The following local residents were named to dean’s list at Becker College for the spring 2019 semester.
Rebecca Beringer, of Waterville, is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in exercise science, pre-physical therapy/health science concentration.
Brandon Coulombe, of Vassalboro, is pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in interactive media design, game development and programming concentration.
ALBIONMonday, September 30
(pay all up front or semi-annually)
Friday, September 27
Friday, March 27, 2020
Thursday, October 17
(pay all up front or quarterly)
Monday, September 23
Monday, November 25
Monday, February 24, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
(pay all up front or quarterly)
October 11
December 13
March 13, 2020
June 12, 2020
(pay all up front or biannually)
September 30 or
Half on Sept. 30
and half March 31, 2020
by Mary GrowNot surprisingly, Vassalboro School Board members spent most of their Aug. 20 meeting discussing back-to-school issues. A preliminary result of their deliberations about the school lunch program appeared in the packets sent home to parents as school opened Aug. 27.
The welcome-back packet included a survey asking parents how often their children ate school-provided food, what they liked and disliked and especially what the meals program could do to encourage participation. Survey results will be anonymous and confidential. Information is also on the new website, vcsvikings.org.
Board members and Superintendent Alan Pfieffer stressed the importance of student participation in the meals program, which includes breakfast and lunch. The state, using federal funds and guidelines, reimburses schools for free and reduced-price meals served to students whose families meet income requirements. Yet, Pfeiffer said, many families eligible for the program do not apply.
As a result, the Vassalboro Community School lunch program, like many others in Maine, runs a deficit, and Vassalboro doesn’t receive federal money for which it could be eligible.
Board members also voted to join the Kennebec Alliance Service Center, which is a totally different thing from the former AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92.
The service center, Pfeiffer said, is a more organized version of the informal cooperation among school officials that has existed for decades in such forms as regular superintendents’ meetings, shared staff and cooperative purchasing among different schools and school units.
RSU (Regional School Unit) #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley has been a major proponent of increased cooperation, Pfeiffer said. New state legislation encourages the idea with financial incentives; Pfeiffer expects when the state contribution to local school budgets is calculated in the spring of 2020, Vassalboro will get about $33,000 added as a result of service center membership.
The Kennebec Alliance already includes schools from the Skowhegan area (School Administrative District #54) through Waterville to China, the easternmost RSU #18 member.
Vassalboro is also in the second year of a three-year contract to continue to use the services of former AOS #92 staff members, several of whom regularly attend Vassalboro board meetings. Each of the three former AOS members has its own superintendent. Pfeiffer said he, Eric Haley, in Waterville, and Peter Thiboutot, in Winslow, continue to work together.
In other business Aug. 20, board members unanimously appointed five new staff members at Vassalboro Community School and accepted three resignations.
The meeting was preceded by the first of several proposed long-range planning discussions aimed at evaluating current conditions and developing recommendations for building on strengths and overcoming weaknesses.
The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Sept. 17.
Some of the attendees at the Invasive Plant 101 workshop, held in China on August 24, were, from left to right, Sonny Pierce, of Rangeley Lake Heritage Trust, Peter Caldwell and Marie Michaud, China Lake Association, and Spencer Harriman, of Lake Stewards of Maine. (contributed photo)
Friend or Foe?
That was the question on participants’ minds who attended the Invasive Plant 101 Workshop, at China Town Office, on August 20. The workshop was hosted by the China Lake Association and the Kennebec Water Districts. Participants included members of the China Lake Association, the Kennebec Water District, Echo Lake Association, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, the Boothbay Region Water District, folks from the town of Palermo, and year-round and summer residents of China Lake.
The six-hour workshop was presented in four parts:
Illustrations for 11 of Maine’s most unwanted invasive aquatic plants.
The overview included information on the negative impact invasive aquatic plants can have, and have had, on ecosystems, economics, recreation, property values, and human health in and around lake communities. A few facts shared about Maine lakes and their economic development are as follows: 640,000 residents recreate on Maine lakes, visitors spend $2.3 billion annually, generating and sustaining $3.5 billion in economic activities, $1.8 billion in annual income from Maine residents and over 50,000 jobs. These figures are from a 2005 study by T. Allen, Center for Tourism Research and Analysis, Maine Congress of Lakes Association.
The town of China benefits through the taxes generated from lake property owners, both year-round and seasonal. China residents and others enjoy the natural beauty and recreational activities the lake provides. These same activities and pleasures are shared by people visiting for a day or vacationing for a longer period of time. If China Lake or Three Mile Pond where to become infested by an invasive plant these recreational activities would be jeopardized. The cost on the community can be phenomenal, from the loss of tax revenue to the expense of plant removal. Early detection of an invasive aquatic plant will insure that the activities and financial benefits that we all enjoy from experiencing our lakes will continue uninterrupted.
One of the working groups at the Invasive Plants Workshop 101.
The second and third parts of the workshop were about the 11 aquatic invasive plants, their native look-a-likes, and what to do if you find a suspicious plant. If you think you have found an invasive plant you should mark the sport where you found it, take a photo or obtain a sample of the plant, and contact your local identification representative on invasive plants (Elaine Philbrook) to help with identification (or follow the directions on the Lake Stewards of Maine web site: https://www.lakestewardsofmaine.org/reporting-aquatic-species-6/). A word of caution, when gathering a sample of a suspicious plant, be careful to gather all the fragments of the plant. Invasive plants are able to propagate from very small plant fragments.
The final part of the workshop covered how to conduct a lake screening survey and use helpful tools. A screening survey consists of people who have had training to identify invasive aquatic plants. Participants choose or are assigned an area on the lake to watch for suspicious plants. Once a year they report their findings to the lead supervisor. A survey can take place anytime during the year you can get out on the water. The best time to do a survey is between mid-July to early fall because plants are in bloom.
To become a “screener” you need to be trained. Trainings can be a six-hour Invasive Plant 101 workshop, or three-hour Invasive Plant Paddle; both are offered by the Lake Stewards of Maine. A third option is an Invasive Plant Paddle offered by a trained local resident.
If you are interested in becoming part of the screening survey team contact Elaine Philbrook at esphilbrook@gmail.com. The goal of the China Lake Association is to have enough trained people available to develop a screening survey team that will continuously monitor the China Lake.
Frank Richards, of Vassalboro, has been president of the Webber Pond Association for 20 years.
This year’s edition of the Webber Pond Association annual meeting took on the feel of meetings from the past. Where in recent years they have been somewhat quiet, especially in regards to the lake drawdown, this year’s version produced additional controversy, with much discussion about the drawdown, and questions about proxy voting and voting restrictions.
Many different views were presented in regards to the drawdown date. In their June meeting, the board of directors had recommended Monday, September 16, as the proposed date. The third Monday in September has been the norm for the last five years or so. The directors came to that conclusion by trying to determine a date that would pass on the first vote.
However, this year, there were other dates mentioned at the annual meeting, mainly October 28 and November 30. The two latter dates never came up for a vote as the September 16 date passed, 33-29, a far closer vote than in years past. Over the last 10 – 12 years, votes in favor of the third Monday have been more one-sided, with few dissenters.
The common thought for the September 16 drawdown was that it has “been beneficial” to lower the water level in September as opposed to later in the year, even though DEP recommendations are for a mid-August drawdown. Association Vice President Charles Backenstose, a strong proponent for early drawdown, said that the September date is a compromise that is still useful at exporting phosphorus, while enabling people to use the lake longer. “Who wants to pull boards [at the dam] in July?” he asked.
Association President Frank Richards noted that the November 30 date coincides with the end of duck season. “I don’t think we’ll get any more water quality benefit by setting the winter level on October 28. There’s just no reason to not wait until November 30, if the membership favors a later draw down.”
Attendees at the meeting also brought up the possibility of implementing proxy voting for members unable to attend the meeting because of work, or other, commitment. Discussion on this topic drew the most heated exchange of the meeting, with some in attendance insisting that the by-laws provided for them to present the question to the membership for a vote at this year’s meeting. It was moved and approved to put the question on the agenda for the 2020 meeting.
Also, a motion to change the by-laws to restrict voting rights to lake property owners only was ruled out of order by Richards. It was the president’s opinion it was too big a change to be put on the agenda without any prior notice. A motion was made to overturn Richards’ ruling, but was defeated, although 16 people did vote to support the motion.
It also was moved and approved to place the voting membership question on the 2020 agenda.
In other business, Bob Nadeau, Webber Pond Association’s representative on the China Region Lakes Alliance, reported that the reason that more shoreline work is being done on China Lake than Webber Pond and Three Mile Pond is because of the fact that China provides significantly more funding to the CRLA than do the other two lakes. Both Webber and Three Mile ponds are located in Vassalboro.
“Alewives continue to be a much-discussed topic as a water quality management tool and as a restoration effort,” said Nadeau. “There is no doubt that the water quality has improved since their introduction into both Webber and Three Mile ponds.”
Nadeau also noted that, as of his knowledge, there are no invasive plants in Webber Pond. The Webber Pond Association voted to give $1,000 to CRLA. In total, according to Nadeau, it costs about $6,000 a year to provide boat inspectors at the three lakes.
In his vice president’s report, Backenstose said the water clarity in the pond has doubled over the last three weeks, to 3.7 meters (approx. 9-1/2 feet), an improvement from less than two meters on July 13. He also has seen no collection of the scum that accumulates when a severe algae bloom is present.
Backenstose has taken Secchi disk readings on the pond for the last 15 years. He also takes phosphorus samples that are analyzed at the state level. There is no data available for Secchi disk readings in October or November, as Backenstose, a Pennsylvania resident, returns home in September and is not available to produce readings for those months, which have increasingly become part of the discussion as far as the annual drawdown is concerned. A member of the audience volunteered to take those readings in order to be able to build a data base for those two months in regards to water clarity. The offer was enthusiastically accepted by Richards.
In his president’s report, Richards said, “Webber is on track to have a really good summer with respect to keeping the lake at a good level.” They have been able to keep levels at the spillway despite several years of drought conditions.
Gov. Janet Mills, left, tries to lift a net full of alewives during the May run. Phil Innes, a Webber Pond Association director, helps the governor. (photo by Jeff Nichols)
The association has been using a management plan for Webber Pond that was drafted in 1990 by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. That plan is in the process of being updated and will be posted on the Facebook page as soon as it is available, according to Richards.
From a question posed by Richards, no one in attendance has caught, nor heard of anyone else on the lake having caught, a northern pike. A good sign.
Richards also noted that in May, Gov. Janet Mills visited the fish ladder at the Webber Pond dam. It marked the first time a Maine governor had ever visited a fish ladder anywhere in the state of Maine. Another landmark appearance was the presence of the directors of the Department of Marine Resources and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to the Vassalboro dam.
Members returned all officers, Frank Richards, president; Charles Backenstose, vice president; Rebecca Lamey, secretary; John Reuthe, treasurer. Also elected were directors Robert Bryson, Scott Buchert, Mary Bussell, Darryl Fedorchak, Roland Hallee, Phil Innes, Jennifer Lacombe, Robert Nadeau, Stephen Pendley, Pearly LaChance, John Reuthe, Susan Traylor and James Webb.
The following students have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of New Hampshire for the spring 2019 semester, in Durham, New Hampshire.
Matthew Murray, of Augusta, earning highest honors.
Madeline Lewis, of Augusta, earning highest honors.
Cody Short, of Fairfield, earning high honors.
Bradford Wilbur, of Fairfield, earning honors.
Carly LaRochelle, of Fairfield, earning highest honor.s
Elijah Caret, of Oakland, earning highest honors.
Hannah Duperry, of Oakland, earning highest honors
Adam Bovie, of Vassalboro, earning highest honors
Fish ladder construction at Ladd Dam, in North Vassalboro. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
For more than five years, a group of dedicated people have been working to re-open Maine waterways to the state’s native migratory fish population. The obstacles have been fierce, but the rewards promise to be well worth the effort. Clearer water in our lakes and ponds, an enhanced food web and improved habitat along our rivers and streams are just a few of the benefits proponents of the project expect to see.
Map of the dams along Outlet Stream. (Click to enlarge.)
As European settlers spread into central Maine in the 1700s, they found a lush landscape: forests filled with wildlife and lakes teeming with fish. They also saw untapped potential in Maine’s many rushing rivers and flowing streams. Dams popped up everywhere as settlers sought to harness the region’s hydropower to grind their grain and drive their saw mills. No less than six dams were built along Outlet Stream, in Vassalboro alone.
Dams are basically good for one thing: preventing water from flowing. They also, unintentionally, prevent fish from traveling upstream. Migratory species like river herring (alewives and blueback herring), sea lamprey, shad and salmon, which spend much of their lives at sea but return to fresh waters to spawn, were – pardon the pun – left high and dry by the dam construction.
These obstructions along Maine’s rivers had a particular impact on alewives which – unlike their cousins, the blueback herring, that spawn in the rocky beds of freshwater streams and rivers – prefer to lay their eggs in the muddy bottoms of our lakes and ponds. Alewives were already faced with the daunting task of navigating up Maine’s rivers and through the maze of Maine’s many streams before finally reaching the calm and safety of interior lakes. With the additional obstacles posed by man-made dams built along Maine’s streams and rivers, migratory fish populations virtually disappeared from many of our lakes. Alewives, which had been so plentiful in our ponds and lakes before the arrival of European settlers, dwindled to almost nothing by the 20th century.
The site of Masse Dam, which was removed a year ago. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
Alewives in particular offer an ecological benefit to Maine lakes that was lost when they disappeared. These migratory fish feed on the phosphorous-rich plankton that also serve as a nutrient for the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) that is currently such a problem in our lakes. The alewives carry the phosphates they consume back to the ocean, depriving the algae of this essential nutrient and curbing its growth.
Most of this phosphorous enters the lake as runoff from melting snow and summer rains. When soil around the lake is disturbed, such as during construction for rural development, it brings more of these nutrients to the surface, which then are carried into the lake by the rains or melting snow. As the population around Maine’s lakes grew and development along the shoreline increased, more phosphorous-rich soil was disturbed and those nutrients were carried as runoff into nearby bodies of water.
Unfortunately, the very creatures that could have helped balance the increased phosphorous were stuck – quite literally – out at sea. The algae and cyanobacteria in the lake had no such problem, however, and as a result they began to multiply and spread like crazy. Lakes, once beautifully blue, began to turn green.
The China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative aims to reclaim this balance by restoring alewife passage back to China Lake. The project is headed up by the nonprofit organization Maine Rivers, in collaboration with the towns of China and Vassalboro, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Kennebec Water District, the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust, and the China Region Lakes Alliance.
“‘Collaborative’ is not a strong enough word,” says Maine Rivers’ executive director, Landis Hudson, describing the team effort.
Much of the early groundwork for the project was laid down by the China Region Lakes Alliance, which was founded in 1995 by residents of China, Vassalboro and Windsor, along with the Kennebec Water District, to address water quality and erosion concerns around China Lake, Three Mile Pond, Webber Pond and Three Cornered Pond.
Lombard Dam was one of those removed by the Maine Rivers team. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
Of the six dams along Outlet Stream which were blocking fish passage from Sebasticook River, two have been completely removed, Lombard and Masse dams. Fishways are planned for three others, Outlet, Box Mill and Ladd dams. Morneau Dam will be the final one tackled by the team, scheduled for the summer of 2022, although at this point they haven’t decided whether a fishway or a complete removal is more appropriate for the location.
Currently, the team is constructing a fishway at Ladd Dam in Vassalboro, which they hope to complete no later than September 30. The fishway is based on a design first proposed in 1909 by the Belgian scientist G. Denil.
“The channel will be four feet wide,” says Matt Streeter, project manager for Maine Rivers and the Alewife Restoration Initiative. Removable barriers, called baffles, will be placed along the fishway to help control the flow of water and give the fish a place to rest as they fight the rushing current. Grating will also be installed over the fishway – extending a few inches above ground level – to allow observation of the fish migration, but prevent anyone from falling into the racing water.
“The key thing that will attract fish into [the fishway] will be its location,” Streeter explains. “It’s gotta be in the vicinity of one of the major currents in the stream – and you really should have more water coming out of your fishway than going anywhere else, because it’s got to be the most attractive stream for them to follow up. They’re basically looking for the deepest, swiftest, largest volume of water.”
A fishway was installed a decade ago on Webber Pond at the outlet to Seven Mile Brook in order to allow alewives to re-enter the pond (although alewives have been stocked in Webber Pond and China Lake by the Maine Department of Marine Resources since 1997).
“[Water quality] is much, much better than it was before the alewives,” says Frank Richards, president of the Webber Pond Association, in Vassalboro. “It’s not perfect. The alewives are not a panacea, but the [algae] blooms are just a fraction of how intense they used to be. Before the alewives, there would be a green, gelatinous, slime-mess starting in late June and lasting until mid-September. With the alewives, we have clear water for most of the summer.”
Richards warns that opening up passage for alewives into the lake will not solve all the problems associated with an overabundance of nutrients in the water. On Webber Pond, there is still usually one algae bloom each summer. “There’s almost always at least one bloom,” he says, “and it’s very rare – even with the alewives – not to have a bloom that qualifies as a ‘severe bloom,’ meaning a [water visibility] reading of two meters or less. So, the alewives have not completely eliminated blooms, but the intensity isn’t even remotely comparable to what it was before the alewives were introduced.”
Landis Hudson, executive director of Maine Rivers, at Outlet Dam, in Vassalboro. (photo by Eric W. Austin)
There has been some concern that alewives dumped into China Lake might become ‘landlocked’ and unable to return to the ocean. If this happens, any phosphorous reduction they provide could be outweighed by the nutrients reintroduced at their deaths. Generally, this does not seem to be a problem in either Webber Pond or China Lake, as they are able to leave the lake with water as it is released through the dam’s control gates, but the Alewife Restoration team aims to prevent any alewives from becoming landlocked by including, along with the fishways, renovations to the dams which will provide an ‘alewife outlet’ designed specifically to facilitate their return downstream. The real problem is that the dams prevent the alewives from returning to the lake once it’s time to spawn, so populations can only be maintained by continually restocking the lake from other sources.
The completion of the fishway at Ladd Dam in Vassalboro will be a major milestone for the Alewife Restoration team, but there is still much work to do. Additional fishways need to be constructed at Box Mill Dam (behind the Olde Mill Place) and at the dam where Outlet Stream flows out of China Lake.
Maine Rivers is actively working to plan the renovations with the community in mind. “We have fairly detailed plans for the fishway that will go here [at Outlet Dam],” says Hudson, “but I’m interested in exploring the idea of making this a more holistic planning and design process to figure out what people in town want and try to make that happen.” One idea is to build a bridge which would serve as a place for visitors to observe the fish migrations.
The team plans to complete construction of a fishway at Box Mill Dam during the summer of 2020, and at the head of Outlet Stream during the summer of 2021. The final step will be tackling Morneau Dam, likely sometime in 2022.
By the spring of 2023, alewives will be returning to China Lake under their own power for the first time in nearly 200 years.
Construction begins for alewives restoration at Ladd Dam in North Vassalboro
The Ladd Dam in North Vassalboro. (Photo by Roland D. Hallee)
The Alewife Restoration Initiative and Ladd Dam fishway construction update will be held on Thursday, August 1, at 6 p.m.
Project partners will meet for an update on the fishway construction and a project overview, at the Olde Mill Place, 934 Main Street, in North Vassalboro, from where they will walk to the site. The rain date is set for Thursday, August 8. The public is welcome.
FMI: contact Matt at 337-2611.
by Mary GrowAt their July 18 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen talked about money (funding for the Vassalboro Sanitary District [VSD] expansion and buying a police car) and people (creating a new town solar committee and appointing its members, a change in codes officers and a neighborhood dispute).
Richard Green of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, engineers for the VSD project to connect Vassalboro’s sewer system to the Winslow-Waterville one, gave selectmen an estimated budget, including estimated sewer user fees.
Planned costs for the connection total $7.768 million, but Green hopes it will come in under budget. The money will come from federal and state grants and loans and from Vassalboro’s TIF fund. Green’s budget showed $290,000 in TIF money already granted and, he said, mostly spent. Selectmen said VSD officials asked for another $120,000 (see The Town Line, June 20).
Green said the plan for the future is to use town money for three purposes:
His report estimates the average annual user fee at $1,382, although he said the figure will be affected by many variables, including operating costs and annual charges from the town of Winslow once the system is operating and how many new users sign up.
Also, he said, using TIF dollars as planned could save each user about $50 annually.
Green estimated about 30 houses along about another 3,000 feet of Route 32 in North Vassalboro will be able to connect; Duratherm Window also intends to hook in, he said. No homeowner is required to connect unless his or her septic system fails. The more users, the lower the fee will be per user.
Selectmen thought the cost to users too high; Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus feared some residents’ sewer fees would be higher than their property tax bills. Green called his figures probably a worst-case scenario, with costs likely to be lower than expected and revenue perhaps to be higher.
After discussion, board members appropriated another $100,000 from the TIF fund to the sewer project on a 2-1 vote, with Titus and Robert Browne approving and John Melrose, who argued for a lower figure, opposed. They propose considering funding again in a year when VSD officials will have more complete information.
Town Manager Mary Sabins said the TIF fund had almost $144,000 available. Resident Michael Poulin again urged selectmen to expand the development projects for which TIF money can be used. It is currently limited to the sewer expansion and the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI); Poulin would like capital improvements at the transfer station added, and perhaps an improved outhouse at the East Vassalboro boat landing (see The Town Line, June 20, 2019, p. 3, and July 11, p.4). Selectmen asked Sabins to consult the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which sets rules for using TIF funds.
On another financial issue, Police Chief Mark Brown, asked to investigate options for the new police car voters authorized at the June town meeting, brought selectmen a recommendation for an SUV from Quirk Ford, in Augusta, for $36,303, less than the amount voters approved. Selectmen accepted Brown’s recommendation unanimously. They agreed to decide on financing later, as Brown said, delivery will be 12 to 14 weeks after the order is placed.
The newly-created Solar Study Committee is to be charged with recommending a company to install a solar generating system to serve several town buildings, again as authorized by town meeting voters. After considering residents who expressed interest, had relevant experience or both, selectmen appointed Donald Breton, Arthur Kingdon, Barbara Redmond, John Reuthe and Clough Toppan to the committee, hoping all will agree to serve.
Selectmen also appointed Patricia King a new member of the Conservation Commission.
Sabins reported that Codes Officer Richard Dolby has resigned, effective in mid-August, and will be succeeded by former Codes Officer Paul Mitnik, who resigned from his position in China at the end of June. Mitnik had already been hired by the town of Wayne, to whose officials he has given notice.
The Priest Hill Road neighborhood dispute comes under Dolby’s and/or Mitnik’s jurisdiction. Alan Johnston attended the selectmen’s meeting to complain about unlicensed vehicles, old trailers and other items he considers junk on Howard Crosby’s property across the road. He wants Vassalboro’s junkyard ordinance enforced. Later, Crosby and his wife Joanne told board members they are willing to get rid of things as weather and their resources permit.
The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Aug. 15. At either that meeting or a special August meeting to be announced they intend to set the 2019-2020 tax rate so bills can be mailed out. The first of four quarterly tax payments will be due Monday, Sept. 23.
The Vassalboro American Legion presents a recognition plaque to Don Breton for his work placing flags on the graves of local veterans. From left to right, Tom Richards, Don Breton and James Kilbride. (Contributed photo)
The American Legion Post #126, Vassalboro, donated $1,000 to the Vassalboro Volunteer Fire Department for the mobile communication at their meeting July 15, 2019. From left to right, Tom Richards, Don Breton, accepting check for Vassalboro Volunteer Fire Department, and James Kilbride. (Contributed photo)