OPINIONS: Let’s move as quickly as possible to renewable energy

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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by David Jenney
Vassalboro resident

Vassalboro will have a ballot item in November asking residents if they would like a 180-day, with conditions, moratorium on commercial solar arrays. I urge fellow residents of Vassalboro to vote no on the moratorium.

1.) Climate Impact

To me the one of the biggest and most profound issues facing us as residents of Vassal­boro, the state of Maine and the world as a whole is Climate Change/­Global warming. One of the ways to slow down the pace of this change (in my opinion) is to move as quickly as possible to renewable energy sources which do not pollute in their operation and do not contribute to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. We are already way too late to address this problem as a species. To me postponing commercial solar array development in Vassalboro is similar to Nero fiddling while Rome was burning. The world is on fire – literally and figuratively. I think sometimes we don’t understand the urgency of this issue due to it at times not being directly in our face.

2.) Inconsistent regulation

Of course there are issues related to where the “best” place is to site commercial solar arrays as well as what to do with them at the end of their life. I would point out the same issue exists for any source of energy production – oil, wood, wind, natural gas, coal, etc… To me placing a moratorium on commercial solar arrays in Vassalboro is “having the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Our current standards for where to place them and how to deal with their waste when they reach the end of their useful life certainly can be improved. However, a moratorium on commercial solar arrays in order to have time to create some type of ordinance to address those issues is similar to telling a fire to stop burning, because we don’t have the perfect hose.

We don’t have town ordinances regulating gravel pits, or other extractive mineral operations. We don’t have town ordinances on the placement of gas pipelines, we don’t have ordinances on the placement of cell phone towers, power lines, phone lines, wind turbines, trailer parks, so what’s so special about commercial solar arrays? Please note that I am not ignoring state and federal regulations – just pointing out that we do not have local ordinances related to any of those.

So what’s so different about commercial solar arrays? My best guess is that now people can actually see them, and some people find them unattractive. That’s about the only thing I can think of that is really different. We are so used to seeing telephone poles, power lines, etc., that we almost don’t realize that they are there. With new commercial solar arrays they are often near roads. This makes sense because they are then close to power lines where they can send the electricity that they produce. Only one relatively smaill commercial solar array has been built in Vassalboro. That is the one on Main Street. In reviewing planning board minutes since 2020, it appears that about four to five additional projects have been approved. None of them is in operation, or have starting being built.

3.) Not in my backyard (NIMBY)

I’m guessing that people here in Vassalboro are reacting to something new that is a change which they instinctively don’t like. When I see commercial solar arrays, I see hope and progress. It’s so easy to think that gas which we use for our vehicles as coming from a gas station, because we don’t make gasoline in Maine. Or we may think of heating oil as something that comes from trucks (heating oil is the biggest energy source of winter time heating in Maine) rather than a fracking operation elsewhere in the United States, or a drilling operation in any part of the world.

We all drive or use vehicles that use oil and gas. We are all guilty of contributing to climate change and global warming, but when we are presented with a choice to be part of the solution, which commercial solar arrays are part of, we get upset. I think it’s because we can see the source of the electricity, while we can’t see it with other electricity sources.

We can often engage in black and white thinking – such as all our Maine farmlands are going to be converted to solar arrays, which is utter nonsense. I have yet to see a commercial solar array placed in Vassalboro take over a farm. I have seen a coexistence of a commercial solar array and farm in China at the Three Level Farm. A commercial (community) solar array was placed on the other side of an active farm. The commercial solar arrays that I have seen in Augusta and Waterville (and it’s quite possible I’ve missed some), have been placed on vacant land that wasn’t being used for farming.

4.) Regulating what individuals can and can’t do with their land, without a comprehensive plan

For the most part I do not want the town to make it more difficult for relatively large land owners in Vassalboro to be able to choose what they want to do or not do with their land, especially as it relates to commercial solar arrays. I own about 140-150 acres of land. I like to believe that I am a good steward of the land, the vast majority of it is in tree growth with a forest management plan. I have two hay fields that are used by my neighbor and a wild blueberry field that is rarely used for picking blueberries. If the town decides to say what large land owners can or cannot do with their land, have it done in a planned manner, rather then a reactionary one.

As a town we do not have a comprehensive plan or zoning. To me trying to define where commercial solar arrays can be placed is a backwards approach to zoning. If we are going to pick and choose how we go about deciding on how land is going to be used, then do it right. Look at the town as a whole, not as bits and pieces.

5.) Protecting our Natural Environment

I think our main responsibility in terms of the natural environment is to focus on air, land, soil and water – all of which are impacted by climate change and global warming. I think while we might like some type of regulation placed on commercial solar arrays, that commercial solar arrays be recognized for the positives that they provide for Vassalboro. The regulation/ordinance should not impede the implementation of new commercial solar arrays. I don’t see any compelling need to implement a moratorium on commercial solar arrays as there are so few (if any) active projects in Vassalboro, and I will oppose the moratorium related to commercial solar array development in Vassalboro.

VASSALBORO: Local and state questions to be on Nov. 8 ballot (2022)

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by Mary Grow

At the polls on Nov. 8, Vassalboro voters will make decisions on local ballot questions and state elections. The questions are presented on two sheets of paper, a two-sided local ballot and a two-sided state ballot.

One local question is election of a Kennebec Water District trustee, for a three-year term. Incumbent Frank Richards is unopposed for re-election.

The other is the Solar Moratorium Ordinance, drafted by town attorney Kristin Collins and discussed at a Sept. 29 public hearing.

If voters approve, it will prohibit new commercial solar developments in town for a period of 180 days (which selectmen can change), beginning immediately after the votes are counted and the result certified.

At the Sept. 29 hearing and following select board meeting, and at an Oct. 4 planning board meeting, residents asked whether an application filed and accepted by the planning board before Nov. 8, but not approved, would be postponed.

Codes officer Paul Mitnik and planning board member Douglas Phillips said the board would not act on an application if the moratorium were in effect. Phillips read the paragraph in the ordinance he thinks relevant:

“[D]uring the time this Moratorium Ordinance is in effect, no officer, official, employee, office, administrative board or agency of the Town shall accept, process, approve, deny, or in any other way act upon any application for a license, building permit or any other type of land use approval or permit and/or any other permits of licenses related to a commercial solar array….”

An earlier paragraph says the ordinance applies to “any proposed commercial solar array” for which an application for any required permit “has not been submitted to and granted final approval by the Code Enforcement Officer, Planning Board or other Town official or board” before the effective date of the ordinance.

The purpose of the moratorium is to give town officials time to develop requirements specific to solar farms, to complement current town regulation of other kinds of commercial development. Select board members hope to have language ready to submit to voters at the June 2023 town meeting.

Vassalboro’s state ballot begins with the District 1 Congressional candidates and includes state and county officials. Each office has a line for a write-in candidate, in addition to those listed on the ballot.

Ranked choice voting, which allows voters to indicate their first choice and, if they wish, a second and a third choice, applies only to the Congressional race.

Contested races are as follows. Names on the ballot are listed alphabetically.

  • For District 1 representative to the United States House of Representatives, Democratic incumbent Chellie M. Pingree, of North Haven, and Republican Edwin Thelander, of Bristol.
  • For governor of Maine, Independent Sam Hunkler, from Beals; Republican Paul LePage, from Edgecomb; and incumbent Democrat Janet T. Mills, from Farmington.
  • For District #15 state senator, Republican incumbent Matthew Gary Pouliot and Democrat Storme Jude St. Valle, both from Augusta.
  • For House District #61, incumbent Republican Richard T. Bradstreet and Democrat Amy J. Davidoff, both from Vassalboro.
  • For Kennebec County Register of Deeds, Republican Matthew James Boucher, of Oakland; and incumbent Democrat C. Diane Wilson, of Litchfield.

Three current office-holders are unopposed for re-election: Kennebec County Register of Probate, Kathleen Grant Ayers, Democrat, of West Gardiner; Kennebec County treasurer, Thomas F. Doore, Democrat, of Augusta; and District 4 (Kennebec and Somerset counties) district attorney, Maeghan Maloney, Democrat, of Augusta.

Vassalboro voting will be in the town office building, at 682 Main Street (Route 32). Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Vassalboro website has additional information about voting rules under the Town Clerk box on the left-hand side; scroll down to the ninth section, “Voter Registration and Election Information.”

Town Clerk Cathy Coyne announced that there is a new box in front of the town office where people can safely drop off absentee ballots when the office is closed. The town also has new voting booths, she said.

Vassalboro planners discuss revised commercial solar farm plan

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members spent the first hour of their two-and-a-half hour Oct. 4 meeting on a revised commercial solar farm plan, and the rest of the time on preliminary discussion of town solar regulations.

The solar project at 2579 Riverside Drive was approved in September 2020. Since then, it has acquired a new owner, a change that needed and got planning board approval, and the board has extended the permit.

The Oct. 4 re-application, as explained by Kara Moody, of Stantec Consulting Services, in Topsham, was for four changes.

  • Instead of the tracking solar panels initially planned, which move to follow the sun, fixed south-facing panels will be used.
  • Therefore some of the other equipment has been rearranged.
  • A new 12-foot-wide access driveway for a connection to Central Maine Power Company (CMP) is planned at the north end of the property.
  • Therefore the original 16-foot-wide access road has been shortened.

The result, Moody said, will be a reduction in total affected acreage from about 33 acres to about 28 acres; a reduction in fenced area from about 27 acres to about 23 acres; a reduction in impervious area from about 9/10ths of an acre to about 8/10ths of an acre; a considerable reduction in the wetland area impacted, from about 4,200 square feet to about 1,100 square feet; less grading; and fewer panels.

The state Department of Environmental Protection approved the original project in December 2020. State regulators will be asked to approve the revision, and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to approve the new entrance to Riverside Drive.

Planning board members unanimously approved a revised Vassalboro permit, subject to MDOT approval of the entrance permit and planning board review of the decommissioning plan that is part of the state permit. The review is scheduled for the Nov. 1 planning board meeting.

Vassalboro planning board members have approved four commercial solar permits, board chairman Virginia Brackett said. One on Main Street (Route 32), on Bernard Welch’s property about opposite Ron’s Auto Parts, has been operating for a couple years, she estimated. Two others, on Cemetery Street and on Webber Pond Road, are approved but not built.

Permittees requesting extended permits have told board members the delay is in arranging connections to CMP’s grid.

As they develop local standards, select board members currently plan to add provisions specific to commercial solar developments to Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance, which governs commercial and industrial projects. They will ask town attorney Kristin Collins if this approach is correct, or if they and planning board members should prepare a separate ordinance.

The additions, in whichever form, are likely to include requirements for a decommissioning plan (describing how the solar panels will be removed at the end of their useful life and the area restored to its previous state, with a provision for funding); buffering to conceal the solar farm; setbacks from, at least, wetlands, roads and property boundary lines; and maybe height limits.

The goal, Brackett and planning board member Douglas Phillips agreed, is not to prohibit commercial solar developments in Vassalboro, but to set standards “that make them good neighbors.”

Maybe the revisions should include standards for windmills, too, Phillips suggested.

Permit fees also need discussion. Fees are usually set by the select board, not included in ordinances, because if they were part of an ordinance, they could be changed only by a town vote amending the ordinance.

Commercial solar developments need both local and state permits. Select board chairman Barbara Redmond said the state does not regulate them if they cover less than three acres. Town regulations should apply to small developments.

Residents attending the meeting, several of them living on Route 32 near a site for which an application is expected (see The Town Line, Oct. 6, p. 3) offered suggestions for additional requirements. Not all were appropriate for Vassalboro, Redmond and Brackett again reminded them, because the town has no zoning and no comprehensive plan, having substituted a document labeled a strategic plan.

Vassalboro’s 2006 strategic plan is on the town website, www.vassalboro.net, under the heading Ordinances/Policies.

For example, several residents wanted solar panels invisible not only from neighboring properties, but also from people looking over from a height, in what are called viewsheds. Unlikely to happen, Brackett said: hiding a solar farm completely is probably impossible, and the strategic plan says nothing about viewsheds.

Resident Kevin Reed pointed out the difference between a solar farm – or another industry – in an isolated area and one surrounded by houses. Sorry, Brackett said: without zoning, the board cannot consider density of population or proximity to residences.

Reed suggested the updated ordinance include provisions for an electrical inspection. That’s the state’s job, codes officer Paul Mitnik and planning board member Dan Bradstreet replied.

Currently, board members said, local approval comes before state review for a project like a solar farm. State applications are more demanding, and state regulators have more expertise, they said. They surmised that because the state process is longer and more complex, state officials don’t want to go through it and then to have a municipality reject a state-approved permit.

Reed repeatedly questioned the order. Asked why it mattered, since the project would not be built without approval at both levels, he replied that information in the state permit might be valuable to townspeople and town regulators.

After the meeting, Redmond learned from Cameron Dufour, at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, that a prior municipal permit is not a requirement for a state solar development permit. She recommended adding the order in which permits are approved to the list of ordinance issues.

Mitnik said applications for town permits are submitted two weeks before each planning board meeting, and are public record. Residents who want information on a pending project may come to the town office and read the application.

Seeing plans should help alleviate concerns, Brackett added.

Select board member Rick Denico read the just-approved Riverside Drive application as discussion continued. He seemed favorably impressed, occasionally sharing details he found.

The next Vassalboro planning board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1. If the Route 32 solar farm, or any other commercial or industrial application, is on the agenda, board members have said abutters will be notified by mail before the meeting.

VASSALBORO: Over two dozen citizens attend public hearing on moratorium

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by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro select board’s Sept. 29 public hearing on the solar moratorium question that’s on the Nov. 8 local ballot drew more than two dozen residents and lasted almost an hour. Most of the discussion was on a different topic.

The moratorium ordinance, if voters approve it, would stop all town action on applications for commercial solar developments for 180 days, a period select board members could extend. The purpose is to give town officials time to amend local ordinances to better address issues specific to commercial solar projects, “to protect the public from health and safety risks.”

Specifics suggested included provisions for removing solar installations at the end of their useful life and guaranteeing funding for removal; setbacks, screening and buffers; and effects on natural resources.

When select board chairman Barbara Redmond called for a show of hands, almost everyone present was in favor of the moratorium. Two residents explained their reservations: one has specific concerns about imprecise wording, and another does not want to discourage development of solar energy.

The Vassalboro Planning Board has already approved several commercial solar farms. Board chairman Virginia Brackett, in the audience, explained that the board used Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance, which regulates commercial and industrial development in general, to review the applications.

The majority of the Sept. 29 speakers oppose what appears to be another planned commercial solar development behind a residential area on the west side of Main Street (Route 32), north of Duratherm Window Company, between the road and Outlet Stream.

Brackett said the planning board has received preliminary information on a solar development there, and might have an application in time for its Nov. 1 meeting. Despite repeated suggestions that the Nov. 1 planning board meeting was the proper forum to discuss the project, several audience members used the Sept. 29 hearing to share their concerns.

Most speakers live near the proposed site. Some talked about surveyors planting stakes in a large tract of land and trespassing on abutting properties. Some advised the audience to do research on solar panels, and shared information they found and conclusions they drew.

According to these residents, leachate and stormwater run-off from solar panels contain lead, arsenic and other hazardous substances. This run-off kills wildlife, including thousands of birds.

Runoff from the proposed solar panels would contaminate groundwater, and when it got into Outlet Stream, one speaker predicted, it would flow downstream and contaminate the swimming area in North Vassalboro. Migrating alewives would carry the contaminants upstream into China Lake, the water supply for Kennebec Water District.

The other concern speakers voiced was about the electromagnetic fields they said emanate from solar farms, also deadly to wildlife and to people, causing cancer and other forms of illness.

Another speaker mentioned the pesticides allegedly used to kill grass under the panels as yet another source of water contamination.

Brackett, Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner and select board members reminded the audience that because Vassalboro has no zoning, commercial developments cannot be excluded from residential areas. Nor, Weidner said, does Vassalboro have a comprehensive plan that might designate areas inappropriate for commercial activities.

In the past, town committees invested time and effort to write zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans, only to have voters refuse to adopt them.

Select board member Chris French said the voters’ decisions were based on respect for landowners’ rights. Weidner called for a “community conversation” on the proper balance between individual rights and regulation.

Brackett said one requirement in the current site review ordinance is that a developer notify abutters, including those across the road as well as owners of adjoining property, before the planning board discusses a permit application. If the solar farm application is on the Nov. 1 planning board agenda, abutters will be notified by certified mail and their receipts included in the application.

“We can’t allow them [developers] to present an application if they have not notified the abutters,” Brackett said.

Vassalboro Planning Board meetings are normally held at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in the town office meeting room. Brackett and Town Manager Mary Sabins said the Oct. 4 planning board agenda included no applications; members of the two boards intended a joint discussion of a future solar ordinance.

The Sept. 29 select board meeting included a second public hearing, this one on the annual updates to the town’s General Assistance Ordinance, required by the state. The hearing was brief and the amended ordinance was approved unanimously.

In other business, Vassalboro Historical Society treasurer John Melrose and vice-chairman Raymond Breton reminded select board members that the historical society building, the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse, belongs to the town. They asked for town funds for needed updates, beginning with a new heating and ventilation system.

Melrose recommended select board members appoint a small committee to consider and make recommendations on building needs.

Transfer station manager George Hamar again urged providing a cover over the new compactor at the transfer station. A cover is needed to protect the controls from weather, and to keep rain and snow out of the box of trash, so the town will not pay to have water hauled away.

Hamar has discussed possibilities with road foreman Eugene Field. Redmond encouraged him to see what he and Field can work out, at what cost.

Fire chief Walker Thompson and rescue unit head Dan Mayotte attended the meeting to discuss future relations with Delta Ambulance. With no Delta representative present, Redmond postponed discussion. She intends to have the topic on the select board’s Oct. 13 agenda, if someone from Delta is available that evening.

Board members unanimously accepted an offer from Steve Jones, of Fieldstone Gardens, to plant trees in East Vassalboro’s Monument Park, in anticipation of the need to remove some aged trees.

They tentatively scheduled a discussion of uses for federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for their Oct. 27 meeting. French encouraged any resident with ideas for using the funds to suggest them to a board member or to town office staff.

Vassalboro has received a little more than $464,000 in ARPA funds. Over $238,500 has been appropriated, leaving an available balance of more than $225,500.

Select board members postponed several internal issues, like financial questions and the previously-planned Oct. 6 goal-setting session, until 2023, when Sabins’ successor will become town manager. Board members might meet Oct. 6 anyway, to continue developing their process for choosing a new manager.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13.

EVENTS: 2nd Annual Veteran Christmas Stockings

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On Memorial Day, members of American Legion Post #126, in Vassalboro, went to each veteran monument and bridge on Oak Grove Road, placed a wreath and played taps. Pictured, from left to right, James Kilbride, Kevin Labrie, Robert Whitehouse and Donald Breton. (photo courtesy of Rachel Kilbride)

Members of Vassalboro American Legion Post #126 plan to donate 200 Christmas stockings to veterans at Togus, in Augusta. Sew for a Cause made and donated 200 Christmas stockings for this project. The stockings will be filled with personal care products and snacks. Anyone wishing to donate personal care items, snacks or monetary gifts can contact James Kilbride, adjutant for American Legion Post #126, at 616-3148.

Vassalboro school board members receive favorable reports on school opening

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro school board members got positive reports on the opening of school and the financial situation at their Sept. 20 meeting.

Principal Ira Michaud reported that staff members and students are starting the fall semester cheerfully. Eliminating masking and distancing requirements helped, he wrote: “For the first time in over two years school feels more relaxed and everyone feels more connected.”

Soccer games are under way and after-school clubs will be starting in early October.

Finance director Paula Pooler reported that the 2022-23 budget shows no problems. The unaudited 2021-22 budget, for the fiscal year that ended June 30, says the undesignated fund balance increased substantially, to over $1.2 million, she said.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer contrasted that preliminary figure with 2018, when the school department had a deficit of more than $250,000.

Pooler said part of the money came from additional state revenue during the pandemic. Another substantial portion is pandemic related, but less happily: school officials saved about $145,000 in payroll, because they were unable to fill positions.

Pooler does not expect such positive numbers in the future. School officials will make recommendations for using the surplus as part of 2023-24 budget planning.

Jennifer Lizotte joined board members to talk about the before and after school daycare program that has been housed at Vassalboro Community School for many years. There is less space for the program this year, raising questions about the agreement with school authorities.

Lizotte said the program operates weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m. Currently 44 youngsters are enrolled, and she has a growing waiting list.

School board members agreed the service is valuable to Vassalboro parents. They will continue to monitor the situation.

The next regular Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Oct. 20.

Reminder to submit school lunch application

A reminder to all parents of Vassalboro Community School students: if you have not yet filled out and sent in your application for free and reduced-price school meals, please do so as soon as possible.

And do not be dismayed if you get a rejection: your children attending VCS will still get free breakfasts and lunches, because Maine is one of two states providing free school meals (California is the other).

The applications are important, officials said at the Sept. 20 school board meeting, because the number of qualified students determines the level of funding VCS receives under the federal Title One program and some state funding programs. Underreporting means VCS will not get its fair share of outside funding.

EVENTS: Vassalboro community supper returns to the grange

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Holly Weidner, far right, demonstrates how to make DIY cleaning products at the Vassalboro Grange, in June 2022. (contributed photo)

by Gillian Lalime

For many years grangers in Vassalboro celebrated fall’s bounty with a harvest supper featuring food items such as a pig roast, international foods, homemade bread, and seasonal pies. Since the start of 2020 in-person programming has been limited and in some cases, completely ceased. This October the East Vassalboro grange once again opens its doors and will host a Fall harvest supper. The menu will use all locally sourced ingredients, from wheat and apples to dairy, vegetables and meat all grown or raised on nearby farms.

 This year’s supper is especially important since the Grange is in great need of replenishing their funds. Unable to run programming for two years, the financial reserves which go to maintaining building costs such as insurance, electricity, and water are at an all-time low. The Harvest Dinner is organized by a core group of grange members who will be harvesting, gleaning, processing, cooking, and baking foods for the next month.  The Vassalboro grange is using the event to re-ignite a programming based in agriculture, rural-living, and self-sufficiency, which goes along with their mission and values for fostering a vibrant rural community and economy in central Maine.

Historically the grange was a hub for multi-generational gathering and agricultural education in addition to a community center offering dances, workshops, and events like plays and local meals. Back in June there was a Strawberry Social with a talk given by longtime grange member Holly Weidner on how to make “zero waste” or plastic-free cleaning products such as laundry soap, dish detergent, and personal care body products. Attendees snacked on homemade biscuits topped with strawberries from Full Fork Farm and whipped cream from Two Loons Farm (both in China) while Holly demonstrated alternatives to purchasing soaps that normally come in plastic containers. Recipes for folks to do the same at home were handed out at the end.

Continuing in the spirit of knowledge sharing and hands-on community gathering, leading up to the Harvest Supper will be a day of making applesauce and sauerkraut made with fruit from Lemuix’s Orchard in Vassalboro and cabbages gleaned from local gardens and farms like Mistybrook in Albion.  There will be an afternoon of cider-pressing on the front lawn and a Saturday of folding savory dumplings.  All food prepped in these sessions will be served during the dinner on October 22nd, an occasion that celebrates the bounty we are surrounded by this time of year. Events are open to all ages and abilities!

For anyone interested in participating please see the Grange’s October Event Calendar below. All take place at the East Vassalboro Grange Hall: 357 Main Street E. Vassalboro, ME 04935. Anyone wanting to learn more about the grange, crush their apples into cider, and meet new neighbors are encouraged to come!

Sunday, October 2: 5 pm: Philosopher’s Table. Discussion topic: Land Ethic and the expansion of an ethical community to include parts of the ecosystem.

Thursday, October 6th: 2-6 pm: Sauerkraut & applesauce making. Please bring your own sharp knife, cutting board, and a large mixing bowl if you have these items!

Saturday, October 8th: 9 am – 5 pm: Dumpling making day. We especially need hands for this day, even if you can only come for a few hours.

Sunday, October 16: 2 pm: Grange monthly community event –– Cider pressing! Bring your apples and containers to fill with cider.

Saturday, October 22: 6 pm:  Harvest Dinner is served! Tickets are $20/person. Pre-ordering is required.

Saturday, October 29: 6:30-10 pm: Fifth Saturday Contra Dance with a potluck and pumpkin carving.

2022-’23 Real Estate Tax Due Dates

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Albion

Taxes due September 30, 2022
(Interest begins October 1, 2022)

China

Semi-annual
September 30, 2022
March 31, 2023

Fairfield

Quarterly

September 29, 2022
November 2, 2022
February 8, 2023
May 10, 2023

Oakland

August 19, 2022
October 14, 2022
January 13, 2023
March 10, 2023

Palermo

November 17, 2022

Sidney

September 1, 2022
(Interest begins October 1, 2022)

Somerville

Semi-annual
November 15, 2022
May 15, 2022

Vassalboro

Quarterly
September 26, 2022
November 28, 2022
February 27, 2023
April 24, 2023

Waterville

Quarterly
October 14, 2022
December 9, 2022
March 10, 2023
June 9, 2023

Windsor

Semi-annual
September 30, 2022
March 31, 2023
(Tax club due dates are the 15th of each month.)

Winslow

Quarterly
October 6, 2022
December 8, 2022
March 9, 2023
June 8, 2023

To be included in this section, contact The Town Line at townline@townline.org.

Vassalboro select board approves three-item local ballot

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by Mary Grow

The two Vassalboro select board members present at the Sept. 15 meeting (board chairman Barbara Redmond was on vacation) unanimously approved a three-item local ballot to be presented to town voters at the polls on Nov. 8.

The first item is election of a moderator, traditionally done by those present as the polls open at 8 a.m. in the town office building.

The second item is approval or rejection of a new “Moratorium Ordinance on Commercial Solar Arrays.”

The third item is election of a member from Vassalboro of the Kennebec Water District Board of Trustees. Frank Richards is Vassalboro’s current representative, and according to the KWD website the board’s vice-chairman. Town Clerk Cathy Coyne said in an email that his name will be on the ballot for re-election.

The two-page moratorium ordinance applies only to commercial solar developments, defined as “a solar energy collection structure of any size that is distributed to the electric power grid and not credited to one or more designated end users.”

The ordinance says if voters approve the moratorium, it will be in effect for 180 days, unless the select board decides on a shorter or longer term, to give select board and planning board members time to add amendments to current local ordinances “to protect the public from health and safety risks.”

While the moratorium, if approved, is in effect, no town official is allowed to “accept, process, approve, deny, or in any other way act upon” an application for any aspect of a commercial solar installation.

A public hearing on the proposed moratorium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29, in the town office meeting room, at the beginning of the next select board meeting. Select board members intend to meet with the planning board at that board’s Oct. 4 meeting.

Select board members and road foreman Eugene Field agreed on two other matters at the Sept. 15 meeting.

Board members approved Field’s request to spend $100,500 for a lightly used 2012 Case International tractor, with a front bucket, and a 16-foot-boom brushhog roadside mower to attach to the side of the tractor.

At the June 6 part of Vassalboro’s 2022 annual town meeting, voters appropriated $106,000 for the purchase, which will eliminate the need to rent roadside mowing equipment. Field plans to use the tractor generously in 2023 to catch up on clearing town roadsides.

He said he intends to store it in the salt shed for now, but when the 2023 public works budget is prepared, he will probably ask for additional equipment storage space.

Town Manager Mary Sabins said that as the Maine Department of Transportation plans to rebuild sidewalks in North Vassalboro, engineer Douglas Coombs asked whether town officials want to replace the current granite curbing with granite again, or with concrete slipform.

Concrete slipform, or poured concrete, is less expensive, but, Sabins said, Coombs told her it requires occasional maintenance treatments.

After discussion, with Field participating, the two select board members voted to ask the highway department to install new granite curbing. They cited the maintenance as an argument against concrete. Field added that granite is more durable.

In other action, board members approved a proclamation recognizing the week of Sept. 17 through Sept 23 as Constitution Week.

They granted four permits to serve liquor at events at St. Bridget’s Center, in North Vassalboro.

Payments approved included $150 to the Town of China, to allow Vassalboro residents to bring confidential papers to the annual shredding event at the China Public Works building on Alder Park Road, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15.

Sabins said as a past president of the Maine Municipal Association, she has been invited to MMA’s Oct. 5 and 6 annual meeting, at the association’s expense. Select board members appointed her a voting delegate.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, in the town office meeting room.

Vassalboro select board to meet in executive session

by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro Select Board will meet in Executive Session on Monday, September 26, at 5 p.m., at the Town Office to make a plan to replace the town manager who has expressed her intention to retire effective January 2, 2023. The board will talk with two executive search firms about services they can offer the select board. This meeting will be closed to the public.

VASSALBORO: Two applications approved by planners

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members unanimously approved both applications on their Sept. 6 agenda, a new business and an extension of a solar development permit.

Elijah Bunten has approval to open a diesel mechanic shop in the smallest of several barns near his home at 203 Dunham Road, between Dunham Road and Riverside Drive, provided he gets any other necessary permits.

The business might need a Maine Department of Transportation highway entrance permit to continue using the Riverside Drive end of the driveway that runs through the property from one road to the other, because Riverside Drive is state Route 201.

Bunten might also need a DOT permit for the business sign he intends to put on the highway.

Because the business is close to his house, Bunten said he does not intend to accumulate vehicles in the yard. Planning board members approved a limit of 10 operating vehicles and two unregistered. Most will be diesel pick-up trucks, Bunten said, with a few tractors and similar small to medium-size vehicles.

Operating hours will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Waste oil and other fluids will be stored inside the building and disposed of properly. Bunten plans to have no employees “in the foreseeable future”; he does not intend to add a waiting room or plumbing.

The second application was from Sun Vest Solar for a six-month extension of its permit for a solar farm on Webber Pond Road. Board chairman Virginia Brackett said Sun Vest’s project, like others, was waiting for approval to connect to Central Maine Power Company’s grid.

Board members talked briefly about the proposed solar moratorium ordinance that select board members are scheduled to discuss at their Sept. 15 meeting, with the intention of asking voters to approve it at the polls Nov. 8. Planners agreed that until they see the wording of the draft ordinance, they cannot tell whether it will affect requests to extend previously-approved permits.

The next regular Vassalboro Planning Board meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4. Paul Mitnik, temporarily reverting from board member to his former job as Vassalboro codes officer, said the agenda is likely to include applications for commercial solar developments.