Vassalboro select board talks about upcoming town meeting

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members had a varied agenda at their April 28 meeting, discussing topics that included the upcoming June 6 and June 14 annual town meeting; town committees; PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that might have been in sludge that might have been spread in the 1990s; and upcoming celebrations.

Board members unanimously approved the town meeting warrant. The meeting will be in two parts, as usual.

The open meeting, where voters assemble and vote by show of hands, begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Vassalboro Community School. Those attending will elect a moderator (Article 1) and act on Articles 2 through 39, which include election of five budget committee members, action on two proposed amendments to Vassalboro’s Marijuana Business ordinance, the 2022-23 municipal budget, municipal policy questions and the 2022-2023 school budget.

On Tuesday, June 14, polls will be open at the town office for voters to endorse or reject the school budget approved June 6; elect members of the select board and school board; and answer a non-binding straw poll asking if they want town officials to draft an ordinance to regulate solar arrays in town.

A PFAS survey was board member Chris French’s idea, reacting to reports of farms in Fairfield, Unity and elsewhere in Maine whose products cannot be used because the chemicals in the soil have contaminated them.

Town Manager Mary Sabins shared a list of five sites in Vassalboro and one in China near the Vassalboro town line for which sludge-spreading licenses were granted between 1980 and 1994. Whether sludge was spread under the licenses is a separate question that was not answered, except that select board Chairman Robert Browne is sure no sludge was spread on the two pieces of land belonging to his family. The stench was a deterrent, he said.

French’s suggestion was that Vassalboro Conservation Commission members try to find out where sludge was spread and arrange to have sites, if there are any, tested for PFAS. Federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) might pay for the testing, he said.

PFAS tests cost $300 or more and are not done locally, French said – the nearest laboratory he knows of is in Massachusetts.

Sabins expects state agencies will pay for PFAS tests, though not necessarily this year. After discussion with Peggy Horner of the Conservation Commission and other audience members, select board members postponed action until they see what state officials propose.

Resident Amy Davidoff asked select board member to create a new town committee, as recommended in Vassalboro’s strategic plan, to work with Transfer Station Manager George Hamar on recycling and on updating the transfer station facility. Its recommendations would be advisory to the select board.

Board members discussed current uncertainties associated with waste disposal, especially whether the Municipal Review Committee will succeed in reopening the Hampden waste-to-energy facility in a reasonable time and whether prices paid for recyclables will go up again.

They asked Davidoff and others interested to develop a mission statement for the committee. Davidoff said the strategic plan calls for eight members; she knows of three or four interested people already.

Other Vassalboro residents, especially those knowledgeable about solid waste and recycling issues, are invited to contact her at (207) 284-3417 or at adavidoff@une.edu.

Pending celebrations board members discussed included:

  • May 1 through May 7 is the 53rd annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week (see The Town Line, April 28, p. 11). Board members signed a proclamation to that effect and thanked Vassalboro Town Clerk Cathy Coyne for her good work.
  • On May 19, a celebration of the return of alewives to China Lake via Outlet Stream will be held on the east bank of the stream at Olde Mill Place in North Vassalboro, beginning at 4 p.m. Sabins said Landis Hudson of Maine Rivers, leader of ARI (Alewife Restoration Initiative) that removed stream barriers, is coordinating the event. Governor Janet Mills and state and organizational environmentalists are scheduled to attend, Sabins said.
  • Resident Tom Richards said the Vassalboro Legion Post’s Memorial Day observance will include a flag retirement ceremony, illustrating the respectful way to dispose of United States flags too worn to be displayed. Interested people can get details from Richards or other Post members.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, in the town office meeting room.

Vassalboro budget could show a slight decrease in mil rate

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Majority does not support lowering taxes

by Mary Grow

At their April 19 meeting, Vassalboro Budget Committee were faced with a proposed 2022-23 budget, including municipal and school requests and an estimated Kennebec County tax, which (if approved by voters) would be expected to result in a slight decrease in the town tax rate.

The current rate is 14.48 mils ($14.48 for each $1,000 of property valuation). Town Manager Mary Sabins’ preliminary calculation showed that because of increased revenues from other sources, Vassalboro’s $7 million budget could be covered if the tax rate were reduced to 13.93 mils.

The manager reminded budget committee members that the Kennebec County assessment hadn’t been received. And, she said, the final tax rate depends on the town assessor’s property valuations.

Budget committee members were pleased with the news, but a majority did not support lowering the tax rate. Instead, they approved Peggy Shaffer’s motion to endorse the budget, to leave the tax rate at 14.48 mils and to add the difference (around $156,000) to a capital reserve account.

The majority argument was that, given present economic uncertainties, setting aside extra money would cover a variety of possible contingencies. State and federal funding might be cut, or paving costs might increase more than anticipated, for example. Several said they would rather keep taxes level for 2022-23 than lower them and then have to raise them again, maybe substantially, for 2023-24.

William Browne objected, fearing the extra capital reserves could become “a slush fund.”

Some committee members expressed reservations about the proposed municipal expenditures they discussed at their March 31 meeting (see The Town Line, April 7, p. 3). The increased library budget (see The Town Line, March 24, p. 3), money to develop a small park by Outlet Stream and Road Foreman Gene Field’s requested roadside mower were all briefly re-discussed.

Library representatives had asked for time to speak again about their plans, committee Chairman Rick Denico, Jr., said. A majority of committee members saw no need for another presentation.

Most of the April 19 meeting was spent reviewing the proposed 2022-23 school budget with school board members, Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and resident Paula Gravelle. Gravelle is the Maine Department of Education administrator in charge of calculating the Essential Programs and Services funding model, which determines each school department’s annual state funding. A document called an ED 279 report then tells each superintendent how much state aid to expect.

Gravelle explained that the basis for each school’s state subsidy is based on enrollment (as of Oct. 1 each year), staffing and finances. A complicated formula tells her how to use this information to make sure each school gets its fair share.

The number of applicants for free and reduced-price lunches, determined by parents who fill out a form every fall, has been an important financial input, Gravelle said. But since all lunches became free during the pandemic, few people fill out the forms. The department has been improvising, using three-year averages, and staff are considering an alternative method to evaluate financial conditions.

Gravelle told Browne each school’s allocation is calculated near the beginning of the calendar year. When Browne asked why the budget committee had not received the 2022-23 school budget request until April, Pfeiffer accepted responsibility, saying his time had gone to staffing issues at Vassalboro Community School (see The Town Line, April 21, p. 11).

Budget committee and school board members discussed a variety of budget-related issues, especially salaries and building maintenance needs. Pfeiffer said contract negotiations with several employee groups will start soon. Currently, he said Vassalboro’s educational technicians’ pay is “at the low end” of the area pay range; bus drivers’ and custodians’ compensation is comparable to pay in neighboring school units.

School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur said as the 1992 school building ages, maintenance needs increase. Pandemic funding has helped with projects like converting the unused industrial arts area into a pre-kindergarten space, he added.

Pfeiffer said Vassalboro has received $1.7 million in extra pandemic funds. Spending the money has been “very restricted” by federal guidelines and timetables, he said. The school department had three months to spend the first installment; it was used for new buses.

“Our bus drivers have been really awesome,” the superintendent added. He praised them for staying on the job and for delivering meals to students’ homes while the building was closed.

Some federal funds have provided additional staff, teachers and a part-time custodian (because of new sanitization requirements). These positions will not become a town responsibility when federal money goes away, Pfeiffer said; it is clearly understood that they are temporary.

Levasseur is not running for re-election to the school board this year, after serving for 21 years. Other residents thanked him for his long service.

Budget committee members unanimously supported the school budget. It will go to select board members at their Thursday, April 28, meeting, with the budget committee’s recommendation, in the form of warrant articles for the annual town meeting. Select board members are scheduled to sign the town meeting warrant that evening.

Voters will make the final decisions on the 2022-23 budget at the open part of the annual town meeting, scheduled for June 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Vassalboro Community School.

Budget committee members are elected at the open meeting. Those whose two-year terms end this year, according to the town website, are Denico, Richard Bradstreet, Douglas Phillips, Mike Poulin and Frank Richards.

The school budget approved June 6 will appear on the June 14 written ballot, where voters will re-approve or reject it. Local elections for select board and school board are also on June 14. June 14 voting will be at the town office from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Blacks in Maine – Part 3

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(Luther Jotham: A Journey for Country and Community) An excerpt from the paper: On paper, Luther Jotham’s Revolutionary War service record reads like a typical service record of a Minute Man from rural Massachusetts in 1775. Volunteering to serve at a minute’s notice in case of an emergency, Jotham trained weekly with his neighbors in battle tactics. On April 19, 1775, when the alarm sounded at Lexington and Concord, Jotham joined his company of Bridgewater Minute Men in defense of their community.
Luther Jotham, however, differed from most Minute Men. As a free man of color, Massachusetts law excluded men like Jotham from participating in militia training days in peacetime. Yet in the midst of a looming emergency, he volunteered to protect his neighbors. Following the April 19 alarm, Jotham ultimately signed up to serve on four different occasions during the Revolutionary War. (photo courtesy of National Park Seervice)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro

Records tell of a Kennebec Valley slave-owner, Captain Abiel or Abial Lovejoy (Dec. 15, 1731 – July 4, 1811), who lived in Vassalboro from 1776 and in Sidney after the west side of the Kennebec River became a separate town in 1792 (see the Feb. 3 issue of The Town Line). He was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, who came to the lower Kennebec Valley as a Massachusetts soldier (rising to the rank of captain) in the 1750s.

An on-line source says when Lovejoy and his wife Mary (Brown) married in 1758, they were given their first two slaves, a man named Boston and an unnamed woman who became Boston’s wife. After they moved to Dresden in 1761, Mary’s father gave them two more slaves, Salem and Venus.

In 1776 the household moved to a farm on the west side of the Kennebec, where Lovejoy became a leading Vassalboro citizen. Henry Kingsbury, in his 1892 Kennebec County history, listed him as a selectman from 1779 through 1784, apparently doubling as town treasurer in 1780. The on-line source tells two stories from those days.

Capt. Abiel Lovejoy

One is Lovejoy’s reaction when told Massachusetts ordered slaves freed, in 1788: he summoned “Salem and Venus, and offered them their liberty. They refused to leave and Salem’s answer to the Squire was, ‘You’ve had all de meat, now pick de bones.'”

The second story is about the time Lovejoy brought a jug of liquor to the field where a mixed group of slaves and hired hands was cutting hay, not to his satisfaction. When he demanded to know who did the poor job, the hands blamed Boston. Lovejoy said since Boston did all the work, “he shall have all the grog.”

The Lovejoys, their child who was born and died in 1784 and Boston, Venus and Salem were all buried in a family cemetery on the Sidney farm. The on-line source says, “As similar stones marked the burial place of the negroes, it is impossible to know which are the graves of the master and mistress and which are the graves of their servants.”

Remington Hobby (also Hobbey or Hobbie) was another Vassalboro slave-owner, briefly. Kingsbury called him a prominent Vassalboro citizen, listing him as town meeting moderator in 1774, selectman in 1777 and treasurer in 1778.

One on-line genealogy says Hobby was born in 1746 and was a Harvard College graduate. Converted to Quakerism, he became a “powerful” preacher, and died in Winslow in 1839. Different sources list his wife’s name was Anstrus or Anstress. The genealogy writer just cited said he married her about 1837, pointed out that by then he was in his 90s and wondered if there were a father and son of the same name and it was the son who got married in 1837.

The story in the Vassalboro Historical Society records (in the form of a letter in the Feb. 12, 1910, “Kennebec Journal”, reprinted in the Feb. 2, 1997, issue of what was by then the Central Maine Newspapers) says that a Boston merchant who owed Hobby money gave him as part payment an enslaved Black man from Guinea named Denmark. Hobby gave Denmark his freedom and sent him to join the Black “colony” in northeastern China.

Denmark soon returned to Vassalboro, claiming his new neighbors had robbed him, the story continues. After Hobby’s death, Hobby’s son John and John’s brother-in-law, Steven Jenkins from China, took care of Denmark. When he died, they arranged his burial in the Friends Cemetery on the east (lake) side of Neck Road in China.

Kingsbury’s history talks about a Black section of a cemetery in East Vassalboro in the early 1800s. He wrote that the cemetery was beside the First Baptist Church building on Elm Street.

(The1856 map of East Vassalboro shows the south end of present-day Main Street, from the four corners south, as Elm Street; north of the four corners is Water Street. Kingsbury wrote in 1892 that John Greenlowe was “well remembered” by East Vassalboro residents for the iron plows he patented and manufactured at the dam and for planting “most of the trees that so beautifully shade the streets of the village.”)

The First Baptist Church was organized June 3, 1788, and prospered for about a decade. In the 19th century membership declined, and about 1832 the building was sold for $43 to Ezeziel or Ezekiel Small, who let it deteriorate until it was removed.

This church building was “north of the old grave yard and south of the outlet landing,” Kingsbury wrote. The cemetery had not been maintained, and after the church was torn down, it was ignored, “except that the portion next to the mill [one of several owned by members of the Butterfield family] has been used by the colored people.”

By 1892, Kingsbury wrote, the area north of the mill was “an enclosure called the Baptist burying ground,” without headstones or grave mounds, shaded by tall elms along the street. The site of the former church had become “John Warren Butterfield’s garden.”

In her Vassalboro history, Alma Pierce Robbins gave the First Baptist Church a few paragraphs, including a reference to “the Baptist Burying Yard at the outlet of 12 Mile Pond [China Lake].”

At the Vassalboro Historical Society, the following Black families are listed from the 1810 census: James Bennett, with a three-person household; Prince Brown, 10 people; John Foy, six people; Luther Jotham, seven people.

In 1820, census-taker Abijah Smith listed Jotham with two others in his household, an adult woman and a male child. In 1830, he was living with two adult women and two male children. Smith also listed Bennett, but not Brown nor Foy.

Your writer has found information on only one of these families, the Jothams.

The author of an on-line paper by the Boston National Historical Park (hereafter BNHP), titled Luther Jotham: A Journey for Country and Community, used military, census and other records to find details about Jotham’s life.

The BNHP writer said Jotham was born a free Black in Middleborough, Massachusetts, about 1751. Sometime before 1775 the family moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts. As tension with Great Britain increased, rules were changed to allowed Colored men to join the militia; when the Revolution began April 19, 1775, Jotham was a member of the Bridgewater Minute Men.

The essayist surmised he might have joined for the shilling he earned for every half day of training, or because “For men of color, joining a military community helped forge a more equal status with their white counterparts.”

After this first stint, Jotham enlisted in militia units three more times. On Aug. 1, 1775, he began five months’ service as a private “in Josiah Hayden’s company in the Plymouth County regiment of militia, stationed in Roxbury.” From January to March 21, 1776, he was again in Roxbury as a member of “Captain Mitchell’s company in Colonel Simeon Cary’s regiment,” identified in another on-line source as the Plymouth and Barnstable County Regiment (Cary was also from Bridgewater, which is in Plymouth County).

In September 1776 Jotham re-enlisted in Cary’s regiment. The regiment was ordered to New York City, then partly under British control.

On Sept. 16, British forces attacked near Harlem Heights, and General George Washington ordered several regiments, including Cary’s, to counter-attack. This was Jotham’s first experience of battle, the BNHP writer said; it was soon followed by another at White Plains. Jotham then “faithfully completed his term of service on December 1, 1776 and returned home to Bridgewater.”

Jotham’s fourth enlistment, in October 1777, put him in “Captain Nathan Snow’s company, in Colonel [Cyprian] Hawes’ regiment,” which was sent to Rhode Island in an unsuccessful effort to chase the British out of Newport. The American success at Saratoga, New York, on Oct.17, 1777, took enough pressure off New England that militia units were sent home that fall.

The BNHP writer found that Jotham and Mary Dunbar were married soon after he came home. In January 1779, he wrote, Jotham paid 320 pounds for “about 15 acres of land.” He thereby elevated his status from “labourer” (who worked for someone else) to “yeoman” (who “farmed his own land”) in relevant documents.

The couple had three children, Loriana, Lucy and Nathan.

The BNHP writer found records that Bridgewater officials “warned out” Jotham – and many others – in November 1789. Such a warning, the writer explained, was a notice to anyone who might become a town charge that he or she was not eligible for town support, and a demand for evidence of self-sufficiency. Since Jotham was a landowner, the writer surmised that his getting such a notice might be evidence of racial discrimination.

Jotham apparently satisfied the selectmen, because the 1790 and 1800 censuses showed his family in Bridgewater.

Sometime in the early 1800s, the Jothams moved to Vassalboro, where he bought 20 acres and presumably continued farming. The BNHP writer did not know why he moved to Maine, nor why he chose Vassalboro.

Mary Jotham died before 1816, and all three children by 1820. On May 25, 1816, Jotham married his second wife, Reliance Squibbs; they had two more children, Mary Anne and Orlando. Rachel and both her children had also died by May 1820, when Jotham applied for one of the veterans’ pensions the U. S. Congress approved in 1818.

(Robbins said that the 1818 federal law set pension payments for anyone who had served at least nine months during the Revolution and was in “reduced circumstances:” privates got eight dollars a month, officers twenty dollars a month.)

The BNHP writer found Jotham’s application, in which he wrote that his property consisted of “a house, small hut, a few tools and household items, and several animals, including one cow, three sheep, and one pig.” He said his annual income was $5; at age 69, he was unable to work much.

“Jotham seemed well connected to other Black families living in Vassalboro and the surrounding area. His pension application includes many testimonies from friends and acquaintances who vouched for his military service,” the BNHP writer said.

Jotham was awarded an annual pension of $96.

On Dec. 20, 1821, Jotham (by then about 70 years old) married for the third time, to a woman information at the Vassalboro Historical Society identifies as Rhoda Parker or Rhoda Dunbar. The BNHP writer did not list a last name for Rhoda; he said the couple had “at least” three children.

The next set of documents the writer found date from August 1827, when a Vassalboro overseer of the poor found that Jotham was mentally incompetent and arranged for a man named Abijah Newhall to be his legal guardian. Sometime after the 1830 census, the Jothams moved to China, where Luther died on June 22, 1832, aged 81, and, the writer said, was buried in the Talbot Cemetery.

Rhoda applied for a widow’s pension in 1860, when she was 73. The BNHP writer did not say whether her application was successful.

The writer concluded with a summary that applied to many Black veterans.

“Jotham attempted to build a better life for himself in the new nation he helped fight for. Though respected for his service by those who knew him personally, his honorable status as a Revolutionary War veteran did not make him invulnerable to the “colorphobia” that plagued many in his community.”

The writer continued by pointing out that many veterans, regardless of their race, eventually had to go through the humiliating process of demonstrating that they were so poor they needed a federal pension.

“Luther Jotham’s story is just one of many post-war experiences of ordinary soldiers who later struggled to support themselves, despite the valiant sacrifices they made while serving this country in its fight for liberty and democracy.”

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed. , Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Robbins, Alma Pierce, History of Vassalborough Maine 1771 1971 n.d. (1971).

Websites, miscellaneous.

PHOTOS: Area food pantries walk to feed ME

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Vassalboro Food Pantry team included, from left to right, Mary White w/Maggie, Cindy Ferland w/Feebee, Diane Bailey w/Midget and Shadow. Not in photo, Albert Ferland who was taking the picture.

The China Community Food Pantry’s Team that participated in the Feed ME 5K walk were, front row, from left to right, James Maxwell, Ann Austin, Rachel Maxwell, Naomi Harwath and Kimberly Goneau. Back, Brad Bickford, Caley Pillow and Aurie Maxwell.

Meanwhile, volunteers back at the China Food Pantry hold down the fort and prepare to serve clients.

Volunteers at China Community Food Pantry, from left to right, Cindi Orlando, Donna, and Jen Zendzian pack produce boxes.

On the porch at China Community Food Pantry: Kimberly Goneau, Peter Moulton, Jodi Blackinton and Susan Cottle stand ready to serve.

Contributed photos

Outside activities return to VCS; other good news

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro School Board members got quite a lot of good news at their April 13 meeting.

Assistant Principal Greg Hughes shared the first item, in his administrator’s report: extracurricular programs are being scheduled again, after two years of pandemic-induced hiatus.

He said one field trip has already been held and two more are planned before the term ends. In-school programs like the book fair and group discussions of shared problems are back, too.

“It feels really good,” Hughes said. He thanked members of the Vassalboro Community School (VCS) Parent-Teacher Organization for their help.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer joined Hughes in thanking PTO volunteers. He added another piece of good news: enough four-year-old students have enrolled so next year’s pre-kindergarten will have two sections.

State funds will pay almost all the costs, Pfeiffer said, including a teacher aide for the second class and furniture and supplies for the additional classroom. The local school budget will fund a second pre-kindergarten teacher.

Previously and this year, the superintendent said, after the single pre-kindergarten class was full VCS administrators helped parents enroll their children in out-of-town programs.

Finance Director Paula Pooler had yet more good news.

The audit for the prior fiscal year, 2020-21, showed the food service program was in the black, for the first time in several years; and this year, so far, it still is, she reported. For the current year, overall spending is on target; there is no indication the total 2021-22 budget will fall short.

Next year’s budget, approved unanimously on a first (preliminary) reading by school board members, totals $8,722,176.29. That figure is an increase of more than $400,000 over the current year.

However, state revenue is also up, with the result that if $80,000 is taken from the school’s surplus account (deliberately increased in previous years, Pfeiffer said, so that it could be a revenue source), the school will ask for a little over $77,000 less from Vassalboro taxpayers next year than this year.

Budget committee and school board members were scheduled to review the proposed budget at an April 19 meeting. Vassalboro voters will make final decisions on 2022-23 school spending at their open town meeting June 6 and will reaffirm or reject the budget by written ballot June 14 (the so-called school budget referendum).

Pooler emphasized that higher federal funding due to the pandemic is a big contributor to this year’s and next year’s budgets. When federal funds decline, local spending will need to increase again. Meanwhile, she said, Vassalboro (and its former partners in AOS [Alternative Organizational Structure] #92, Waterville and Winslow) are making sure they get everything they’re entitled to.

In other business April 15, school board members accepted several resignations, including that of assistant principal Hughes.

Principal Megan Allen resigned earlier this spring. Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur opened the meeting by denying a rumor that she and Hughes had been fired. Only the school board could fire them, and the board did not do so; they resigned, for their individual reasons, he said.

Allen wrote in the March 27 school newsletter that she resigned because her experience as principal showed her that “I am a teacher at heart and belong in a classroom.” She plans to work at the college level “to teach future teachers” and to return to middle-school teaching.

A 13-person committee, including school personnel and members of the public, was scheduled to start reviewing resumes of applicants for Allen’s and Hughes’ positions on April 14. This committee, Levasseur told audience members, cannot accept additional volunteers; because it deals with personnel, deliberations are by law confidential.

However, he and Pfeiffer said, volunteers are welcome for other tasks at VCS, including playground and cafeteria monitoring and assisting with a planned library reorganization. There are plans to post volunteer opportunities on the website, vcsvikings.org.

Board member Jessica Clark added that librarian and media specialist Melora Norman is choosy about her volunteers: she wants people who will follow her instructions, not try to tell her how things should be done. Board and audience members smiled understandingly.

Clark asked Pfeiffer what he and other administrators are doing to reduce the number of remote days, when too few staff are available to cover all classes.

“We need people,” Pfeiffer replied. He thanked VCS personnel who have filled in when colleagues are out sick.

The problem is not just local, he added, citing the state-wide shortage of teachers and especially substitute teachers and the difficulty many schools have retaining staff. In an April 12 letter posted on the website, Pfeiffer wrote that during this school year 21 Maine principals have “left their positions” and there have been “22 changes in superintendencies,” including 15 retirements.

After the April 19 budget meeting (and follow-up meetings if needed), the next regular Vassalboro school board meeting is currently scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 17.

Select board approves trail at Spectacle Pond; postpones decision on background checks

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro select board members approved four of the varied items on their April 14 agenda, one formally; rejected one request; and postponed other decisions for more information.

By a unanimous vote, they approved a trail agreement with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) for maintenance of the Spectacle Pond Trail, a loop trail off Cross Hill Road across state-owned land to the east shore of Spectacle Pond.

John Melrose, speaking for Vassalboro’s Trails Committee, said the agreement codifies existing arrangements. The trail will remain a “primitive hiking trail” for “walking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing,” but no motorized use; and IF&W can close the trail or terminate the agreement at any time for any reason.

Vassalboro is to maintain the trail and oversee its use and condition. The town may put up an informational kiosk at the road with a map and trail rules, and Melrose intends to discuss with IF&W officials putting markers at trail intersections and providing roadside parking.

Because of the steep descent, Melrose doubts the Spectacle Pond Trail will be heavily used.

Without voting, select board members approved Town Manager Mary Sabins’ first draft of the warrant for the June 6 (open meeting) and June 14 (written ballot) annual town meeting.

They added a non-binding question to the written ballot asking if voters want a new town ordinance that would govern solar development in town. The advisory question was suggested because town officials spent time drafting a Mass Gatherings Ordinance that voters rejected in November 2021.

That ordinance was presented in anticipation of a country music festival on Nelson Road this summer. Some audience members said they believe the festival is still scheduled, for July.

Also approved without a formal vote was Sabins’ proposed job description for a new town employee whose responsibilities would include running the recreation program. Given the more extensive duties listed, the job was retitled Community Program Director. Sabins said she had received no negative reactions from people currently heading recreation activities.

The town manager had a request from the Municipal Review Committee (MRC), the body representing the Maine municipalities that invested in the closed Fibreright trash recycling plant in Hampden, for financial support as the MRC looks toward buying the facility. Selectboard members agreed with her recommendation that they ignore the request.

Select board members put off a decision on Codes Officer Ryan Page’s recommendations for higher permit fees until Page talked with planning board members (their next meeting is May 3, he said) and until they hold a public hearing on the proposed increases.

The decision on adopting a salary schedule was also postponed. Board member Chris French was ready to act, but Chairman Robert Browne and member Barbara Redmond wanted to wait until after town meeting voters act on salaries proposed in the 2022-23 budget.

A proposed background check policy was postponed for rewriting to limit it to employees and volunteers who are not already covered and who work with children. One suggestion was to add requirements to individual boards’ bylaws, where appropriate, instead of creating a town policy.

Sabins and others said employees, firefighters, first responders and other groups already have background check requirements. Sabins said she did not think it appropriate to ask people who have served for years on committees like the planning board or the budget committee to undergo background checks.

The April 14 meeting was delayed for almost an hour as select board members met in executive session with town attorney Kristin Collins. During the wait, audience members talked in the town office lobby about drug dealing in town, the condemned former church building in North Vassalboro and other issues.

They brought up the church building with select board members near the end of the meeting. The church has been condemned as a dangerous building, and town meeting voters are asked to approve $25,000 for demolition.

Residents who spoke want faster action. People are living in the building, they said, although it has no electricity, running water or sanitary facilities, creating a potential fire hazard as they use a stove to keep warm.

Browne told them the situation is being addressed.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28.

Vassalboro Centenarian

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Lois Bulger, of Vassalboro.

VASSALBORO, ME — Lois Bulger, Vassalboro’s oldest citizen, was feted recently by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, on the occasion of her 100th birthday.

She was born in Oakland on April 24, 1922. She has lived most of her adult life in Vassalboro where she and her husband raised their family, raised horses and later owned and operated a small antique shop.

Vassalboro couple invites furry friends into their home for temporary care

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Drizzle, left, and Fritter, at the Kitten Korner. (photos by Chris Choyce)

by Gillian Lalime

Entering into the apartment of Justin Saragosa and Chris Choyce you’ll most likely hear tiny meows coming from a certain corner.

Justin Saragosa and Chris Choyce

In the summer of 2018 the young couple was facing increasing rent prices in Portland and decided to move up to central Maine, where Justin is from. When the pandemic hit they were temporarily furloughed. This newfound time inspired them to begin something they’d wanted to do: foster animals! The in-law apartment they’d moved to had a little extra space, an empty corner to be specific. The Kitten Korner was born on Easter Sunday 2020, becoming a temporary home to their first foster kittens.

Over the last two years, The Kitten Korner has provided a home for 70 cats and two dogs with support from the Humane Society Waterville Area. Many animal shelters don’t receive funding from their town or state and rely on donations from local folks.

Fostering animals serves an important role in the community. Instead of an animal growing up in a shelter or becoming a neighborhood stray, fostering provides cats and dogs with a warm, nourishing, and loving home. Most of the costs associated with caring for animals are out of pocket, so the couple set up a Facebook page for the small operation. The Kitten Korner posts photos of the cute creatures, shares animal care tips, and promotes shelter events. Additionally, people from the community have connected with The Kitten Korner when encountering stray animals in their neighborhoods and to donate pet food, litter, toys, or make financial contributions.

While always having tiny bundles of fur roaming your home might sound like fun, Justin and Chris say the last two years have had their ups and downs. To anyone interested in fostering, Chris offers a few words of advice: “Compassion fatigue is a real thing – be sure to give yourself a break now and then.”

Once kittens are old enough for adoption, they are returned to the shelter. They have found it difficult to return animals they have nurtured, yet rewarding to watch them grow. It is also a lesson in understanding the importance of spaying or neutering pets and making sure they don’t get lost or wander off.

The Kitten Korner looks forward to a future where they have an entire room devoted to the care of foster animals. Possibly expanding to “pocket pets” like guinea pigs or rabbits, and working with other local shelters.

For more information about the operation please visit: https://www.facebook.com/thekittenkorner/photos/.

 

 

 

VASSALBORO: Three candidates on June 14 ballot

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro residents will have three candidates for three open local positions on their June 14 election ballot.

Town Clerk Catherine Coyne reported that Frederick L. “Rick” Denico II is the only candidate who filed nomination papers for a seat on the select board. Robert Browne, whose term ends this year, is not seeking re-election.

The two candidates for two seats on the school board are incumbent Jessica Clark and Amy M. French. School board chairman Kevin Levasseur is not running for another term.

Polls will be open for Vassalboro’s June 14 election from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the town office.

The open town meeting at which voters set the 2022-23 municipal and school budgets and decide town policy issues is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., Monday, June 6, at Vassalboro Community School. The June 14 voting will include acceptance or rejection of the school budget that is approved at the June 6 meeting.

Vassalboro planners approve minor exterior changes at Kennebec Water District

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Kennebec Water District treatment plant in Vassalboro. (Internet photo)

by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro Planning Board members quickly and without dissent approved a minor exterior change at the Kennebec Water District (KWD) treatment plant at 462 Main Street (Route 32), between East and North Vassalboro.

KWD Water Quality Manager Robbie Bickford said the plant was opened in 1993 and is due for upgrades, both to replace aging equipment and to meet current requirements, like updated earthquake standards and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.

The pending project is to replace the chemical feed system, including two 18-foot-diameter tanks inside the building. The building was built around the tanks, Bickford said. To get them out and new tanks in, KWD needs to add a door and to pave a small area that is now grass so heavy equipment can go over it.

There will be no other external changes, Bickford said, except a temporary sign during construction acknowledging financial support from the state Drinking Water Program’s revolving fund.

Planning board members had questions about disposal of chemicals and other safety and environmental issues. Satisfied with Bickford’s replies, they granted the permit.

Bickford said this project, like so many others, is delayed by supply chain hang-ups. He expects work to start in late summer or fall 2022; once started, it should be finished within 180 days, he said.

KWD has no plans to expand the Vassalboro treatment plant, he said. In the 1990s, KWD supplied water to large mills in Waterville; now that its customer base is mainly residential, it operates at about one-third capacity.

The ban on swimming in China Lake’s west basin is to protect water quality. Asked why motor boats are allowed, Bickford had a triple answer.

KWD officials want to accommodate recreational activities as much as possible, he said; and since petroleum products tend to float and KWD’s intake pipe is at the bottom of the lake, it is unlikely that any gas or oil would reach the treatment plant; and if any did, it would be mixed with so much lake water as to be insignificant.

“The solution to pollution is dilution,” he quoted.