Chadwick chosen as China select board chairman

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Wayne Chadwick

Four China Select Board members began their Nov. 21 meeting by electing Wayne Chadwick board chairman and Janet Preston secretary. Both votes were unanimous (with Blane Casey absent). Chadwick succeeds Ronald Breton, who did not run for re-election to the board.

Items on a long agenda included discussion with Municipal Building Committee members and engineer Keith Whittaker, of Presque Isle-based B. R. Smith Associates (BRSA); the China Recreation Committee’s request to buy a tractor; select board responsibilities; and an annual review of town policies.

Building committee chairman Sheldon Goodine said committee members and Whittaker were not clear on what select board members expect as BRSA’s current product. Everyone agreed the company should design a climate-controlled vault to store paper records that the state requires municipalities to keep forever. The questions were whether BRSA should also plan for a future addition, and if so, to what level of detail.

The vault, Whittaker said, will be entirely concrete, including the roof, with temperature and humidity controls. Chadwick and new select board member Brent Chesley said there should be a small separate mechanical room.

Whittaker said usually the concrete cube is inside a wooden building with a pitched roof.

Goodine believes within two or three years town office staff will need another addition, though not all select board members agree. Whittaker said regardless of timing, it would be useful to plan for an addition, by making electricity and heating extendable and designing the roof so another roof could connect.

He offered to do a detailed plan for phase one, the vault and surrounding building, and for not much more money a conceptual design for an addition. The conceptual design would include a rough floor plan and elevations, he said, without details.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood asked for a cost estimate for this two-phase project, saying if she has the information in time, the topic will be on the board’s Dec. 5 agenda.

Recreation committee chairman Martha Wentworth presented the request for a Husqvarna tractor. It would serve two purposes, she said: plowing the ice rink in the winter, smoothing the ball fields the other three seasons.

She had two bids, both lower than the committee’s budget surplus.

Hapgood and select board members discussed at length issues like liability, with volunteers operating town-owned equipment; training for those who would use the tractor, and limiting the number of users; cost of maintenance (already built into the recreation budget, Wentworth said). Wentworth’s husband, James “J.J.” Wentworth, said he expects to be one of the people who run the tractor, and to do routine maintenance.

After almost half an hour’s discussion, select board members voted 3-1, with Chadwick dissenting, to authorize purchase of a Husqvarna tractor for $8,863, from MB Tractor & Equipment, in Fairfield, with training to be provided by the dealer or by J. J. Wentworth, Chesley or another qualified local person. The price will be $140 lower if tire chains are not included; J. J. Wentworth thinks them unnecessary.

Two issues about select board members were discussed. The minor one was Classes are three hours, she was told; the next scheduled ones are Jan. 24 and Jan. 27, 2023.

Chadwick raised the other issue, whether select board members should be members of subordinate town boards and committees, and if so, how active they should be.

Chesley chairs the tax increment finance committee. He was prepared to resign, but was told he need not. Chadwick emphasized the issue is one he’s thought about for some time; discussion was not inspired by Chesley’s positions.

Hapgood’s notice from the Kennebec County Emergency Management Agency: select board members are required to be trained in their roles in emergencies.

The most difficult question was about a select board member on a committee who supports the committee’s decision to request select board action, like appropriation of town funds. When the select board hears the request, should he or she remain silent, or participate in discussion but not vote, or discuss and vote?

Preston, who is a non-voting member of the China Broadband Committee, said she thinks it is useful for her to bring committee information to the select board and to advise committee members on select board positions. Hapgood asked whether it is right for any one person to speak for a committee or board.

The manager said filling committees with select board members limits other residents’ participation; but finding committee volunteers is often difficult.

At Chadwick’s suggestion, she intends to ask the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) for an opinion.

The Nov. 21 select board meeting was preceded by a very short public hearing on the town’s Remote Participation Policy, which attracted no comment except Hapgood’s explanation of changes MMA staff recommended.

Later in the meeting, board members unanimously re-approved 10 town policies, including Remote Participation, most without change. All are on the China website, china.govoffice.com.

In other business Nov. 21, Kennebec County Deputy Ivano Steffanizzi issued a warning, especially to senior citizens: beware of scams, including telephone calls asking for money for any reason, from bailing a relative out of jail to paying advance taxes on a promised new car to donating to your local police department.

He also advised seniors – and others – to stop speeding on China’s roads.

Select board members unanimously accepted a bid from Nichols Roofing, of China, to repair the recycling building roof at the transfer station for $5,200, if Hapgood finds the company’s references are satisfactory. The manager said the building will need more work after the roof is fixed.

Board members accepted the lower of two bids for a new equipment trailer, a 2023 Reiser tilt deck for $7,951 from Scott’s Recreation, in Turner. They will sell the old trailer by bid.

Hapgood reported that Pine Tree Waste had demolished the house trailer on Chadwick Way and cleaned up the site, as agreed (see the Nov. 9 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Board members unanimously appointed Alan Pelletier as an appeals board member.

The next regular China Select Board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Dec. 5.

China town office, transfer station closed Nov. 24-25

/0 Comments/in , /by

The China town office and transfer station will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Saturday, Nov. 26, both will be open as usual, the town office from 8 to 11 a.m. and the transfer station from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Vassalboro Community School honor roll (Fall 2022)

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

High Honors

Third grade: Freya Caison, Camden Desmond, Olivia Hartford, Evelyn Meyer, Sawyer Plossay, Charlie Reynolds, Oliver Sugden, Alivia Twitchell, Mayla Wilson and Haley Witham.

Fourth grade: Hunter Brown, Kamdyn Couture, Molly Dearborn, Cooper Grant, Mikkah-Isabella Grant, Aria Lathrop, Simon Olson, Landon Quint, Willa Rafuse and Alexis Reed.

Fifth grade: Twila Cloutier, Samantha Craig, Mariah Estabrook, Leah Hyden, Lucian Kinrade, Sarina Lacroix, Isaac Leonard, Olivia Perry, Cassidy Rumba, Charles Stein, Lillian Whitmore and Cameron Willett.

Sixth grade: Samuel Bechard, Basil Dillaway, Fury Frappier, Zoe Gaffney, Savannah Judkins, Cheyenne Lizzotte, Agatha Meyer, Mackenzy Monroe, Weston Pappas, Grace Tobey and Ava Woods.

Seventh grade: Benjamin Allen, Drew Lindquist, Caleb Marden, Paige Perry and Judson Smith.

Eighth grade: Madison Burns, Henry Olson, Bryson Stratton and Mackullen Tolentino

Honors:

Third grade: Parker Bouchard, Parker Estabrook, Marley Field, Emma Freeman, Norah French, Henry Gray, Ember Irwin, Brayden Lang-Knights, Tucker Lizzotte, Finn Malloy, Gage Nason, Gabriella Reynolds, Preston Richmond, Raegin Rodgers, Trenten Theobald, Roman Wentworth, Sawyer Weston and Alivia Woods.

Fourth grade: Ryder Austin, Reese Chechowitz, Braiden Crommett, Ashton Derosby, Ashlynn Hamlin, Sophia-Lynn Howard, Tanner Hughes, Desmond Landreth, Olivia Lane, Brooklyn Leach, Landon Lindquist, Jackson Robichaud, Christopher Santiago, Asher Smith and Robert Wade.

Fifth grade: Kiara Apollo, Lukas Blais, Grace Clark, Xainte Cloutier, Wyatt Devoe, Riley Fletcher, Camden Foster, Dawson Frazer, Aubrey Goforth, Chanse Hartford, Aubrey Judkins, Landon Lagasse, Arianna Muzerolle, Jaxson Presti, Elliott Rafuse, Juliahna Rocque, Haven Trainor and Meadow Varney.

Sixth grade: Mason Brewer, Bryleigh Burns, Emily Clark, Ariyah Doyen, Allyson Gilman, Lillyana Krastev, Jack LaPierre, Kaitlyn Lavallee, Kaylee Moulton, Kassidy Proctor, Adrian Sousa and Autumn Whitmore.

Seventh grade: Dominick Bickford, Juliet Boivin, Gabriella Brundage, Zoey Demerchant, Jeffrey Feyler, Ryleigh French, Bentley Pooler, Trinity Pooler, Alana Wade and Reid Willett.

Eighth grade: Logan Chechowitz, Peyton Dowe, Xavier Foss, Bailey Goforth,Kylie Grant, Olivia Leonard, Jack Malcolm, Harley McEachern, JosslynOuellette, Noah Pooler and Grady Sounier.

Honorable Mention:

Third grade: Titus Caruthers, Layla Holt, Maksim Lacroix, Bryson McKay.

Fourth grade: Alexander Bailey, Maverick Brewer, Avery Hamlin, Kendall Karlsson, Keegan Robinson and Elliot Stratton.

Fifth grade: Aliyah Anthony, Zander Austin, Jayson Booker, Sophia Brazier, Kaylee Colfer, Brandon Fortin, Peter Giampietro, Jayden Leighton, Isaiah Smith and Eli St. Amand.

Sixth grade: Peyton Bishop, Kaleb Charlebois, Tess Foster, Keighton LeBlanc, Mia McLean, Elliot McQuarrie and Landen Theobald.

Seventh grade: Tristyn Brown, Cooper Lajoie, Mattea Strout and Hannah Tobey.

Eighth grade: Kayliana Allen, Emma Charleston, Owen Couture, Ryley Desmond, Eilah Dillaway, Wyatt Ellis, Madison Field, Caspar Hooper, Mason Lagasse, Alexis Mitton and Kaleb Tolentino.

Vassalboro town office hours adjusted for Nov. 30

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Vassalboro town office will be closed from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Nov. 30, so that office staff can meet with candidates for the position of town manager. The office will reopen at noon.

The Vassalboro select board will meet at 5 p.m. Nov. 30 in executive session to interview town manager candidates.

Vassalboro school board reviews draft lease agreement with daycare

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

At their Nov. 15 meeting, Vassalboro school board members reviewed a draft lease agreement with Jennifer Lizotte’s daycare, which has been operating at Vassalboro Community School (VCS) with mutual satisfaction.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said he, assistant principal Tabitha Brewer and director of maintenance and grounds Shelley Phillips worked on the document with Lizotte. He did not expect a Nov. 15 vote, and board members postponed final action to their December meeting (which, Pfeiffer reported later, will be earlier in the month than usual, on Wednesday, Dec. 14).

Pfeiffer said the daycare is headquartered in the one available room and shares common spaces, like the gymnasium, cafeteria, playground and front lobby, with VCS students and activities getting priority.

School board chairman Jolene Gamage questioned how much extra the daycare costs in janitorial and other services, and whether its presence in the summer adds costs or complicates summer repairs and maintenance.

Phillips said when the daycare shared Winslow school buildings, they “pretty much took care of themselves.” Cleaning had to be done anyway, and Lizotte and her staff were accepting of suggestions and easy to work with.

VCS Principal Ira Michaud said his experience has been the same: Lizotte and her staff are “very good to work with.”

The draft contract includes a $25-per-day fee, to be confirmed or changed at the December meeting. Pfeiffer said both the daycare program and the school have appropriate insurance, and the contract has had legal review.

In its present form, the contract would run to June 30, 2024, with a review scheduled in May 2023 and the possibility of amendments based on 2022-23 experience.

The other topic discussed at length Nov. 15 was Michaud’s and curriculum director Carol Kiesman’s analysis of VCS students’ performance on the NWEA tests. The letters stand for Northwest Evaluation Association; NWEA is described on line as a research-based nonprofit organization that develops assessments of student performance.

NWEA tests are widely used, Michaud said, providing a large number of students with whom to compare local results. Kiesman summarized VCS results from spring and fall 2022: “We did improve from last year to this year, but we have a long way to go.”

Michaud and Pfeiffer said VCS teachers will use their classes’ results to help find strengths and weaknesses and refine teaching methods and materials. The next important round of NWEA tests is in the spring of 2023 – but, Michaud said, the Maine Department of Education intends to change the format, making comparisons with previous results difficult. He sees the spring 2023 tests as “starting a new baseline.”

The Nov. 15 meeting was the evening of the day that 10 Maine schools – Gardiner Area High School was the closest to Vassalboro – received calls claiming an active shooter was on campus. The calls were hoaxes.

Pfeiffer said he was promptly in touch with state police and later with the Kennebec County sheriff’s office and state education officials.

Most of the rest of Pfeiffer’s report dealt with pending maintenance issues – a possible grant to improve heating and ventilation, and repair or replacement of damaged curbing along parking lots and driveways. The curbing in the staff parking lot is still the original, put in in 1992, he commented.

Kiesman enthusiastically reported that VCS pre-kindergarten classes are “all good stuff, wonderful.” The October school newsletter, available on line at vcsvikings.org, reports that pre-k students spent part of the month learning about pumpkins, including a song and crafts projects.

Speaking for finance director Paula Pooler, Pfeiffer said the budget is running as planned and the school lunch program, which in past years has lost money, is “still in the black.”

As the superintendent recommended, board members approved higher wages for some categories of employees. They met in executive session after the Nov. 15 meeting and again on Nov. 21 to continue contract discussions.

Board members accepted the resignation of kindergarten teacher Miranda Kuesport.

The Vassalboro school board’s December meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, to avoid a conflict with the Dec. 20 VCS band and chorus holiday concert.

China transfer station committee debates use of RFID tags

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members spent much of their Nov. 15 meeting talking about whether to continue using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to separate China and Palermo residents from out-of-town users, or to go back to stickers on vehicles.

The RFID system was started with state grant funding in 2019. The main purpose was to track recycling.

The current system is that a resident gets one free RFID tag and can buy as many more as needed for family or business vehicles, for $10 each. People who move out of town in theory return their tags; that doesn’t always happen, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said.

In addition to identifying users as entitled and showing where each vehicle stops inside the transfer station grounds, the system provides statistics on such things as busiest and least busy times and how often the same tag comes in.

To protect personal privacy, tags are not associated with tag-holders’ names for these purposes. As a result, transfer station attendants know for sure that someone with a tag is a resident only when they recognize the person.

Onsite transfer station supervisor Tom Maraggio asked if town office staff could notify transfer station staff when someone moves away. With about 200 deeds being processed every month, Hapgood said, staff members don’t have time.

Her main problems, with which committee members sympathized, are that people move away and continue to use the China transfer station, and residents lend RFID tags to non-residents. China taxpayers therefore end up paying to get rid of out-of-town waste; they’re getting “gypped”, in committee chairman Paul Lucas’ opinion.

“The problem is we’ve lost control over who can use the transfer station,” Palermo representative Robert Kurek summarized.

Chris Diesch, Palermo’s other representative, asked how big the problem is. Her question led to discussion of ways to give attendants limited access to the town office list connecting tags with people, so they could do random checks.

Committee members cited three objections to going back to stickers. Some people object to putting stickers on their vehicles; changing the system again so soon would make town officials look silly, in Kurek’s opinion; and Maraggio said depending on where they’re affixed, stickers are often harder for attendants to see than an RFID tag dangling from the rearview mirror.

The discussion ended with Diesch, a computer expert, and Lucas agreeing to meet and see what additional uses they can make of the RFID system.

The problem of improper disposal also plagues the Free for the Taking building, building manager Karen Hatch said. Intended as a swap shop where people can leave usable household items they no longer need, it too often acquires unusable items, including furniture and other bulky items for which the transfer station charges fees.

Discussion led to consensus that people leaving such items – the list is on the China website, www.china.govoffice.com, and posted at the transfer station – should pay the fees, even if the items go into the Free for the Taking area. If the previous owner is still on the premises when someone else claims an item, the fee might be refunded.

Transfer station staff pointed out that with winter coming, items too large to be displayed inside the building will have to be rejected anyway.

Lucas repeatedly returned to a suggestion made at earlier meetings that a guard shack be installed at the transfer station gate, where an attendant could direct people to proper disposal areas and collect fees as needed. No one else followed up.

In other business, Maraggio and Director of Public Services Shawn Reed proposed a custom-made liftable metal cover for the pre-crusher.

Reed said the new loader, to be shared by public works and transfer station crews, is here. He hopes the snow-pusher attachment will arrive in a week or so.

Maraggio plans to update the transfer station five-year plan. Briefly-mentioned potential recommendations include replacing the mixed waste hopper, which Reed said has been repeatedly repaired; buying a closed container to store mattresses, of which Maraggio said he gets about 10 a week; and installing a proper lighting system in the Free for the Taking building.

Maraggio said work is going smoothly at the moment. Each transfer station employee has a specialty, but all are cross-trained and able to assist each other. Relocating a cardboard bin near the mixed waste hopper has improved traffic flow.

Hapgood reported receiving many compliments on Maraggio’s Halloween decorations at the station entrance.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20, in the town office meeting room.

China town office, transfer station closed Nov. 24-25

The China town office and transfer station will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Saturday, Nov. 26, both will be open as usual, the town office from 8 to 11 a.m. and the transfer station from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Final results from November 8 election (2022)

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Because of several write-in candidates for local elected positions and a technical glitch with the town website, results of China’s Nov. 8 local votes were incompletely reported in the Nov. 10 issue of The Town Line (see p. 3).

For three positions on the planning board, James Wilkens was re-elected with 1,442 votes; Toni Wall was re-elected to the District 2 seat with 18 write-in votes; and the District 4 seat remains vacant. Town Clerk Angela Nelson explained that the qualified write-in for District 4, incumbent Scott Rollins, has declined to accept re-election.

For three positions on the budget committee, Trishea Story was re-elected secretary with 23 write-in votes; in District 2, after two of the three people with the same number of write-in votes declined to serve, Nelson reported that Taryn Hotham was sworn in as a new member on Nov. 14; and, as reported Nov. 10, District 4 member Timothy Basham and at-large member Elizabeth Curtis were re-elected, unopposed.

The count in the three-person contest for one position on the Regional School Unit #18 board of directors was as follows: incumbent Dawn Castner, re-elected with 851 votes; Darrell Stevens, 403 votes; and Wallace Pooler III, 371 votes.

Votes on the local referendum questions, all of which were approved, were as follows.

  • To appropriate no more than $70,000 from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for expanded broadband service: yes, 1,492; no, 672.
  • To appropriate no more than $21,590 in ARPA money to reimburse China Rescue for a defibrillator: yes, 1,925; no, 252.
  • To appropriate no more than $7,000 in ARPA money for improvements to the town’s radio tower: yes, 1,831; no, 332.
  • To appropriate no more than $22,000 in ARPA money for three heat pumps for town buildings: yes, 1,548; no, 612.
  • To appropriate no more than $75,000 in ARPA money for the town’s senior fuel assistance fund: yes, 1,903; no, 261.
  • To appropriate no more than $30,000 in ARPA money for repair of cemetery fences: yes, 1,506; no, 641.
  • To amend the town’s quorum ordinance to say that 100 registered voters is the minimum needed to start a town meeting: yes, 1,015; no, 965.
  • To amend two sections of the Land Use Ordinance, as recommended by the planning board: yes, 1,356; no, 650.

China building committee recommends looking ahead

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

At least two members of China’s Municipal Building Committee plan to join chairman Sheldon Goodine at the Nov. 21 China select board meeting, hoping to persuade select board members to see the future through their eyes.

The disagreement between the two boards, as described by several building committee members at their Nov. 10 meeting, is over how far ahead current officials should be planning for future town office space needs.

Also involved is the Presque Isle engineering firm of B. R. Smith Associates (BRSA). Goodine said engineer Keith Whittaker, who has been working with the China committee, plans to join the Nov. 21 meeting.

Building committee members have been meeting for more than a year. Their main focus has been on providing additional safe storage, climate-controlled and fireproof, for the paper records state law requires towns to keep forever.

The ordinary storage space in the office building is also overfull, with paper records, office supplies, voting machines, Christmas decorations and other necessities. Building committee members are not optimistic about the volume decreasing, though they and select board members talked about digitizing records to eliminate some of the paper. Foreseeing increasing needs, they have looked beyond the immediate issue and discussed additional storage and perhaps work space.

Select board members have not been receptive to these more expansive – and expensive – ideas. At the end of the Oct. 24 select board discussion (see The Town Line, Oct. 27, p. 3), board members authorized spending up to $11,000 to have BRSA design a storage vault plus prepare a concept plan for a later addition.

The storage vault, presently proposed as a 12-by-24-foot structure, is fine with building committee members as a first step. Goodine calls it a storage room; select board members referred to it as a building.

The $11,000, and about as much again, is available in the current budget, Goodine said; but there is not enough, without readjustments, to cover detailed plans for a larger addition.

However, building committee members believe that within two or three years town office staff will need more space. They think BRSA should be asked to prepare a comprehensive expansion plan, showing, for example, where another section could be connected and how heating and electrical systems could be extended.

Neither the cost of planning nor the cost of construction is likely to go down, they agreed. Therefore, they think it prudent to have detailed plans ready as soon as the need becomes urgent enough to justify an appropriation of town funds.

Vassalboro select board told weather cause of poor lake water quality

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Webber Pond Association President John Reuthe brought Vassalboro select board members information and recommendations on the lake’s water quality, at their Nov. 10 meeting.

The water quality this past summer was very poor, he said, back to where it was in the 1970s and 1980s, with algae blooms and toxins that were a threat to children and pets.

Vassalboro resident and Department of Maine Resources staffer Nate Gray expanded on Reuthe’s report. The main causes of the problems in Webber Pond, and Three Mile Pond, and to a lesser extent China Lake, were weather-related, he said.

All three lakes have high background phosphorus levels, due to years of accumulation from run-off from surrounding lawns, fields and roads. A warm, sunny summer encouraged algae, which depend on phosphorus, warmth and light to grow.

Several years of low rainfall, less snow and earlier ice-out extended the warm season. Hot summer days evaporated surface water, increasing the concentration of algae close to the surface. Surface water temperatures reached 88 degrees in Webber Pond and Three Mile Pond and 84 degrees in China Lake, Gray said.

Reuthe cited the economic importance of the pond and its alewife fishery. His list of recommended actions started with a meeting of stakeholders, which would include area lake association members and town and state officials.

He asked for money to buy more complex equipment to test water quality; more attention to codes enforcement around water bodies (though he recognized Vassalboro’s problem with frequent changes of codes officers); and a building atop the Webber Pond dam, which is owned by the association, to shelter the gate controls.

One topic that might be discussed at a stakeholders’ meeting is whether the town wants to continue to own the dam.

Select board chairman Barbara Redmond asked Gray how much money the town might need to improve the situation.

“Oh, they don’t print it fast enough,” Gray replied.

Specifically, he said, the easy-to-use monitoring equipment Reuthe recommended would probably cost about $2,000, and would provide useful information.

Select board members are minimizing new commitments until they finish the process of hiring a town manager to succeed Mary Sabins, who is retiring at the end of the year.

They therefore postponed any action. Redmond suggested the stakeholders’ meeting might be scheduled in January, before area towns begin developing 2023-24 budgets.

In a related matter, select board members unanimously extended the contract with Ronald C. Weeks, Sr., to harvest alewives at the Webber Pond outlet for another five years.

The second proposal presented at the Nov. 10 meeting, for a Vassalboro dog park, was also postponed, mostly to give proponent Vivian Flamm time to gather more information.

Flamm was representing a number of residents – and a few people from China, she added – who would like to see Vassalboro develop a dog park. Her idea is that the town would buy land, fence it, provide benches and do whatever other development is needed. Three possible sites had been suggested, she said.

She expects interested local people would help create the park and would show their appreciation for it by keeping it clean.

Board members and Sabins suggested approaching the Vassalboro Sanitary District trustees about a possible site; asking the City of Augusta for guidelines; preparing a cost estimate; and other preliminary actions Flamm’s group could take before returning to the select board and the new town manager.

In other business, Sabins reported she had a request to ask the state Department of Transportation to lower the Quaker Lane speed limit from 45 to 25 miles an hour. Board members unanimously agreed to forward the request.

They agreed by consensus to cancel their second November meeting. It would have fallen on Thanksgiving Day, was tentatively rescheduled two days earlier and, they decided, could be eliminated. Their next regular meeting will be Thursday, Dec. 8.

FAIRFIELD: Town to conduct survey to redevelop Mill Island Park

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Town of Fairfield’s Economic and Community Development Committee (FECDC) has created a variety of surveys to assist with the redevelopment of Mill Island Park. Divided into six (6) separate surveys, residents and community members are able to provide valuable public input and insight as to how they would like to see the public park enhanced.

Fairfield Town Manager Michelle Flewelling.

“Mill Island Park is a truly unique urban, island waterfront park with direct proximity to the downtown. With historical features that represent the town’s industrial and commercial past, today the park showcases the town’s stunning riverfront natural resources,“ elaborates Fairfield Town Manager Michelle Flewelling. “The committee will have the opportunity to hear from the general public as to how certain areas of the Island should be reimagined, improved, or protected; I look forward to seeing how the Town can move this project forward in a meaningful and impactful manner.”

Separated into six (6) separate surveys, the Mill Island Park Zone Surveys correspond with six (6) areas or planning zones across Mill Island Park. Each survey will allow respondents the opportunity to provide feedback on recreational activities, open space planning, historical preservation, park amenities, and give unique and open-ended feedback as to the future goals and objectives FECDC should prioritize when making recommendations for park enhancements.

Garvan Donegan

“Within the view corridor and walking distance to the downtown, the community has a rich opportunity to make significant improvements to one of its greatest public spaces, open up waterfront enjoyment and public access to the community, while marrying the project to downtown redevelopment initiatives,” explains Central Maine Growth Council’s Director of Innovation, Planning, and Economic Development Garvan Donegan. “The Mill Island Park Zone survey aims to collect and reflect the public’s collective goals for Mill Island Park and will inform short- and long-term growth strategies.

Each survey is available in an online format and may be accessed by utilizing QR codes that are physically located within the applicable zones on-site at Mill Island Park. Upon visiting the park, residents and visitors may scan the digital code in the marked Zone to access the survey, which offers five open-ended questions. Zones represented throughout Mill Island Park include the Mill Island Park Gateway, Mill Island Park Commons, Mill Island Historic Area, Mill Island Point, Mill Island West Waterfront, and Mill Island East Waterfront.

Responses will be collected until Friday, December 2. For more information on the Mill Island Park Zone Surveys, including instructions for accessing a paper copy of the survey, please visit www.fairfieldme.com or email mflewelling@fairfieldme.com

The Economic and Community Development Advisory Committee is a “citizens” committee with open membership to all Fairfield residents, business owners, and educators who have a vested interest in community development. Meetings are open to the public, and the committee typically meets monthly at the Fairfield Community Center; go to Fairfield’s online calendar of events for a meeting schedule.