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.

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.

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.

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Fire Chief Walker Thompson and semi-retired lieutenant/board of directors vice-president Michael Vashon joined town selectmen at their Feb. 4 virtual meeting to discuss a proposal to contract with Cost Recovery, a firm that seeks compensation for firefighters’ expenses from insurance companies.

Vashon said the department would submit estimates of firefighters’ and truck time for every fire or other incident. Cost Recovery would bill the appropriate insurance company, keeping 20 percent of amounts recovered. The rest would go to the fire department, which is separate from the town.

Town residents would be exempt from the program, Vashon said, except if they damaged department property, for example by running over a fire hose.

About 50 other Maine fire departments already contract with Cost Recovery, Vashon said; the company’s recovery rate is from 60 to 70 percent. Vassalboro could cancel the contract at any time.

Vashon and Thompson plan to keep half the money for firefighters’ supplies that traditionally are bought through donations and fundraisers. They proposed giving the other half to the town, hoping selectmen will add it to the fire department reserve fund, set aside to buy firetrucks and other major equipment.

Selectmen approved the idea, with board member Robert Browne adding the proviso that the bookkeeping not be too complicated. Town Manager Mary Sabins thought it would not be.

Thompson reported that the “old and brittle” boiler at the North Vassalboro fire station sprung a leak in January. It was patched and should last the winter; the fire department budget request includes $17,500 to replace it.

The chief also reported that so far in 2021, the fire department has responded to 20 calls, compared to seven calls by the beginning of February 2020. He thanked the town public works crew for clearing snow and fallen trees during recent storms – “They do a great job.”

After the firefighters signed out of the virtual meeting and Town Attorney Kristin Collins signed in, selectmen continued discussion of the revised draft marijuana ordinance. Several minor revisions and clarifications were proposed.

The draft ordinance prohibits new marijuana businesses in Vassalboro after its effective date, which will be not the date of enactment, but the date selectmen give their approval. Its eight pages of definitions and regulations apply to businesses in operation or approved before that date.

Registered caregivers are not affected by the ordinance, unless they are operating a cultivation facility, defined as a growing facility larger than 1,000 square feet. Sabins said state officials told her Vassalboro has 20 registered caregivers, but cannot provide names, addresses or information on the size of operations.

Businesses affected by the ordinance must be licensed every two years, must pay a licensing fee (to be determined – Collins said Maine municipalities’ current fees range from $500 to $5,000) and must continuously conform to the regulations and standards in the ordinance.

The latest version of the ordinance is available on the town website, www.vassalboro.net, in the center column under the third heading, “What’s New in Vassalboro.” Selectmen plan to continue discussion at their Feb. 18 meeting.

In the same section of the website is the schedule of budget committee meetings, in preparation for the June 7 annual town meeting. Selectmen discussed the budget at an in-person workshop Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 9, and plan a final review of their version on Feb. 18. The first budget committee meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4, after a 6 p.m. selectmen’s meeting.

The other major topic at the Feb. 4 meeting was continued discussion of Conservation Commission member Holly Weidner’s proposed resolution on a carbon tax that would be paid by fossil fuel companies and returned to state residents. Assisted by Peggy Horner, she explained the environmental benefits of such a plan.

Weidner proposes the selectboard adopt the resolution and send it to the state legislature, the Congressional delegation, Governor Janet Mills and President Joe Biden. After a discussion of how state, regional and national plans interact, selectmen for the second time postponed a decision.

In other business, board members agreed they should ask for a meeting with a state Department of Transportation official, the commissioner, if possible, to try to get the North Vassalboro section of Route 32 higher on the department’s repair and maintenance priority list. Board Chairman John Melrose said he and resident Ray Breton talked about flooding problems; the road surface and sidewalks also need attention.

Melrose, a former Maine Commissioner of Transportation, believes the state’s present plan is to resurface Route 32 with so-called skinny mix, a thin layer that he said some people call “black paint.”

Browne and fellow board member Barbara Redmond approved Melrose’s proposal for an engraved granite marker at Monument Park, in East Vassalboro, where the Civil War soldier’s statue stands between the China Lake boat landing and the Vassalboro Historical Society building.

The granite will come from a collection at the public works garage. Provost Monuments, in Benton, will engrave the words “Monument Park” for $825 – a discounted price, Melrose said, as bills for other park improvements have been discounted. Road Commissioner Eugene Field and landscaper Steve Jones recommend a crushed stone underlayer rather than a more expensive cement base.

A second discussion of the theme for the 2020 town report, covering the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, led to the tentative decision to combine historical connections between the State of Maine, created March 15, 1820, and the town of Vassalboro, incorporated April 26, 1771, with contemporary effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Selectmen planned to continue discussion at their Tuesday, Feb. 9, afternoon budget workshop. Residents’ suggestions and information are welcome and may be sent to msabins@vassalboro.net.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 pm. Thursday, Feb. 18.

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Codes Officer Paul Mitnik has announced that due to a lack of applications, the Vassalboro Planning Board will not meet in February. The next regular Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, March 2.