China’s Emergency Preparedness Committee met virtually the afternoon of Feb. 18 to continue updating China’s Emergency Action Plan, a project started earlier in the month.
Town Clerk Angela Nelson said committee members decided who will be responsible for updating different sections of the plan. They scheduled their next zoom meeting for 1 p.m. Thursday, March 11.
by Mary GrowVassalboro selectmen, assisted by Town Attorney Kristin Collins, of Augusta-based Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, put the proposed new marijuana ordinance in final form at their Feb. 18 meeting.
The ordinance will be submitted to Vassalboro voters for approval or rejection at the June 7-8 annual town meeting. If voters accept it, the effective date will be Feb. 18, 2021.
The ordinance has two main purposes. It prohibits all future marijuana businesses in Vassalboro, with the exception of licensed caregivers and their cultivation facilities of up to 1,000 square feet. And it regulates businesses existing or having received permits as of Feb. 18, including requiring that the owners apply for a town license.
The bulk of the ordinance deals with requirements for obtaining the local license. There will be license fees; selectmen postponed setting them. At an earlier meeting, Collins told them other Maine towns charge from $500 to $5,000.
Also joining the virtual selectmen’s meeting, by telephone, was engineer Al Hodsdon of A. E. Hodsdon, in Waterville, who has proposed a redesign for the transfer station. Hodsdon said pandemic-induced price increases and materials shortages might delay new equipment.
But, he said, he should be ready to seek bids for the redesign, which includes a second driveway and relocated equipment to make operations safer, in a few weeks. He estimates bids are likely to be in the $300,000 range, and asked board members if they were comfortable with that figure.
Selectmen promptly began proposing a phased-in plan that would spread the work and the cost over several years. Hodsdon countered that if they wanted to borrow the full amount, “You’ll never get money cheaper than it is right now.”
Neither selectmen nor Transfer Station Manager George Hamar had had time to review Hodsdon’s plan thoroughly, so action was postponed. Board members unanimously asked Hodsdon, with Hamar’s advice, to consider priorities and phasing, and asked Town Manager Mary Sabins to schedule follow-up discussion.
After two workshop meetings to consider the 2021-22 municipal budget, selectmen think they have it close to ready for budget committee review. They asked Sabins to prepare a fifth draft before their next meeting.
At this stage, without complete final figures, selectmen think their recommendations will not increase local property taxes significantly. To reach that point, they recommend eliminating items they know will disappoint others, like postponing repaving the fire station and town office dooryards.
The school budget, which is a major part of annual expenditures from taxation, is not yet finished. Sabins said school and town audits for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020, have been delayed by the pandemic. Until the audits are complete, neither she nor school officials know exactly how much was in unassigned fund balances (surplus) when the current fiscal year started.
Codes Officer Paul Mitnik joined the virtual meeting to ask what selectmen want to do about abandoned buildings in town. He received a complaint about an empty mobile home that is attracting rats and feral cats, he said, and Vassalboro has other empty, deteriorating buildings.
After consideration of alternatives, selectmen asked Mitnik to get in touch with the owners of the complained-of property and see if they are willing to repair or remove the mobile home. If the owners cannot or will not cooperate, Mitnik is to report back to the selectmen.
Selectmen agreed unanimously to a proposed contract with Calderwood Engineering, of Richmond, to supervise work on the Gray Road culvert replacement.
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4. The starting time is half an hour earlier than usual to allow for a meeting with the budget committee beginning at 7 p.m. The meeting might be in person if budget committee members are agreeable and if Sabins can arrange to use the gymnasium at Vassalboro Community School.
by Mary GrowThree China Planning Board members at the Feb. 9 board meeting spent another hour discussing a proposed solar ordinance and whether additional language about shoreland stabilization should be added to town regulations (see The Town Line, Feb. 4).
At the suggestion of Vice-Chairman Toni Wall, acting as chairman in Randy Downer’s absence, they deferred decisions to the board’s Feb. 23 meeting, when Wall hopes all five members will be able to attend.
The Tuesday, Feb. 23, meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and is likely to be by Zoom again.
by Steve Ball
Windsor Town Manager Theresa Haskell (photo by Sandra Isaac)
During the February 2 meeting, the selectmen discussed the retirement match for town employees. A discussion took place over whether to increase the retirement match benefit by percent over the term of the employees tenure. Windsor Town Manager Theresa Haskell will provide more details of expense and employee qualification at the next selectmen’s meeting.
Selectmen Richard H. Gray Jr., Andrew Ballantyne, Ray Bates, William Appel, and Ronald F. Brann were all in attendance. No one from the public attended.
The town manager presented the monthly report for the transfer station. For the month of January the town was up $2,411.35 in revenue from last year and the town is $9,460.00 up for the current fiscal year.
Action on approving the Revised Employee Manual was moved to the next selectmen’s meeting. In addition, the town manager handed out a proposed COVID-19 procedure for the board of selectmen to review and will be discussed at the next board meeting.
The town manger said the town currently has 83 unregistered dogs compared to 50 at this time last year. It was noted that since the town of Windsor is still in the State of Emergency because of COVID-19, all unregistered dogs will have their registrations extended until 30 days following the termination of the state of emergency by Gov. Janet Mills
by Mary GrowMembers of China’s Broadband Committee (CBC) displayed impressive technological understanding as they reviewed summaries of three bids for expanded and improved broadband service in town at their Feb. 11 meeting.
Tod Detre, not hesitant about answering technical questions, admitted that “my eyes glazed over” as he tried to read some of the legal sections of the bids; but fellow CBC member Jamie Pitney is an attorney and had that aspect covered.
The committee received three bids for the project, from Sertex Broadband Solutions, of Plainfield, Connecticut; Axiom Technologies of Machias, Maine; and Spectrum Community Solutions of Augusta, Maine.
The bid summaries were prepared by Mark van Loan, of Mission Broadband, the committee’s consultant for the bid process. Van Loan and John Dougherty took part in the zoom committee meeting, as did Brent Chesley from China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee and Ben Topor, from Spectrum, the only bidder represented.
Discussion focused on what questions committee members need answered to help them compare the three bids. Van Loan and committee chairman Robert O’Connor had prepared some in advance, and other members contributed others.
If a proposal is to be submitted to voters at the Tuesday, June 8, town business meeting, committee members need to make a decision, figure out the financial implications and have their proposal reviewed by selectmen and the budget committee by mid-March. The town business meeting had originally been set for May 18, but selectmen voted to postpone it to the later date.
They therefore accepted Van Loan’s offer to send questions out on Feb. 12 with answers requested by Wednesday, Feb. 17. They scheduled a meeting to review additional information for 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18, and meetings to interview one, two or all three bidders for Monday, Feb. 22, beginning at 5 p.m.
Sertex and Axiom each propose to build a new system from the ground up and to have it become town-owned. Both would oversee a separate construction company. Sertex would also supervise a service provider; Axiom would itself be the service provider.
Spectrum would build on its existing service network in China, including extending service to, by its figures, 120 households not now served. Other sources listed fewer expansions needed.
Detre said repeatedly his number one goal is to extend broadband service to everyone in town. No one argued. Committee members also discussed other services, like cable television, and how they would be provided by each bidder.
The Fieldstone Quickstop in South China. (photo from Google streetview)
The Fieldstone Quickstop in South China, at the intersection of Routes 32 and 3, located at 190 Route 3, has recently been sold to Maritime Energy.
Thadius Barber, a resident of China for all but four of his 48 years, purchased the establishment from Mike Rocque in 2004. It was just the right time for a sale, he explained in an email.
“I owned [and] operated the store for almost 17 years. [I’m] mostly going to miss our amazing customers and the best employee family I could ask for,” said Barber. “Thank you, town of China. Thanks to my wife, Darlene, and my four amazing children.”
What’s next for Barber? “Gonna lay low for a while or until life gets back to normal,” he said. “I will describe it as a temporary retirement.”
The new owners, Maritime Energy, with the main office headquartered in Rockland, is a local Maine company with five offices and 12 other convenience store locations across Midcoast Maine. “We generally try to have stores in the same area as our energy offices,” explained Charon Curtis, Vice President of store operations for the company, in a phone interview. One of their energy offices is a short distance east from the Fieldstone Quickstop, on Route 3.
Curtis said they are not planning big changes for the location. Gasoline sold at the pumps will still be branded Sunoco, and they will continue to sell Amsoil products. The Dunkin’s coffee counter will also remain. The Subway sandwich shop, which closed in December of 2020, will not return, but Maritime plans to offer their own selection of pizza and sandwiches.
“We have our own Lighthouse Delis,” said Curtis, “and Terry Haskell, the store manager there, is a very good chef and she is putting her finesse on our sandwiches. We did not keep the Subway franchise, but we’re basically doing all that Subway offered and more.”
Rep. Cathy Nadeau
Representative Cathy Nadeau has been appointed to the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, where she has already started briefings with department heads.
Reached for comment this week, Representative Nadeau was looking forward to bringing her perspective to this high-profile legislative panel charged with overseeing all new legislation aimed at protecting Maine’s outdoor heritage and sportsman’s traditions.
“I think this will be a great committee assignment for me, especially considering how many people in our area enjoy all that Maine’s outdoors has to offer. My family and I are part of that tradition. Whether you hunt, fish, ATV or snowmobile, please know the Legislature keeps up with current issues facing sportsmen,. I plan to learn as much as I can this session about the how our state government can support this important part of our economy and way of life.”
The committee faces an ambitious workload this year evaluating legislative proposals impacting the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; inland fisheries and wildlife research and management; hunting; fishing; trapping; hunter safety; fish hatcheries; game wardens; guides; taxidermist licensing; ATVs; snowmobiles; watercraft registration and boater safety; and whitewater rafting.
COVID-19 precautions have caused committee work to be completed by ZOOM. Nadeau continued to say, “If you live in Winslow please don’t hesitate to contact me with your thoughts on what is happening in the Legislature.” For the first time, members of the public can watch recordings of live-streamed public hearings and work sessions on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMKl42nrxoFzIpcC2YS-Glg
Nadeau is a retired banker and a proud graduate from Winslow High School and Thomas College. She has served the community as a member of the Winslow VFW Auxiliary and regularly volunteers with the Winslow Community Food Cupboard.
by Mary GrowVassalboro Fire Chief Walker Thompson and semi-retired lieutenant/board of directors vice-president Michael Vashon joined town selectmen at their Feb. 4 virtual meeting to discuss a proposal to contract with Cost Recovery, a firm that seeks compensation for firefighters’ expenses from insurance companies.
Vashon said the department would submit estimates of firefighters’ and truck time for every fire or other incident. Cost Recovery would bill the appropriate insurance company, keeping 20 percent of amounts recovered. The rest would go to the fire department, which is separate from the town.
Town residents would be exempt from the program, Vashon said, except if they damaged department property, for example by running over a fire hose.
About 50 other Maine fire departments already contract with Cost Recovery, Vashon said; the company’s recovery rate is from 60 to 70 percent. Vassalboro could cancel the contract at any time.
Vashon and Thompson plan to keep half the money for firefighters’ supplies that traditionally are bought through donations and fundraisers. They proposed giving the other half to the town, hoping selectmen will add it to the fire department reserve fund, set aside to buy firetrucks and other major equipment.
Selectmen approved the idea, with board member Robert Browne adding the proviso that the bookkeeping not be too complicated. Town Manager Mary Sabins thought it would not be.
Thompson reported that the “old and brittle” boiler at the North Vassalboro fire station sprung a leak in January. It was patched and should last the winter; the fire department budget request includes $17,500 to replace it.
The chief also reported that so far in 2021, the fire department has responded to 20 calls, compared to seven calls by the beginning of February 2020. He thanked the town public works crew for clearing snow and fallen trees during recent storms – “They do a great job.”
After the firefighters signed out of the virtual meeting and Town Attorney Kristin Collins signed in, selectmen continued discussion of the revised draft marijuana ordinance. Several minor revisions and clarifications were proposed.
The draft ordinance prohibits new marijuana businesses in Vassalboro after its effective date, which will be not the date of enactment, but the date selectmen give their approval. Its eight pages of definitions and regulations apply to businesses in operation or approved before that date.
Registered caregivers are not affected by the ordinance, unless they are operating a cultivation facility, defined as a growing facility larger than 1,000 square feet. Sabins said state officials told her Vassalboro has 20 registered caregivers, but cannot provide names, addresses or information on the size of operations.
Businesses affected by the ordinance must be licensed every two years, must pay a licensing fee (to be determined – Collins said Maine municipalities’ current fees range from $500 to $5,000) and must continuously conform to the regulations and standards in the ordinance.
The latest version of the ordinance is available on the town website, www.vassalboro.net, in the center column under the third heading, “What’s New in Vassalboro.” Selectmen plan to continue discussion at their Feb. 18 meeting.
In the same section of the website is the schedule of budget committee meetings, in preparation for the June 7 annual town meeting. Selectmen discussed the budget at an in-person workshop Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 9, and plan a final review of their version on Feb. 18. The first budget committee meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4, after a 6 p.m. selectmen’s meeting.
The other major topic at the Feb. 4 meeting was continued discussion of Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner’s proposed resolution on a carbon tax that would be paid by fossil fuel companies and returned to state residents. Assisted by Peggy Horner, she explained the environmental benefits of such a plan.
Weidner proposes the selectboard adopt the resolution and send it to the state legislature, the Congressional delegation, Governor Janet Mills and President Joe Biden. After a discussion of how state, regional and national plans interact, selectmen for the second time postponed a decision.
In other business, board members agreed they should ask for a meeting with a state Department of Transportation official, the commissioner, if possible, to try to get the North Vassalboro section of Route 32 higher on the department’s repair and maintenance priority list. Board Chairman John Melrose said he and resident Ray Breton talked about flooding problems; the road surface and sidewalks also need attention.
Melrose, a former Maine Commissioner of Transportation, believes the state’s present plan is to resurface Route 32 with so-called skinny mix, a thin layer that he said some people call “black paint.”
Browne and fellow board member Barbara Redmond approved Melrose’s proposal for an engraved granite marker at Monument Park, in East Vassalboro, where the Civil War soldier’s statue stands between the China Lake boat landing and the Vassalboro Historical Society building.
The granite will come from a collection at the public works garage. Provost Monuments, in Benton, will engrave the words “Monument Park” for $825 – a discounted price, Melrose said, as bills for other park improvements have been discounted. Road Commissioner Eugene Field and landscaper Steve Jones recommend a crushed stone underlayer rather than a more expensive cement base.
A second discussion of the theme for the 2020 town report, covering the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, led to the tentative decision to combine historical connections between the State of Maine, created March 15, 1820, and the town of Vassalboro, incorporated April 26, 1771, with contemporary effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Selectmen planned to continue discussion at their Tuesday, Feb. 9, afternoon budget workshop. Residents’ suggestions and information are welcome and may be sent to msabins@vassalboro.net.
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 pm. Thursday, Feb. 18.
by Mary GrowChina selectmen have made the last two decisions to put their 2021-22 budget recommendations in final form, ready for budget committee review.
At a special meeting Feb. 8, board members agreed unanimously to recommend 3 percent salary increases for town employees; and to recommend a contract with the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office that would replace the local police force.
In preparation for the meeting, Town Manager Becky Hapgood calculated the total cost of different salary increases, from 1 percent to 4 percent. She had initially recommended and calculated the effect of 3 percent raises, but the three men on the board leaned toward 2.5 percent.
When it came to a vote, however, Chairman Ronald Breton, Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick supported Irene Belanger’s and Janet Preston’s motion for 3 percent. Preston pointed out that the half-percent difference was only about $3,500.
Hapgood reported the offer from the Sheriff’s Department, explaining that the proposed contract would supply 10 hours of service a week in addition to the usual law enforcement services the town gets in return for county taxes. Hours would be flexible, and she would keep track of them.
If voters accept the proposal at the May 18 annual town business meeting, current part-time policemen would not longer be hired. China would still pay separately for emergency services dispatching; Hapgood is budgeting about $40,000 for 2021-22.
Hapgood told selectmen it looks as though the budget as proposed would increase China’s mil rate (the amount of tax for each $1,000 of valuation) by about half a mil, or 50 cents per $1,000 of valuation. However, she emphasized, the figure is nowhere near firm; even if voters approve the budget as it now stands, the tax rate cannot be fixed until the town assessor finishes his review of properties and recommends a new total town valuation.
The first 2021-22 budget committee meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10.
In other business, selectmen took no action on South China Fire Chief Richard Morse’s request for a $2,000 increase in the part of his budget listed under Community Organizations and intended to recognize firefighters’ time. The current recommendation is that voters appropriate $10,000 each for the three town fire departments and China Rescue. Morse wrote that his department has the most members and responds to the most calls.
Hapgood said the Feb. 14 fishing derby sponsored by the Four Seasons Club and the China Village fire department will end with a 5:30 p.m. fireworks display from the head of China Lake’s east basin. Presenters will clean up the ice afterward, she said.
The town office has now reinstated Saturday morning hours, so it will be open Saturday, Feb. 13, from 8 to 11 a.m. It will be closed Monday, Feb. 15, for the Presidents’ Day holiday, and the next regular selectmen’s meeting is postponed a day, to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16.
by Mary GrowChina Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members again failed to finish adjusting proposed 2021-22 expenditures at their Feb. 3 meeting, and for the second time did not have time to start discussing committee policies and procedures.
They do have at least two versions of a committee mission statement circulating. Chairman Tom Michaud and Town Manager Becky Hapgood (who is also treasurer for both the town and the committee) will see if they can find any earlier policy and procedure documents.
Hapgood informed members at the beginning of the meeting that the TIF fund is not out of money. “We’re in better shape than I thought we were,” Hapgood said.
Since the TIF was last adjusted in 2017, more than $1 million has been spent on the causeway project, the new bridge and other changes at the head of China Lake’s east basin. That project is almost done (the committee recommended another $50,000 for next year, and there are a few bills unpaid) freeing up future funds for other TIF projects.
TIF funds come from Central Maine Power Company taxes on the powerline through China and the South China substation. The second payment for 2020-21 – from CMP and all other taxpayers – is due Friday, March 26.
Committee members discussed expected future income, which will go down slowly as the TIF moves toward its 2045 end date and, Hapgood pointed out, will vary whenever China’s tax rate changes. The figures they considered range from around $295,000 to more than $338,000 a year.
Since their Jan. 27 meeting, several groups had submitted applications for 2021-22 TIF funds. Hapgood said to her knowledge, the requirement for a formal application, rather than a less formal proposal, is new to most fund recipients; therefore they did not send an application earlier in the year.
Committee members revised some of their previous decisions, mostly increasing proposed funding. As at past meetings, recreational trails, including those maintained by the Four Seasons Club (see The Town Line, Feb. 4, p. 3) were a main topic.
Still undetermined is how much the Broadband Committee (CBC) will request to help expand and improve China’s broadband service (see box). Jamie Pitney, a member of both the TIF Committee and the CBC, said CBC members should consider proposed costs at their Feb. 11 meeting.
TIF Committee members set their next meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17.
The TIF Committee’s final recommendations, labeled the Second Amendment to China’s TIF document, will go to China selectmen, and if they approve, to the budget committee and then to voters to accept or reject. Committee members still hope to agree on recommendations in time for a vote at the May 18 town business meeting.
Broadband committee receives three replies on RFP
At a very short special meeting Friday afternoon, Feb. 5, Town Clerk Angela Nelson told China’s Broadband Committee members they received three replies to their Request for Proposals (RFP) for expanding and improving broadband service in China.
Interested companies are Axiom, based in Machias; Sertex Broadband Solutions, of Plainfield, Connecticut; and Spectrum Community Solutions, of Augusta. No dollar figures were mentioned.
The broadband committee is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, to consider the proposals.