of the 14 municipalities it serves.

Delta has a main station in Waterville and an ambulance base in Augusta. There are currently about 100 full-time and part-time employees. In addition to responding to emergency calls, its 17 ambulances are used for transfers from one medical facility to another, and its staff provides training sessions.

Recently, Waterville and Winslow have started their own ambulances, withdrawing from Delta. Delta is downsizing accordingly.

For 50 years, Delta has been funded primarily by insurance reimbursements, which have never covered full costs. Payment is made only if a patient is transported; if the ambulance crew resolves the medical crisis and the patient refuses transport, there is no reimbursement.

And, Beals added, if an ambulance service transports everyone who calls, the government is likely to investigate.

Currently, Delta’s annual revenue is around $7 million and annual expenses are around $9 million, with a reserve fund covering the difference.

Therefore, Beals said, Delta officials are asking member towns to appropriate $15 per resident – just under $66,300 for Vassalboro – in the next fiscal year. He believes Delta is the last Maine ambulance service to start charging a service fee; and he said most other per-capita fees are higher.

Emergency response is guaranteed, Beals said. When several ambulances are in use, non-emergency transfers are postponed, and if necessary mutual aid agreements with other services can be invoked.

Vassalboro residents get not only emergency service, around 350 calls a year, but also reimbursement or replacement for most supplies Vassalboro First Responders use and a stand-by ambulance, at no charge, at fire scenes and on request at community events.

In response to questions from select board member Chris French, Beals said Delta board members had not discussed multi-year contracts, nor giving more than the current five board seats to municipal representatives. Both topics are open for discussion, he said.

Select board members will consider the situation.

Rick and Terry Dawson and Peter and Mary Beth Soule brought their problem with a newly-opened brewery at 772 Cross Hill Road to select board members because they did not know how to proceed.

Supported by copies of Vassalboro Planning Board minutes and related documents, they explained that in December 2019, the planning board approved a permit to James and Linda D’Angelo to open the brewery. Notice of approval came from Paul Mitnik, the codes officer in 2019 and, after unsuccessful attempts to retire, the current codes officer.

The approval was conditional on “providing buffering of conifer trees in the east and south property boundaries with extra buffering near parking areas.”

The Dec. 10, 2019, planning board minutes show that David D’Angelo was spokesman for the applicants. One of the public comments was that the brewery’s parking area faces the Dawson property, where the house is 560 feet away, and “Headlights from vehicles [are] a concern.”

On May 18 of this year, then codes officer, Ryan Page, issued a certificateIof occupancy for the brewery to Cross Hill Realty, LLC. The certificate says, “The property owner or tenant is hereby authorized to enter and use the premises.”

It also says, “Special Condition: Screening required in accordance with Site Plan Review.”

The Dawsons and Soules told select board members there is no buffering. Some trees were planted after July 2022; most died and have been even more recently replaced.

They also questioned whether the certificate of occupancy was sufficient to allow the business to open to the public. It did, about two weeks ago, they said.

The residents, board members and Town Manager Mary Sabins discussed whether the issue should be handled by Mitnik or perhaps by the town board of appeals. Related issues were what time limits for appeals might apply, and what, if any, other local or state permits or licenses the brewery might have or need.

After three-quarters of an hour, board member Rick Denico referred the Dawsons and Soules to Vassalboro’s enforcement and appeals ordinance, on the town website.

The Oct. 13 meeting began with a public hearing on renewing town permits for seven automobile graveyards/junkyards and one auto hobbyist’s collection. There were no public comments, and board members unanimously approved Mitnik’s recommendations, as follows:

  • Unconditional renewals for Freddie’s Service Center (Bill Pullen), 163 South Stanley Hill Road; Garnett’s Motors (Stanley Garnett), 1616 North Belfast Avenue; Autowerkes (Voit Ritch), Route 3; Platinum & Core LLC (Robert Parise), 1702 Riverside Drive; and hobbyist Robert Dore, 919 Church Hill Road.
  • Renewals conditional on providing proof of a state recyclers’ license for Ron’s Parts Inc. (James Cogley), 520 Main Street; and Weeks Mills Garage (Olin Charette), 1499 Riverside Drive.
  • An interim conditional renewal for Bondo’s Garage (Dale Clement), 471 Taber Hill Road. Mitnik explained that the garage is closed, and without an associated garage the junkyard should be closed, too, but time is needed for orderly dispersal. Conditions include draining all vehicle fluids, clearing the entrance and getting rid of all but 20 vehicles.

The easy item Oct. 13 was appointing seven members of a new committee.

The committee is to review capital needs of the Vassalboro Historical Society’s building, the former East Vassalboro school house, as proposed two weeks earlier (see the Oct. 6 issue of The Town Line, p. 14). Its members, assuming they accept, are Dave Bolduc, Donald Breton, Janice Clowes, Steve Jones, John Melrose, select board chairman Barbara Redmond and Lauchlin Titus.

Melrose welcomes volunteer advice and help from people knowledgeable about building issues. He told select board members he has already enlisted his son, Andrew, to advise on heating.

Because the meeting was so long, discussion of revisions to the town personnel handbook was postponed to the next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27.

VASSALBORO: Local and state questions to be on Nov. 8 ballot (2022)

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by Mary Grow

At the polls on Nov. 8, Vassalboro voters will make decisions on local ballot questions and state elections. The questions are presented on two sheets of paper, a two-sided local ballot and a two-sided state ballot.

One local question is election of a Kennebec Water District trustee, for a three-year term. Incumbent Frank Richards is unopposed for re-election.

The other is the Solar Moratorium Ordinance, drafted by town attorney Kristin Collins and discussed at a Sept. 29 public hearing.

If voters approve, it will prohibit new commercial solar developments in town for a period of 180 days (which selectmen can change), beginning immediately after the votes are counted and the result certified.

At the Sept. 29 hearing and following select board meeting, and at an Oct. 4 planning board meeting, residents asked whether an application filed and accepted by the planning board before Nov. 8, but not approved, would be postponed.

Codes officer Paul Mitnik and planning board member Douglas Phillips said the board would not act on an application if the moratorium were in effect. Phillips read the paragraph in the ordinance he thinks relevant:

“[D]uring the time this Moratorium Ordinance is in effect, no officer, official, employee, office, administrative board or agency of the Town shall accept, process, approve, deny, or in any other way act upon any application for a license, building permit or any other type of land use approval or permit and/or any other permits of licenses related to a commercial solar array….”

An earlier paragraph says the ordinance applies to “any proposed commercial solar array” for which an application for any required permit “has not been submitted to and granted final approval by the Code Enforcement Officer, Planning Board or other Town official or board” before the effective date of the ordinance.

The purpose of the moratorium is to give town officials time to develop requirements specific to solar farms, to complement current town regulation of other kinds of commercial development. Select board members hope to have language ready to submit to voters at the June 2023 town meeting.

Vassalboro’s state ballot begins with the District 1 Congressional candidates and includes state and county officials. Each office has a line for a write-in candidate, in addition to those listed on the ballot.

Ranked choice voting, which allows voters to indicate their first choice and, if they wish, a second and a third choice, applies only to the Congressional race.

Contested races are as follows. Names on the ballot are listed alphabetically.

  • For District 1 representative to the United States House of Representatives, Democratic incumbent Chellie M. Pingree, of North Haven, and Republican Edwin Thelander, of Bristol.
  • For governor of Maine, Independent Sam Hunkler, from Beals; Republican Paul LePage, from Edgecomb; and incumbent Democrat Janet T. Mills, from Farmington.
  • For District #15 state senator, Republican incumbent Matthew Gary Pouliot and Democrat Storme Jude St. Valle, both from Augusta.
  • For House District #61, incumbent Republican Richard T. Bradstreet and Democrat Amy J. Davidoff, both from Vassalboro.
  • For Kennebec County Register of Deeds, Republican Matthew James Boucher, of Oakland; and incumbent Democrat C. Diane Wilson, of Litchfield.

Three current office-holders are unopposed for re-election: Kennebec County Register of Probate, Kathleen Grant Ayers, Democrat, of West Gardiner; Kennebec County treasurer, Thomas F. Doore, Democrat, of Augusta; and District 4 (Kennebec and Somerset counties) district attorney, Maeghan Maloney, Democrat, of Augusta.

Vassalboro voting will be in the town office building, at 682 Main Street (Route 32). Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Vassalboro website has additional information about voting rules under the Town Clerk box on the left-hand side; scroll down to the ninth section, “Voter Registration and Election Information.”

Town Clerk Cathy Coyne announced that there is a new box in front of the town office where people can safely drop off absentee ballots when the office is closed. The town also has new voting booths, she said.

Vassalboro planners discuss revised commercial solar farm plan

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members spent the first hour of their two-and-a-half hour Oct. 4 meeting on a revised commercial solar farm plan, and the rest of the time on preliminary discussion of town solar regulations.

The solar project at 2579 Riverside Drive was approved in September 2020. Since then, it has acquired a new owner, a change that needed and got planning board approval, and the board has extended the permit.

The Oct. 4 re-application, as explained by Kara Moody, of Stantec Consulting Services, in Topsham, was for four changes.

  • Instead of the tracking solar panels initially planned, which move to follow the sun, fixed south-facing panels will be used.
  • Therefore some of the other equipment has been rearranged.
  • A new 12-foot-wide access driveway for a connection to Central Maine Power Company (CMP) is planned at the north end of the property.
  • Therefore the original 16-foot-wide access road has been shortened.

The result, Moody said, will be a reduction in total affected acreage from about 33 acres to about 28 acres; a reduction in fenced area from about 27 acres to about 23 acres; a reduction in impervious area from about 9/10ths of an acre to about 8/10ths of an acre; a considerable reduction in the wetland area impacted, from about 4,200 square feet to about 1,100 square feet; less grading; and fewer panels.

The state Department of Environmental Protection approved the original project in December 2020. State regulators will be asked to approve the revision, and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to approve the new entrance to Riverside Drive.

Planning board members unanimously approved a revised Vassalboro permit, subject to MDOT approval of the entrance permit and planning board review of the decommissioning plan that is part of the state permit. The review is scheduled for the Nov. 1 planning board meeting.

Vassalboro planning board members have approved four commercial solar permits, board chairman Virginia Brackett said. One on Main Street (Route 32), on Bernard Welch’s property about opposite Ron’s Auto Parts, has been operating for a couple years, she estimated. Two others, on Cemetery Street and on Webber Pond Road, are approved but not built.

Permittees requesting extended permits have told board members the delay is in arranging connections to CMP’s grid.

As they develop local standards, select board members currently plan to add provisions specific to commercial solar developments to Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance, which governs commercial and industrial projects. They will ask town attorney Kristin Collins if this approach is correct, or if they and planning board members should prepare a separate ordinance.

The additions, in whichever form, are likely to include requirements for a decommissioning plan (describing how the solar panels will be removed at the end of their useful life and the area restored to its previous state, with a provision for funding); buffering to conceal the solar farm; setbacks from, at least, wetlands, roads and property boundary lines; and maybe height limits.

The goal, Brackett and planning board member Douglas Phillips agreed, is not to prohibit commercial solar developments in Vassalboro, but to set standards “that make them good neighbors.”

Maybe the revisions should include standards for windmills, too, Phillips suggested.

Permit fees also need discussion. Fees are usually set by the select board, not included in ordinances, because if they were part of an ordinance, they could be changed only by a town vote amending the ordinance.

Commercial solar developments need both local and state permits. Select board chairman Barbara Redmond said the state does not regulate them if they cover less than three acres. Town regulations should apply to small developments.

Residents attending the meeting, several of them living on Route 32 near a site for which an application is expected (see The Town Line, Oct. 6, p. 3) offered suggestions for additional requirements. Not all were appropriate for Vassalboro, Redmond and Brackett again reminded them, because the town has no zoning and no comprehensive plan, having substituted a document labeled a strategic plan.

Vassalboro’s 2006 strategic plan is on the town website, www.vassalboro.net, under the heading Ordinances/Policies.

For example, several residents wanted solar panels invisible not only from neighboring properties, but also from people looking over from a height, in what are called viewsheds. Unlikely to happen, Brackett said: hiding a solar farm completely is probably impossible, and the strategic plan says nothing about viewsheds.

Resident Kevin Reed pointed out the difference between a solar farm – or another industry – in an isolated area and one surrounded by houses. Sorry, Brackett said: without zoning, the board cannot consider density of population or proximity to residences.

Reed suggested the updated ordinance include provisions for an electrical inspection. That’s the state’s job, codes officer Paul Mitnik and planning board member Dan Bradstreet replied.

Currently, board members said, local approval comes before state review for a project like a solar farm. State applications are more demanding, and state regulators have more expertise, they said. They surmised that because the state process is longer and more complex, state officials don’t want to go through it and then to have a municipality reject a state-approved permit.

Reed repeatedly questioned the order. Asked why it mattered, since the project would not be built without approval at both levels, he replied that information in the state permit might be valuable to townspeople and town regulators.

After the meeting, Redmond learned from Cameron Dufour, at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, that a prior municipal permit is not a requirement for a state solar development permit. She recommended adding the order in which permits are approved to the list of ordinance issues.

Mitnik said applications for town permits are submitted two weeks before each planning board meeting, and are public record. Residents who want information on a pending project may come to the town office and read the application.

Seeing plans should help alleviate concerns, Brackett added.

Select board member Rick Denico read the just-approved Riverside Drive application as discussion continued. He seemed favorably impressed, occasionally sharing details he found.

The next Vassalboro planning board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1. If the Route 32 solar farm, or any other commercial or industrial application, is on the agenda, board members have said abutters will be notified by mail before the meeting.

China planners postpone action on “solventless hashlab” application

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by Mary Grow

A bare quorum of the China Planning Board took no action at the Sept. 27 meeting.

There was one application on the agenda, from Bryan Mason, to change the use of a shipping container at his 1144 Route 3 property. Mason wrote that he intended to use it as a “solventless Hashlab.”

He was not at the board meeting, and acting board chairman Toni Wall declined to act in his absence.

There is useful information on the web about solventless hashlabs, Wall said; but she thought Mason should be present to answer questions about his specific plans.

Codes officer Nicholas French reported briefly on the select board’s amnesty for projects done without a required permit (see the Sept. 29 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). He said he needs to complete only three more courses to become a fully certified Maine Code Enforcement Officer.

Board members did not act on the minutes of the previous meeting, because only two of the three had read them.

They did not schedule their next meeting. Due to the Oct. 10 Indigenous People’s holiday, the select board has preempted the usual second Tuesday planning board meeting night; the select board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11. A second meeting room is available, but China’s LiveStream program cannot broadcast two simultaneous meetings.

After post-meeting discussion, planning board members decided their next meeting will be Tuesday evening, Oct. 25.

China emergency committee to meet

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by Mary Grow

The China Emergency Preparedness Committee is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, in the portable building behind the town office. Committee members will continue review of the town’s emergency preparedness plan, recommending changes and updates they think are needed.

VASSALBORO: Over two dozen citizens attend public hearing on moratorium

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by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro select board’s Sept. 29 public hearing on the solar moratorium question that’s on the Nov. 8 local ballot drew more than two dozen residents and lasted almost an hour. Most of the discussion was on a different topic.

The moratorium ordinance, if voters approve it, would stop all town action on applications for commercial solar developments for 180 days, a period select board members could extend. The purpose is to give town officials time to amend local ordinances to better address issues specific to commercial solar projects, “to protect the public from health and safety risks.”

Specifics suggested included provisions for removing solar installations at the end of their useful life and guaranteeing funding for removal; setbacks, screening and buffers; and effects on natural resources.

When select board chairman Barbara Redmond called for a show of hands, almost everyone present was in favor of the moratorium. Two residents explained their reservations: one has specific concerns about imprecise wording, and another does not want to discourage development of solar energy.

The Vassalboro Planning Board has already approved several commercial solar farms. Board chairman Virginia Brackett, in the audience, explained that the board used Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance, which regulates commercial and industrial development in general, to review the applications.

The majority of the Sept. 29 speakers oppose what appears to be another planned commercial solar development behind a residential area on the west side of Main Street (Route 32), north of Duratherm Window Company, between the road and Outlet Stream.

Brackett said the planning board has received preliminary information on a solar development there, and might have an application in time for its Nov. 1 meeting. Despite repeated suggestions that the Nov. 1 planning board meeting was the proper forum to discuss the project, several audience members used the Sept. 29 hearing to share their concerns.

Most speakers live near the proposed site. Some talked about surveyors planting stakes in a large tract of land and trespassing on abutting properties. Some advised the audience to do research on solar panels, and shared information they found and conclusions they drew.

According to these residents, leachate and stormwater run-off from solar panels contain lead, arsenic and other hazardous substances. This run-off kills wildlife, including thousands of birds.

Runoff from the proposed solar panels would contaminate groundwater, and when it got into Outlet Stream, one speaker predicted, it would flow downstream and contaminate the swimming area in North Vassalboro. Migrating alewives would carry the contaminants upstream into China Lake, the water supply for Kennebec Water District.

The other concern speakers voiced was about the electromagnetic fields they said emanate from solar farms, also deadly to wildlife and to people, causing cancer and other forms of illness.

Another speaker mentioned the pesticides allegedly used to kill grass under the panels as yet another source of water contamination.

Brackett, Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner and select board members reminded the audience that because Vassalboro has no zoning, commercial developments cannot be excluded from residential areas. Nor, Weidner said, does Vassalboro have a comprehensive plan that might designate areas inappropriate for commercial activities.

In the past, town committees invested time and effort to write zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans, only to have voters refuse to adopt them.

Select board member Chris French said the voters’ decisions were based on respect for landowners’ rights. Weidner called for a “community conversation” on the proper balance between individual rights and regulation.

Brackett said one requirement in the current site review ordinance is that a developer notify abutters, including those across the road as well as owners of adjoining property, before the planning board discusses a permit application. If the solar farm application is on the Nov. 1 planning board agenda, abutters will be notified by certified mail and their receipts included in the application.

“We can’t allow them [developers] to present an application if they have not notified the abutters,” Brackett said.

Vassalboro Planning Board meetings are normally held at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in the town office meeting room. Brackett and Town Manager Mary Sabins said the Oct. 4 planning board agenda included no applications; members of the two boards intended a joint discussion of a future solar ordinance.

The Sept. 29 select board meeting included a second public hearing, this one on the annual updates to the town’s General Assistance Ordinance, required by the state. The hearing was brief and the amended ordinance was approved unanimously.

In other business, Vassalboro Historical Society treasurer John Melrose and vice-chairman Raymond Breton reminded select board members that the historical society building, the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse, belongs to the town. They asked for town funds for needed updates, beginning with a new heating and ventilation system.

Melrose recommended select board members appoint a small committee to consider and make recommendations on building needs.

Transfer station manager George Hamar again urged providing a cover over the new compactor at the transfer station. A cover is needed to protect the controls from weather, and to keep rain and snow out of the box of trash, so the town will not pay to have water hauled away.

Hamar has discussed possibilities with road foreman Eugene Field. Redmond encouraged him to see what he and Field can work out, at what cost.

Fire chief Walker Thompson and rescue unit head Dan Mayotte attended the meeting to discuss future relations with Delta Ambulance. With no Delta representative present, Redmond postponed discussion. She intends to have the topic on the select board’s Oct. 13 agenda, if someone from Delta is available that evening.

Board members unanimously accepted an offer from Steve Jones, of Fieldstone Gardens, to plant trees in East Vassalboro’s Monument Park, in anticipation of the need to remove some aged trees.

They tentatively scheduled a discussion of uses for federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for their Oct. 27 meeting. French encouraged any resident with ideas for using the funds to suggest them to a board member or to town office staff.

Vassalboro has received a little more than $464,000 in ARPA funds. Over $238,500 has been appropriated, leaving an available balance of more than $225,500.

Select board members postponed several internal issues, like financial questions and the previously-planned Oct. 6 goal-setting session, until 2023, when Sabins’ successor will become town manager. Board members might meet Oct. 6 anyway, to continue developing their process for choosing a new manager.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13.

WINDSOR: Town to see increase in cost for roads winter plowing

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by The Town Line staff

At their September 13 meeting, the Windsor Select Board unanimously approved the awarding of the plowing contract for the 2022-23 winter to McGee Construction.

McGee Construction had notified Town Manager Theresa Haskell that they were increasing their hourly rate from $110 to $125 per hour, making the price of the plowing contract $31,250, for 250 hours of service and $110 per hour over the contracted 250 hours. That is a $3,750 increase from last year.

Haskell indicated she would, or should, send out requests for proposals. However, the last time the town sent out RFPs it received no bids except for McGee. Select board member Ronald Brann said the town of Windsor is getting a great price even with the increase. He added that other towns are having a tough time to get contractors to do plowing.

Haskell said she has done a cost analysis with other towns and they were paying over $4,000 a mile, when Windsor would be paying $2,476.88 per mile under the new contract.

In other business, Haskell. reported revenues at the transfer station were down ($565.70) from this time in August of last year, for a total of $1,964.62 for the year.

Joel Greenwood from KVCOG, Jerry Nault and Carol Chavarie, both planning board members, were present to answer questions about the Draft Utility Scale Solar Energy Facility Ordinance. After much discussion, Greenwood said he will update the discussed changes and will report back to Haskell.

The select board also unanimously approved placing two questions on the November 8 ballot. The first is asking to authorize the board to accept, on behalf of the town, any coronavirus local fiscal recovery funds, also known as Americaan Rescue Plan or ARPA funds, received by the town from the federal government, enter into agreements or other documentation required, and appropriate and expend the funds, up to $185,000, for upgrading communications equipment for public safety purposes, including the addition of an automatic generator for the town’s telecommunications towers.

The second article asks to authorize the select board to accept and dispense ARPA money, in the amount of $35,000, to purchase an X Series manual monitor/defibrillator for the Windsor Rescue.

Haskell was appointed to represent the town with KVCOG, and Ray Bates was appointed the elected official.

Haskell asked the select board to hold a public hearing to adopt the General Assistance Ordinance GA Appendages (A-G) for the period of October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023. The board approved the meeting and was held on September 27.

It was noted that Town Clerk Kelly McGlothlin has received her town clerk certification and was congratulated by the office staff at the presentation at the Maine Town/City Clerk Association meeting.

Ray Bates was re-elected as chairman of the select board with three votes. William Appel Jr. and Andrew Ballantyne each received one vote.

The next meeting of the Windsor Select Board was held on September 27.

Maine students among the most likely to drive the country’s tech future

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CodeWizardsHQ, a provider of coding classes for kids and teens, has carried out a comprehensive study and identified the most and least progressive states when it comes to access and enrollment to computer science courses. Given the significance of computer science in the modern world, not having access to courses such as coding can put children at a significant disadvantage to their peers when it comes to opportunities when they are older. The study revealed that there are significant disparities based on the location and profiles of students.

The company analyzed data from Advocacy Coalition to determine a ranking from 1 to 50 (with 1 being the highest ranking) of each state’s I.T. progressiveness. The data revealed that Maine has a rural access rate of 55 percent and a minority access rate of 76 percent, with 60 percent of high schools offering computer science. This places Maine in 23rd position overall in America.

Ranking factors included: rural accessibility, race accessibility, minority student accessibility, female enrollment, economically disadvantaged student enrollment, and the number of high schools offering computer sciences to students. Overall, the United States has a national rural access rate of 49 percent for computer science studies and a minority student access rate of 72 percent.

Across the country, a total of 58 percent of high schools offer computer science as a subject, with a female enrollment rate of 31 percent. Topping the rankings as #1 most progressive state for computer science study opportunities is South Carolina.