Vassalboro Community School Honor Roll

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

GRADE 8

High honors: Brooke Blais, Sofia Derosby, Allison Dorval, Greta Limberger and Taylor Wright. Honors: Noah Bechard, Brady Desmond, Kaylene Glidden, Ava Kelso, Ava Picard and Emma Waterhouse. Honorable mention: Evan Brochu, Echo Hawk, Kailynn Houle, Seth Picard and Victoria Rancourt.

GRADE 7

High honors: Emily Almeida, Jacob Lavallee, Ave Lemelin and Hannah Polley. Honors: Quinn Coull, Madison Estabrook, Aiden Hamlin, Kaiden Morin and Mylee Petela. Honorable mention: Mason Decker, Taylor Neptune and Addison Witham.

GRADE 6

High honors: Adalyn Glidden and Taiya Rankins. Honors: Madison Burns, Tyler Clark, Sophie Day, Ryley Desmond, Madison Field, Jack Malcolm, Josslyn Ouellette, Natalie Rancourt and Bryson Stratton. Honorable mention: Emma Charleston, Eilah Dillaway, Kiley Doughty, Wyatt Ellis, Bailey Goforth, Kylie Grant and Mason Lagasse.

GRADE 5

High honors: Benjamin Allen, Tristyn Brown, Dylan Dodge, Ryleigh French, Jasmine Garey, Drake Goodie, Drew Lindquist, Caleb Marden, Judson Smith, Landon Sullivan and Reid Willett. Honors: Logan Cimino, Zoey DeMerchant, Jennah Dumont, Katherine Maxwell, Brandon Neagle, Ryder Neptune-Reny, Paige Perry, Bentley Pooler, Brooke Reny, Leigha Sullivan, Jannah Tobey, William Trainor and Alana Wade. Honorable mention: Austin Devoe, Timothy Knowles, Cooper Lajoie, Abigail Prickett and Jade Travers.

GRADE 4

High honors: Emily Clark, Keegan Clark, Basil Dillaway, Fury Frappier, Allyson Gilman and Cheyenne Lizzotte. Honors: Kaleb Charlebois, Harlen Fortin, Baylee Fuchswanz, Zoe Gaffney, Lillyana Krastev, Kaitlyn Lavallee, Elizabeth Longfellow, Mia McLean, Elliot McQuarrie, Mackenzy Monroe, Kaylee Moulton, Weston Pappas,, Randel Phillips, Grace Tobey and Ava Woods. Honorable mention: Caylie Buotte, Preston Duenne, Bayleigh Gorman and Jack LaPierre.

GRADE 3

High honors: Aliyah Anthony, Sophia Brazier, Samanta Carter, Grace Clark, Kaylee Colfer, Dekan Dumont, Mariah Estabrook, Riley Fletcher, Camden Foster, Kaylee Pease, Olivia Perry, Haven Trainor and Cameron Willett. Honors: Zander Austin, Lukas Blais, Xainte Cloutier, Twila Cloutier, Wyatt Devoe, Dawson Frazer, Aubrey Goforth, Jade Lopez, Agatha Meyer, Addison Neagle, Austin Pease, Elliott Rafuse, Juliahna Rocque, Cassidy Rumba and Bryce Sounier. Honorable mention: Lucian Kinrade, Sarina LaCroix, Landon Lagasse, Arianna Muzerolle and Henry Quirion.

Vassalboro committee discusses transfer station renovations

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Budget Committee members met March 11 to decide what questions they need to ask town selectmen when the two groups meet March 18.

On March 18, selectmen are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. in the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium. The budget committee is to join them at 7 p.m.

The selectmen’s agenda includes two items that budget committee members talked about: plans to renovate the transfer station, and town employees’ wages and salaries.

Selectmen are scheduled to discuss whether to contract with a wage consultant. Budget Committee members have questions about town wage and salary policies.

Selectmen have been discussing plans for improvements at the transfer station with Waterville engineer Al Hodsdon, of A. E. Hodsdon Engineers. Some of the budget committee members have a suggestion for funding the project.

The March 18 selectmen’s agenda further includes the annual investment report from Matt Weaver, senior vice-president at First National Wealth Management’s Damariscotta branch, and review of the Vassalboro investment policy; discussion of a land agreement with Kennebec Water District; scheduling a public hearing on the proposed new town marijuana ordinance, a substantial revision of the current document; and continuing preparations for the June 7 and 8 town meeting.

Budget committee member Michael Poulin, who regularly listens to selectmen’s meetings, said selectmen have a cost estimate of more than $300,000 for transfer station updates and are talking of spreading the work over several years.

Committee member Douglas Phillips recommended advising selectmen to issue a short-term – five or six year – bond and get the improvements done quickly. He said the compactor has broken down frequently; the open-top trash containers fill with snow and rainwater that the town pays to have hauled away with the trash; and the traffic pattern, which requires backing up to disposal containers, invites accidents.

Several other committee members supported the bond idea. The committee did not vote on it.

The public works budget also raised questions to be discussed at future meetings, as did Vassalboro’s use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds.

Poulin said selectmen have allocated TIF money almost entirely to two projects, extension of the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s sewer to connect to Winslow, and the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI) that involves removing or modifying dams on Outlet Stream. He would like to see the town’s TIF document amended to spread funds more widely.

His comments sparked discussion of where to draw the line between budget and policy. Policy is the selectmen’s responsibility, not the budget committee’s, members agreed.

Poulin asked whether the committee’s goal is to hold the tax rate down, or to advise selectmen on needed expenditures. The answer from other committee members was, “Both.”

After the March 18 meeting, budget committee members are scheduled to discuss the 2021-22 school budget with the school board on Tuesday, March 23 and to meet with selectmen on Thursday, April 1. Both meetings will be at Vassalboro Community School at 7 p.m. The school board will meet at 6 p.m. March 23 and the selectboard at 6 p.m. April 1.

Vassalboro school board proposes expanded paving of school parking lot

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members heard more good news than bad news about the sections of the proposed 2021-22 budget they reviewed at their March 9 special meeting.

They heard a proposal for a major expenditure – and not only supported it, but suggested expanding it.

The proposal was from Shelley Phillips, Director of Maintenance and Grounds, talking about the 2021-22 proposed budget for work at Vassalboro Community School (VCS). She recommended spending an estimated $114,500 to repave the school parking lot for the first time since 1992, plus up to $1,500 for striping.

Within the last half-dozen years, Phillips said, storm drains and curbs have been repaired and the worst holes patched, partly in preparation for a complete repaving.

She said she discussed the project with Eugene Field, Vassalboro’s municipal Public Works Director, and plans to save money by piggybacking on the town’s paving contract for the coming summer.

The immediate reaction from board members was to add more paved parking, maybe 20 or 30 new spaces. There is not enough parking for sports and other events that draw large crowds, they said.

Phillips said she will review the VCS site plan to see if there is an appropriate area free of underground tanks and utilities. If additional parking seems feasible, she will again consult with Field; perhaps the town public works crew could do some of the preparatory work.

Other parts of the maintenance budget are slated to be reduced by a few thousand dollars in 2021-22, Phillips said. Recommendations include less for electricity, because the school, like the town, is getting solar power from a Skowhegan installation; less for fuel, as both price and usage are expected to be below the current year’s; less for custodial supplies, because Covid funds helped stock up; and only $158 more for interior maintenance, because no major renovations seem needed.

Phillips said the VCS air handling system has been maintained and upgraded over the years and is adequate to meet health requirements during the pandemic.

Asked about future major projects, she named two to be kept in mind: seal and repoint as needed the brick exterior of the building, and replace the flat roof on the gymnasium. G & E Roofing, by contract, inspects and reports on the roof every year, she said.

The other budget areas discussed March 9 were transportation; the central office, which used to be the Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) #92 office serving Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow; and food service.

Transportation Supervisor Ashley Pooler said Covid funds were used to buy four new buses. They come with five-year warranties; the updated fleet should need fewer repairs; and the new buses will be more fuel-efficient. With purchase, repair and fuel costs lowered, she proposes a budget that is more than $45,000 below the current-year budget.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said he, Waterville Superintendent Eric Haley and Winslow Superintendent Peter Thiboutot are reworking the interlocal agreement that replaced the former AOS. Consequently, Vassalboro will replace some of the shared central office personnel with a part-time Vassalboro employee, saving money

Pfeiffer will go from being officially employed two days a week – he claims the pandemic has put him and his colleagues on a seven-day-a-week schedule – to three days a week.

Finance Director Paula Pooler (who is Ashley Pooler’s mother) said the Vassalboro school department continues to reduce the deficit in the food service program. (See Regional School Unit #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley’s explanation of this state-wide problem in the Feb. 25 issue of The Town Line, p. 3.)

Pooler reported that the audit for the previous (2019-20) fiscal year, delayed by Covid-related complications, is now available. School board members intended to accept it formally at their next meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, at VCS.

ICE OUT 2021? Take a guess. Win a prize!

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SEND US YOUR BEST ICE OUT GUESS FOR 2021

Write down your best guess (one per person) and send it to The Town Line, PO Box 89, South China, ME 04358, or email us at townline@townline.org with the subject “ICE OUT 2021“. If more than one person guesses the correct date, a drawing will be held to determine the winner. Get your guess to The Town Line office by noon, Friday, March 19, 2021.

Email: townline@townline.org. Or use our Contact Us page!

PRIZE: To be determined

The records below, of ice out dates on China Lake, were provided by China residents Bill Foster, Captain James Allen and Theresa Plaisted.

Bill Foster brought in the ice out dates from 1874 to 1883. They came from a 215-page log/diary. In the log/diary are recorded the comings and goings from 1870 to 1883 of the F. O. Brainard Store, as well as personal notations of special and everyday events.

Captain James Allen brought in the ice out dates from 1901 to 1948. They had been recorded on the outhouse wall of the old Farnsworth house, also located in China Village.

Theresa Plaisted brought in the ice out dates from 1949 to 1991. She explained to us that a friend and neighbor, Ben Dillenbeck, had kept the record on his cellarway wall until his death on December 12, 1987.

Theresa transcribed Mr. Dillenbeck’s record and has kept the record up to date ever since.

This year, we will be checking China Lake to determine the official date for “Ice Out” in 2020. We will not be looking in hard-to-access areas for that very last crystal to melt, so the definition of “Ice Out,” for the purpose of this contest, is: “When, to the best judgment of the assigned viewer, the surface of the lake appears to be free of ice.” The judge’s decision is final.

Can you guess the day The Town Line declares China Lake free of ice?

Ice Out dates for the last 147 years!

1874 – April 22
1875 – May 6
1876 – April 30
1877 – April 16
1878 – April 12
1879 – May 3
1880 – April 21
1881 – April 19
1883 – April 29
1901 – March 27
1921 – March 28
1932 – April 27
1933 – April 20
1934 – April 19
1935 – April 25
1936 – April 4
1937 – April 20
1938 – April 20
1939 – May 4
1941 – April 16
1945 – April 2
1947 – April 12
1948 – April 8
1949 – April 6
1950 – April 14
1951 – April 9
1952 – April 19
1953 – March 19
1954 – April 19
1955 – April 13
1956 – April 27
1957 – April 10
1958 – April 16
1959 – April 22
1960 – April 21
1961 – April 30
1962 – April 20
1963 – April 22
1964 – April 21
1965 – April 18
1966 – April 18
1967 – April 29
1968 – April 13
1969 – April 23
1970 – April 23
1971 – April 30
1972 – May 1
1973 – April 8
1974 – April 2
1975 – April 23
1976 – April 11
1977 – April 18
1978 – April 21
1979 – April 12
1980 – April 10
1981 – March 18
1982 – April 22
1983 – April 1
1984 – April 17
1985 – April 6
1986 – April 8
1987 – April 6
1988 – April 6
1989 – April 22
1990 – April 11
1991 – April 8
1992 – April 15
1993 – April 21
1994 – April 20
1995 – April 9
1996 – April 5
1997 – April 23
1998 – April 9
1999 – April 2
2000 – April 4
2001 – April 27
2002 – April 6
2003 – April 21
2004 – April 14
2005 – April 16
2006 – March 26
2007 – April 23
2008 – April 17
2009 – April 11
2010 – March 19
2011 – April 17
2012 – March 21
2013 – April 6
2014 – April 19
2015 – April 22
2016 – March 15
2017 – April 17
2018 – April 23
2019 – April 12
2020 – March 27
2021 – ??????

Vassalboro selectmen schedule special meeting

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen have scheduled a special in-person meeting at 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 16, in the town office conference room. Because the only agenda item is the annual evaluation of the town manager’s job performance, the meeting will be in executive session.

Vassalboro planners approve fishway construction

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members have unanimously approved construction of a fishway at the China Lake Outlet Dam in East Vassalboro.

At the March 2 planning board meeting, Matt Streeter, Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI) Project Manager for Maine Rivers, explained what will be done at the dam as part of the plan to allow alewives to migrate from the Atlantic Ocean into China Lake, via the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers and Outlet Stream.

ARI has been removing dams or installing fishways on Outlet Stream for several years, with financial support from the towns of Vassalboro and China. A main assumption is that when alewives leave China Lake in the fall to return to the ocean, they will take with them unwanted phosphorus from the lake water.

Also, Streeter promised, during spring and fall alewife migrations people living near the stream will see “eagles, great blue herons, all kinds of new wildlife” eager to feed on the small fish.

The only remaining obstacle is the Morneau dam between East and North Vassalboro, Streeter said. He is in negotiations with the dam owners.

Maine Rivers Executive Director Landis Hudson said in an email that the Outlet Dam fishway was designed by the engineering firm of Vanasse Hangen Bruslin (VHB), based on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff’s concept. Streeter showed planning board members detailed plans.

The concrete fishway will be along the east side of the stream. A small new gate on the west end of the dam will “cushion the path downstream for the alewives” in the fall, Streeter said.

The plan includes protection of an area where the state Historic Preservation Commission is concerned about buried Native artifacts, erosion and sedimentation control measures and revegetation over two years with native plants and shrubs.

ARI has its permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is involved because a very small portion of the work will be below the high-water line. Streeter said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection does not require a Natural Resources Protection Act permit.

The plan does not include a viewing area where people can watch alewives, nor a harvesting area, Streeter said. Town officials preferred encouraging people to watch the fish in North Vassalboro. Harvesting is best done as far downstream as possible, where the fish are most numerous, because some die during the swim upstream.

The town supposedly owns the streamside land that would be affected by the fishway. Streeter said lots were first defined in the 1700s, and titles are clear until the early 1950s, when the American Woolen Company and subsidiaries gave many lots to the town without listing them individually.

Consequently, he found some pieces of land are recorded as belonging to private owners. The town attorney advised not spending money to clear the titles unless someone challenges town ownership, he said.

Planning board members decided not to make land ownership an issue and approved the permit without conditions.

In other business, Codes Officer Paul Mitnik talked briefly about pending issues with abandoned buildings and reminded board members that the April 6 meeting will be the last before he retires, for the third time.

He will continue to serve as alternate codes officer if needed, he said, but “My plan is to just have a lot of fun.”

Board members approved.

VASSALBORO: Town begins receiving solar power from ReVision Energy

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by Mary Grow

At an in-person March 4 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen made minor decisions before turning the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium over to the budget committee and introducing the draft 2021-22 budget.

The selectmen’s part of the meeting included continued planning for this year’s sestercentennial (250th) anniversary of the creation of the Town of Vassalboro on April 26, 1771; Town Manager Mary Sabins’ report on tax-acquired properties (she and selectmen welcome prior owners’ efforts to reclaim them by paying all taxes and fees); and the usual payment of town bills.

John Melrose, chairman of the selectboard, announced that the town started receiving power in February from the ReVision Energy solar installation in Skowhegan to which Vassalboro and other municipalities had contributed. The town’s electric bill went down dramatically.

Vassalboro is in a 20-year contract to buy power from ReVision. In February, solar power provided about 85 percent of Vassalboro’s electricity supply, Melrose said.

Neither he nor Sabins guarantees the decrease will continue to be as great as in the first month, but so far they are pleased with the investment.

Melrose had prepared a slide presentation introducing the proposed 2021-22 budget for the budget committee, with an aerial view of the solar farm on the cover. Among highlights:

  • Excise taxes provided the largest share of Vassalboro’s current-year (2020-21) revenues, at 34 percent. Property taxes were second at 22 percent.
  • From 2015 through 2019, Vassalboro’s local tax rate was lower than the average for Kennebec County and the average for the State of Maine.
  • Money from property taxes was allocated as follows in the current year: 80 percent to education, 12 percent to municipal government and eight percent to the Kennebec County tax.
  • Within the municipal budget, public works got the largest share, 22 percent. Administration was second at 20 percent; paving and road maintenance claimed 18 percent; and solid waste disposal required 14 percent.
  • Looking at the municipal budget in terms of total wages or salaries and benefits for all departments, Melrose found personnel costs were 31 percent of the municipal total. In his summary, he pointed out that the “Payroll/benefit package is market sensitive,” a point Road Commissioner and Public Works Director Eugene Field has made repeatedly as he advocates for locally competitive wages for his department employees.

The budget committee’s first action was to re-elect Rick Denico as chairman. Committee members then briefly discussed parts of the proposed 2021-22 budget with Sabins and selectmen.

Half-way through the discussion, Selectman Robert Browne commented cheerfully that it looked as though the tax rate might go down.

However, budget committee members do not know what school board members plan to request. They are scheduled to meet with the school board at 7 p.m. (the school board meeting will begin at 6 p.m.) Tuesday evening, March 23, at Vassalboro Community School.

The next budget committee meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11, again in person in the school gymnasium. Members decided the main topic will be development of questions to ask selectmen, with answers expected when the two boards meet Thursday, March 18, selectmen at 6 p.m. and the budget committee at 7 p.m.

Vassalboro selectmen to meet in person

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen meet in person at 6 p.m., half an hour earlier than usual, Thursday, March 4, in the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium. The Budget Committee will meet at 7 p.m., same place and same format. Audience members will be required to wear masks, pass the temperature check at the door and observe social distancing.

The selectmen’s agenda includes a land agreement with Kennebec Water District; tax-acquired property; a Maine Department of Transportation request for an over limit permit; and the usual reports and payment of town bills. Board members will make final adjustments to their 2021-22 budget proposal, if needed.

Rep. Bradstreet announces local projects in Maine DOT work plan

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Rep. Dick Bradstreet

State Representative Bradstreet (R-Vassalboro) has announced that the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Work Plan for Calendar Years 2021, 2022 and 2023 is available. The estimated value of work in the plan totals more than 2,180 individual work items with a total value of $2.71 billion.

The MDOT Work Plan for House District 80 includes five projects for Vassalboro, Somerville and Windsor totaling $1.63 million.
The Work Plan involves paving, reconstructing existing roads as well as rehabilitation.

“MDOT Work Plan projects will benefit our local communities in many ways,” said Rep. Bradstreet. “I am pleased to see several MDOT projects scheduled for the next three years in our area. They will make our roads safer and benefit local economy.”

The full work plan, searchable by municipality, is available at the Maine Department of Transportation’s website: https://www.maine.gov/mdot/projects/workplan/search/.

VASSALBORO: Proposed marijuana ordinance presented in final form

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen, assisted by Town Attorney Kristin Collins, of Augusta-based Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, put the proposed new marijuana ordinance in final form at their Feb. 18 meeting.

The ordinance will be submitted to Vassalboro voters for approval or rejection at the June 7-8 annual town meeting. If voters accept it, the effective date will be Feb. 18, 2021.

The ordinance has two main purposes. It prohibits all future marijuana businesses in Vassalboro, with the exception of licensed caregivers and their cultivation facilities of up to 1,000 square feet. And it regulates businesses existing or having received permits as of Feb. 18, including requiring that the owners apply for a town license.

The bulk of the ordinance deals with requirements for obtaining the local license. There will be license fees; selectmen postponed setting them. At an earlier meeting, Collins told them other Maine towns charge from $500 to $5,000.

Also joining the virtual selectmen’s meeting, by telephone, was engineer Al Hodsdon of A. E. Hodsdon, in Waterville, who has proposed a redesign for the transfer station. Hodsdon said pandemic-induced price increases and materials shortages might delay new equipment.

But, he said, he should be ready to seek bids for the redesign, which includes a second driveway and relocated equipment to make operations safer, in a few weeks. He estimates bids are likely to be in the $300,000 range, and asked board members if they were comfortable with that figure.

Selectmen promptly began proposing a phased-in plan that would spread the work and the cost over several years. Hodsdon countered that if they wanted to borrow the full amount, “You’ll never get money cheaper than it is right now.”

Neither selectmen nor Transfer Station Manager George Hamar had had time to review Hodsdon’s plan thoroughly, so action was postponed. Board members unanimously asked Hodsdon, with Hamar’s advice, to consider priorities and phasing, and asked Town Manager Mary Sabins to schedule follow-up discussion.

After two workshop meetings to consider the 2021-22 municipal budget, selectmen think they have it close to ready for budget committee review. They asked Sabins to prepare a fifth draft before their next meeting.

At this stage, without complete final figures, selectmen think their recommendations will not increase local property taxes significantly. To reach that point, they recommend eliminating items they know will disappoint others, like postponing repaving the fire station and town office dooryards.

The school budget, which is a major part of annual expenditures from taxation, is not yet finished. Sabins said school and town audits for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020, have been delayed by the pandemic. Until the audits are complete, neither she nor school officials know exactly how much was in unassigned fund balances (surplus) when the current fiscal year started.

Codes Officer Paul Mitnik joined the virtual meeting to ask what selectmen want to do about abandoned buildings in town. He received a complaint about an empty mobile home that is attracting rats and feral cats, he said, and Vassalboro has other empty, deteriorating buildings.

After consideration of alternatives, selectmen asked Mitnik to get in touch with the owners of the complained-of property and see if they are willing to repair or remove the mobile home. If the owners cannot or will not cooperate, Mitnik is to report back to the selectmen.

Selectmen agreed unanimously to a proposed contract with Calderwood Engineering, of Richmond, to supervise work on the Gray Road culvert replacement.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4. The starting time is half an hour earlier than usual to allow for a meeting with the budget committee beginning at 7 p.m. The meeting might be in person if budget committee members are agreeable and if Sabins can arrange to use the gymnasium at Vassalboro Community School.