Vassalboro school recognizes most improved students

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From left to right, front to back, Peter Giampietro, Ryder Neptune-Reny, Braiden Crommett, Zoey DeMerchant, Noah Rau, Lukas Blais, Sovie Rau, Baylee Fuchswanz, Tyler Clark, Mason Lagasse, Andrew Maxwell, Mylee Petela, Tallulah Cloutier, Addyson Burns, Paige Littlefield, Kaiden Morin, Echo Hawk, Kayden Painchaud, Principal Dianna Gram, Tabitha Craig, Lexi Allen, Hunter Brandt, Lara Stinchfield, Nathalia Carrasco, John Nutting and Joshua Bonsant. Absent from photo, Cameron Willett, Emily Paetow, Hailey Fongemie, Kazlynn Davidson and Owen Pooler. (Contributed photo)

Students at Vassalboro Community School were recently recognized as most improved students by the Portland Seadogs baseball team and Next Gen. Students were selected by their teachers.

Vassalboro selectmen appoint Conservation Commission member; award bulk waste contract

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

In addition to approving the warrant for the June 4 and 12 town meeting, Vassalboro selectmen dealt with two other issues at their May 1 meeting.

They appointed Laura Jones as a new member of the Vassalboro Conservation Commission for three years.

On Town Manager Mary Sabins’ recommendation, they awarded the bid for hauling bulky waste – mattresses, furniture and similar items – to low bidder Central Maine Disposal, also for three years.

Sabins is not optimistic about trash disposal in the near future. With the opening of the new Fiberight facility postponed from April to at least September, many communities are landfilling trash; and prices for most recyclables have dropped dramatically, she said.

All three Vassalboro selectmen are philosophically opposed to landfilling on environmental grounds, but they accepted it as a temporary measure.

They agreed that they will not abandon Vassalboro’s single-sort recycling program, regardless of current financial effects. They hope they or larger recyclers can store materials until prices rebound.

Sabins said Public Works Department head Eugene Field reported the town’s cemeteries and lawns have been cleared of winter debris and are ready to be mowed.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17.

Vegetable stand gets site approval in Vassalboro; still needs shoreland zoning permit

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members were able to give Parker Denico one of the two permits he needs for a seasonal vegetable stand in North Vassalboro. For the other, he needs to go first to the Board of Appeals.

Denico said he would like to build his stand on Ray Breton’s Main Street lot, near the gazebo. Planning Board members found he needed a site review permit for the business. They went through the site review criteria and unanimously approved that permit, finding the new business would have no adverse impacts on the neighborhood.

Denico also needs a shoreland zoning permit to put the temporary building less than 250 feet from Outlet Stream. He estimated the distance to the stream at 50 feet or maybe a little more, well within the 100 feet where no new building is allowed without a variance from the setback requirement.

Board members told Denico only the bard of appeals can grant variances. The variance, if approved, would go with the land, not with Denico’s business, Board Chairman Virginia Brackett said, so Breton would benefit as well.

Breton tore down a house that had been even closer to Outlet Stream, and local ordinances say such a non-conforming building can be replaced within one year, board members said. However, they and Codes Officer Richard Dolby found the house was torn down more than a year ago and Breton’s application to replace it had expired. Denico plans a stand that would be a maximum of 10 by 20 feet, he said. He would like to open in June and plans to close no later than the end of October. He grows cucumbers himself and intends to sell produce from other area growers, starting with strawberries from Benton if he can get the stand approved and open early enough.

The board of appeals already had a May 8 meeting scheduled. Dolby said he would ask members how soon they could meet again to hear Denico’s variance request.

Vassalboro proposed budget shows 0.90 mil rate increase

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

After hours of meetings, Vassalboro school and town officials have come up with a budget to present to voters on June 4 that pleases few if any of them.

The major problem is that if voters approve the expenditures proposed by the school board and selectmen, they will increase their tax rate by 0.90 mils (90 cents for each $1,000 of valuation), from the current 14.55 mils to a projected 15.45 mils. According to figures Town Manager Mary Sabins prepared for the May 2 selectmen’s meeting at which the town meeting warrant articles were approved:

  • The proposed $2.061 million municipal budget for 2018-19 has gone up a little more than two percent over the current year, but because non-tax revenues are expected to increase, the municipal budget will require over $27,000 less in taxes.
  • The $335,327 Kennebec County tax, which the town is obligated to pay, is up four percent, adding close to $13,000 due from taxes.
  • The $7.731 million school budget, by far the largest of the three, will require well over $328,000 in additional tax revenue, by Sabins’ calculations.

The town meeting warrant consists of 56 articles to be decided June 4 and two more that voters will act on at the polls on June 12, ratifying or rejecting the school budget approved June 4 and electing local officials (one selectman and one school board member).

The June 4 open meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Vassalboro Community School. In addition to budget issues, voters will elect budget committee members, set various policies and approve or reject amendments to Vassalboro’s Building Permit Ordinance. There are currently two vacancies on the budget committee, and Elizabeth Reuthe said she does not intend to serve again.

After long discussions, the budget committee voted to differ with selectmen on one expenditure article and with school board members on another.

The selectmen propose setting aside $37,500 from taxes for two reserve funds, $25,000 to go toward a new plow truck and $12,500 as half the estimated cost of a new metal roof on the Riverside fire station. The budget committee recommends the same amounts, but advocates taking the $37,500 from the town’s surplus (also known as unassigned or undesignated fund balance) instead of from taxes.

In the school budget, the school board recommends for Vassalboro Community School administration $329,119.48, a 14 percent increase from the current year, primarily because the incoming principal will command a higher salary than the outgoing one. The budget committee recommends $279,119.48, or $50,000 less.

Several budget committee members said their goal is to make sure there is a debate over school spending on June 4. In recent years, voters impatient to end the meeting have approved voting on all the school budget articles as a group, an action that has had the effect of limiting discussion.

The school board approved its budget recommendations at a special meeting on April 25, after earlier discussions in March and April. The vote was not unanimous; Susan Tuthill was absent and Jessica Clark voted against the budget request, explaining afterward that she believes the resulting tax increase is “too much for the town.”

School board members have repeatedly revised the budget downward. At the April 25 meeting, AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 Superintendent Eric Haley and Finance Director Paula Pooler presented what they consider the final cuts and rearrangements they can safely recommend.

They hope for state approval for two new buses this year. They could ask for one, Haley said – and risk student safety. Similarly, they could assume one fewer home-schooler will enter high school at town expense in 2018-19 – and risk a major hole in the budget.

School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur and retiring Principal Dianna Gram urged support of the budget request. Gram said Vassalboro Community School is dealing with the difficult task of accommodating special-needs students without shortchanging regular students. The number of very expensive out-of-district placements has declined during her tenure, she said, especially since the school’s student support center opened.

Gram said 29 percent of VCS students need some kind of special help. School board member Jolene Clark Gamage expects the number will increase, primarily due to Maine’s drug problem.

If voters reject the budget, Pooler said the only way to get a meaningful decrease would be to cut personnel, a move Haley said “would decimate the school.”

Budget committee members are distressed at the tax increase, and also unhappy with the school board’s decision to sign a three-year contract to continue using Waterville’s central office services despite the dissolution of the AOS. Several committee members suggested school board members had accepted Haley’s advice to stay with Waterville without adequately researching alternatives.

Budget committee members pointed out repeatedly that school choice – allowing Vassalboro high school students to go wherever they want – is a costly option. Eliminating choice and requiring town-supported students to attend only one high school would need voters’ approval, and they are aware that school choice has wide support among residents.

Co-founder of wildlife rehab center remembered

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Carleen Cote with one of her “babies.”

A tribute to a special “mother”

by Lea Davis

One definition of “mother” is “nurturer.” A good mother puts her children’s needs before her own to insure their health and welfare.

Carleen Cote, of Vassalboro, alongside her husband Donald, has, for 53-plus years, rescued thousands of Maine’s abandoned and starving wild animal babies, nurturing them back to health and eventual freedom, all at the couple’s own expense. She wrote a popular monthly column about her “children” for The Town Line and Turner Publishing newspapers, always crediting the help received from faithful volunteers, local veterinarians, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wardens and staff, other rehabbers and the caring people who donated money, food and supplies for the wildlife. Carleen Cote passed away on April 27. Her story is best told through her own words gleaned from 240+ “Critter Chatter” articles, which she wrote over 20 years’ time. Here are a few excerpts:

“The month of April arrives and so do the babies. The raccoons appeared in droves. Containers for them started to fill the living room, formulas were made, the babies would be fed four times a day, the last feeding at midnight. Hundreds of used towels needed to be washed, dried and folded for the next change (after every feeding!). One night in May, Donald decided to count the raccoons as we had lost track – he counted 150! In addition, skunks, mink, weasels, opossums, fawns, foxes, porcupines and woodchucks were arriving. We were overwhelmed and exhausted. However, our dedicated volunteers saved us. God bless them!

“Though raccoons are in the majority, they don’t usually present the challenges that we face with the fawns. One year we received 20 fawns, requiring several trips to the veterinarian with broken bones, open sores and coccidiosis infections. Seven fawns died from their wounds, received either by vehicle hits or predator attacks. Some won’t nurse from the bottle, making it necessary to use a syringe to administer the milk. We carry on.

“Over the spring and summers months the animals, eventually moved to outside pens, grew and got fat. Many were released in late August to their natural habitats. September is the release time for the raccoons. Could we find enough spots to release 150 of them? We did it, at last! The raccoons react differently when taken to the chosen release sites. Some left the carrier, happy to roam, others hesitated, terror showing in their eyes, but, eventually, decided to explore their new surroundings. We are asked, “Are you sad to see them go after spending so much time caring for them?” Yes and no – we do wonder how they are faring, but know they are where they belong, enjoying the things they naturally do in the wild.

“We are frequently asked how we got involved in wildlife rehabilitation. It began when Donald expressed the desire to raise waterfowl. We were fortunate to find land in Vassalboro with a small area of water that could be enlarged. Then, an article about a wildlife rehab facility in Litchfield caught our attention. Would we be interested in doing this also? You guessed it! Our first critter to arrive, even before we had any permits, was a baby black duck. We applied for our state and federal permits and became licensed rehabbers. The rest is history. We gradually expanded our efforts and facilities way beyond the needs of one baby black duck in 1964, to now caring for hundreds of wildlife a year.”

Carleen was fond of a writing she’d come across entitled “I Am An Animal Rescuer,” author unknown. In part, it reads:

“My job is to assist God’s creatures, I was born with the drive to fulfill their needs
I take in helpless, unwanted, homeless creatures without planning or selection
I have bought cat food with my last dime. I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand
I have hugged someone vicious and afraid. I have fallen in love a thousand times
And I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body too many times to count
I am an Animal Rescuer. My work is never done. My home is never quiet.
My wallet is always empty, but my heart is always full.”

Goodbye old friend.

Memorial donations may be made to Kennebec Valley Humane Society, 10 Pet Haven Lane, Augusta, ME 04330.

Five staff members cited at Vassalboro school

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Vassalboro School Principal Dianna Gram, third from right, is flanked by, from left to right, Senora Soifer, Meg Swanson, Megan Allen, Stephanie Roy and Robin Corey. All were presented with certificates from the principal. (Contributed photo)

Corey, Roy, Swanson, Allen and Soifer honored at Portland Seadogs game

Recently, at Vassalboro Community School, principal Dianna Gram recognized five staff members for their contributions to VCS. This recognition comes from the Portland Seadogs baseball team. Each of these staff members has made a difference here at VCS. The staff members are:

Robin Corey for being a role model and leader. Her work on behalf of students with disabilities has made a huge difference! She has also provided much support to the members of the Special Education team. “You are also helpful and kind to the core!” said Gram.

Stephanie Roy for her hard work to become the teacher she is today. Ms. Roy started at VCS as an Ed Tech and has worked in many grade levels. She has worked more than one job at a time putting herself through college to become a teacher. “VCS thanks you and is proud of all you have accomplished,” said Gram.

Meg Swanson has been a great addition to VCS. She has helped teachers and students in many areas. Her focus on mindfulness and kindness has made the school better. She was thanked for helping the students to learn and grow.

Megan Allen is recognized for her leadership and hard work on curriculum. She has also received her doctorate and will be the next principal, following Gram’s retirement in June. VCS is very fortunate to have you on the team.

Finally, recognition goes to Senora Deb Soifer for her work at VCS teaching Spanish. She has brought culture and language learning to many students over the years. Gram stated, “She is retiring this year and we thank her for her work on behalf of kids. Because of her influence students have not only learned a language but have been exposed to another culture. VCS salutes you.”

These staff members were honored at the Portland Seadogs game along with other teachers throughout the state of Maine. Gramm concluded by saying, “Congratulations Mrs. Corey, Ms. Roy, Ms. Swanson, Dr. Allen and Senora Soifer…and know we are all proud of you!”

Vassalboro selectmen work to finalize warrant for town meeting

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen have moved their first meeting in May from the usual Thursday evening to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in the town office meeting room.

A major agenda item needs to be signing the warrant for the June 4 and June 12 annual town meeting, because Town Manager Mary Sabins’ schedule calls for the warrant to go to the printer by Friday, May 4, to be included in the annual town report.

However, selectmen ended their April 19 meeting and the budget committee meeting that followed with nothing resembling a finished warrant. There were three problems:

  • Sabins was waiting to hear from the Alewife Restoration Initiative, or ARI, what question or questions the group wants to put to Vassalboro voters. She had set aside two warrant articles for ARI, but expects only one to be used.

The manager and selectmen are working on two changes to shorten the warrant, which had 70 separate articles (68 for the June 4 open meeting and two more for written-ballot votes June 12) as of April 19. They propose combining social services and related agencies’ requests in a single article, without hindering voters’ chance to discuss each request separately; and they suggest combining separate requests for authorization to apply for grants into one article.

  • The most important problem was the lack of a 2018-19 school budget. Neither the school board nor AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 officials had submitted proposed expenditure figures for the 14 school articles that require a budget committee recommendation.

The school budget makes up the major part of the total expenditures voters will decide on. Selectmen and budget committee members have recommended substantial reductions in amounts Sabins and town department heads initially requested for the municipal budget, and the school board has lowered its original figures; but the projected tax increase is still higher than many budget committee members are comfortable with.

Looking at the potential – but not guaranteed – increase of more than one mil ($1 for each $1,000 of valuation), budget committee member Douglas Phillips opined that “At some point we’ve got to stop raising taxes and live within our means.”

He and other committee members repeatedly said it will be up to voters to decide what they’re willing to pay for. “The bottom line is the people who are going to be affected need to be at the [town] meeting,” Budget Committee Chairman Rick Denico said.

Denico said School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur said the school board planned to meet April 25. Budget committee members want the school board to further reduce the 2018-19 budget and to have the expected one-time payment from the dissolution of the AOS go toward 2018-19 school revenues, not into surplus.

Denico planned to attend the April 25 school board meeting.

Budget committee members did make recommendations, most but not all unanimous, on municipal warrant articles, agreeing to disagree with the selectmen – at least until May 2 – on minor sums here and there. Both boards abandoned the idea of eliminating the town police department, recommending $69,797 for public safety, including police, animal control and emergency dispatching services. Neither board recommends setting aside money in a reserve fund for a new police vehicle.

June 4 voters will elect six budget committee members instead of the usual five. Denico, Phillips, Richard Phippen and Elizabeth Reuthe are ending their two-year terms, with the option of seeking re-election. John Melrose resigned last fall when he was elected selectman, and Denico said Ed Scholz resigned this month. Whoever is elected to Scholz’s seat will serve for one year, finishing his term.

Town Clerk Cathy Coyne said there will be no contests on the ballot at the June 12 local elections. Unless a write-in candidate declares, Melrose and Jolene Clark Gamage are unopposed for re-election to three-year terms on the board of selectmen and the school board, respectively.

The June 4 open town meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Vassalboro Community School. June 12 voting will be at the town office, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Vassalboro committee continues work on town budget

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Budget Committee members ran out of time to finish their work at their April 12 meeting, so they will meet again at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in the town office. Selectmen have consequently moved their meeting time to 6 instead of 6:30 that evening.

Budget committee members continued discussion of municipal budget requests April 12, taking one vote and one straw poll and reaching informal consensus on other items. They still need to make recommendations on spending requests in warrant articles for the June 4 town meeting. Selectmen have made their recommendations, but board member Robert Browne said they could be changed.

Selectmen are scheduled to review a draft of the warrant April 19. The preliminary version Town Manager Mary Sabins prepared for the April 12 meeting has 68 articles. Two more articles, confirmation or denial of the school budget approved June 4 and local elections, are be decided by written ballot on June 12.

The one vote was to recommend voters appropriate $10,000 from the alewife reserve fund (money gained from selling alewives each spring) for the China Region Lakes Alliance, currently Art. 51 in the warrant. The vote was 5-2, with Donald Breton, Elizabeth Reuthe, Douglas Phillips, Dick Phippen and Peggy Shaffer in favor, William Browne and Phillip Landry opposed and Chairman Rick Denico abstaining.

The selectmen recommended $5,000; the organization asked for $15,000.

The straw poll was on whether to recommend no funding for a Vassalboro police department, relying instead on state and county law enforcement officers. If committee members so recommend when they make final decisions, Selectman Lauchlin Titus said a separate police department warrant article would be appropriate to clarify the issue for voters. In the preliminary draft warrant, Art. 11 asks for $69,797 for police, animal control and emergency dispatching services.

A majority tentatively favored recommending no funding, at least to create a separate article and give voters a chance to discuss the issue separately.

Committee members revisited requests from Public Works Foreman Eugene Field, First Responders and the volunteer fire department, whose members want a replacement roof on the Riverside fire station.

Public works issues include paving roads and the public works dooryard; equipment rental, especially an excavator for roadside ditching; and Field’s requests for a new generator and a new power washer. Committee members also questioned estimated future fuel costs. A majority favored not recommending $30,000 that would either do the garage area or allow additional road paving. When committee Chairman Rick Denico asked Field what he would cut, Field replied, “It depends on what the board [of selectmen] and residents want for service.” First Responders Chief Dan Mayotte explained what supplies his volunteers need to buy. Committee members reached informal preliminary consensus to support the group’s $13,250 budget request.

Fire department officers had quotes averaging $25,000 for a new metal roof for the Riverside fire station. At the budget committee’s request, they got an estimate of around $12,500 for asphalt shingles, the current roofing material.

Budget committee members talked about recommending $12,500 in 2018-19 and postponing the other half.

Firefighter and budget committee member Donald Breton said the department’s board of directors do not want to redo asphalt shingles; if voters approve $12,500, they will either reroof half the building with metal or hold the money hoping for more in 2019.

Several people said the price of metal is rising rapidly, because of national tariffs. Titus gave an example of the price of steel doubling since February and wondered whether the companies would be able to honor the quotes they gave the fire department.

The prolonged discussions are part of budget committee members’ effort to limit the 2018-19 tax increase. They also met with the school board on April 10, but did not have final school budget figures.

As the meeting wound down, Denico proposed future meetings after “the pre-town meeting crunch” that would give committee members time to consider major money-saving changes, like limiting school choice. Other committee members seemed to approve. Selectman Browne reminded them, as Titus had done during discussion of the police department, that setting policy was the selectmen’s responsibility, not the budget committee’s.

Vassalboro town school officials work to lower school budget

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source: http://www.vassalboro.net/

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro town and school and AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 officials are working to bring down the 2018-19 municipal and school budgets to avert a large tax increase.

Budget committee members talked about both school and municipal budget requests at their April 5 meeting, which followed a short selectmen’s meeting. They had future meetings scheduled and therefore made no formal recommendations.

The current tax rate, Town Manager Mary Sabins said, is 14.5 mils, or $14.50 for each $1,000 of valuation. The preliminary budgets as of April 5 – which everyone emphasized are subject to change – would require a 2018-19 rate of 16.22 mils, or $16.22 for each $1,000 of valuation.

To reduce the new rate to 15.22 mils would require cutting 2018-19 expenditures by around $300,000, Sabins said.

At their previous meeting with the school board, budget committee members learned of $63,000 in savings on insurance costs that had not been figured in the school budget. They hope for additional education savings.

Sabins’ calculations did include an increase in state revenue sharing, bringing that source of non-local-tax income to $170,000 instead of the $160,000 she had expected. Going through the municipal budget and considering a variety of options, budget committee members came up with about $86,000 in cuts they might recommend.

One proposal discussed was to eliminate Police Chief Mark Brown’s position and rely entirely on the State Police and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office for police coverage. The rationale was not dissatisfaction with Brown, but the possibility of saving more than $27,000, plus the cost of a new police car in the fairly near future. Sabins warned part of the savings might be offset by the need to pay Brown unemployment compensation.

Other items that might be proposed for reduction when the committee makes its formal recommendations include several public works department requests and the increase requested by Vassalboro First Responders.

After an April 10 meeting with the school board, the budget committee was scheduled to hold its final meeting to make recommendations at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at the town office. A week later, selectmen are scheduled to review the draft warrant for the June 4 annual town meeting, where voters will make final spending decisions.

At the short April 5 selectmen’s meeting preceding the budget committee meeting, selectmen unanimously approved new contracts with Sabins and with alewife harvester Ronald Weeks.

Vassalboro JMG students are pages for a day at State House

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From left to right, Rep. Richard Bradstreet, Liberty Massie, Alyssa Trainor, Hailey Fonjemei, Sen. Roger Katz, Lucas Haskell, Jadon Callahan, JMG Director Victor Esposito, and Rep. Matt Pouliot. (Contributed photo)

Students involved with the Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG) at Vassalboro Community School visited the State House on April 3 to serve as honorary pages in the Maine Senate. During their visit, they met with their local legislators, Senator Roger Katz, and representatives Matt Pouliot and Richard Bradstreet. The students, chaperoned by JMG Director Victor Esposito, were Liberty Massie, Alyssa Trainor, Hailey Fonjemei, Lucas Haskell and Jadon Callahan. The honorary page program provides an opportunity for students from third grade through high school to participate in the legislative process for one day’s session in either the House of Senate. For more information about the program, please contact Sen­ator Katz’ office at 287-1505.