VASSALBORO: Funds added to budget for church razing

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro Budget Committee members continued their pre-town-meeting work at a March 15 meeting. They reviewed the third draft of the proposed municipal budget, and heard more details about the Vassalboro Public Library trustees’ plans.

Town Manager Mary Sabins had amended the earlier budget proposal by increasing recommended amounts for heating and vehicle fuel, and adding $25,000 to demolish the former church on Priest Hill Road, in North Vassalboro, designated a dangerous building.

Sabins had also increased the expected income from state revenue sharing, based on a revised estimate from the state that she said is still not final.

Librarian Brian Stanley and library trustees Susan Taylor and Liz McMahon explained plans to expand library hours and services.

The library on Bog Road is currently open 24 hours a week, from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Weekly programs for children and home-schoolers are listed on the library’s website.

The trustees recommend adding another six hours, opening either Sundays or Thursdays, and expanding program offerings. They propose paying Stanley for an additional 12 hours a week, half for another day at the check-out desk and half for program planning.

They would like to present additional programs for residents of all ages, when possible in cooperation with Vassalboro Community School staff and other town groups.

“There’s so much more we could be doing that doesn’t rely on people checking out books,” Taylor said.

Town funds pay staff salaries, she said. Trustees do fundraising and seek grants for building maintenance, programs and all other expenses.

Budget committee members asked many questions. They were not ready to make decisions.

The library presentation was followed by another discussion of employee compensation, another topic on which conclusions would be premature.

Budget committee member Douglas Phillips raised objections to the employees’ salary scale select board members are considering (see The Town Line, March 10, p. 3), sparking discussion that covered the need for financial flexibility, employees’ expectations and the competitiveness of Vassalboro’s employee compensation package compared to other towns’.

Lacking information on the 2022-23 school budget, budget committee members canceled a meeting scheduled for March 17, hoping to have more to talk about the following week. The Vassalboro School Board was scheduled to meet Tuesday evening, March 22.

Sabins told committee members the final deadline for making their recommendations to the select board is Tuesday, April 12. Select board members are scheduled to review the town meeting warrant at their April 14 meeting.

Vassalboro’s annual town meeting will be in two parts as usual, an open meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, and written-ballot elections and perhaps other questions on Tuesday, June 14. Polls are scheduled to be open from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. June 14.

Nomination papers for local elective office are available at the town office. They must be returned with at least 25 registered voters’ signatures by noon, Friday, April 8, for a candidate’s name to be on the June 14 ballot. Positions to be filled are one seat on the select board and two seats on the school board.

Vassalboro select board approves suggested marijuana business ordinance changes

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — At their March 17 meeting, Vassalboro Select Board members recommended ways to spend part of the town’s $231,692.56 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and discussed amending the town’s Marijuana Business Ordinance, approved by voters in June 2021.

They had anticipated two marijuana ordinance issues, a virtual interview with Town Attorney Kristin Collins and an in-person discussion with resident Richard Ferris.

Collins suggested clarifications in the wording of the ordinance, but no substantive changes. By consensus, board members approved her suggestions.

Ferris did not attend the meeting. Town Manager Mary Sabins said he had planned to ask select board members to consider an amendment that would allow an additional marijuana growing facility in town, so that he could convert the Ferris’ Market building on Main Street, in North Vassalboro, to that use.

The current ordinance prohibits new operations, defining “new” as an operation not in existence or approved by the planning board when the ordinance became effective Feb. 18, 2021, retroactively after voter approval. It does not cover marijuana grown for personal use, or medical marijuana grown in an area less than 1,000 square feet.

All three select board members agreed that they are not willing to present Ferris’ proposed amendment to voters. Ferris’ alternative, Sabins said, is to obtain petition signatures from 209 registered Vassalboro voters to put the question on the town meeting warrant.

ARPA expenditures were the topic of a special meeting March 2 and brief discussions at other meetings. Sabins said the $231,692.56 has been available since October 2021; must be spent by 2024 for approved purposes only; and is a little more than half Vassalboro’s ARPA grant. She expects the remaining $229,637.26 by early fall 2022.

Board members recommended grants of $100,000 to the Vassalboro volunteer fire department to buy updated equipment, especially self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) masks, accompanying Scott air packs and air bottles; $41,000 for the First Responder Unit, for 12 new automated external defibrillators (AEDs), N95 masks and other personal safety equipment; and $75,000 for the Vassalboro Sanitary District, primarily to fix manhole covers in streets and roads.

Board members again talked about using ARPA funds to reward town employees and volunteers who worked through the pandemic. Sabins said the ARPA regulations would allow grants to employees, but not to volunteers like firefighters and first responders.

Board Chairman Robert Browne commented that “It feels kinda funny” to reward employees but not volunteers. No action was taken.

Resident Amy Davidoff urged board members to put some ARPA money toward broadband service in town, at least a survey to see whether most town residents currently have adequate service. She further recommended that everyone with a home computer conduct a speed test. Instructions are on line.

Select board members thought a needs assessment a useful idea, and considered establishing a broadband committee. Again, they postponed a decision.

In other business March 17, board member Chris French suggested they create another new committee, a Transfer Station Committee to monitor planned work at the facility, consider recycling and look into similar issues.

By unanimous votes, select board members:

  • Raised the mileage rate for town employees using personal vehicles on town business from 51 cents a mile to the federal rate, 58.5 cents a mile.
  • Approved Sabins’ request to close the town office at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, to give the bookkeeper time to close the books as the fiscal year ends.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, March 31. At this point it is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a budget committee meeting to follow; because schedules sometimes change during budget season, people planning to attend are advised to confirm the time on the town website, Vassalboro.net.

ALBION: Meeting held to decide on way forward for Albion school

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A group of approximately 40 Albion residents listen to a presentation by Kara Kugelmeyer (left and below). (photo by Steve Ball)

by Steve Ball

ALBION, ME — A group of Albion residents have been working to figure out what options are available to town residents in light of the recent decision by the MSAD #49 School Board to consolidate the elementary schools of Clinton, Benton and Albion. Consolidation would result in closing the Albion school. Closure of the town’s school is yet another loss for Albion and could have, as moderators said during this meeting, long term consequences for the town.

The group, led by residents Kara Kugelmeyer and Billie Jo Brown-Woods, moderated an information session for interested people in Albion following the annual town meeting on Saturday, March 19, in the town’s fire and rescue building.

The MSAD #49 School Board, the primary decision making body for the district, is made up of members from the towns of Fairfield, Clinton, Benton and Albion. Board members come from member towns with the numbers of voting members being allocated according to population. This results in the MSAD #49 board having two members from Albion and Benton, three members from Clinton and six members from Fairfield.

As explained, it has not been uncommon for small towns across the State of Maine to suffer school closures resulting from cost cutting efforts and attempts to improve administrative efficiencies in schools. These actions have generally been done to reduce the tax burden for an area or to accommodate shrinking student populations. The consequences of a school closure, Kugelmeyer explained, on small towns like Albion, can be stark and have long term impacts on the town’s economic viability and sense of community.

Kugelmeyer and Brown-Woods led the information session for over 40 interested town residents during which they laid out options for the town with possible consequences for each option. It was clear from the number of residents attending the voluntary meeting and the emotion expressed during the session that, for many, a closure of the town’s school would mark a potentially damaging inflection point in Albion’s history from which the town might not be able to recover.

The new consolidated school will be built in Benton, across from the current Benton Elementary School. Kugelmeyer and Brown-Woods stressed that not all aspects of the new school would be bad. There would be improved facilities and a greater number of school activity offerings for students, more than what Albion’s school offers.

Closing the Albion school and sending students to the new school, however, would not necessarily result in cost or tax savings to the residents of Albion, according to Kugelmeyer. Additionally, students would possibly have up to a two hour bus ride per day. Kugelmeyer cited studies looking at other small towns that have experienced school closures showing that the closer a home is to a school, the higher the home value, and the farther away, the lower home values tend to be. “Towns soon become a less desirable destination for new families looking to settle,” Kugelmeyer expressed. All of this affects the tax base for a town.

Kugelmeyer stressed the options available to the residents of Albion are few, but any action must be done soon. An option would be to vote “No” on the referendum to close the Albion and Clinton schools being put forward in November. While this is the easiest option for Albion residents, for the referendum to fail would require that a majority of voters of Fairfield, Benton, Clinton and Albion vote “No”. This would not mean, Kugelmeyer added, that the MSAD #49 board would bring this referendum up again. She commented that it is unlikely this referendum will fail as it largely benefits the towns of Fairfield and Benton, where the new school would be built.

The second option would be to withdraw from the MSAD #49 District. While this course would require more work by the town and its residents, this option, according to Kugelmeyer, would potentially be in the best long-term interest of Albion residents. The Withdrawing Option could mean saving the Albion School or establishing Albion as a “School Choice” town, allowing Albion students to attend any school in the local area, including MSAD #49 for all grades.

It was clear from the discussion by the moderators and the audience that the School Choice option appeared most appealing. But this would mean the town must form a committee to withdraw from the MSAD #49 District, hire a lawyer, draft a Withdrawal Agreement, and begin the process to withdraw within the next month.

While nothing was voted on or positively decided during this information session, it was clear the Town of Albion is quickly coming to a point of a decision that could mean the closure of the Albion school.

China Village Volunteer Fire Department appoints new chief

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China Village VFD newly-appointed fire chief, Joel Nelson. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

by Eric W. Austin

CHINA, ME — Let me introduce you to Joel Nelson, China resident and the new fire chief for China Village Fire Department. He strikes an imposing presence on first acquaintance, standing over six-feet tall and broad-shouldered. Soft-spoken and thoughtful, Nelson told me a bit of his life in China and his plans for the China Village Volunteer Fire Department.

Nelson takes over from longtime fire chief and former state representative, Tim Theriault, who will stay on as deputy chief. Raised in Winslow, Nelson moved to China in 2016 with his wife Elana, who works as an occupational therapist. They are expecting their first child, a boy, within the next several weeks.

Nelson attended Winslow High School, graduating in 2004, before going to Kennebec Valley Community College, (KVCC), in Fairfield, and then Thomas College, in Waterville, where he completed a degree in Business Management. During the day, he works for Sheridan Construction, in Fairfield, as a project manager.

He brings a wealth of experience to the job. Aside from his background in business and project management, Nelson served with the Winslow Fire Department during high school and, since 2006, with the Albion Volunteer Fire Department, where he is currently deputy chief.

Nelson sees the volunteer fire department as an integral part of the community. He says, “We’re here in a time of need to help our neighbors and surrounding communities. Whether it’s an emergency or not, we’re here to support people and do what we can to help them.”

Nelson says there is a lot of work involved in running the department beyond just responding to emergency calls. That work includes monthly meetings, sending trucks out for annual pump testing, SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) testing, hose testing and training sessions for fire fighters. “There’s a lot of behind the scenes work that goes on here that people driving by don’t realize is going on,” he says.

The China Village Fire Department handles fire and emergency calls for everything north of Cross Road, while the South China Fire Department responds to calls south of that line, and Weeks Mills Fire Department covers Dirigo Road, Deer Hill Road and nearby areas.

While the China Village Fire Department has 24 members on the current roster, they are always looking for additional volunteers with the courage to fight fires and give back to their community. The squad meets every second Tuesday of the month when they discuss department business and conduct training sessions. Anyone is welcome to stop by to see what it’s all about. Prospective fire fighters will need to complete a 6 – 8 month (every other weekend) training course which, in recent years, has been offered by the fire department in Waterville. Support persons, who may not be directly involved in firefighting, but can help with fundraising for the department, or directing traffic at the scene of an accident, are also needed. Interested parties are invited to contact Nelson by phone, at 877-5911, by email at chinafd214@gmail.com, or through their Facebook page.

FAIRFIELD: Town to hold public hearing to review PFAS report on drinking water expansion

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Looking south down Main St., in Fairfield. (Internet photo)

The Town of Fairfield will be holding a public hearing at the Fairfield Community Center, located at 61 Water Street, on Wednesday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m., to discuss the recently completed report by Dirigo Engineering and associated options for extending public drinking water. At the hearing, members of the public will have the opportunity to review potential changes to public water infrastructure within the town.

Community members and residents are encouraged to attend in-person, with a virtual hearing option available as well.

“Providing a public forum for the town’s residents to understand the proposed project and report will assist the Town of Fairfield in educating the public, achieving clean drinking water goals, and addressing impacts related to PFAS contamination,” states Fairfield Town Manager Michelle Flewelling. “The town’s priority is and will continue to be the well-being of its residents, and allowing the public to ask questions and submit feedback will help address this challenge going forward.”

Hired through a recent RFQ process, Dirigo Engineering has completed a feasibility report to assist the town with determining necessary water infrastructure extensions needed within the bounds of the municipality. Dirigo Engineering, based in Fairfield, is a consulting firm that provides professional services through civil engineering, with specialties including wastewater engineering, environmental services, and water supply engineering.

Additional information regarding the municipality’s ongoing PFAS investigation, including the Dirigo Engineering Report, can be found on the town’s website: www.fairfieldme.com.

For questions or additional information, please contact the Town of Fairfield at 207-453-7911 or info@fairfieldme.com.

VASSALBORO: Fuel costs to affect several budget areas

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Budget Committee members started their second meeting on March 10 with a wrap-up of the previously discussed 2022-23 public works budget proposal. They moved on to solid waste, and then stopped until they have updated estimated fuel costs, which will affect several budget areas.

The price of paving material fluctuates with petroleum prices. The earlier discussion considered an estimate of $75 a ton for the 2022 season. Road Foreman Eugene Field told committee members he thinks the figure will be higher, and the draft paving budget was reworked at $85 a ton.

Town Manager Mary Sabins has locked in heating oil and diesel fuel at prices lower than current market prices. Committee members realized they need to reconsider petroleum prices in all relevant accounts.

Other topics included updates on planned work at the transfer station and on the proposed park on a tax-acquired lot on the west shore of Outlet Stream, between East and North Vassalboro.

Select board member Chris French asked whether the 2022-23 budget should include money to demolish the former church on Priest Hill Road, in North Vassalboro, condemned as a dangerous building.

The budget committee’s schedule called for its March 15 meeting to be with the school board at Vassalboro Community School. However, Committee Chairman Rick Denico, Jr., said Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said the school budget will not be ready, partly because state figures are not yet available.

Budget committee members therefore scheduled their March 15 meeting at the town office, beginning at 7 p.m. They will invite Vassalboro Public Library representatives to talk about plans for expanded activities and a resulting request for more town funds than in past years.

Pfeiffer said later the school board will not meet March 15; its next meeting will be March 22.

China planners unanimously approve application for solar expansion

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members have unanimously approved an application for an expansion of Sunraise Investments’ planned solar farm on the south side of Route 3, between South China Village and Dirigo Corner.

Board members held a very short public hearing on the revised application March 8. There were no comments from the sparse audience, and Codes Officer Jaime Hanson said he had received no comments before the hearing.

Board members reviewed the criteria the project needs to meet, with brief discussions of noise (none, once construction is complete, SunRaise representatives said); screening along the highway and between the solar panels and neighboring properties; and the effect on property values.

Board member Walter Bennett said a solar array “wouldn’t be an attractive thing to have next door to me.” Board Chairman Scott Rollins pointed out that one of the neighbors is leasing land to SunRaise.

Board members voted that Sunraise met all requirements for a revised permit allowing a larger project than initially approved.

The SunRaise review was followed by discussion of amendments to China’s Land Use Ordinance. Planners hope to present three separate changes to voters at the June 14 town business meeting.

One is a new Chapter 8 titled “Solar Energy Systems Ordinance.” Rollins reminded members that the town attorney had offered suggestions, and read some of them.

The board voted unanimously to forward the ordinance as it stands to the China Select Board, with a request that it be put on the June 14 town meeting warrant.

Members scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, to put the other two proposed amendments, to Chapters 2 and 11 of the Land Use Ordinance, in final form.

They intend to schedule a public informational hearing on all three documents. No hearing date was set.

Copies of the ordinances are on the Town of China website, china.govoffice.com. The Land Use Ordinance is under Ordinances, Policies and Orders. The draft solar ordinance and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection letter describing needed changes in the Land Use Ordinance are under Officials, Board & Committees, sub-heading “Planning Board”.

China transfer station committee agrees on formula for rate hike

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by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members agreed unanimously on two recommendations at their March 8 meeting.

They will ask select board members to provide help – perhaps an intern – to analyze data from the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that keeps track of vehicles entering the transfer station. Committee Chairman Lawrence Sikora estimated the system has collected 70,000 “data points” – information that would be useful, Paul Lucas suggested, if select board members want to change transfer station hours with minimum inconvenience to users.

They further recommended, as part of a long discussion of the contract by which Palermo residents use China’s transfer station, amending the contract to simplify fee changes.

As it now stands, the contract provides a formula for increasing the price Palermo residents pay for the trash bags they are required to use for MSW (mixed solid waste). After months of discussion, there is consensus on recommending an increase from $2 to $2.70 per bag, effective April 1.

Robert Kurek, Palermo Select Board chairman and one of Palermo’s two representatives on the transfer station committee, intended to present the proposed price when his board met March 10.

The contract says the same process should apply to other price increases for specific items, like tires, electronics and furniture – a provision that contradicts the actual policy of having China transfer station staff recommend price changes and China Select Board members approve them.

Also, an extremely cumbersome policy, committee members agreed. They voted unanimously to recommend deleting it, retaining the provision that such fees apply to Palermo and China residents equally. Residents of any other town are charged more.

Other contract amendments are under consideration. For example, the contract specifies 30-gallon trash bags; standard bags are 33-gallon.

Kurek said he and China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood want to specify that bag prices will be reviewed annually in January, according to an agreed formula, with changes if any to be effective April 1 of the same year.

Committee members discussed the latest development concerning the closed Hampden recycling facility. After a virtual meeting of representatives of involved municipalities on March 10, public reports said the facility should have a new owner by the end of June, although a new owner does not guarantee reopening.

There has been little progress on two projects at the China transfer station, putting a cover over the pre-crusher and buying a new loader. Manager Ronald Marois said he has estimates on a loader, higher than expected, and ungenerous trade-in offers on the town’s current machine that he is not inclined to accept.

The next China Transfer Station Committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 12.

China Broadband Committee (CBC) reaches no conclusion on expanded services

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Consolidated: expansion “not likely” in the short term

by Mary Grow

China Broadband Committee (CBC) members continued consideration of possibilities for offering residents expanded and improved internet broadband service at a March 9 meeting. They came to no conclusions.

Committee members have been talking with representatives of Spectrum Communications and Consolidated Communications, the two companies currently serving China residents. By March 9, a new element had been introduced with the announcement that Idaho-based Direct Communications has acquired Unitel, the family-owned company that provides telephone and broadband service to Unity residents.

CBC Chairman Robert O’Connor had talked with representatives of both Unitel and Direct Communications. He said some of Unitel’s lines run close to China’s boundary. He had sent information on China’s plans to Unitel and Direct Communications, but there had not been time for a reply.

John Dougherty, of Mission Broadband, consultant to the CBC, said Direct Communications is working with other Maine towns and offered to help explore possibilities for China. CBC members approved.

O’Connor had heard from Spectrum and Consolidated officials since the committee’s Feb. 17 meeting; there has been no major progress with either company.

He summarized correspondence with two Consolidated officials. One said expansion in China was unlikely “in the short term.” The other invited the CBC to develop a new Request for Proposals (RFP) and said Consolidated “will respond” with a “more competitive offer” than in previous correspondence.

Committee members decided to schedule their next meeting for 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, expecting by then more information from Direct Communications and perhaps from one or both of the other companies.

China select board reconsiders wage increase vote from six weeks ago

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by Mary Grow

Six weeks ago, at the Jan. 31 China Select Board meeting, board Chairman Ronald Breton and members Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick outvoted Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston to include a 3 percent wage increase for town employees in their proposed 2022-23 municipal budget. Marquis and Preston supported Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s recommended 6 percent raises and then a compromise 4.5 percent increase.

“Since then, the world has changed an awful lot,” Breton said at the board’s March 14 meeting. He is now ready to add 1.5 percent, to bring the recommended increase to 4.5 percent.

He does not want to raise local property taxes, however, sparking a discussion of where the money would come from.

Breton’s initial idea was to take $5,000 from the select board’s discretionary fund, currently recommended at almost $153,000; and to cut by 20 percent the recommended $92,000 for town assistance for community support organizations.

Community support organizations include the historical society, two libraries, two lake-related associations and a newspaper. The account also provides funds for volunteer firefighters and rescue unit members, in addition to the annual appropriations for each department.

Chadwick said American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds can be used for bonuses for employees who worked through the pandemic. He proposed one-time bonuses rather than a wage increase, and a review before the 2023-24 budget discussions.

Casey was willing to consider cutting the paving budget. He and other board members are well aware that current high prices for paving, fuel and other categories may require more upward budget adjustments; the town’s trash hauler has already added a fuel surcharge, Casey said. But Casey expects prices to go back down in a matter of months.

Preston and Marquis pointed out that Hapgood’s proposed 6 percent increase was in a balanced budget that did not raise local taxes.

A decision was postponed to the board’s next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 21. By then Hapgood will have returned from vacation.

Also postponed until Hapgood is present was discussion of higher bag fees for Palermo residents who use China’s transfer station under contract.

Pending deadlines include:

  • The second payment of 2021-22 local property taxes is due at the town office by the close of business Thursday, March 31.
  • The deadline for submitting an application for a homestead property tax exemption is the close of business Friday, April 1, by state law.
  • An increase in transfer station fees for special items like tires and furniture – the list is on the town website, china.govoffice.com – is effective Friday, April 1.
  • The deadline for submitting bids to buy the town-owned 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle is 3 p.m. ,Thursday, April 7.