USDA funding for Knox, Lincoln, Kennebec & Waldo counties

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(Photo courtesy of USDA-NRCS)

How should money be spent?

Knox-Lincoln, Kennebec and Waldo Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field offices in Belfast and Augusta, will host virtual meetings of the Knox-Waldo and Kennebec-Lincoln Local Working Groups (LWGs). Taking into account local resource concerns, these Local Working Groups make recommendations to NRCS on how to spend FY 2021 USDA Farm Bill funds for conservation practices on private lands. This year’s meetings will be held on Zoom as follows: Knox-Waldo will meet on Tuesday, Jan 12 from 10am-noon; Kennebec-Lincoln will meet on Wednesday, January 13 from 10am-noon.

If you are an agricultural producer; forester, logger or private woodland owner; member of an environmental or watershed organization or land trust; knowledgeable in soil, water, plant, wetland or wildlife sciences; and/or are familiar with agricultural and natural resource concerns in Knox or Waldo counties, we invite you to attend this meeting to help 1) identify and prioritize local conservation concerns; and 2) recommend how local funds for USDA Environmental Quality Incentive Programs (EQIP) will be distributed by NRCS to alleviate problems.

Meetings may be attended online or by phone. To attend either of these meetings, please contact your local soil & water conservation district for the meeting link: Knox-Lincoln: Julie at 596-2040, julie@knox-lincoln.org; Waldo: Tom at 338-1964, tmullin@maineconservationdistricts.com; or Kennebec: Dale at 621-9000, dfinseth@kcswcd.org. If you are unable to attend, you may send comments to your local soil & water conservation district. FMI about LWGs, please visit www.knox-lincoln.org.local-working-group.

USDA and SWCDs are equal opportunity providers, employers, and lenders.

VASSALBORO: Two annual activities successful despite disruptions

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members again got upbeat monthly reports from school officials at the Dec. 15 board meeting.

Vassalboro Community School Principal Megan Allen said two traditional annual activities were successful despite the disrupted year. The Giving Tree program was so well supported that five more families were helped this year than last year. And the virtual December Viking Pride Assembly recognized honor roll students and those who exemplified the Pride virtues of respect, responsibility and kindness. Remote learners were included, Allen said.

She reported that the number of students choosing to learn entirely remotely increases gradually, and services to remote learners are increasing as well.

She also said that Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG) Master Specialist Victor Esposito and Guidance Counselor Meg Swanson organized a school-wide door decorating contest that resulted in a variety of creative additions.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said the listing of a coronavirus outbreak at Vassalboro Community School during the Dec. 14 briefing by Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Nirav Shah was old news; CDC is no longer investigating.

The CDC epidemiologist who gave Pfeiffer and Allen advance notice of the public mention praised their handling of the situation and their overall policies, Pfeiffer said. He, too, offered thanks and congratulations to everyone involved, school personnel, students and parents.

School Nurse MaryAnn Fortin seconded Pfeiffer’s report. “Things are looking pretty good right now, fingers crossed,” she said.

(In his Dec. 18 report to the media, Shah said there are few if any cases of in-school transmission in Maine or nationally, and praised school personnel, students and parents for their efforts.)

Given the success so far, board members agreed to continue what they’ve been doing, including leaving winter sports canceled “out of an abundance of caution,” Pfeiffer said.

The board also approved continuing the current school schedule through February. The schedule has different groups of students alternately in the building and learning from home, and Wednesday afternoons set aside for teachers’ preparation time and extra connections with students at home.

When board member Jessica Clark asked when students could return to in-school classes full time, Allen said not until social distancing requirements are removed. She and Assistant Principal Greg Hughes are monitoring space use, looking for a chance to bring students who most need in-school work – some in special education programs, for example – into the building more often.

Pfeiffer added that the administration’s goal is to get students back into the building, but doing so safely is the priority.

Finance Director Paula Pooler said the business office that serves Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow school departments is still extremely busy with the necessary paperwork for extra federal and state funding. But, she said, the additional aid has kept the budget in balance so far, and Vassalboro is about to add four new buses to the one acquired earlier this fall.

Board members approved appointment of Tanya Thibeau as new special education director for Vassalboro Community School (not to be shared with Winslow, as former Director Amy Benham was). Allen said Thibeau was the selection committee’s unanimous choice from four candidates, and she looks forward to having her full-time in the school.

The meeting was followed by an executive session. Afterward, Pfeiffer said he and board members agreed he will serve as superintendent for another year. He prefers one-year terms, to give the school department and himself flexibility.

The next Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, January 19, 2021.

China broadband members adopt two motions

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by Mary Grow

China Broadband Committee members unanimously adopted two motions on the agenda for their Dec. 16 meeting. Both required approval from China selectmen, who postponed action on the major one.

The major committee action was acceptance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for expanded broadband service in China, prepared by consultants Mission Broadband. The 27-page RFP and supporting documents are posted under the Broadband Committee on the China website, china.govoffice.com.

The RFP, to be distributed as widely as possible, invites interested parties to propose ways to provide improved and expanded internet access. All technologies will be considered. One of the accompanying documents is a scoring matrix intended to help Mission Broadband personnel compare replies.

Consultants and committee members planned on selectmen’s approval Dec. 21 and distribution of the RFP Monday, Dec. 28. The deadline for submitting bids is 3:45 p.m., Jan. 31, 2021. They expect potential bidders to have questions and are allowing time for answers.

However, not all selectmen received the draft before the afternoon of Dec. 21. With so little time to review it, they postponed action to a special meeting scheduled for Dec. 28.

Broadband Committee members agreed that, if selectmen approved on Dec. 28, distribution Dec. 29 would give bidders adequate time.

Mark van Loan from Mission Broadband said assuming a proposal is recommended by the committee, put on the May 18 annual town business meeting agenda by the selectmen and approved by voters, work could begin by July 2021.

The second motion on the Dec. 16 Broadband Committee agenda was to ask selectmen to choose one of their number to serve on the Broadband Committee. At the Dec. 21 selectmen’s meeting, Selectman Irene Belanger volunteered and was promptly accepted.

The next Broadband Committee meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11.

Selectmen approve RFP

China selectmen unanimously approved the Broadband Committee’s RFP at their Dec. 28 meeting, after 10 minutes of clarifications. Board Chairman Ronald Breton wanted assurance the contract issued to a successful bidder would include financial incentives to finish the work completely and on time; and Selectman Wayne Chadwick wanted a guarantee of lower rates for broadband users, for at least the first few years, after an improved system was in place.

Broadband Committee Chairman Robert O’Connor said John Dougherty of MissionBroadband told him the organization’s standard recommended contracts include penalties for missing the final deadline and withholding of full payment until work is completed.

The question of guaranteed rates would now be part of discussions with bidders, O’Connor said.

CHINA: Proposed TIF revisions go to selectmen

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by Mary Grow

China Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members continued review of the proposed Second Amendment to China’s TIF document at a Dec. 17 meeting, and planned to resume discussion the evening of Dec. 29. (See also The Town Line, Dec. 17, p. 1.)

The revisions they propose will be submitted to selectmen who, if they approve, will present them to voters.

The first decision Dec 17 was to advise deleting a very specific recommendation that a town-owned lot on Fire Road 44 become a site for a commercial laboratory or business related to water quality and fresh-water fisheries. All seven members voting agreed.

The next decision, on which Brent Chesley and Chairman Tom Michaud dissented, was to postpone to Dec. 29 further consideration of adding TIF funding for work done outside China’s TIF district to benefit in-town goals, specifically the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI) that is removing or adapting dams in Vassalboro to open China Lake to migrating alewives.

The third decision, again unanimous, was to retain funding for economic development programs, but to amend the wording to eliminate the reference to China’s non-existent Community and Development Economic Development Department.

By another unanimous decision, a group of goals in the current TIF document was left substantively unchanged. They include funding for town events like China Days, marketing the town to prospective businesses, providing job training, maintaining the revolving loan fund for town businesses and helping support recreational trails. The last item was slightly amended: it stills allows connections with neighboring towns but deletes an incomplete list of them.

Members were also unanimous in agreeing to postpone any decision on the section allowing TIF funds for local grant-matching until Town Manager Becky Hapgood, who is also TIF and Town Treasurer, gets more history on that use.

Two new proposed uses for TIF funds were added to the draft program.

One would let TIF money support fisheries and wildlife programs and water quality projects, including but not limited to LakeSmart (which helps lakefront property-owners control run-off), CBI (the courtesy boat inspection program designed to bar invasive plants) and other water-quality activities of the China Lake Association and the China Region Lakes Alliance. Jamie Pitney abstained on the vote.

The second new proposal would make all costs “associated with broadband development, expansion and improvement” eligible for TIF funding. It was approved for inclusion without discussion, with Michael “Mickey” Wing opposed.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 29, to continue reviewing the wording of the TIF document. It will be a virtual meeting.

China planners to prepare new solar ordinance

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by Mary Grow

When China Planning Board members met virtually Dec. 22 to begin discussion of a new solar ordinance, most of the members had received the template sent in November to Codes Officer Bill Butler only that afternoon. The delay, they surmised, was due to the Nov. 30 change-over in local codes officers, as Butler retired and Jaime Hanson succeeded him.

First, board members decided to postpone discussion until after a more thorough review. Then they began bringing up specific points that had attracted their attention as they skimmed the document. Three-quarters of an hour later, they concluded they had made a good start and adjourned until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.

The planning board has already approved three solar projects in China. Having found difficulties fitting the applications into existing ordinances’ wording and definitions, board members intend to prepare a new ordinance. At the Dec. 22 meeting they doubted it would be ready to go to voters before November 2021.

Kevin Corbett, Vice-President of Construction for SunRaise Investments, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the company behind two of the China projects, said he and attorney Tom Federle, of Portland-based Federle Law, suggest Maine Audubon Society’s models as a basis for local ordinances. (Information is available on the Maine Audubon website, under the heading “Thoughtfully Sited Solar.”)

Board member Toni Wall volunteered to convert the Maine Audubon template into ordinance language. Chairman Randy Downer, who said he has attended some of Maine Audubon’s solar meetings, accepted her offer with appreciation.

The template refers to small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale solar developments. Planning board members debated whether the distinction is needed in China’s ordinance.

The document deals with both individual roof-top solar panels and land-based projects like the ones on Vassalboro Road, off Windsor Road and on Route 3. Board members considered when the board needed to be involved and when the codes officer could make decisions, and what new definitions would be needed and where they would fit in the existing Land Use Ordinance.

Another issue was whether and, if so, in what circumstances solar panels required buffers or setback requirements from neighboring properties. Yet another was what kinds and sizes of solar panels or developments should be allowed in the shoreland zone.

Further review was postponed until, as Downer put it, a “Chinafied” version is ready. Wall plans to distribute her preliminary draft by Jan. 5, 2021, for consideration at the Jan. 12 meeting.

Special selectmen’s meeting reviewed personnel policy

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by Mary Grow

The China selectmen’s special meeting Dec. 28 was called primarily to review Town Manager Becky Hapgood’s proposed changes in the town’s personnel policy.

The only other issue on the agenda was action on the Broadband Committee’s Request for Proposals for improved and expanded broadband service in town. Selectmen unanimously approved the document after 10 minutes’ discussion.

The new Maine Earned Paid Leave Law had to be added to the personnel policy by Jan. 1, 2021, its effective date, Hapgood explained.

According to information on the web from the state Department of Labor, the law requires employers with more than 10 employees to grant an hour of paid leave for each 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year.

All employees are covered. Their paid leave can be used for any purpose, with the stipulation that in a non-emergency situation, the employee is to give the employer as much notice as possible.

Selectmen considered among other things whether to combine paid leave with older forms of paid time off, like sick leave, bereavement leave and vacation time. They decided to incorporate it as Hapgood recommended for now and to revisit the issue within the next three months.

They also considered other parts of the policy, beginning with Wayne Chadwick’s question about the town matching the state schedule of days off, specifically around holidays.

“It costs money,” he said of paying employees when they have a holiday. When board Chairman Ronald Breton said there was no extra pay involved, Chadwick replied, “We’re not getting any work for the [regular] pay.”

He added that he did not want to take away holidays or cut anyone’s pay.

Hapgood said China has matched the state schedule for the last 15 or 20 years. Most other Maine towns do the same, she said. When Selectman Blane Casey said next year Christmas Eve will be on Friday and asked if the state would call the whole day a holiday, Hapgood declined to predict.

Casey offered another proposal to save money during discussion of dental and health insurance. China contributes to employee’ insurance costs, and pays a stipend to employees who choose not to take insurance through the town (often because they are covered by a spouse’s policy).

Casey proposed eliminating the stipend. “I’m looking at the tax value to people in town who don’t have any insurance at all,” he said.

The insurance question is also to be reviewed later, and so is a policy on weapons on town property.

The personnel policy is the selectmen’s responsibility; it does not require action by voters and can be adjusted as often as necessary.

Hapgood said China has 14 full-time employees. A majority joined the Dec. 28 virtual meeting. Breton did not allow them to speak, saying the special meeting did not make provision for public comment.

Proposed sale of Lakeview Drive parcel sparks renewed discussions

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen’s Dec. 7 split decision to ask voters to approve selling the former subdivision on the east side of Lakeview Drive (see The Town Line, Dec. 10) generated renewed and wide-ranging discussion at their Dec. 21 meeting.

The Dec. 21 meeting also saw what was probably a first-ever occurrence: board members considered not appointing someone who volunteered for a town committee. They hesitated not because of any objection to the volunteer, but for fear of overloading the committee.

The Lakeview Drive land, once part of Candlewood Camps, has been town-owned and unused for several years. On Dec. 7, board Chairman Ronald Breton and members Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick voted to put selling it on the 2021 town meeting warrant. Board members Irene Belanger and Janet Preston were opposed.

Preston put the issue on the Dec. 7 agenda, with a proposal to develop a non-motorized trail system. She brought it up again Dec. 21, seconded during the public comment period by resident Lindsey Harwath and others.

Town records say the lot is 45.3 acres and is valued at $64,600. Town Manager Becky Hapgood believes the town-owned land is just over 39 acres; almost six acres still belong with the land on the west side of Lakeview Drive.

Reasons for selling the land include adding its value to the tax rolls (as town-owned property, it pays no taxes) and eliminating any need for town maintenance or any possibility of town liability.

Preston presented figures from town records showing that as a single lot in private ownership, the land would bring each taxpayer about 30 cents a year in tax revenue. If the land were subdivided, and if the lots were comparable to those on nearby Tarybelu Lane, each China taxpayer would gain between $12 and $13 annually from private ownership.

She and Harwath pointed out that the previous owners gave the land to China because they could not sell the subdivision lots they had mapped out.

There was consensus that the prevalence of wetlands made it hard to site a road and house lots with space for wells and septic systems. The wetlands might be an attraction for a nonprofit organization or wildlife enthusiasts, resident Gina Hoang suggested.

Harwath has a poll on the town’s Facebook page asking about the selectmen’s decision. She said so far most who reply oppose selling the land, and said she found it “disheartening” that selectmen acted without consulting townspeople or other committees.

Selectman Chadwick preferred to get residents’ opinion through a vote at town meeting rather than a Facebook poll, though he and Preston agreed neither result would represent a numerical majority.

Selectman Casey believes the town is short of volunteers to maintain its existing recreational areas, Thurston Park in northeastern China and the town forest behind China Primary School. Harwath said China’s comprehensive plan has consistently called for more recreational space, and plan-related polls show a high level of support for the recommendation.

That comment led to a short review of ways the comprehensive plan is implemented, with resident Jamie Pitney remembering the now-inactive Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee. A revised plan currently awaits voter approval.

Preston and Harwath intend to continue working on plans and public information to support keeping the land for recreation. At this point selectmen have not changed their decision to ask town meeting voters to authorize a sale.

The briefly controversial appointment of James “J. J.” Wentworth as the 10th member of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee was approved on a 4-1 vote. Casey, who voted no, emphasized that he has absolutely no problem with Wentworth; he was supporting the concern of committee Chairman Tom Michaud that 10 members are too many.

Selectmen and others agreed an oversized committee could become ineffective, and an even number can create difficulties when there is disagreement. However, Breton said, the TIF Committee has no policy limiting members.

Hapgood said on principle no volunteer should be discouraged, since there are seldom enough of them; and added that Wentworth, from southeastern China, would add geographic diversity. She further pointed out that it is unusual to have all members of a committee present at a meeting.

The selectmen’s solution was to appoint Wentworth and to recommend that committee members quickly prepare an appropriate policy covering membership and other issues. If the policy specifies no more than nine members, whoever resigns next will not be replaced, Michaud said.

Selectmen appointed Scott Rollins to the vacant District 4 Planning Board seat without debate.

In other business Dec. 21:

  • Selectmen unanimously authorized continuing the single-sheet newsletters from the town office twice a month for the next six months, at an estimated cost of $5,100 to be taken from the $55,000 contingency fund town meeting voters approved. Various alternatives were considered; board members concluded none would reach as many residents as the mailings do.
  • Selectmen postponed approval of the Request for Proposals for expanded broadband service, presented by the Broadband Committee, because not all board members had received a copy. The RFP will be on the agenda for a special Dec. 28 selectmen’s meeting. Broadband Committee members hope for approval that evening so they can publicize the RFP Dec. 29.

The Dec. 28 special meeting, to begin at 6:30 p.m. by Zoom, had already been scheduled to give board members more time to discuss Hapgood’s proposed updates to the town personnel policy.

The China selectmen’s January schedule includes a regular meeting Monday evening, Jan. 4; a special meeting Monday evening, Jan. 11; and a regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19 (postponed from the usual Monday because Jan. 18 is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and the town office will be closed).

Erskine Academy faces challenge of a year like no other

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Erskine Academy Headmaster Michael McQuarrie self-swabbing for the rapid antigen test onsite in the school nurse’s office. (photo courtesy of Erskine Academy)

by Jeanne Marquis

This month Erskine Academy began implementing the rapid antigen test in its arsenal in the fight against Covid-19. Headmaster Michael McQuarrie was the first to complete the testing process. The rapid antigen test is designed for persons exhibiting at least one of the most common symptoms or two less common symptoms of COVID-19. The procedure is voluntary and involves self-swabbing the lower portion of each nostril. The new rapid testing at school provides results in 15 minutes.

This capability provides increased safety for individual families and the general community with the immediate identification of COVID-19. With the knowledge provided by adequate testing, safety processes such as quarantine and contact tracing can begin immediately.

Since the beginning of the school year, 67 students/staff have been dismissed or unable to attend school due to COVID symptoms, most of which before COVID would not result in absences. Without being able to differentiate symptoms of COVID from other common illnesses, schools have had to exclude symptomatic students and staff, requiring them to remain home for up to 10 days while symptoms subsided or while awaiting a COVID test at an alternative location, which at times could take up to a week to return.

McQuarrie explains, “What became evident since the pandemic began is – our young people want to be in school. Erskine Academy is excited to be part of a big step forward in making that happen. This new testing process clears students and staff to return to the classroom much sooner, which comes as a ray of sunshine during what has been a school year like no other.”

Preparations for this year began last spring. Headmaster Michael McQuarrie and his staff knew the ’20-’21 academic year would be challenging. They would have to be prepared to adapt to the diverse needs of their students and be flexible to change when each virus outbreak would occur.

The planning for this year began last spring when our nation first faced the Covid-19 virus. Without any warning, instructors took their classes online for remote learning for the safety of students, staff and our local communities. The staff learned from each other, sharing tech advice, learning what worked and what obstacles remained. Most teachers’ summers were spent brainstorming and researching new technologies to better engage students in multiple mediums. It was clear the threat of Covid-19 would continue in the upcoming school year.

Headmaster McQuarrie moved the staff in-service development days to the front of the ’20-’21 school calendar for intensive workshop days, with both formal and informal training, to prepare for a year facing the pressures of the pandemic. Staff learned the Maine CDC (Center For Disease Control) sanitation requirements and how to simultaneously conduct class for in-class and remote learners within a hybrid structure.

McQuarrie speaks with high praise about his staff in rising to the challenge and credits four instructors for taking on lead roles, acting as resources for others: Holly Tripp, a science teacher; Mark Bailey, mathematics teacher; Ryan Nored, English teacher; David Currier, Social Studies teacher.

Mark Bailey describes the collaboration of this unique year, “Our department (math department) has always worked well with each other, but since last March we have taken that to another level with sharing successes as well as failures with each other. Finding new innovative ways to do the old standards. Many times a pop-in question to one of my colleagues can save us both hours of stumbling through a process. Many days I am mentally exhausted, but on the other hand I feel reinvigorated as a teacher. It is as if we are all first year teachers all over again.”

Ryan Nored explains the added dynamics this year presents. “Teachers are juggling their family and personal lives, more-than-full workloads, and daily experimentation with new technologies, apps, and methods. Our seven-hour classroom time is hectic and harried with new attendance and sanitation duties and our expanded role as parental figures. Our at-home personal time is even more full with extra correction and preparation needs. ”

Nored further explains how the success of this year is due to the strengths of the student body. “I would argue that we have the most hard-working, kind, empathetic and community-driven learners in Maine. To ask them to continue their classloads, family duties, jobs and extracurricular activities all while juggling learning through a new medium, is asking a lot. They have not only excelled, but have maintained their positive attitudes and senses of school-pride and spirit.”

When asked what he worried about this year besides the Covid-19 virus, Headmaster McQuarrie’s answer was “losing the human aspect of education with all the needed technology and sanitation.” McQuarrie says, “Education done well is a human enterprise.”

McQuarrie encouraged school clubs to continue by remote and the Student Council to find solutions to maintain the aspects that make high school memorable such as Spirit Week, stockings for the China Food Bank and their annual toy drive for Little Wanderers, in Waterville. As the community could tell by the holiday lights in December on the Erskine Academy campus, the human spirit thrives even during this tough year.

Vassalboro resident seeks to change marijuana ordinance

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen entertained three requests from residents of the Sherwood Lane subdivision at their Dec. 10 YouTube meeting, moving two forward without any final action.

Leo and Andrew Barnett have spent the fall seeking town approval to build two large buildings to lease to medical marijuana growers on land beyond the end of Sherwood Lane, the road off Riverside Drive that serves the subdivision. Residents consider the proposed commercial development inappropriate so close to, and accessed through, a residential subdivision.

The Planning Board approved the project Dec. 8 (see related story, p. )

Jessica Reed, speaking for others concerned, asked selectmen to consider three actions: amending Vassalboro’s local marijuana ordinance to limit the number of growing facilities in town; prohibiting commercial marijuana projects in subdivisions; and perhaps monitoring existing facilities.

“We never expected a situation like this,” and with town support would like to protect residents of other subdivisions from similar surprises, Reed said.

Selectmen agreed that since they developed the original marijuana ordinance, they should discuss amending it. Town Manager Mary Sabins said town attorney Kristin Collins pointed out the ordinance no longer matches revised language in state law. Selectmen asked Sabins, working with Collins and interested Sherwood Lane residents, to recommend changes.

Board Chairman John Melrose would like to see a revised draft when the selectmen meet next on Jan. 7, 2021. Sabins said she would try to have one ready by then.

Amending the subdivision ordinance should be a planning board task, selectmen agreed. They voted unanimously to ask the planning board to take it on, in cooperation with Collins and Sherwood Lane residents.

Selectmen did not discuss monitoring existing facilities.

Reed thanked selectmen for hearing residents’ concerns and sought advice on the procedure for appealing the Dec. 8 planning board decision. Sabins referred her to Codes Officer Paul Mitnik.

Sherwood Lane resident Dan Belyea commented that the Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 planning board meetings had been frustrating for residents trying to comment. It was difficult to hear what was going on at the Nov. 10 hearing, held in St. Bridget’s Center, and he was unable to connect in to the virtual Dec. 8 meeting, he said.

Following up on an earlier discussion about use of the town ballfields in East Vassalboro during a declared public health emergency, board members approved a short Covid-19 Recreation Field Closure Policy. It applies to town parks and fields, not to school recreational facilities. It says:

• Sabins is to monitor pandemic reports and may, in consultation with the recreation director and school superintendent, declare parks and fields open to unrestricted public use, open to limited public use or closed to the public. She is to notify selectmen of any action.
• Posted town policies are to coordinate with school policies “when practical.”
• If a “group or gathering” is on a town park or field posted as closed, town officials may ask local police or sheriff’s deputies to order them to leave.

Other actions selectmen took at the Dec. 10 meeting included appointing Kevin Reed to the Board of Appeals and Paul Oxley to the Trails Committee, and amending the town personnel policy to incorporate the new state Earned Paid Leave Law.

At Melrose’s suggestion, board members, Road Commissioner Eugene Field and Vassalboro Community School technology specialist David Trask discussed improving the driveway at the recreation field. Melrose had considered recommending pavement, but he and Field thought crushed stone would be adequate, and less expensive. Trask agreed crushed stone would pack down to make a good surface.

Melrose led a discussion of repairs to the Civil War statue in East Vassalboro (see The Town Line, Dec. 3, p. 1). If the town paid some of the cost, the Vassalboro Historical Society might contribute, he said. Board members will wait to see what Historical Society directors decide.

As of Dec. 10, the driveway and the statue are left for continued discussion as the 2021-2022 budget takes shape early next year.

Melrose is exploring a 250th anniversary fireworks display based on the Criminal Justice Academy grounds. Academy officials are not opposed, but want more details, he reported. Semiquincentennial anniversary expenses are likely to be another 2021-2022 budget item.

Melrose further reported that bids for work on the Gray Road culvert are due Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. He proposes reviewing them at the Jan. 7, 2021, selectmen’s meeting, which will also be via YouTube.

Vassalboro selectmen unanimously approved Town Manager Mary Sabins’ request to give all town employees a paid holiday on Dec. 24 and authorize closing town facilities at 2 p.m. on Dec. 31. The exception, of course, will be the public works crew if a snowstorm requires them to work over either or both holidays.

Sabins thanked the board for giving employees a holiday gift; they deserve it, she said.

The transfer station will be open regular hours, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 26.

Vassalboro planners approve two site review applications

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by Mary Grow

In a four-hour all-remote meeting Dec. 8, four Vassalboro Planning Board members reviewed and unanimously approved two major site review applications.

Jeremy Soucy has town approval to open a used car business at 24 Webber Pond Road, on the premises of a previous similar business at the Riverside Drive intersection. Leo and Andrew Barnett are permitted to build two large buildings and a small storage building at the end of Sherwood Lane, off Riverside Drive, and lease space in the large buildings to caregivers to grow medical marijuana.

Soucy still needs a used car dealer’s license from the state, he said. Once operating, he plans to have no more than 30 cars on site at a time, probably fewer.

He plans to do minor repairs, working indoors and not making unusual noise. He does not plan to run a state inspection station. Maximum hours of operation will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and he is likely to shorten them.

Soucy said he is on good terms with his neighbor to the north and intends to do nothing that will bother area residents. The original property-owner designed the lot well for a used-car business, he said.

Soucy’s application was approved with two conditions and one understanding. The conditions are that he will not park vehicles where they will block the view of motorists turning out of Webber Pond Road onto Riverside Drive; and any waste stored outdoors, like scrap metal, or indoors, like waste oil, will be in secure containers.

The informal understanding is that if Soucy restores power to the lighted identifying sign installed by the previous owner, he will, if necessary, change the sign or the light source so it will not illuminate the whole neighborhood, as planning board member Douglas Phillips said the previous one did.

The Barnetts’ application had already been the subject of a long public hearing on Nov. 10. Afterward, board members found the application incomplete and asked for additional information before they compared it to town ordinance requirements.

Sherwood Lane residents and their attorney, Brandon J. Mazer, of Perkins Thompson, in Portland, sent Codes Officer Paul Mitnik and the planning board a letter setting forth reasons they agreed the application was incomplete and believed the Barnetts’ proposal failed to meet town standards. Mazer participated in the Dec. 8 meeting, as did Vassalboro town attorney Kristin Collins, of Preti-Flaherty, in Augusta.

After the hearing, Mitnik visited the property (with the Barnetts’ permission, as it is posted against trespassing) and reported to the board on drainage issues and wooded buffers.

At the Dec. 8 meeting, planning board members reviewed the revised Barnett application and voted unanimously that it was complete. Changes from the original plan include adding the turn-around for emergency vehicles requested by volunteer fire department members.

After a short break for comments from the viewing public (attorney Mazer spoke), board members compared the plan to ordinance standards and voted, again unanimously, to issue a permit for the proposed buildings and their use. They attached four conditions to the approval.

• A state Department of Environmental Protection staff member is to determine the location of a forested wetland on the property. A map shows it close to the proposed development, but Mitnik questioned the accuracy of the map; he thinks it is farther away.
• The growing buildings are to have odor control measures “to the satisfaction of the codes officer and meeting industry standards” – attorney Collins’ wording.
• Each caregiver who leases space to grow marijuana must show proof of registration with the state.
• The codes officer is to inspect the interior of the growing buildings to make sure growing facilities do not block exits.

The Barnetts said that once growing starts, outsiders are not allowed into the climate-controlled buildings. Mitnik said he would be satisfied to inspect when the growing areas are set up, before seeds are planted.

The review included discussion of objections raised by Sherwood Lane residents. Collins clarified state law concerning medical marijuana, as distinct from adult use marijuana, and the relationship between Vassalboro’s marijuana ordinance and state laws and regulations.

Board member Marianne Stevens repeatedly expressed concern about the location at the end of a residential street, for example, worrying about children and traffic. Leo Barnett said he does not expect a lot of traffic. He reminded board members that his similar facility on Old Meadow Lane, which the planning board, on Nov. 10, allowed him to double, has more residents along its access road.

Discussion of planning board business did not begin for some minutes after Chairman Virginia Brackett opened the meeting, because Vassalboro Community School technology expert David Trask needed to get participants connected via YouTube so that everyone could hear and be heard.

The Vassalboro Planning Board normally meets the first Tuesday evening of the month, so the next meeting should be Tuesday evening, Jan. 5, 2021.