Garage expansion OK’d by Vassalboro planners

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Presented with the previously-missing site plan, Vassalboro Planning Board members quickly and unanimously approved Michael Chick’s application to enlarge his garage on Burns Road, off Church Hill Road.

At their regular meeting Nov. 9, board members ruled Chick’s application incomplete because it lacked an overall plan. They scheduled a special meeting for Nov. 21 with Chick’s application the only agenda item.

Chick’s plan showed the 16-by-60-foot addition on the back of the garage. At the earlier meeting, Chick and his wife said the addition is to provide more work and storage space; they plan no changes in activity level, traffic, landscaping, lighting or anything else likely to impact neighbors or the environment.

A couple whose land adjoins Chick’s five-acre lot told board members they have no objection to his project.

Vassalboro: Bad idea becomes good idea to school board members

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

The regional service centers that were a bad idea two months ago are now a good idea, Vassalboro School Board members learned at their Nov. 14 meeting.

In September, past and future AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) #92 Superintendent Eric Haley told board members superintendents had been advised not to rush into the new state-sponsored organizations, then called School Management and Leadership Centers, because state plans were so indefinite.

In November, AOS #92 Finance Director Paula Pooler said the centers appear desirable.

She told Vassalboro board members the regional centers would be potential revenue centers. A school employee is allowed to head a service center, she said.

By April 15, potential service center personnel are supposed to have drafted interlocal agreements, documents similar to the agreement that created AOS #92. The agreements would specify a minimum of two services a center would offer; AOS #92 provides more than two services to the current member towns (Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow), creating the potential for more income as a service center.

If Waterville were to become a service center, Pooler said, the AOS would have to dissolve. In Vassalboro, dissolution would require a town vote, which Pooler said could be scheduled in February or March 2018. Under a service center arrangement, participating school units would have their own school boards and superintendents. The AOS board would become a regional board with representatives from member towns. Pooler said a facilitator has been hired with a state grant to advise and assist.

Vassalboro board Chairman Kevin Levasseur said after hearing the revised service center plan, “Paula and I looked at each other and said, ‘Where’s the downside?’ ”

In other business, board members agreed by consensus that Vassalboro Community School will be in session Friday, Dec. 22. The calendar change could not be formally approved because it was not noticed in advance on the November agenda, but Principal Dianna Gram said she needed to notify parents before the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday evening, Dec. 19.

Haley, who retired at the end of October with the understanding the AOS board will rehire him after the state-required 30 days of unemployment, attended the Nov. 14 meeting and the executive-session discussion of salaries that followed.

VASSALBORO: Selectmen OK talks with potential subdivision buyer

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen are close to getting rid of a tax-acquired subdivision they tried unsuccessfully to sell earlier, after the town foreclosed on the property early in 2014. Joe Presti attended the Nov. 16 selectmen’s meeting to talk about buying 12 subdivision lots on Ilona Drive, off Crowell Hill Road. Presti already owns a house on another of the subdivision lots.

Presti offered $15,000 for the approximately nine-acre property, the figure selectmen set as the minimum when they offered it for sale by bid. Town Manager Mary Sabins said the sum would cover back taxes and town costs.

Selectmen unanimously authorized Sabins and Presti to work out details and report back.

Resident David Jenney gave selectmen a progress report on the Cross Hill Cemetery. Selectmen approved spending to repair broken stones.

Jenney also proposed additional publicity for the annual town meeting, specifically a postcard notification to each voter, and asked whether board members are satisfied with the town website that he maintains under Sabins’ direction.

Selectmen are content with the website; no one had suggestions for improving it. Newly re-elected board Chairman Lauchlin Titus doubted postcards would increase town meeting attendance, but asked Sabins to get a cost estimate for a mailing.

Sabins reported work has already started on implementing the Window Dressers program in Vassalboro. More than 30 residents have signed up, two volunteer measuring teams are at work and the community build, when the draft-stopping window inserts are constructed, is scheduled for Dec. 16 and 17, and if necessary Dec. 18 and 19, at the former mill in North Vassalboro.

Titus reported the recent windstorm damaged sections of the mill roof. Local fund-raisers will be held to help with repair costs, he said.

Selectmen authorized Sabins to talk with Vassalboro’s two waste haulers in preparation for the April 1, 2018, change from the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company facility to the new Fiberight plant (or a temporary substitute if the plant does not open on schedule). The manager said one of Vassalboro’s current hauling contracts expires in mid-January, the other two in mid-June.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting would be Thursday evening, Nov. 30, but the time conflicts with a workshop for elected officials all three board members plan to attend. They decided they will meet if necessary early in the afternoon of Nov. 30. Selectmen’s meetings are announced on the Vassalboro website.

Vassalboro: Garage expansion, doggie day care approved by planners

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members approved two complete applications on their Nov. 9 agenda and scheduled a special meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, to deal with an incomplete one.

The incomplete application was from Michael Chick for an addition on a commercial garage on Burns Road, off Church Hill Road. Chick did not include the site plan required by town ordinances.

Engineer Jim Coffin said he could provide one within a week, leading to the special meeting. Chick’s wife said the planned 16-by-60-foot addition is to provide more work and storage space, not to increase traffic or other possible impacts of their construction business on the neighborhood.

Applications approved were for Brent Hall to build a three-car garage at 35 Sheafer Lane, on Webber Pond, and Kisten Crowell-Smith to open a doggie day care at 331 Stone Road.

Hall needed a planning board permit because the garage site is within the 250-foot shoreland zone. However, the building will be more than 100 feet from the water and meets all other ordinance requirements, so board members quickly approved the permit.

Crowell-Smith’s project was challenged by neighbor Earl Vannah Jr., leading to almost two hours’ discussion and approval with four conditions.

Crowell-Smith intends to add outdoor dog runs with stockade fencing and designate five parking spaces, two for employees and three for customers, at an existing house. The business will accommodate a maximum of 20 dogs, usually daytime only but sometimes boarding for long weekends or holidays.

Vannah was concerned about noise, waste disposal and odor, dogs getting loose, children wandering onto the property and other possible problems. He pointed out that the house is on a small lot and neighbors are fairly close.

Town Clerk Cathy Coyne and Animal Control Officer Peter Nerber said Crowell-Smith will need a license from the state Animal Welfare Program as well as the town permit. Nerber said the state license is conditional for the first six months and sets strict standards that are backed up by inspections.

In addition, he said, the provisions of Vassalboro’s Animal Control Ordinance would apply. They include measures concerning dogs whose persistent barking leads neighbors to file written complaints.

Vannah warned Crowell-Smith that before investing in the changes needed for the doggie day care, she should remember that if it bothers neighbors, she will lose her license.

The planning board made a state license one of the conditions for the local permit. They also required:

  • No disposal of animal waste in the building’s septic system;
  • Waste in Crowell-Smith’s proposed underground waste compost bins be covered and sealed, in response to Vannah’s suggestion that a child wandering onto the property might fall into one; and
  • No dog be left alone on the premises; if a dog is staying overnight, Crowell-Smith or an employee must be there too.

Crowell-Smith said she planned to do all those things anyway, and to empty the waste bins as necessary. She described the planned six-foot fencing as having inward-slanting tops so dogs could not jump over. She said before accepting a dog, she requires an application and a play date to make sure the dog will get along with others. If a dog barks a lot outdoors, the dog will come indoors; and if a dog is a persistent barker, she said, the customer will be asked to go elsewhere.

In the only other business Nov. 9, Codes Officer Richard Dolby told the board state officials have approved the revised Shoreland Zoning Ordinance Vassalboro voters adopted at the June town meeting.

Vassalboro: Melrose wins three-way race for vacant seat

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro voters have chosen John Melrose to fill out the remainder of the late Philip Haines’ term on the Board of Selectmen.

In a three-way race, Melrose received 517 votes, Larisa Batchelder received 320 and Lewis Devoe received 169, according to Town Clerk Cathy Coyne.

Melrose, 66, chairs the Vassalboro Budget Committee and has extensive experience working with municipal issues on the regional and state level.

CHINA: Belanger, MacFarland, Mills-Stevens win seats

/0 Comments/in , , /by
by Mary Grow

China voters re-elected one of two incumbent selectmen, re-elected a former selectman and added a newcomer to the board in a Nov. 7 contest that featured eight candidates for three seats.

Irene Belanger and former Selectman Robert MacFarland were elected to serve two-year terms, with 595 and 490 votes respectively. Incumbent Ronald Breton received 402 votes and Frederick Glidden 370.

For a one-year position to fill out Joann Clark Austin’s term, Donna Mills-Stevens was elected with 401 votes. Wayne Chadwick got 347 votes, Ralph Howe 125 and Randall Downer 124.

In the only other contest on the ballot, Kevin Michaud defeated Stephen Hadsell for the District 1 Planning Board position, by a vote of 625 to 269. Michaud succeeds James Wilkens, who, like Austin, is retiring. Three local referendum questions were approved, as follows:

  • Authorization to spend up to $8,500 for a fire pond on Neck Road, 784 yes, 335 no.
  • A requirement that nonprofit organizations applying for town funds submit financial statements, 921 yes, 197 no.
  • Authorization to lease space on the town telecommunications tower behind the town office, 957 yes, 160 no.

Budget Committee Chairman Robert Batteese and District 1 representative Kevin Maroon were re-elected without opposition. Town Clerk Rebecca Hapgood will announce results of write-in votes for Planning Board District 3, Planning Board alternate member and Budget Committee District 3 soon.

ARI to hold informational walk at Masse Sawmill

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Masse Sawmill site on Rte. 32, in East Vassalboro. Contributed photo

The Alewife Restoration Initiative has announced the successful completion of the first of six dam projects on China Lake Outlet Stream. To celebrate, they welcome the public to an informational nature walk at the Masse Sawmill site, in Vassalboro. Please join them for a short afternoon stroll along the restored section of Outlet Stream, while learning about the many ecological processes that are beginning to return the stream to natural habitat.

They will start the walk at 1 p.m., on Saturday, November 11, and expect it to last around an hour. The following experts in fields related to the project will give informal presentations and answer questions:

  • Nate Gray is a fisheries biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and a longtime advocate for restoration of alewives in the Sebasticook River watershed. Nate will discuss alewives, eels, mussels, and many other aquatic critters that will benefit from the improved connectivity of Outlet Stream.
  • Brandon Kulik is a Senior Fisheries Scientist at Kleinschmidt Associates and a board member with the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust. Brandon will discuss the re-establishment of a healthy stream channel, and how this creates habitat for fish, aquatic insects, and the whole community of organisms that live in Maine streams and rivers.
  • Daniel Hill is a wildlife technician and natural resource manager for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and a board member with the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust. Dan will discuss native plant species that will re-populate the former impoundment, how they benefit birds and animals living along the stream corridor, and the importance of controlling invasive plants.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 11, beginning at 1 p.m., at the Masse Sawmille, 373 Main St., Vassalboro. Dress for the weather, and for easy trail walking. The distance covered will be short (1/4 mile to 1/2 mile), and the walking easy, but there will be no indoor shelter or bathrooms available. Prepare to be outdoors for an hour or so. Event will be held rain or shine, barring very severe weather.

For more information, email or call Matt Streeter, mstreeter212@gmail.com, 207-337-2611.

Three candidates vie for vacant selectman’s seat in Vassalboro

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro voters will choose among three candidates to serve on the Board of Selectmen until June 2018, finishing the late Philip Haines’ term. The candidates are Larisa (Reese) Batchelder, Lewis (Lew) Devoe and John Melrose.

When Batchelder ran unsuccessfully for the selectboard in June, she was 38 years old, a resident of Main Street, in East Vassalboro, since December 2015. She listed her occupation as co-owner of Cozy Barn Antiques and mentioned her education in political science.

Her goal in running for selectman, she said, was “to open communication between the community and the board of selectman. I want to have an open mind when listening to the community and only make decisions after they have been heard, not before.”

She added, “I want to be sure that our small town government is free of cliques that can hinder good choices and cause favoritism. My aim is to vote according to the law and the people of Vassalboro of whom I would represent.”

Devoe, 69, is a Gray Road resident who has lived in Vassalboro for 38 years. He is a veteran, and is retired after 34 years as first a Maine Facilities Manager for New Balance factories, warehouses and retail stores and then a Maintenance Process Manager for Scott Paper Company.

He has been a state-licensed master electrician for 44 years and has experience in planning, project management, security, loss prevention, safety and environmental issues. He and his wife Deb have three grown sons.

Devoe listed three goals he would pursue if elected selectman: understand and oversee budgets using his business skills, like experience with utility costs; increase publicity for meetings and agendas; and coach town employees on ways to reduce energy costs.

Melrose, 66, lives on the Bog Road and has been a Vassalboro resident for 41 years. He recently retired from the Eaton Peabody Consulting Group, after a 44-year career working with municipalities that included seven years with the Maine Municipal Association, 20 years running his own company, Maine Tomorrow, and eight years as Governor King’s Commissioner of Transportation. Governor LePage has appointed him chairman of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which is in charge of the Amtrak Downeaster.

Melrose thinks Vassalboro benefits from good leadership on the board of selectmen and the school board. He believes town officials and residents can “creatively solve problems through consensus” while keeping the tax rate low and providing good services. If elected, he plans to use his experience to “constructively build on these strengths of our community.”

Vassalboro polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the town office. Absentee ballots are available at the office during office hours until Nov. 2.

Vassalboro Junkyard/hobbyist permits granted by selectmen

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen approved nine annual renewals of junkyard and auto hobbyist permits, after receiving no comments at a short Oct. 19 hearing that was part of their regular meeting.

Auto graveyard/junkyard permits went to James Cogley, Ron’s Parts Inc. on Main Street (Route 32); Dale Clement, Bondo’s Garage on Taber Hill Road; Bill Pullen, Freddie’s Service Center on South Stanley Hill Road; Stanley Garnett, Garnett’s Motors on North Belfast Ave (Route 3); Olin Charette, Weeks Mills Garage on Riverside Drive (Route 201); and Voit Ritch, Autowerke on Route 3.

Auto hobbyist permits were approved for Keith Lemieux on Priest Hill Road, James Jurdak on Baker Road and Robert Dore on Church Hill Road.

Most of the other business on Oct. 19 consisted of authorizing expenditures for other town bodies.

Steve Polley received approval to buy a shipping container for storage of recreation equipment, using money from the Recreation Committee’s donation fund.

Polley presented price quotes ranging from $3,700 to more than $4,000. Town Manager Mary Sabins said he needed the selectmen to waive the requirement in the town purchasing policy that any purchase over $2,500 be bid out.

Selectmen agreed getting the quotes met the spirit of the policy and unanimously authorized Polley to go ahead.

Polley commended Road Commissioner Eugene Field for “a great job” grading the parking lot at the recreation fields.

Selectmen also authorized the Vassalboro Volunteer Fire Department to use $2,800 from sale of an old fire truck to buy a new base radio. Voters at the June town meeting authorized selectmen to approve spending the money on equipment for the department’s new truck; selectmen figured fire department members know their priorities.

In other business, board members reviewed Sabins’ draft revised lease with the Vassalboro Historical Society for continued use of the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse and approved forwarding it to society officials.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus reported on a Vassalboro Sanitary District meeting earlier in the week at which officials presented plans for connecting Vassalboro’s sewer system with Winslow and Waterville. He said they told affected residents who will be asked for easements to allow minor work on their land and who will be able – but unless septic systems are failing, not required – to hook into the expanded system.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday evening, Nov. 2. The board currently has two members; on Nov. 7, Vassalboro voters will choose one of three candidates – Larisa Batchelder, Lewis Devoe and John Melrose – to finish the final year of the late Philip Haines’ term on the board.

Vassalboro Board members discuss dissolution of AOS #92

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members discussed two main topics at their Oct. 17 meeting, the potential dissolution of Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 92 (the school unit combining Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow) and Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) scores for Vassalboro Community School students. The first issue is full of uncertainties; the second pleased them.

AOS Superintendent Eric Haley shared estimated financial consequences if the AOS were to dissolve. Assuming existing funds were divided among the three member school boards in the same proportion as each municipality contributes to school funding, and further assuming Vassalboro were to contract with a remodeled AOS business office in Waterville, Haley projects Vassalboro would gain financially.

Business services, which could be done in-house or by contract with Waterville or some other center, could include payroll, accounts payable, and support for special education, curriculum, transportation, technology and maintenance. Were the AOS to dissolve and were Waterville to become a school business center, some of the AOS staff who currently perform these services might stay on – or might not.

State law proposes creation of regional service centers, known as SMLCs – School Management and Leadership Centers. At a conference earlier this fall, lawyers advised superintendents not to rush to create or join an SMLC, since state law has been known to change.

School board members discussed other assumptions and various leadership combinations. For example, the Vassalboro school might have one person who was both principal and superintendent, or a full-time principal plus a part-time superintendent, with the latter perhaps shared with another town. Any change, Haley said, will require preparation of a plan that is approved by the local school board(s), the state Department of Education and, in Vassalboro, a local referendum. Haley is thinking about a June 2018 referendum vote in Vassalboro, and is also thinking about preparing two 2018-19 budgets, one with and one without the AOS. One change at Vassalboro Community School is certain: Principal Dianna Gram is retiring at the end of the school year.

Gram shared with school board members charts illustrating Vassalboro students’ scores on the MEA tests taken by grades three through eight last spring. In general, scores compare well to neighboring schools’ scores and to state expectations, in both this year’s scores and improvement over last year.

The best score was earned by sixth-graders on the English Language Arts and literacy test: 70 percent scored at or above state expectations. Seventh-graders did almost as well on the same test, scoring 69 percent at or above expectations.

Fifth-graders had the lowest scores in both language and mathematics. Gram suggested possible explanations and plans for further investigation. She reminded board members that each year students move in and out, so there are different students in each grade.

The “state expectations” to which student performance is compared are described on the state Department of Education (DOE) website by phrases like “understanding of essential concepts” and “understanding of knowledge and skills needed to reach learning targets for achievement relative to” Maine standards.

In response to an inquiry, AOS Curriculum Coordinator Mary Boyle forwarded a 300-page DOE report describing how the standards were established by panels of educators following a protocol. The document is “eMPowerME ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Assessment Standard Setting Report,” prepared in August 2016.

School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur congratulated students and staff on the good scores. Gram thanked board members for their support and Boyle for help with curriculum improvement.

In other business, school board members appointed Betty Bowen, of Vassalboro, as a bus driver and accepted the resignation of driver Eric Green, who was praised as “one of the best” by Assistant Principal Aaron McCullough.

The next Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Nov. 14, a week earlier than usual because of the Thanksgiving holiday.