by Mary Grow

After a thorough review and detailed information from applicant Olin C. Charette, Vassalboro Planning Board members unanimously approved his application to reopen his Riverside Drive repair garage, with vehicle sales and a state inspection station.

Charette’s Weeks Mills Garage at 1499 Riverside Drive already has a junkyard permit that Codes Officer Paul Mitnik recommended and selectmen issued in January. A neighbor who attended the March 10 planning board meeting commented that Charette had “done a good job” cleaning up the part of the property visible from the road, as required by junkyard regulations.

The building had previously been a repair garage, but the permit expired while the garage was not operating.

Charette provided information on access, internal traffic movement, screening, lighting, signage and other relevant characteristics of the property.

He said access from Riverside Drive is normally through the north gate; the south gate is opened mostly for tractor-trailers heading behind the building. It is not blocked by parked vehicles, however, so it is available for emergency access. Keeping the south gate clear was the only condition board members attached to their approval.

A paved area in the large front yard will display vehicles for sale; Charette plans to have no more than 10 at a time. There is adequate space for customer parking and for access to the garage doors on the south side.

The back part of the property is screened by earth berms with trees growing on top, the front part by fencing. Charette said there is a motion light on the front of the building. He does not plan to add more lights.

There is a sign on the building and, as required by the state for inspection stations, a small sign listing operating hours by the gate. Charette plans to be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and part of the day Saturdays. He said work will be done inside the garage, and there will be no evening or night work that might bother neighbors.

Charette and board Chairman Ginny Bracket and member Doug Phillips interjected bits of the history of the building, which Brackett said she has reviewed at least twice for prior owners’ permits.

Charette believes the building belonged years ago to a trucking company. He bought the property at auction and was then informed that it was a hazardous waste site and he had become responsible for clean-up.

“I was surprised,” he said.

The clean-up included soil removal, installation of run-off ponds and construction of the berms. It appears to have been successful; Charette said he was surprised again more recently when water from his and the neighbor’s wells tested safe for drinking.

After approving Charette’s permit, board members turned to Mitnik’s recommendation for minor amendments to Vassalboro’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. They will require voter approval. Later, Mitnik emailed that there is time to get the amendments on the June 1 town meeting warrant, and proposed a public hearing on them at the Tuesday, April 7, planning board meeting.

by Mary Grow

Before they met with the town budget committee, Vassalboro selectmen discussed other non-monetary and monetary items at their March 5 meeting.

Following up on their Feb. 20 meeting with Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason (see The Town Line, Feb. 27), selectmen talked with Lt. Jason Madore of the State Police about local law enforcement.

Madore made it clear that although State Police activity in rural areas will be reduced, state police will continue to provide patrols and protection and to respond to calls.

As Mason explained in February, county sheriffs’ departments will be spending more time in towns without full-time police departments, because State Police are responsible for the interstate highways and provide a variety of specialized units and services that are of value to county law enforcement.

Madore emphasized that these duties do not exclude assistance to towns like Vassalboro. The State Police has no intention “of removing itself from rural patrol or removing itself from handling calls for service. Troopers will remain embedded within their communities,” he said.

Selectmen heard from the Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD) and the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI), two entities that have been using funds from Vassalboro’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) fund and want more money in 2020-21.

Sanitary District engineer Richard Greene, of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, said about two-thirds of Vassalboro’s sewage now goes to Winslow and then to the Waterville treatment system via new pipelines and pumping stations. Work has shut down for the winter and is expected to resume in April, he said.

A discussion of finances covered debts for work done, expected costs of remaining work and anticipated income from present customers and from those eligible, but not necessarily required, to hook onto the expanded system. VSD spokesman Ray Breton asked for “as much as we can get” in TIF money to hold down user fees and help new customers connect.

Selectmen held a Feb. 11 public hearing on ARI’s request for TIF money (see The Town Line, Feb. 20) and plan to schedule a hearing on the VSD request.

Selectman John Melrose again reported on the proposed replacement culvert on Gray Road. He asked approval to hire Calderwood Engineering, of Richmond, to help develop an affordable plan acceptable to the state departments of environmental protection and transportation. Chairman Lauchlin Titus and Selectman Robert Browne agreed.

After hearing from Matt Weaver of First National Wealth Management, the company that handles Vassalboro’s investments, selectmen unanimously renewed the town investment policy.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, March 19, at 6 p.m., half an hour earlier than usual so the budget committee can meet at 7 p.m. Both meetings will be in the town office meeting room.