Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting canceled
by Mary Grow
Due to a lack of agenda items, the Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting scheduled for Thursday evening, May 27, has been canceled.
Extra help available for students at Vassalboro Community School
Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)
by Mary Grow
Vassalboro School staff and officials are offering extra help to students who need to make up for parts of subjects they missed because of Covid-19.
Projects and plans discussed at the May 18 Vassalboro School Board meeting included on-going after-school classes, planned summer school in August and teachers’ extra preparation for the 2021-22 school year.
Vassalboro Community School Principal Megan Allen said the after-school academic support program, led by different staff members on different days, is “kind of like the homework club” VCS used to offer. Students who stay get help with things they’re stuck on, a snack and a ride home. On May 18, 18 students had attended, she said.
Viking Summer Camp is scheduled for the first two weeks in August, to offer both remedial study to cover “gaps that were inevitable” and enrichment. Half a dozen staff will lead; students will get two meals and transportation.
Teachers plan extra time this spring and before school reopens in the fall to review the past year and plan ways to make sure every student can master material that should have been covered and move well-prepared into the next grade’s curriculum.
Allen is also scheduling a staff barbecue “to end the year on a positive note to let us get set up for next year.”
The rest of the school board’s business included review of the current year’s budget, continuing review of school policies, approval of promotions and acceptance of resignations. Finance Director Paula Pooler said the budget picture would be clearer after she made final tuition payments the following week.
Resolving a problem that was troubling Assistant Principal Greg Hughes at last month’s meeting, sixth/seventh-grade science teacher Taraysa Noyes was appointed baseball coach.
Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer reminded those present that Vassalboro’s annual town meeting, at which voters approve or amend the 2021-22 school budget, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 7, in the VCS gymnasium. On Tuesday, June 8, voters will approve or reject the June 7 budget decision by written vote, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.
Because of the unusual number of ticks this spring, Vassalboro school grounds will be sprayed, Pfeiffer said. The brown-tail moth caterpillars in the trees cannot be sprayed, however, because getting rid of them would require aerial spray too close to the VCS building.
The next Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 15.
Vassalboro town meeting set for June 7-8
by Mary Grow
Vassalboro’s annual town meeting will be held Monday, June 7, and Tuesday, June 8. The town meeting warrant and related information are posted in the center column of the town website, www.vassalboro.net.
The open meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium. After voters complete Art. 37 (the final item in the 2021-22 school budget), the moderator will recess the meeting until 8 a.m. Tuesday, when polls open at the town office for written-ballot voting on Articles 38 through 41. Polls close at 8 p.m.
For the open meeting, Town Manager Mary Sabins intends to divide the gymnasium by a solid curtain to conform to Covid-19 gathering limits. Rules for masking, social distancing and similar protective measures will be established as recommended by state authorities at the time.
For Tuesday’s written-ballot voting, Town Clerk Cathy Coyne recommends voters request and return absentee ballots, to minimize lines at the polls. The deadline for obtaining an absentee ballot is Thursday, June 3 (five days before the election); ballots must be returned before polls close at 8 p.m. June 8. Requests can be made in person, by telephone or by email.
The questions to be decided at the polls June 8 are as follows:
- Approval or rejection of the new “Town of Vassalboro Marijuana Business Ordinance,” which prohibits new marijuana businesses in town and regulates recreational and medical marijuana facilities and businesses that existed before the ordinance’s Feb. 18, 2021, effective date;
- Approval or rejection of the 2021-22 school budget approved the previous evening (the “school budget validation referendum”);
- Continuation of the school budget validation referendum for three more years, or discontinuance; and
- Local elections for three-year terms on the selectboard and school board. The only candidates on the ballot are Christopher French, to succeed John Melrose on the selectboard, and Jolene Clark Gamage, for re-election to the school board. As of May 24, neither Coyne nor Sabins was aware of any write-in candidate for either board.
The marijuana ordinance is on the website, well down in the center column.
The articles to be voted the evening of June 7 begin, as usual, with election of a moderator. Voters will next elect five budget committee members for two years; those whose terms expire in 2021 are Donald Breton, William Browne, Christopher French, Phillip Landry and Peggy Schaffer.
Art. 5 combines 14 spending categories that make up town services, including administration, public works, road paving, solid waste disposal, police and fire and others, for a total of more than $2.2 million.
Art. 6 asks voters to spend $293,500 for four purposes: $187,000 for the new culvert on Gray Road; $85,000 to add to the transfer station reserve account; $17,500 for a new furnace in the North Vassalboro fire station; and $4,000 toward restoring the Civil War statute in Memorial Park in East Vassalboro.
In Art. 10, selectmen ask permission to spend up to $230,000 for a new public works truck, with plow and sander. They plan to pay for it with $122,000 from the public works truck reserve and $108,000 from 2021-22 local taxes. They also want permission to sell a similarly-equipped 2009 truck.
Art. 11 asks approval to use up to $156,000 from the transfer station reserve fund to “provide up to two operational trash compactors” – there is now only one – and make other improvements. The reserve account will have approximately $156,000 in it only if voters approve Art. 6 adding $85,000, Sabins said. If Art. 6, or that part of it, is not approved, the transfer station appropriation in Art. 11 will need to be reduced.
Many municipal articles are familiar, like authorizing selectmen to apply for and accept grants (Art. 9) and to continue the annual alewife harvest (Art. 16); funding the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program (Art. 17); and allowing selectmen to “dispose of” tax-acquired real estate (Art. 8) and town-owned property valued at $10,000 or less (Art. 18).
Art. 13 specifically requests approval to accept American Rescue Plan money from the federal and state governments.
In Art. 19, the selectmen request their annual $15,000 contingency fund to be taken from the town’s surplus account if needed “in the event of an emergency and to avoid overdrafts.” Article 20 has a list of 10 private agencies to which voters are asked to contribute.
The school budget is set forth in Articles 23 through 37. The total requested expenditure in Art. 36 is $8,313,609.72. It includes the state-required town contribution of $2,573,425 (Art. 34) and another $1,227,703.79 in additional local funds (Art. 35). The remainder is covered in Art. 37, which asks voters to authorize the school board to spend money received from “federal or state grants or programs or other sources.”
Vassalboro selectmen recommend that voters approve all articles. The budget committee recommends approval of all proposed expenditures. As of mid-May, Town Manager Sabins was projecting a property tax increase of barely over one percent if voters approved all expenditures.
China selectmen act on bids
by Mary Grow
At their May 24 meeting, China selectmen acted on bids for summer work and got updated information on buildings that might meet the state definition of a dangerous building. They need more information on the buildings before possible action.
Bids were requested for three categories: road paving, materials for the Public Works Department and mowing. Mowing was subdivided into town property (like the town office lawn), cemeteries and ballfields.
Road paving attracted seven bidders, whose bids Town Manager Becky Hapgood summarized by number of tons of paving mix, per-ton price, chip seal (which turned out to be irrelevant) and total bid. Board members awarded the 2021-22 paving contract to Pike Industries, at a price of $67.47 per ton, after discussion among themselves, Hapgood and Public Works Manager Shawn Reed, who joined the meeting virtually.
Board Chairman Ronald Breton dissented, not because he objected to Pike, but because he wanted the bid awarded based on total price rather than per-ton price. Pike’s $67.47 was the lowest per-ton price by almost a dollar.
The total cost will depend on various factors, Reed explained, like the condition of the road being paved; rougher sections might need more shim – leveling material under the top coat – than first planned. Pike’s total price falls within the 2021-22 road budget, and Reed will make sure work does not exceed available funds.
Reed said Pike had last year’s contract and he is pleased with the work.
The road committee recommended against using chip seal this year, he said, and no additional chip seal is planned. Chip seal, he explained, is a liquid emulsion topped with very small stone chips and rolled. The method was used on about a mile of South Road last year; results are satisfactory so far, but road committee members want to see how it holds up for another year.
Two companies bid to supply gravel and other materials. Selectmen rejected both bids and authorized Reed to negotiate as needed, the same tactic they chose for the current year.
No mowing bids were received by the deadline; two came in the morning of May 24. The lower bidder did not bid on cemeteries, which Hapgood said are more labor-intensive than the other two categories.
Despite higher prices, a majority of the selectboard voted to award the contract to Danforth Lawncare, which has done China’s mowing for many years. Hapgood and the board majority doubted Danforth would do the cemeteries only, without the rest of the work.
Selectman Blane Casey dissented on the vote because of Danforth’s higher prices, which total over $32,000. Hapgood said the expenditure is “more than we anticipated,” but “we’ll be okay” with fitting it into the 2021-22 budget.
Codes Officer Jaime Hanson joined the May 24 meeting virtually to describe five buildings in town that appear to be abandoned, or nearly abandoned.
If selectmen so decide, they can seek a judge’s order to have a building declared dangerous and demolished within days, Hanson said. They can then bill the property-owner for the demolition and if necessary go to court to recover costs.
Hanson considers none of the buildings habitable in its present condition, and said as far as he knows none is permanently occupied, although he has talked with a person at one and seen a vehicle at a second. Only one of the five seems in imminent danger of collapse, he said.
Hapgood intends to get more information and consult town attorney Amanda Meader. Breton is concerned about possible town liability should someone be injured because selectmen did not deal with the problems.
Selectmen voted unanimously to support Hapgood’s suggestion that a Story Trails program be part of this summer’s China Community Days celebration. (See box below with this story.)
Two other agenda items were postponed to future meetings: how to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money and how to adjust transfer station fees for special items – electronics, propane tanks, tires, carpets and other things listed at the transfer station and on the town website, www.chinaoffice.org.
Hapgood said China is slated to get about $429,000 in ARPA funds through the state. Rules for using the money are being developed, she said; she expects them to include allowed and forbidden uses, deadlines and paperwork requirements. Resident Jamie Pitney added, virtually, that towns are encouraged to ask for local people’s ideas.
Breton wants to review the transfer station fees, which he said have not been changed in a decade. Higher fees help hold down property taxes, he pointed out. He has also asked for advice from the Transfer Station Committee.
The next regular China selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 7. The annual town business meeting will be held by written ballot in the portable classroom behind the town office Tuesday, June 8, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Story Trails of Maine
Information sent to China town officials describes “Story Trails of Maine” as an opportunity to boost tourism, bring traffic to local businesses, promote local history and create “a memorable experience for participants.”
Participants, in groups of two to four, use a mobile app to follow clues to explore a local area. A typical tour takes about an hour and covers up to two miles, with four to six stops, the brochure says. The tour is “self-paced” and people can take breaks to eat and shop locally.
Hapgood said two volunteers are working on a local Story Trails plan. Selectman Janet Preston volunteered to join them. Others interested should contact the town office.
China business meeting ballot shortened to ease voting
Available on town of China website, under “Elections.”
by Mary Grow
For the second year in a row, China’s annual town business meeting will be entirely by written ballot, with voters able to choose an absentee ballot or a Tuesday, June 8, trip to the polls.
To shorten voting time, town officials have condensed the ballot into 26 articles, most dealing with 2021-22 appropriations and town policy.
The 2021-22 school budget is not on the local ballot. Regional School Unit #18 voters approved it at a May 20 open meeting, and on June 8 China voters (and voters in Belgrade, Oakland, Rome and Sidney) will affirm or reject it by written ballot.
China polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, in the portable classroom behind the town office. Absentee ballots may be obtained from the town office by mail, telephone or email through Thursday, June 3. They must be returned before the polls close on June 8.
A copy of the town meeting warrant and multiple related documents are on the town’s website, china.govoffice.com. To read them, click on “Elections” in the left-hand column.
Four of the 26 articles have generated discussion over the last several months.
Art. 8 asks voters to appropriate $16,530 for animal control, $34,000 for police expenses and $40,060 for emergency services dispatching. The $34,000 is intended to pay for 10 hours a week for special Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office patrols in China, replacing the present police department.
Information on the reasoning behind the proposed change is on the website. See also the letters from Police Chief Craig Johnson and former Selectman Robert MacFarland and the article by Town Manager Becky Hapgood in the May 13 issue of The Town Line, p. 11.
Art. 15 requests a $26,471 appropriation for FirstPark, the Oakland business park in which China and other area municipalities invested 20 years ago. Because revenue from the park has lagged behind projections and supporting municipalities have not seen profits, the park has been controversial in recent years.
The park’s bond is now paid off, but according to Hapgood, member municipalities’ obligations do not end until next year. China selectmen are likely to discuss ending the contract in 2022.
Art. 16 asks voters to approve an amended Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program and to appropriate $256,000 from TIF revenue to be spent in the 2021-22 fiscal year for purposes designated in the document.
China’s Tax Increment Financing Committee discussed the changes at great length before submitting them to selectmen, who approved them for forwarding to voters. Major additions allow TIF money to be used for broadband service (with limitations); to assist the China Lake Association and China Region Lakes Alliance with projects that improve lake water quality; and to assist with the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI) that brings alewives into China Lake by removing or modifying dams on Outlet Stream in Vassalboro.
The amended TIF document is on the website.
Art. 25 asks voters whether they want to sell about 40 acres of town-owned land on the east side of Lakeview Drive, opposite the Cottages at China Lake (formerly Candlewood). Selectman Janet Preston has consistently opposed selling the property. She presented arguments for keeping it as Adams Memorial Park in a commentary in the May 20 issue of The Town Line, p. 11.
Most of the articles ask voters to approve the 2021-22 municipal budget and policies for town officials. Art. 11, the most expensive article, asks $1,423,692 for the public works department, of which more than $600,000 will be spent repaving town roads.
Art. 4 combines requests for $589,427 for town administration (salaries and related), $214,600 for administration other (supplies, town office utilities and related) and $25,000 for accrued compensation (the fund to pay for unused time off if someone resigns or retires).
Art. 10 requests $623,005 to run the transfer station next year, and permission to use fees paid in the current year for unusually large amounts of demolition debris to offset costs of disposing of that debris.
Requests for $146,605 for assessing costs and $30,000 for legal expenses are combined in Art. 7. Art. 9 asks for $151, 547 for fire and rescue services; it does not include the previously-controversial firefighters’ “stipends,” which are instead in the $107,500 requested in Art. 12 for community support organizations.
The annual request for money to let selectmen cover unforeseen expenditures has been increased from $55,000 to $123,680 (Art. 14). Town Manager Hapgood explained that the increase is intended to cover “unbudgeted changes in employee benefits resulting from life events or new hires” and unemployment claims, if any. The $123,680 comes from surplus and reserve accounts, not from taxes. Unspent money will lapse back into the accounts at the end of the fiscal year.
Requested policies include permission for selectmen to sell tax-acquired properties (Art. 20) and specifically to sell the 1982 John Deere grader (Art. 24); to accept and use grants and gifts (Art. 21); and to make multi-year contracts (Art, 32).
In the event that voters refuse to approve one or more spending articles, Art. 26 provides that officials can continue to spend money for the rejected purpose at the current year’s funding level.
June 8 is business meeting
China’s June 8 meeting is the town business meeting, not the annual town meeting. By state law, the annual town meeting is when voters elect local officials. China’s local elections are held in November – the 2021 election day is Nov. 2.
For many years, China’s elections and voting on the annual budget were held together at the March town meeting. Selectmen noticed that more voters turned out for November written-ballot voting on state and national issues (and an occasional local referendum) than for the in-person spring meeting. To get more voters’ input, they moved the local election, and thus the town meeting, to November.
According to the town website, the following officials’ terms will end in November 2021:
- On the Selectboard (two-year terms): Irene Belanger and Wayne Chadwick.
- On the Planning Board (two-year terms): Randall Downer, in District One; and Natale Tripodi, alternate elected from anywhere in town. The District Three position is currently vacant; if there were an incumbent, his or her term would end in November 2021.
- On the Budget Committee (two-year terms): Robert Batteese, Chairman; Kevin Maroon, District One; and Dana Buswell, District Three.
- Representative on the Regional School Unit 18 Board of Directors (two-year term): Neil Farrington.
CORRECTION: In the description above of the Nov. 2 local elections in the May 27 issue of The Town Line, the length of selectboard terms was incorrectly stated. Selectmen are elected for two-year terms, not for three years. It was a reporting error.
China planners approve extension on solar permit
by Mary Grow
At their May 11 meeting China Planning Board members approved a one-year extension of SunRaise Investments’ permit for a solar development on Route 3.
At their April 27 meeting, SunRaise representatives explained delays in starting construction as due to factors outside their control. Planners postponed action in case neighbors wanted to comment; on May 11 they approved the extension promptly and unanimously.
SunRaise representatives said in April construction might start late in 2021 or early in 2022.
Planners spent most of the rest of the meeting continuing to wordsmith their proposed ordinance to regulate solar developments. They also agreed tentatively to take on another project, revising the China Land Use Ordinance to conform to state requirements.
Revisions to the Solar Energy Systems Ordinance are by now primarily for clarity and for consistency with older town ordinances, rather than for content. Board members intend to continue working on it at their May 25 meeting.
China received a May 10 letter from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) saying China’s April 6, 2019, revision of the Land Use Ordinance has been conditionally accepted. Conditional acceptance means, Codes Officer Jaime Hanson said, that the 2019 update is not yet enforceable; from DEP’s perspective, the 2017 version remains in effect.
DEP has asked mostly for two types of revisions to bring the town ordinance into compliance with state regulations, Hanson said. One set of changes involves definitions: DEP has changed some of theirs, and expects municipalities to match the changes.
Other DEP objections point to places where China rules differ from state rules. Board members discussed one example, the provision in China’s ordinance that says for purposes of calculating lot coverage (the percentage of a lot covered by impervious surfaces), driveways and parking lots do not count.
This exemption makes China’s ordinance less restrictive than state regulations, which do include these areas. Board members agreed that municipalities are not allowed to have regulations that are less strict than the state’s.
Board Chairman Randall Downer asked that the DEP letter be made public so residents can see reasons for changes the local board proposes. It is now on the town website, www.chinagov.org, under Planning Board, with the title “DEP Department Order #07-2021 Ordinance Approval.”
The draft Solar Energy Systems Ordinance is directly under the DEP order.
The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25. Barring unfortunate pandemic-related developments, it will be in person in the former portable classroom behind the town office.
CBC decision makes it easier for consultants to prepare costs
by Mary Grow
At their May 13 meeting, China Broadband Committee (CBC) members unanimously approved one piece of the outline of their proposed China Community Broadband Project, making it easier for their consultants to prepare cost scenarios.
The program they intend to offer will have three tiers, or service levels, providing different capacities at different prices, plus a fourth, higher tier committee member Neil Farrington named “the Tod tier” in honor of self-described geek and committee member Tod Detre. Detre admits he will want more capacity than most other users in town.
Consultants Mark Van Loan and John Dougherty, of Mission Broadband, and Mark Ouellette, President of Machias-based Axiom Technologies, the planned service provider, can use the framework to work out cost-sharing alternatives.
As at prior meetings, committee members and consultants described two broad cost categories, construction and on-going service. The plan is that the town of China will issue a bond to cover construction costs, and will own the network. User fees will cover bond repayment, plus service provided by Axiom (or in the future perhaps another company, if the network owner so decides), plus a reasonable profit for Axiom.
The May 13 discussion included the per-house connection to the network, estimated to average $1,300. Committee members considered asking householders to pay some or all of the fee; no decision was made.
Construction costs are currently estimated in the $8 to $9 million range. But, Van Loan and Ouellette agreed, any construction company will estimate for maximum conceivable needs; once its representatives survey the situation, costs are likely to come down.
Ouellette has dealt with another Maine town whose officials used taxes to fund construction. CBC members do not want to propose a tax increase.
Another issue is different rates for seasonal residents, which can be managed in multiple ways.
User fees, at least initially, will depend to a great extent on the “take rate,” how many people sign up for the new service and share the costs. Committee members talked briefly, again, about ways to provide information to residents.
Funding from grants is another possibility not yet either guaranteed or ruled out. CBC Chairman Robert O’Connor is working on a federal grant application, and got suggestions from Van Loan and Ouellette.
Ouellette said Axiom was approved for a federal subsidy program through the Federal Communications Commission a few hours before the China meeting; “I have no idea how it’s going to work.”
Ouellette said in his experience, in a town like China with established internet service providers, up to 40 percent of householders are likely to try Axiom promptly, with 70 percent choosing the lowest of the tiers. He has repeatedly said that once people see how fast and reliable Axiom’s service is, his customer base grows.
Van Loan and Ouellette offered to have updated information, based on a three-tier plus the “Tod tier” system, available within a week for committee members to review before their next meeting, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 26.
The CBC is likely to continue to meet earlier than its previous 7 p.m., though not always as early as 4:30 p.m., to accommodate Ouellette, who explained he has family obligations in mid-evening.
China committee gets update from Fiberight
by Mary Grow
China Transfer Station Committee members focused on various forms of recycling at their May 11 meeting, talking about China’s Free for the Taking building; regional hazardous waste disposal and alternatives; and additional recycling possibilities.
They also got an update on plans to reopen the Fiberight disposal facility in Hampden from Michael Carroll, executive director of the Municipal Review Committee (MRC). MRC consists of representatives from Maine municipalities that contracted to bring waste to the Fiberight facility, which closed a year ago. The committee owns the land on which the facility stands, has contracted to supply waste and is named on the waste permit, Carroll said.
The building in which Fiberight intended to process waste, until the company ran out of funds, is owned by bond-holders, Carroll said. Fiberight did the “configuring and dial-setting” for the process that separates and reuses recyclables; the components are off the shelf and can be used and replaced as needed by a successor.
MRC plans to have Pennsylvania-based Delta Thermo Energy (DTE) reopen the plant. Restart date remains undetermined. Meanwhile, most of China’s mixed waste is being landfilled in Norridgewock, to the dismay of local environmentalists.
China Committee Chairman Larry Sikora questioned whether DTE was the best buyer for the closed plant.
Carroll said the MRC didn’t have a choice: two other potentially interested parties dropped out. To Sikora’s questions about how thoroughly DTE had been vetted. Carroll replied, “We did our due diligence.”
DTE has experience with other waste facilities, has more capital than Fiberight started with, is inheriting a building and equipment and when the transfer is final will get rights and operating manuals from the bondholders. The company’s lack of experience with the Fiberight process is not a unique problem, Carroll said, because the process is new; no one has experience with it.
Fiberight “has kind of disappeared on us,” he added. The MRC has been “keeping boots on the ground” to maintain the facility.
Proposed changes in the contract between the plant operator and MRC include giving DTE the option to buy the land, which Carroll said the company is unlikely to exercise for at least two years; and “resetting the clock” so the building lease and the waste supply agreement, now more than a year old, will start over as 15-year arrangements.
After Carroll zoomed out of the meeting, committee members turned to the selectboard’s decision not to participate in the annual hazardous waste disposal day, in Winslow, this year. Winslow charges other towns, and in recent years too few China and Palermo residents have disposed of hazardous waste to justify the cost, selectmen said.
Both the selectmen and the Transfer Station Committee members discussed ways to inform residents about alternative legal disposal places (which probably charge fees), so hazardous wastes will not be combined with mixed waste or dumped into the environment.
Sikora raised the desirability of recycling all batteries, not just big ones. Committee members Ashley Farrington and Karen Hatch think providing separate boxes for small batteries is feasible; they will look into options.
Town Manager Becky Hapgood would like to see the Free for the Taking building reopen in June, but protective measures need to be in place first. She and committee members talked about ways to limit the number of people in and around the building and to limit donations.
Hatch, who manages the building, said sometimes so much is dropped off she can’t get in the door until she rearranges things. She proposed no longer accepting clothing, because, she said, people looking through clothing spend more time inside.
Farrington suggested limiting hours, to provide time to sort items without customers; or charging a deposit that people could get back only by reclaiming items no one else had taken.
Sikora approved Hapgood’s idea that she, Farrington, Hatch and Transfer Station Manager Ronald Marois become a subcommittee to propose procedures.
Farrington has already taken on the project of analyzing information from the Radio Frequency Identification system to detect usage patterns, busy and slack times and other useful factors. Palermo resident Chris Diesch, attending at the invitation of Palermo committee member Robert Kurek, volunteered to help; her offer was accepted with enthusiasm.
The RFID system does not identify users by name. It can record how many times the same person comes in, but not who the person is.
The next regular Transfer Station Committee meeting would have fallen on election day, so members tentatively rescheduled it to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 9.
Windsor selectmen work through routine agenda
by The Town Line staff
The Windsor board of selectmen worked through a routine agenda at their April 27 meeting, approving all motions unanimously. All selectmen were present for the meeting.
Interim Transfer Station Supervisor Sean Tekeema reported to the board that the transfer station has been busy the last couple of weeks. He said large items – television sets, grills and appliances – have been coming in lately. He also suggested a stand-up sign or magnetic sign on the side of the bin for pizza boxes.
Cemetery Sexton Joyce Perry said the gates to the cemetery were open May 2. The selectmen approved lot conveyances for Jeff Stuart and Sharon Cormier, and Heidi Winslow and Jerry Rideout.
Perry also noted that large chunks of sod were dug up during winter plowing on the right of way road between Resthaven Cemetery and The Fusion. The owner of The Fusion has been contacted and repairs will be made.
Selectmen also approved warrants #43 and #44, as well as approving the 2021 town meeting warrant, as amended.
Selectmen also approved appointing Arthur Strout as the Building Official.
Town Clerk Kelly McGlothlin informed the board of candidates on this year’s ballot: Dustin Mellor for RSU #12 committee member, and William Appel Jr. and Ray Bates for board of selectmen. There are three spots available for the budget committee and one for alternate budget committee.
The board of selectmen then recessed and reconvened as the board of assessors. A request for an additional extension, if needed, on the road frontage variance was submitted by Brian Wall. The board felt there will not be a need to extend the request and unanimously denied any additional extension on the road frontage variance.
The assessors adjourned and reconvened as the board of selectmen.
The fire department completed an application for a grant in the amount of $2,879 for equipment and is requesting for half of the amount of $1,439.50 to be reimbursed from the Forestry Fire Reserve account to the fire department. The assessors approved the request, and then unanimously voted to allow town treasurer, Theresa Haskell, to request the payment from the Forest Fire Reserve Account, payable to the fire department.
A CMP pole permit was approved for the Greeley Road.
Selectmen William Appel Jr. read a letter from MMTCTA congratulating Town Manager Theresa Haskell on her recertification of tax collector and certification as treasurer.
The minutes of the April 13 meeting were amended to read as, “Andrew Ballantyne made a motion to approve the proposed Employee Manual update”.
Animal Control Officer Kim Bolduc-Bartlett said the town may receive a bill for a cat that had to be taken to Lewiston to be euthanized.
The next regular meeting of the board of selectmen was scheduled for May 11, at the Windsor Town Hall.
Vassalboro library, town-sponsored rec coordination gets conditional interest
by Mary Grow
At their May 13 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen talked about coordinating Vassalboro’s town-sponsored recreation program with the Vassalboro Public Library, with library Director Brian Stanley expressing conditional interest.
The recreation program, which focuses mainly but not entirely on organizing use of the town ballfields in East Vassalboro, is run by a director, who receives a modest stipend, and a committee. Leadership changes often – not surprising, selectmen said, because as children age out of the program, their parents also move on.
John Melrose, chairman of the selectboard, said the president and treasurer of the library’s board of trustees are willing to explore options. No commitments have been made, and Melrose, who will leave the selectboard after June 8 local elections, is handing the issue to the next board.
Barring unexpected events, that board’s members will be incumbents Robert Browne and Barbara Redmond and Christopher J. French. French is the only candidate for selectman on the June 8 local ballot.
Selectmen reached no conclusion on another issue, where (if anywhere) to hold fireworks in September as part of Vassalboro’s 250th anniversary celebration. Possibilities they discussed included a town-funded display, somewhere, or a contest among private displays.
Yet another undecided issue was how Vassalboro can spend federal funds allocated to the town, or its share of the Kennebec County allocation. Town Manager Mary Sabins said only specific purposes are eligible, and she is not sure Vassalboro can meet any of the criteria.
For example, money could be used to “make whole” businesses damaged by the pandemic, if a Vassalboro business can show damage. Expansion of broadband service or water or sewer systems are also possibilities, but with limitations.
Addressing his fellow board members, Melrose said, “You guys have an unusual problem. You’re going to receive $435,000, and you need to figure out if there’s anything you can spend it for.”
Selectmen did make a decision on one agenda item: they should try to develop a new town ordinance to govern mass gatherings, like the requested music festival in July 2022 that Sabins told them about at their April 29 meeting (see The Town Line, May 6, 2021, p. 8).
Town Attorney Kristin Collins had provided a copy of Readfield’s ordinance as a guide. Redmond volunteered to work with Sabins and Collins to adjust it to Vassalboro.
In other business, Melrose thanked Road Commissioner Eugene Field and the public works crew for installing a dock off Monument Park, in East Vassalboro. Sabins said East Vassalboro resident Holly Wiedner, who asked for a safe place for fishing, called the town office to express her appreciation.
Sabins said School Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer will work to find money in the school budget to help the town pay for the generator that will make the school usable as an emergency shelter. The sole bid for installing the generator, accepted by selectmen at the April 29 meeting, was over $6,000 more than available funds.
Board members agreed the town auditor should be invited to the June 10 selectmen’s meeting to review the audit for the year ended June 30, 2020. Melrose proposed the presentation, on principle, not because he saw any problem, he said.
The next two regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m., May 27 and June 10, in person at the town office.
The annual town meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., Monday, June 7, in person, at Vassalboro Community School, with decisions on Articles 1 (election of a moderator) through 37 (the final school budget article). The meeting continues at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 8, with written-ballot voting on Articles 38 through 41. Polls close at 8 p.m.
The warrant for the June 7 and 8 town meeting is on the Town of Vassalboro website, www.vassalboro.net, after several other items in the center column, under the heading “Town Meeting and Election Information.”