Vassalboro Fire Department receives canned drinking water for wildfire response

Vassalboro firefighter Lt. Donald Breton, right, accepts canned water donated by Anheuser-Busch, from Mike Crowell, left, and Nate Purington, both of Valley Distributors, Inc., of Oakland. (contributed photo)

The Vassalboro Fire Department recently received canned emergency drinking water to help provide critical hydration to its responders during this year’s wildfire season. On September 13, Valley Distributors, Inc., of Oakland, a local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler partner, delivered one pallet load to the department to help support its wildfire response needs. Maintaining firefighters’ hydration during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires is a major safety concern for many departments.

“Firefighters lose a tremendous amount of fluid during high-intensity response such as battling wildfires in addition to other fires. Proper hydration is critical to ensure the safety of our firefighters and to keep them performing at their best,” said Lt. Donald Breton. “Thanks to this water donation from Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council, we have the resources to keep our firefighters hydrated and ready to respond when needed.”

The water was donated by Anheuser-Busch through a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding tradition of providing emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts. The company periodically pauses beer production each year to can emergency drinking water to be ready to lend a helping hand during natural disasters and other crises.

Building on this commitment, the brewer teamed up with the NVFC – the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services – in 2019 to provide emergency drinking water to help firefighters stay hydrated and healthy when responding to wildfires and large incidents. To date, the program has donated over 3.2 million cans of water to volunteer firefighters across the country.

Learn more about the program at www.nvfc.org/water.

Vassalboro celebrates 250 years as a town

Vassalboro parade

Vassalboro Rec did a great job decorating their float for Vassalboro’s 250th birthday parade on Saturday,
September 11. (photo by Melissa Olson)

Color Me Fun Run

Getting colored at the Second Annual Color Me Too Fun Run, sponsored by the Vassalboro Business Association and Vassalboro Recreation Department. Kerri Foster is coloring Mason Gilman at one of the stations during the race on Sunday, September 12. (photo by Kevin Giguere, Central Maine Photography)

Scavenger winners

The winners of Vassalboro’s Sestercentennial Scavenger Hunt are, from left to right, Micki, Jamie and Brad Berard. They all worked together as a family and got 15 of the 21 items. (photo by Jessica Breton)

2021-’22 Real Estate Tax Due Dates

Albion

Tax year runs Feb. 1 to January 31
Taxes due September 30, 2021

China

Semi-annual
September 30, 2021
March 31, 2022

Fairfield

Four quarters

August 25, 2021
November 10, 2021
February 9, 2022
May 11, 2022

Palermo

October 31, 2021

Sidney

September 1, 2021

Vassalboro

Four quarters
September 27, 2021
November 22, 2021
February 28, 2022
April 25, 2022

Waterville

Four quarters
October 8, 2021
December 10, 2021
March 11, 2022
June 10, 2022

Windsor

Semi-annual
September 30, 2021
March 31, 2022

Winslow

Four quarters
October 8, 2021
December 10, 2021
March 11, 2022
June 10, 2022

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

Michaud completes New Zealand project

Madison Michaud, of Vassalboro, a member of the class of 2019 majoring in biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Worcester, Massachusetts, was a member of a student team that recently completed an intense, hands-on research through the WPI project center, in New Zealand. The project was titled Designing an FSC Campaign for Wellington Zoo. In their project summary, the students wrote, “Our project evaluated community perceptions of FSC and designed components for the campaign. To accomplish this, we conducted consumer surveys, administered semi-structured interviews, and reviewed past conservation campaigns.”

At WPI, all undergraduates are required to complete a research-driven, professional-level project that applies science and technology to addresses an important societal need or issue.

Vassalboro voters to decide mass gathering ordinance

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro voters will have a chance to approve or reject a Mass Gathering Ordinance at the polls on Nov. 2.

Selectmen unanimously approved the proposed new ordinance at their Sept. 2 meeting, after reviewing and mostly accepting town attorney Kristin Collins’ recommended changes to the draft Town Manager Mary Sabins and Selectman Barbara Redmond prepared.

Selectmen will hold a public hearing on the ordinance at one of their remaining two September meetings, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 16, and Thursday, Sept. 30.

They were motivated to prepare the document by a planned country music concert in town in July 2022. The ordinance spells out requirements intended to make such events safe for residents and attendees, including provision of drinking water and sanitary and waste disposal facilities; availability of medical services; and policing for traffic control and law enforcement.

If voters approve the ordinance, anyone hosting a mass gathering as defined will need a town permit, with the permit fee to be set by the selectmen. Selectmen will hold a public hearing before acting on the permit. The applicant must publicize the hearing in a newspaper and on the Vassalboro website and must individually notify property-owners within 1,000 feet of the site by certified mail.

The definition of “mass gathering area” in the proposed ordinance exempts many types of established permanent assembly places. Selectmen agreed in a July discussion that the ordinance would not apply to places like the Olde Mill, St. Bridget’s Center or Natanis Golf Course.

Two other major topics were left undecided at the Sept. 2 selectmen’s meeting: how to spend American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) money, and from whom to buy a second compactor for the transfer station.

Both discussions involved significant sums. Sabins said ARPA money coming to the town is currently estimated at around $461,000; for the transfer station upgrade, voters have allocated $156,000, Board Chairman Robert Browne said.

The Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD) submitted a list of ARPA-eligible projects, as proposed in August; the total cost is $2,233,000. Items include repairing 54 manholes in town roads and streets; building storage tanks for odor control chemicals at two pump stations and making other pump-station improvements; repairing the VSD office building; updating the 1982 VSD map; and extending sewer lines to unserved areas.

Selectmen sympathized with the need to help the VSD, especially to lower user fees (which the VSD request says are among the highest in Maine). Board member Chris French commented that manhole covers flush with the pavement might save wear on town snowplows.

However, no board member was interested in giving the VSD $2 million. The district is eligible for Kennebec County funds, Redmond said.

French suggested Delta Ambulance as a possible recipient of money from Vassalboro and other municipalities it serves. He also mentioned expanded broadband for Vassalboro Community School. Redmond replied that she thought state money would be allocated to broadband.

Sabins had heard from one area businessman who had been negatively impacted by the coronavirus. Private businesses whose owners can demonstrate pandemic-related losses are eligible for ARPA money.

Since, as far as Sabins knows, the rules for distributing ARPA funds are not yet final, selectmen agreed to postpone further discussion to a future meeting.

Continued consideration of the transfer station upgrade is tentatively on the Sept. 16 agenda.

French had done research on two offers for a second compactor and explained the differences and related electrical needs, to thanks from the other board members. After discussing French’s findings, selectmen asked Sabins to invite a representative of one company to the next meeting to clarify his proposal.

Both companies offer the new compactor for less than $156,000. Selectmen said either will require additional electrical and other work that will add to the cost.

In other business Sept. 2, Sabins threw out the idea of contracting with a grant-writing company to try to get money to create a park on town-acquired land between Route 32 and Outlet Stream, south of the town office.

Selectmen expanded the idea into seeking bids from more than one company to write multiple grants for projects, work Sabins has been doing as needed. They took no formal action.

Sabins said she visited the town’s property for the first time recently and was favorably impressed by its possibilities for streamside recreation. Conservation Commission members might be willing to draft a park plan, she suggested.

Selectmen made two appointments, Paul Oxley as a member of the Trails Committee and Joseph Henry as a member of the Recreation Committee.

VASSALBORO: Despite parents’ objection, board votes to require face masks indoors by a split vote

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

On a split vote and over audience objections, Vassalboro School Board members approved requiring students, teachers and staff to wear face masks indoors when school opens Sept. 1.

The “mask mandate” was part of a multi-item school opening plan, and the only part discussed at length during the board’s Aug. 17 meeting.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and Board Chairman Keven Levasseur spoke in favor of requiring masks as a safety measure.

“I don’t think we have a choice to do anything different,” since children under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, Levasseur said. Pfeiffer said a high percentage of adults working at Vassalboro Community School (VCS) are already vaccinated.

Four of the 10 audience members argued vociferously against the mandate. They wanted the choice left to parents.

Masks are bad for children’s mental health by interfering with socialization, one woman argued. They are harmful to physical health, especially for children with illnesses like asthma, another said. And they don’t work anyway; there is no standard for an effective mask, and virus particles are small enough to penetrate most masks in common use.

[See also: CDC mask guidelines.]

The eventual vote to approve the back-to-school document, including mandatory masks, was 3-2, Levasseur announced. Principal Megan Allen said face shields instead of masks will be allowed with a doctor’s note.

Allen said other procedures in place last year, like temperature checks, social distancing and keeping windows open as often as feasible, will continue to be followed. Pfeiffer added that students and drivers on school buses will follow state regulations.

VCS will also do pool testing, nurse MaryAnn Fortin said. She explained the procedure: classroom members’ individual samples are tested in a bunch, and if there is a positive result individual tests will follow.

Aside from the mask debate, the Aug. 17 meeting was mostly upbeat. Pfeiffer set the tone with his repeated “The good news is:” school will open with students in classrooms five days a week, recess and sports will happen as in the old days.

But he kept adding, “As I sit here now,” promising he and school administrators will monitor updated rules and recommendations from state and federal governments.

Pfeiffer reported staff shortages: VCS needs substitute bus drivers, educational technicians, a sixth-grade teacher and substitute teachers, he said.

Allen reported the summer school, Viking Summer Adventure Camp, had been “hands down a success.” Six staff members and 33 students spent two four-day weeks working on projects tailored to students’ interests.

The summer course was intended to help students catch up after the disruptions last school year. Allen recommends continuing it after a return to pre-Covid normalcy.

John Hersey, new food service director for Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow schools, said that even though school meals are now free for everyone under 18, regardless of family income, it is important that parents continue to fill out the annual applications for free and reduced-price meals.

Currently, school meals are free under a federal pandemic program that will continue through the 2021-22 school year. By a new law signed in July, the State of Maine will take over the free meal program in 2022-23, when the federal program is scheduled to end.

Applications for free and reduced-price meals brought in federal funds in pre-Covid days and will do so again, Hersey explained.

School Board member Jessica Clark seconded his reminder. She added that any parent who skipped the application for fear of taking away meals from another family need no longer worry.

“Jessica, you are spot on,” Finance Director Paula Pooler said.

Hersey also said that the school cafeteria is running into supply problems. As a result, he warned, menus may change on short notice.

Pooler’s report had two pieces of good news. She said the budget deficit that has characterized the school lunch program at many Maine schools for many years has been erased at VCS.

And she said that the unaudited final report for the fiscal year that ended June 30 shows a budget surplus of around $260,000. In addition, she said, after voters approved the 2021-22 school budget, she was notified of additional state subsidy money, as a result of the legislative decision to raise state funding to the long-promised 55 percent level.

Both the left-over money and the unappropriated money will go into the school’s surplus account. As school board members plan the 2022-23 budget, they can decide how much to recommend using from the account.

Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips reported on building renovations over the summer, including transforming the area formerly for industrial arts into two classrooms. She said a specialist in browntail moth control will return in the fall to decrease next year’s outbreak.

Neither the new lighted sign for the front yard nor the generator that will make the school building qualify as an emergency shelter is in place yet, due primarily to delays in getting parts, Pfeiffer said.

Technology Director Will Backman cheerfully described unwrapping boxes and boxes of new computers, and said he expects another 100, enough so every student will have one. Pfeiffer said federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funds bought the computers.

School board members heard several other reports; approved many appointments and two requested reassignments Pfeiffer had authorized; accepted four resignations; approved a variety of policies; and rescheduled the workshop postponed from August to Wednesday, Sept. 22.

The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting will be Tuesday evening, Sept. 21.

Vassalboro school supplies drive at VCS

Help Our VCS Kids, the 3rd annual school supplies drop off, hosted by Don and Lisa Breton, will take place at the North Vassalboro Fire Station, Rte. 32, on Saturday, August 28, from 10 a.m. – noon. For more information, contact Don at 207-313-3505, or dlbreton@roadrunner.com.

Vassalboro selectmen put tax rate at 14.48 mil

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen have set the 2021-22 tax rate: 14.48 mil, or $14.48 for each $1,000 of valuation. The town website says the 2019-2020 rate was $14.35 for each $1,000, so the new rate is an increase of 13 cents for each $1,000.

The assessor gave selectmen four rate choices at their Aug. 12 meeting. They chose the second to lowest.

Tax bills are mailed out as soon as possible after the rate is set; property-owners should receive them by early September, if not sooner. By town meeting vote, the first quarterly tax payment is due Monday, Sept. 27, and six percent interest on late payments will begin to accrue seven days after the due date.

The Aug. 12 meeting began with a half-hour executive session discussion with Codes Officer Paul Mitnik and, virtually, attorney Allaina Murphy, of Preti Flaherty’s Portland office. Afterward, selectmen voted unanimously to pursue legal action against the owner of the former church at 14 Priest Hill Road, on Murphy’s advice (see The Town Line, July 22, p. 14).

When Board Chairman Robert Browne invited final audience comments at the end of the meeting, a man identified himself as Chad Caron, owner of the former church, and said he had come to apologize for the trouble his negligence in managing the property had caused.

Caron said his goal is to take advantage of an “incredible opportunity to restore and preserve” the church, but “I bit off more than I could chew.”

He has neither the financial resources nor the time he needs; hence donated materials have piled up in the yard, to neighbors’ dismay. Mitnik has visited the property and reported to selectmen previously. Caron said he was not aware that he could come to a selectboard meeting.

Caron assured selectmen the building is structurally sound and will not fall down. He does not want it to be torn down, and offered to donate it “to someone who can preserve it.”

Historian says Priest Hill Road property was formerly a Methodist church

Vassalboro Historical Society President Janice Clowes says the Priest Hill Road building was formerly a Methodist church, and it is so identified on its photo in the Vassalboro sestercentennial calendar prepared by Don Breton.

Both Henry Kingsbury, in his 1892 history of Kennebec County, and Alma Pierce Robbins, in her 1971 history of Vassalboro, said the town had four Methodist churches, one of them in North Vassalboro. Neither author gave a precise location.

Robbins wrote that the North Vassalboro Methodists bought an unfinished Winslow church and “moved it to the present site about 1875. This pretty little church stands to this day,…white, with a steeple pointing heavenward and a bell to ring on Sunday morning.”

In other business Aug. 12, Browne and Selectman Chris French approved the work Selectman Barbara Redmond and Town Manager Mary Sabins had done on the proposed Mass Gathering Ordinance. They still need information on a couple technical issues and a review by the town attorney before a final document is ready.

Selectmen will schedule a September public hearing on the ordinance. They intend to ask Vassalboro voters to approve it Nov. 2, in anticipation of a planned country music concert in July 2022.

When discussion turned to possible uses for federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) money, Richard Greene, the engineer with Yarmouth-based Hoyle, Tanner and Associates who worked on the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s sewer expansion, asked selectmen to consider assistance to the district.

Selectmen accepted Greene’s offer to send them his list of suggested projects, some essential and others optional. He has included cost estimates and recommended priorities.

The topic will be on the agenda for a later selectmen’s meeting.

Board members had bids for a second compactor at the transfer station, with prices ranging from just under $32,000 to $115,000. Bidders offered a variety of configurations, motor horsepower and potential delivery dates. After discussion that included Transfer Station Manager George Hamar and Road Commissioner Eugene Field, selectmen postponed a decision for more information.

They voted unanimously to let Sabins and Field decide where to use anticipated extra paving money. They unanimously approved Sabins’ planned rearrangement of 2020-21 town funds to cover about $22,000 in overdrafts in two accounts.

After discussion with members and supporters of the town recreation committee, selectmen voted 2-0-1, with French abstaining, to appoint John Fortin a coach. He had failed a background check because of a 10-year-old assault conviction that he described as a result of youthful foolishness.

Browne suggested the selectmen need a clearer policy on interpretation and use of background checks.

Selectmen approved two suggestions Sabins made:

  • When recently retired bookkeeper Jean Poulin is recognized as Employee of the Year at the Nov. 2 Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce banquet, the town will pay the banquet fee for employees who want to see their former co-worker honored. Sabins and Selectboard members intend to pay their own way.
  • Selectmen will schedule a special goal-setting or visioning session, probably in the town office meeting room, probably in early October, to talk about longer-range town issues that they seldom have time to discuss in their meetings.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2.

Webber Pond Association elects new president, vice president; votes down membership restrictions

Webber Pond.

by Roland D. Hallee
with contribution from Susan Traylor

The Webber Pond Association annual meeting was held on August 14, at the Vassalboro Community School with 88 association members present.

There were several controversial items on the agenda at this year’s meeting, including the drawdown, association membership, and ownership of the Webber Pond Dam.

Following the president’s and vice president’s report, election of officers were held.

John Reuthe was elected the new association president, unopposed. Past president Frank Richards, who had held the office for 20 years, has stepped down. Tiffany Luczko was elected vice president, unopposed; treasurer is Erika Bennett and Secretary Rebecca Lamey. Returning directors are Bob Bryson, Bob Nadeau, Charlie Backenstose, Jennifer Lacombe, Pearley LaChance, Phil Innes, Roland Hallee, Russell Charleston, Susan Traylor. New directors elected were Dave Haskell, Kevin Luczko, and Lindsey Tweed.

One of the topics that drew considerable debate, as is the case annually, was the yearly drawdown. At their meeting in July, the board of directors recommended the third Sunday of the month, Sunday, September 19, which has been the drawdown date for the past several years. The date of September 26 was mentioned during discussion. The September 19 drawdown date was approved 46-42.

In the end, it was decided to conduct the drawdown differently this year because of the lake conditions.

A mini flush began later that day, on August 14. The lake is presently experiencing a severe algae bloom, with Secchi visibility of only 1.94 meters/6.4 feet, combined with high water levels due to all the rain. The lake level currently stands at 5.5 inches above the spillway. The mini flush will allow the removal of algae and phosphorus without significantly impacting water levels for recreational use.

One foot of boards were removed on both sides of the gates at the dam – they will be replaced in a week or when the water level reaches the spillway. If there is no rain, the lake normally loses about an inch a week due to evaporation, so the mini flush is a low-risk strategy. Last year the water was about even with the spillway at this point.

The normal annual flush will begin on Sunday, September 19, with three feet of boards removed on both sides. Typically, water levels at the dam have gone down 12 inches in the first week, eight inches in the second week, and four inches in the third week of the drawdown. Another change this year is that the boards will be replaced on October 3, in accordance with Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recommendations to limit the time that lake bottom sediments are de-watered. Per DEP, draining the top several feet in a lake reduces the total lake volume by a large amount and often exposes large areas of lake bottom. This exposes significant areas of fine sediment to drying and can expose previously stable sediments to heavy rain, wind, and wave action for months, releasing phosphorus into the lake. This could be the issue with increased sediments in the very shallow areas of the lake, which are perceived as lower water levels.

A final flush, when boards are removed to set the lake at winter water levels, will take place in late November. Russell Charleston, who this past year was responsible with monitoring the dam and the lake levels, was approved by the membership to monitor the situation and will choose the date, based on weather conditions, and will post it on Facebook.

Last year there were very high phosphorus readings 0.057 (compared to figures normally in the 0.018 to 0.025 range). This indicates that phosphorus was brought to the surface when the lake turned over (cooler water on the top of the lake sank and warmer water from the bottom rose). Most of the phosphorus in the lake is on the bottom of the lake. If that were to happen again this year, more phosphorus could be flushed from the lake.

In other business, another controversial issue was the proposal to limit association membership to shoreline property owners only. Current by-laws state that anyone with an interest in the lake may become an association member. Following much, sometimes heated, debate, the motion was rejected 36-52.

Following that vote, Reuthe announced he would be forming a committee to review the by-laws in their entirety.

The proposal to ask the town of Vassalboro to assume ownership of the dam, currently owned by the association was quickly tabled to next year, pending more research and communications with the town.

The membership also voted to contribute $1,500 to the China Region Lakes Alliance. During that discussion, it was decided Webber Pond Association should look into forming a LakeSmart program, as is the case on China Lake, where the program has been very successful. CRLA Executive Director Scott Pierz was present at the meeting, and provided an overview of how the program works.

Vassalboro Library to host animal events

Photo: Vassalboro Public Library

The Vassalboro Public Library will be sponsoring two popular live animal events in Vassalboro as a part of their end of summer reading. Families from surrounding communities are invited to attend. This event is free for all ages with donations welcomed.

Please register online (Library or Town Office website or Facebook) or by calling the Vassalboro Library at 207-923-3233. Registration will help ensure you and your child(ren) will have a space within a gated area. First come first served for those who register. Those who do not register may view the program from a distance.

These programs will be outdoors, rain dates will be determined the week of the event.

Mr. Drew and His Animals Too

August 17, at the Mill – 934 Main Street , first program 2 p.m., second program 3:15 p.m. https://forms.gle/FaPcGs5Us8Wo31PcA

Mr. Drew and His Animals Too is a natural science and exotic animal rehabilitation center in Lewiston. This program will include reptiles, mammals, and insects. Mr Drew will bring his passion for rehabilitation and knowledge of animals in a fun filled presentation full of facts and laughs.

Photo: Vassalboro Public Library

Chewonki – Owls of Maine

August 24, at the Vassalboro Recreation Fields – 800 Bog Road; First program 2 p.m., second program 3:15 p.m. https://forms.gle/5mRdRMmpxgKyKjF37

Chewonki is an education center in Wiscasset. Birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians arrive with injuries or conditions that prevent their return to the wild. Their teachers are extensively trained and take deep pleasure in making connections with students, and in passing on a lifelong appreciation for the value of wildlife and nature.