by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members and heads of town emergency services spent most of the Oct. 2 select board meeting in a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) review of the town’s emergency readiness.

Before welcoming the local speakers, board members took one important action: they appointed Jenna Davies, from East Vassalboro, and Lauchlin Titus, from North Vassalboro, as members of the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s board of trustees.

The two join Raymond Breton, appointed last month (see the Sept. 25 issue of The Town Line, p. 2), on what is supposed to be a five-member board.

Local speakers for the SWOT discussion were Dan Mayotte, Vassalboro First Responders chief; Mark Brown, Vassalboro police chief; and Walker Thompson, Vassalboro fire chief. Delta Ambulance’s executive director Chris Mitchell added to Mayotte’s comments.

Select board member Chris French related the discussion to select board members’ consideration of reviving a capital expenditures committee. The committee would do long-range planning to meet town needs, including emergency services.

“I want to hear from our experts,” French said.

Thompson and Brown had near the beginning of their lists of strengths support from town government and community members. All three speakers cited good working relationships with other emergency service departments, in town and in neighboring towns.

All shared two main weaknesses: shortage of reliably available personnel and shortage of money.

Brown is the town’s only policeman. People from the county sheriff’s department and the state police work with him, but, he pointed out, those departments are understaffed and officers cover large territories, so their assistance is not always prompt.

His many years of law enforcement experience and the visibility of the police department are strengths, Brown believes. Vassalboro owns a well-identified police vehicle that Brown keeps where people see it.

Theoretically on duty 15 hours a week, he actually spends additional time, as his schedule permits, responding to emergencies, assisting other town officials and doing other police work.

Brown sees his limited hours as a major weakness. Residents who think the Criminal Justice Academy, housed in the former Oak Grove School, provides local law enforcement are mistaken, he said.

One of Brown’s responsibilities is working with students and staff at Vassalboro Community School. He and Vassalboro School Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said a school resource officer would be a valuable addition. French and others agreed.

Fire Chief Thompson’s view of fire department membership was mixed. The department has recently gained and trained new members, who join “for the right reasons,” the desire to serve their community. At the same time, experience is being lost as older members retire.

Members cannot always respond to an alarm; they are at work (perhaps out of town or in a job they cannot leave), have family responsibilities or are unavailable for other reasons. Thompson had figures showing a steady increase in calls, both in-town and for mutual aid, since 2022, with 2025’s total looking to exceed 2024’s. He had no explanation for the increase.

Yet another problem Thompson summarized as “Regulations forcing out volunteers,” by which he meant steadily increasing requirements for training, without pay.

Equipment is also both a plus and a minus, Thompson said. Right now, the department’s equipment is in good condition; but there are no financial plans to replace anything. Increasing costs for essentials — training, equipment, supplies, repairs – combined with decreased federal funding pose a future threat.

Thompson reminded the audience that community members, too, have responsibilities, like keeping smoke detectors working. Batteries should be replaced every six months, even if the detectors are not beeping reminders, he said.

Mayotte’s lists resembled the other departments’. The First Responders unit has 14 members, two licensed at the paramedic (highest) level; in his opinion, morale is good, cooperation within and outside town is good, equipment is good.

“I’m very proud of the members that we have,” Mayotte said.

But because members are volunteers with work, family and other responsibilities, not all emergency calls get answered. There is no guarantee volunteers will keep signing up; and as with the fire department, costs are rising, especially for training and for ambulance transport.

Mitchell, who has spoken twice recently to audiences that included some of those present Oct. 2 (see the Sept. 25 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), briefly re-explained Delta’s plan to use its resources, especially its paramedics, more efficiently.

Grants have helped several area emergency departments. Mayotte said Vassalboro First Responders and firefighters used part of a recent one to staff the North Vassalboro fire station 12 hours a week, temporarily, providing time to do paperwork and having at least one person for emergency response during that brief period.

Select board member French thanked everyone for their contributions. Town Manager Aaron Miller mentioned new Maine legislation, presented as LD 294, allowing municipalities to offer limited incentives to emergency services volunteers.

Vassalboro select board members will hold a special meeting, in executive session, Thursday evening, Oct. 9. Their next regular meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, beginning with public hearings on three Nov. 4 local ballot questions.

by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro Board of Appeals is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9, in the town office meeting room, to hear a request to change a road name.

In August, Augusta attorney Jed Davis, representing Vassalboro resident Silas Cain, asked town officials to take back the name White Ridge Road, recently applied to a road off Oak Grove Road that runs through Cain’s property to Jeff White’s property.

Last spring, White told Cain town officials intended to name the road so it could be properly shown on 911 maps. Davis said Cain began thinking about names he would suggest. He never had the chance, because town officials put up a White Ridge Road sign without consulting him.

Davis asked select board members to reconsider the name and to talk with Cain about a new name.

The request was on the board’s Sept. 18 agenda. Town Manager Aaron Miller said it was a decision for the board of appeals, which had only two members, one short of a quorum.

At their Oct. 2 meeting, select board members are scheduled to appoint a new board of appeals member so the board can act on Oct. 9.

Also on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m., the Vassalboro Select Board has scheduled a special meeting, in executive session, to discuss personnel matters.

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Cemetery Committee members spent three-fourths of their hour-long Sept. 15 meeting discussing trees in cemeteries, again, with half a dozen interested residents (see the Aug. 28 issue of The Town Line, p. 2).

Committee chairman Savannah Clark said after the Aug. 18 meeting, she asked Town Manager Aaron Miller to prepare a request for proposals seeking an arborist who would evaluate trees in six town cemeteries and recommend which, if any, should be trimmed or removed.

The committee’s goal is to protect gravestones and monuments from damage caused by falling trees or tree limbs.

As in previous discussions, audience members stressed the value of trees in cemeteries – a value that committee members also recognize. Trees make cemetery grounds attractive; they might even reduce mowing costs, by shading out grass, Janet Waldron suggested.

Residents also said – and committee members again agreed – that stones are damaged in other ways, by weather or vandalism, for example. Waldron’s husband, Bill Baghdoyan, said he cannot remember ever seeing damage caused by a fallen branch or tree in Union Cemetery, next to his house.

Committee member David Jenney said he has pictures of tree-caused damage in Cross Hill Cemetery, beside his house. He gave a personal example: some years ago one of two large trees in his yard, which he had had trimmed and planned to keep for years, came down in a post-hurricane wind, missing the house by six feet.

Clark said repeatedly committee members are nowhere near deciding to cut trees. Miller has not yet had time to prepare the request for proposals that will lead to bids that select board members will review before choosing someone to assess trees in the selected graveyards. After the assessment, recommendations will be reviewed and evaluated against available funds before bids for actual work can be solicited.

Waldron and others urged making the arborist who does the assessment ineligible to bid to do the work. Not imposing the restriction creates a conflict of interest, Waldron said.

In other business Sept. 15, committee members reviewed two drafts of a proposed cemetery committee policy, Town Manager Miller’s and a second with changes and additions Jenney proposes. They accepted the revised version, to be forwarded to Miller and the select board.

Copies of both versions of the policy are on the town website, vassalboro.net, under the agenda for the Sept. 15 meeting.

Committee members briefly discussed Cara Kent’s Aug. 18 proposal to publicize the history of Vassalboro town cemeteries and people buried in them. Kent was absent; Clark said since the August meeting, Kent and Jane Aiudi had taken preliminary steps on the project.

The next regular Vassalboro Cemetery Committee meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20. The public is welcome at all meetings.