LongRoad Energy Management sponsors a public informational meeting on a proposed solar project at 2579 Riverside Drive (Route 201) in Vassalboro at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, in the gymnasium at Vassalboro Community School. See The Town Line, July 16, for more information on the project for which Longroad is seeking state and local approval.
Vassalboro selectmen intend to set the 2020-21 tax rate at their Thursday, July 23, meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m., in the town office meeting room.
Two other agenda items are suggesting ways to celebrate the town’s 250th birthday in 2021 and reviewing the Recreation Department’s proposed bid specifications for a steel roof on the snack shack at the town ballfields.
Interested residents are welcome to attend the selectmen’s meeting. Masks are strongly recommended; social distancing will be observed.
Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)
At a short July 20 virtual special meeting, Vassalboro School Board members took five important decisions, without dissent.
They accepted the almost $7.97 million 2020-21 school budget voters approved at the annual town meeting June 22 and confirmed at the polls on July 14.
They approved two-year contracts with bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and secretaries. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said each provides three percent annual pay increases.
The contract with educational technicians is still under discussion, Pfeiffer said.
The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 18, in the cafeteria, at Vassalboro Community School.
Voters had two questions remaining from their June 22 open town meeting to answer at the polls July 14, local elections and the annual school budget referendum.
Town Clerk Cathy Coyne reported the results of uncontested elections were as follows:
The $7.97 million school budget approved June 22 for fiscal year 2020-21 was confirmed by a vote of 624 yes to 124 no. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said before the June 22 meeting that the new budget, which is barely higher than the 2019-20 budget, will have no significant effect on the tax rate.
by Mary GrowAt their July 7 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members found that Longroad Energy Management’s application for a solar farm at 2579 Riverside Drive (Route 201) is incomplete. They therefore postponed action.
Longroad spokespeople David Kane and Kara Moody, who had also presented a preliminary application at the board’s May 5 meeting, said they will include more details about grading the site as part of their application for state Department of Environmental Protection permits. The grading, Kane explained, is not to level the sloping field, but to even out the slope where necessary. Since grading is expensive, Longroad will make as little change as possible.
However, Planning Board Chairman Ginny Brackett said, Vassalboro’s ordinance says an application shall include current and proposed contours, and board members do not skip over mandatory requirements.
Brackett also asked Kane and Moody to add information about planned buffers along the boundaries of the project.
Abutter Peter Ditmanson raised another issue: he said a pond on his property connects to a stream that runs through the proposed solar farm and eventually feeds into the Kennebec River. No stream is shown on the map prepared by Longroad’s consultant. Planning board member Betsy Poulin found one on a Vassalboro shoreland map, however.
The Longroad representatives said they intend to have the state submission ready this summer and hope to return to the Vassalboro board with additional information before November.
Kane said state review can take up to 195 days. The tentative schedule is to start construction in July 2021 and have the solar farm operative by the fall of 2021. The 4.6 megawatts of power to be generated are already sold to a Maine firm, he said.
Longroad’s solar farm differs from ReVision Energy’s on Main Street, approved by the board on June 2 (see The Town Line, June 11), in two ways.
First, it will cover more than 20 acres – around 26 to 30 acres, Kane said – and therefore requires state environmental permits, as well as local approval.
Second, it is a different type of installation. ReVision’s, and others approved and pending in Central Maine, have what are called fixed tilt panels, facing south, in north-south rows.
Longroad’s panels are single-axis trackers. The rows run east and west, and small motors move each panel to follow the sun from east to west daily. Kane described the movements as “sort of a wave motion,” not the whole field turning in unison.
Tracking panels are lower than fixed ones, five or six feet high versus up to 10 feet high for fixed. They need more ground space, Kane said. Mowing requirements are the same as for fixed panels: only two mowings a year and the first one delayed until ground-nesting birds have fledged their young.
Kane said Longroad does not plan snow clearance, on the panels or on the ground. Should the snow get deep enough to interfere with the panels’ motion, Longroad can shut the field down, he said.
Brackett asked how long-distance control works. Kane replied that Longroad, which has offices in Boston and Portland, has remote control over some 800 solar developments, including in Hawaii. Its affiliated firm First Wind operates eight wind power generators, from northern Maine to the mid-West. A Utah windfarm, he said, has a bird scanner that tracks and identifies birds flying nearby; if a bird appears to be in danger, that sector can be shut down remotely.
From top left: Cole Leclerc, Adam Bonenfant, Benjamin Reed and Lily Roy.
The Vassalboro Business Association has announced the recipients of its four $500 scholarships. Much of this money was raised by Freddie’s Cruise in, an annual event organized by Bill and Roxanne Pullen.
The winners are Cole Jefferson Leclerc, Adam Bonenfant, and Benjamin Reed, all from Erskine Academy, in South China, and Lily Roy who attended Waterville High School.
Cole Jefferson Leclerc plans to study business at Thomas College, in Waterville, and graduate early with an accelerated program. He loves to play baseball, has volunteered helping other athletes learn and improve their games. Much of his volunteer tasks were with the Future Business Leaders of America.
Lily Roy plans to major in graphic design or marketing. She has worked as a Junior Church teacher assistant for the last two years. She also helped with Red Cross blood drives and helped serve food at the homeless shelter.
Adam Bonenfant completed his community service working on his Eagle Scout Project. He will attend Kennebec Valley Community College, in Fairfield, in the new sustainable construction association degree program.
Benjamin Reed will attend the University of Southern Maine, in Gorham, and study Behavioral Sciences with a concentration in Counseling. His community service was as a Junior Camp Counselor. He served on the student council and as a student ambassador.
Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)
At a very brief – less than five minutes – virtual special meeting, Vassalboro School Board members approved an amendment to the interlocal agreement among the former members of Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) #92.
The effect of the change is to make Paula Pooler, former AOS finance officer, the financial director for the Vassalboro school system.
Amanda Dunn, who had been Vassalboro’s finance director, will take the same position for Winslow. Vassalboro Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said Winslow Superintendent Peter Thiboutot was presenting a parallel motion to the Winslow School Board.
The change is probably the first of several, as Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow school officials review the three-year interlocal agreement that succeeded the AOS, dissolved by voters in the spring of 2018.
The goal, Pfeiffer says, is to determine which sharing arrangements work well and to revise those that should be improved.
The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Aug. 18.
Adam Bonenfant
Literacy Volunteers Waterville Area has announced the two winners of their Literacy Volunteers Waterville Area Essay Scholarship Awards. Issac Violette, a resident of Oakland, and a 2020 graduate from Messalonskee High School, in Oakland, won the $500 scholarship award and plans to attend classes at the Orono campus of the University of Maine. Adam Bonenfant, a resident of Vassalboro, and a 2020 graduate from Erskine Academy, in South China, won the $150 award. Adam plans to pursue his studies at Kennebec Valley Community College, in Fairfield, in the fall.
Issac Violette
Waiting for curbside pickup in Palermo. (photo by Andy Pottle)
As we navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic, the first phase of reopening the Palermo Community Library is to offer curbside pickup beginning Saturday, June 20, 2020. To protect the safety of our staff and patrons, the library will be following the guidelines of the Maine State Library and Maine CDC. Staff will wear masks and gloves while preparing your bags for check-out. Patrons and staff are expected to respect social distancing recommendations.
Procedure for pickup (see detailed description under ‘policies’ on website):
In the meantime, the trustees are working hard to prepare for the next phase of reopening by installing plexiglass hygiene barriers, providing a deep thorough cleaning of the library’s interior, and writing policies that will protect the health and safety of our staff and patrons. Hope to see you soon!
photo: vassalboro.net
The Vassalboro Public Library is reopened to the public during their regular hours. Monday and Friday noon – 6 p.m., and Wednesday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. They have a new ongoing book sale room that is open to the public. They will also host a partially virtual summer reading program for all ages. Please check their website for the Covid-19 policies.
The Oakland Public Library is now open. You may check out books, magazines and movies. There is a 30-minute time limit on visits, with a five item limit on loans. Computers are available.
Hand sanitizers are available upon entering and also at the service desks. Masks that cover the nose and mouth must be worn, and patrons must observe 6 foot physical distancing.
Hours are: Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Wed., Thurs., Fri. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
For more information, call 465-7533.
Albion Public Library
The Albion Public Library will fill orders for books, audio books and DVDs. Simply go online to the Town of Albion website: townofalbionmaine.com, click on local links, Albion library, online, display.
Or, log-in: first initial and last name, patron #. Ex.: rmorin,123.
You can browse the materials they have in the library.
To order, they will need the author and title of the book, audio book or DVD.
Send this to bertajanc@roadrunner.com.
Be sure to include your telephone number. They will fill your order and make an appointment with you for pick up.
Lauchlin Titus, center, outgoing Vassalboro selectman, was presented the Spirit of America award during the June 22 annual town meeting. Presenting the award were town selectmen Rob Browne, left, and John Melrose. (photo courtesy of Mary Sabins)
The centerpiece of the June 25 Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting was the going-away party for Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus, who is not a candidate for re-election on July 14. He has been a selectman for 12 years and previously served on other town committees.
Numerous town employees were present. Titus received gifts suited to his non-governmental interests and the audience shared – and praised – the trifle made by town office staffer Debbie Johnston-Nixon.
Town Manager Mary Sabins introduced Michael Levesque, summer intern whose task is to begin computerizing Vassalboro’s cemetery records to make them accessible to genealogists and other researchers. Levesque is studying environmental policy and planning at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he just finished – virtually – his second year.
Levesque said he started with the Cross Hill Cemetery and intends, time permitting, to move to the North Vassalboro one. Already, he said, he has made interesting discoveries, like locating the grave of someone who was almost certainly a veteran, but has not previously been recognized when veterans’ graves are marked with flags.
In other June 25 business, selectmen made the annual reappointments to town boards and committees for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Sabins commented that Vassalboro is lucky to have many residents willing to volunteer. There are a few vacancies; selectmen recommended they be listed on the town website.
Sabins reported alewife revenues for 2020 are lower than usual, at $16,410. The income from sale of the small fish as they migrate into Webber Pond has exceeded $20,000 in some recent years. Selectmen commented they had observed fewer eagles watching the migration up Outlet Stream, too.
The good news, Sabins reported, is that excise tax revenue has rebounded after dropping at the beginning of the Covid-19 shutdown.
Codes Officer Paul Mitnik informed selectmen of a North Vassalboro yard full of junk left by tenants who have moved out. The town might have to clean up the property and bill the former tenants, he said. He fears the yard is likely to attract rats and could become a health hazard.
Titus (doing his duty as a citizen, he said) passed on to Mitnik a complaint about another property in town that has not yet been cleaned up as the owner promised.
July 14 voting in Vassalboro will be at Vassalboro Community School (not at the town office as usual), with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The town office will be closed July 14. In addition to state referenda and primary elections, Vassalboro voters have two local questions: a referendum on the school budget approved at the June 22 town meeting and uncontested local elections.
Information on July 14 voting and on obtaining absentee ballots is on the Vassalboro website.
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23.