Vassalboro TIF program tops selectmen’s agenda

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program was the selectmen’s main topic at their June 11 meeting, held in-person in the town office meeting room with appropriate social distancing and very few masks.

Selectmen received recommendations for interpreting, using or considering updates to Vassalboro’s current TIF program, and, after a public hearing, approved TIF funds for the Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD).

A TIF is a state-approved plan that lets a municipality exclude part of its tax base from its state valuation, thus increasing state aid in some areas, provided it uses the tax money from the excluded portion for economic development as outlined in a local plan. Vassalboro voters put tax revenue from the Summit natural gas pipeline into a TIF. Selectmen have used the money to help the VSD connect to Winslow’s sewer system and to support the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI).

Earlier this year selectmen asked Garvan Donegan, of the Central Maine Growth Council, to review Vassalboro’s TIF document to make sure funds were being used properly and to consider other possible uses, either as the document stands or if they were to propose amendments.

Donovan said current uses are appropriate. He added that using TIF funds on the Gray Road culvert replacement project would be legal, because a better culvert is part of the fish habitat improvement that is ARI’s goal.

Both he and, Town Manager Mary Sabins said, VSD’s legal advisor said the VSD cannot use TIF money to pay individual homeowners’ costs for connecting to the expanded public sewer system.

VSD spokesman Ray Breton said the current plan is to use TIF money to make loan payments. The expansion project has been expensive, he said, and the VSD has had to raise user fees significantly.

After the public hearing and a wide-ranging discussion, selectmen approved an immediate $72, 265 grant to the VSD to cover a July 1 debt payment and promised to appropriate the rest of the $166,000 requested as 2020 taxes from Summit come in.

At their April 2 meeting, after a Feb. 11 public hearing, they appropriated $83,000 to ARI and promised another $60,000 in August or September.

In other business June 11, selectmen:

  • Unanimously awarded 2020 paving work to Pike Industries, as recommended by Road Commissioner Eugene Field.
  • Voted unanimously to sell the 2007 Chevrolet Impala police cruiser by advertising for bids.
  • Approved closing the town office all day Tuesday, July 14, because office staff will be Vassalboro Community School, where the day’s voting will be held. Voters will act on state ballot questions and two local issues, endorsing or rejecting the 2020-21 school budget approved at the June 22 town meeting and electing municipal officers.
  • Scheduled the next three selectmen’s meeting for Thursday evening, June 25; Thursday evening, July 23; and Thursday evening, Aug. 20.

Selectman John Melrose reported on continuing grounds work at the former East Vassalboro school and adjoining park, and plans for improved access to the town forest trail west of East Vassalboro.

Vassalboro town meeting, voting to go ahead, with adaptations

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro officials are going ahead with a Monday evening open town meeting and Tuesday written-ballot voting as in past years – but with adaptations.

The 2020 town meeting warrant calls voters to assemble at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 22, at Vassalboro Community School. The written ballot questions will not be decided the next day, however, but three weeks later, on Tuesday, July 14.

On June 22, voters will find the auditorium and the cafeteria arranged with chairs six feet apart and other social distancing accommodations. Masks will be required. Entrances and exits will be monitored to avoid crowding. No more than 50 people will be allowed in either room. Those in the cafeteria with be able to listen via a loudspeaker; plans are being made to let them notify the moderator when they want to speak.

If more than 100 people show up, as of the June 11 selectmen’s meeting there was no policy. Town Manager Mary Sabins and retiring Selectman Lauchlin Titus consider only the request to buy a fire truck controversial, so they hope for a low voter turnout – another unusual feature.

After those present act on 56 warrant articles, the meeting will adjourn until 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 14, when polls will open for written-ballot voting, again at Vassalboro Community School, not at the town office as usual. Sabins said masks will be required at the polls. There are two articles for July 14: approval or rejection of the 2020-21 school budget approved June 22, and election of local officers.

On July 14, voters will elect one selectman to succeed Titus; Barbara Redmond is the only candidate on the ballot. For the school board, Susan Tuthill’s term ends this year and she is not a candidate for re-election. Erin Loiko is running for another term; Zachary Smith is the only other person on the ballot.

Budget committee members will be elected, as usual, during the June 22 open meeting (Art. 2, immediately after election of a moderator; Sabins said Richard Thompson has agreed to serve again, if elected under Art. 1).

Budget committee members whose two-year terms end this year are K. Peter Allen, Rick Denico, Jr., Douglas Phillips, Barbara Redmond and Joe Suga. Redmond will not seek re-election, Sabins said. Vassalboro residents interested in being nominated to serve on the committee are advised to make their interest known to current committee members.

Except for the fire truck, the warrant articles should be familiar. As in past years, they deal with the municipal and school budgets for the fiscal year that will begin July 1 and related issues, like tax due dates, authority to apply for grants and the alewife fishery and authority to spend alewife revenues.

The fire truck is in Art. 22, which asks voters to authorize spending up to $334,000 for a five-year lease-purchase agreement, with estimated interest bringing the total cost to over $360,000. Firefighters would act on the authorization only if the department does not receive a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Act) grant for a vehicle. Estimated annual payments would be slightly more than $72,000; the payment due in July 2022 would come from the town’s fire truck reserve fund, the remaining four payments (July 2023 through July 2026) from taxation.

Selectmen and budget committee members recommend voters approve all requested expenditures, except the fire truck purchase. Neither board recommends buying a new truck this year.

If voters approve all fund requests, as of June 15 Sabins expects the tax rate will remain the same or go down slightly. A decision on the fire truck purchase will not affect 2021 taxes.

Town warrant has been posted

The warrant for Vassalboro’s June 22 and July 14 annual town meeting is posted in public places in town, as in past years. It is also at the end of the town report for 2019, on pages 51 through 55.

Printed copies of the report were expected at the town office by Monday, June 15, and will be available at the June 22 town meeting. Because of Covid-19 precautions about printed materials, Town Manager Mary Sabins does not know where else in town they will be distributed.

The complete town report is on the Vassalboro website. Go to www.vassalboro.net; click on “Town of Vassalboro” to get to the home page; scroll down the page until you find and click on “Town Report” on the Navigation bar on the left side; click on the red fire truck and begin reading (or click here!).

Grab & Go bean dinner in Vassalboro

Vassalboro United Methodist Church (photo: Google streetview)

The Vassalboro United Methodist Church, on Main St. (Rte. 32), in North Vassalboro, will hold a Grab and Go bean dinner on Saturday, June 20, from 4:30 until all the beans are gone. Come along and grab a meal!

Vassalboro board approves solar energy project

by Mary Grow

Four Vassalboro Planning Board members present at the June 2 meeting unanimously approved a solar energy project at 515 Main Street (Route 32) almost opposite Ron’s Auto Parts. (For more information, see The Town Line, May 14)

ReVision Energy, represented by Senior Project Developer, Nate Niles, and Construction Project Manager, Al Copping, plans a community solar farm on Bernie Welch’s land. The solar panels will be surrounded by a seven-foot chain-link fence; residents in Central Maine Power Company’s service area will buy shares in the output.

Planning board members found that the project meets all criteria in Vassalboro’s land use and shoreland ordinances. They added two conditions to their approval:

  • Although the state transportation department has allowed two entrances onto the highway, after construction is complete only the north one is to be used. Niles said there will be almost no traffic in and out of the area.
  • Trees to be cleared between Main Street and the fence will be replaced with shrubbery that will provide visual screening from the highway, without blocking sunlight from the solar panels.

Niles expects work on the development to begin this summer. When he and Copping made their initial presentation May 5, he said work should take two to three months, will be done during daylight hours and should not be very noisy.

Turning to the only other item on the June 2 agenda, board members decided unanimously that Lorilee Dumont can enlarge her Dunham Road building from which she runs her catering and restaurant business without board review. However, should she later want to expand the business, she would need to appear before the board.

Codes Officer Paul Mitnik explained that Dumont wants to add a deck so she can continue to seat six tables of diners while maintaining social distancing. She does not plan to add tables, he said.

The June 2 planning board meeting was in person, not virtual. It was held in the Vassalboro Community School cafeteria so that board and audience members – all masked – could sit at least six feet apart.

The next meeting should be scheduled for Tuesday evening, July 7, the first Tuesday of the month.

Vassalboro awarded safety enhancement grant

Officials for the Town of Vassalboro are pleased to announce that they have been awarded a Safety En­hancement Grant by the Maine Muni­cipal Asso­cia­tion Workers Compensation Fund in the amount of $1,512.77.

The Ed Mac­Donald Safety Enhancement Grants and Scholarship Grants provide financial assistance to members of the MMA Workers Compensation Fund to purchase safety equipment or services to assist in reducing the frequency and severity of workplace injuries. The grant programs are designed to prevent injuries and improve workplace safety our Maine employees. The reduction in employee injuries also benefits the taxpayers by lessening lost hours at work, cost of claims and potential overtime expenses for employees who might have to fill in for injured co-workers.

The Maine Municipal Association has been awarding Safety Grants to members of the Workers’ Compensation fund since 1999. The Ed MacDonald Safety Enhancement Grants and Scholarships are an example of a successful partnership that has been preventing workplace injuries by bestowing more than $5 million in the funding of 3,938 Safety En­hancement Grants and 489 Schol­arship Grants. Together we are building safe communities.

For more information about Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Service programs, including Safety Enhancement Grant eligibility and applications, please visit www.memun.org and click on the Risk Management Services link, or call 1-800-590- 5583.

Vassalboro selectmen cancel May 28, 2020 meeting

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen have cancelled their May 28 meeting for lack of agenda items. Their next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 11, as an in-person meeting in the town office meeting room.

The meeting includes a public hearing on the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s application for $166,000 from Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds for the sewer pipeline project.

Garvan Donegan of the Central Maine Growth Council is scheduled to report recommendations for future use of TIF funds, which to date have supported the Sanitary District’s sewer connection to Winslow and the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI), the project intended to permit alewives to migrate into China Lake.

Vassalboro school board approves tentative plans for rest of year

Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

by Mary Grow

At their May 19 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members approved plans, some tentative, for the remainder of this school year, the summer and the next school year, on topics from education to lunch prices to a new telephone system.

Many decisions assumed that students and staff will return to classrooms in late August 2020. Vassalboro Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer emphasized that he and other superintendents spend a lot of time monitoring constantly-changing state and federal pandemic information and guidelines. He hopes Vassalboro Community School (VCS) will re-open before Labor Day 2020, but he offered no guarantee.

VCS Principal Megan Allen said distance learning continues for the rest of this school year. Teachers completed parent-teacher conferences, she said. An important current project is defining parts of course content that have been short-changed by lack of classroom time, so they can be emphasized in the fall.

As the end of the school year approaches, staff have cleaned out students’ lockers and bagged the contents to be picked up. A virtual eighth-grade graduation, probably in the form of a video for students and parents to share, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2. On Friday, June 5, the last day of classes, Allen and staff are working on arrangements for a parade that will pass as many students’ home as possible.

Allen said volunteers will continue to assemble meals to be delivered by bus through June 4. Beginning Monday, June 8, interim food service director Paula Pooler said the summer meal program will provide van delivery of meals to pick-up points.

In preparation for the hoped-for reopening, school board members unanimously approved a 10-cent increase in the full price of a school lunch, from $2.85 to $2.95, effective in the fall. Pooler explained that under the federal education department’s formula, Vassalboro should be charging $3. Vassalboro officials are allowed to reach the required level in 10-cent steps. Failure to comply would mean a reduced federal subsidy for the lunch program.

Board members accepted the recommendation to spend $20,392 for an upgrade of the phone system, including updating what Technology Coordinator Will Backman calls its brain and buying new handsets compatible with the improved brain. Pfeiffer said the money will come from the current year’s budget, specifically from anticipated savings due to the shut-down this spring.

The board approved a 2020-21 school calendar that has classes starting Wednesday, Aug. 26. Staff will hold preschool preparatory workshops Aug. 24 and Aug. 25.

Pfeiffer reported he had signed the contract to share in a solar energy project under development in Skowhegan (in which the Town of Vassalboro is also participating). Attorney Aga Dixon advised him to expect no immediate follow-up, because the project developers are waiting for other municipalities and schools to decide whether to join.

After previous discussions, board members approved buying into the solar development to reduce electricity costs. The project is currently expected to begin providing power early in 2021 and to run for at least 25 years.

Pfeiffer reminded board members that Vassalboro’s annual town meeting, at which voters will decide on the 2020-21 school budget among other items, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday evening, June 22. Voters will assemble at VCS. Pfeiffer, town officials and others are planning safely-spaced seating and other precautions.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 16, and is expected to be a virtual meeting.

VASSALBORO: Open town meeting planned for June 22

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro officials plan to hold an open town meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 22, at Vassalboro Community School (VCS), believing they can do so safely and within state guidelines.

Town Manager Mary Sabins said consensus was reached after many email and personal discussions among selectmen, town office staff, VCS technology coordinator David Trask, School Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and two attorneys with whom Sabins consulted. Selectmen unanimously approved at their May 14 meeting.

Written-ballot local elections are scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, at the same time as state primaries and referenda. Vassalboro polls will be at VCS, not in the town office as usual.

Discussion of the open meeting focused on conforming to state safety regulations to protect everyone involved. The current plan has the meeting moderator at one end of the VCS gymnasium flanked by socially-distanced staff and officials, facing spaced chairs, with no more than 50 people in the room.

The cafeteria would be set up to accommodate a separate gathering of up to 50 more people. Trask said setting up a two-room sound system would be no problem. Various ways to convey messages from people in the cafeteria to the moderator were proposed.

What if 101 people show up, Trask asked. “That’s gonna be a problem,” Sabins replied.

No one wants to discourage voters from attending the meeting. Selectmen think some residents may be hesitant about joining a crowd; and Sabins said she believes there is only one potentially controversial agenda item, the proposal to buy a new fire truck.

Town office to re-open

Town Manager Mary Sabins said at the May 14 selectmen’s meeting that the Vassalboro Town Office is scheduled to reopen to the public on Monday, June 1, with appropriate protective measures for staff and members of the public.

The May 14 discussion covered how to check voters in safely – perhaps by setting up plastic-shielded check-in desks outdoors, Trask suggested – and how to let them out at the end of the meeting while observing distancing. With four separate doors, the exodus from the gym would be comparatively easy, Trask said.

The other main topic May 14 was the planned fishway at the China Lake Outlet Dam in East Vassalboro. Matt Streeter, Manager of Maine Rivers’ Alewife Restoration Project (ARI), displayed on-screen detailed plans for the project that will let alewives complete their annual migration from the Sebasticook River into China Lake.

The fishway that lets the small fish swim upstream in the spring will be along the east bank of the stream, with access for construction over the Cates property, Streeter said. In the fall, out-migrating fish will exit through a tilting weir close to the west bank.

The fishway will not interfere with the town’s managing the dam to control China Lake water levels in accord with state regulations, Streeter said.

Streeter’s presentation covered the fishway itself and related topics like run-off control during construction and protection of archaeological resources if any are found.

Sabins and selectmen were concerned about the town’s responsibility to maintain the fishway. Streeter said the wooden baffles that are its main feature should last 10 years or so; replacing them is a simple and inexpensive bit of construction. He offered to provide spare baffles the town could store until needed.

The Department of Marine Resources has primary responsibility for opening and closing the gates that control entrance to the fishway and the weir, depending on water and fish flows, Streeter said. He agreed it would be helpful if town public works staff were also knowledgeable.

The Outlet Dam is not intended to host people watching alewives; the viewing area will be at Box Mills dam in North Vassalboro. Streeter and selectmen talked about at least a sign, and if necessary a fence, to keep people away from the stream.

ARI spokespeople have said they intend to have the Outlet Dam fishway built in the summer of 2021.

Vassalboro selectmen have cancelled their regular May 28 meeting due to lack of agenda items.  Their next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 11.

UPDATE: This article has been updated from the print version to show the May 28 meeting has been cancelled.

Local municipal offices set to re-open

Vassalboro town office

ALBION

The Albion Town Office is open regular business hours. Monday 12 p.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Thursday 12 p.m – 6 p.m. Limit 2 customers in the building.

BENTON

The Benton Town Office is currently open to the public Monday – Friday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Limit two customers in office at a time.

CHINA

The China Town Office is currently open for walk-up service Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

FAIRFIELD

The Fairfield Town Office will be re-opening to the public on Tuesday, May 26. We will be limiting members of the public allowed in the building to no more than two at a time. The hours will be shortened to 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Masks, gloves and own pens required. Residents may call for an appointment or curb side service if they are unable to meet the PPE requirements. The Lawrence Public Library is working on a plan to re-open on June 1. This plan is still being finalized but may entail no public in the building, pre-ordered books, shortened times to sign out new releases, curbside pick-up, and seven-day quarantine of returned materials.

PALERMO

The Town of Palermo is discussing plans to re-open but nothing has been finalized.

VASSALBORO

The Vassalboro Town Office will re-open to the public on Monday, June 1, at 8 a.m., with a few restrictions.

All town office visitors will be asked to wear a face mask and that no more than two customers enter the lobby at the same time, all while practicing social distancing. If possible, do not bring friends or family members with you. It is understood that some will need to have children with them. Hand sanitizers have been installed and residents are encouraged to use them when entering the building. Plexiglas has been installed at work stations and people are asked to bring their own pens.

Remember that most transactions can be done online by visiting Vassalboro.net, scroll to the bottom and click on the purple house. The public restroom will be closed until further notice.

WATERVILLE

All departments at City Hall, in Waterville, will re-open on Monday, June 1, at 8 a.m., with social distancing requirements in place.

UPDATE: This story has been updated for additional town office information.

Vassalboro planners study solar power application

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members reviewed two preliminary applications for solar power development in town at their May 5 virtual meeting. They expect one to be ready for a public hearing (if needed) and perhaps final review at their June 2 meeting.

Both projects involve solar panels on metal supports inside a high fence with a locked gate (emergency access is provided for the fire department). Both are close to highways and to connections with Central Maine Power’s system.

The smaller and more nearly ready project is on land owned by Bernard Welch, at 515 Main Street, almost opposite Ron’s Auto parts. The developer is ReVision Energy, represented at the planning board meeting by Project Developer, Nate Niles, and Construction Project Manager, Al Copping.

The project will cover about four acres and will be a community solar farm like the one at Three Level Farm, in China, also developed by ReVision. Niles explained that customers as a group will sign a lease agreement with Welch, own the equipment and share power from the solar panels, with ReVision building and managing the project.

Construction normally takes two to three months, and Copping said the work is mostly “low noise” – the pile-drivers putting in the poles to support the panels are the noisiest equipment.

Niles added that solar projects make no demand on water supplies and generate no waste.

The solar farm is expected to run at least 25 years. Niles agreed with board Chairman Virginia Brackett’s suggestion that instead of decommissioning the project when the panels lose efficiency, usually after 30 or 40 years, new panels could be installed.

Board members discussed at length ways to give residents a chance to ask questions and make comments before the board makes its decision. They decided if ReVision’s final application is received soon enough, they could begin their June 2 meeting by determining if it is complete and, if it is, hold a public hearing by inviting advance input and instructing interested residents on ways to join the meeting virtually.

The larger project, to cover about 20 acres of a 28-acre site, is proposed by Longroad Energy Management LLC, represented by David Kane and by Kara Moody and Brooke Barnes from consulting firm Stantec. It is located at 2579 Riverside Drive, shown on maps as on the east side of the road a little south of the southern end of Burleigh Road (old Route 3).

Moody and Barnes said the project will include solar panels and auxiliary equipment; an existing access road will be extended farther into the property. Since the land is mostly agricultural, little clearing will be needed.

Moody said there is no definite timeline yet; she expects to present a revised plan later this spring.