Board brought up to speed on activities and plans for new school year

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members and AOS (Alternative Organizational Structure) 92 and Vassalboro Community School (VCS) administrators spent most of the Aug. 24 board meeting catching each other up on summer activities and plans for the new school year.

While most students were on vacation, school personnel oversaw building repairs and improvements, welcomed new staff members and helped them get settled in and took part in numerous workshops, retreats and other group meetings.

Finance Director Paula Pooler said figures for the fiscal year that ended June 30 will not be final until the annual audit is finished in October, but the school unit “didn’t end the year in the red.”

Fall registration is also not complete, VCS Principal Dianna Gram said – she expects changes for the next two weeks.  AOS staff provided a 10-year enrollment survey which, despite errors and inconsistencies that school board members noted, showed a decline of more than 100 Vassalboro students since 2006.

Gram also reported that VCS’s JMG (Jobs for Maine Graduates) program received a citizenship award for the students’ community service.  AOS Superintendent Eric Haley added that the State of Maine’s JMG program serves as a national model.

School board members unanimously accepted four staff resignations and appointment of seven new staff members – an unusual number of staff changes, Gram said, and Haley said the same had been true in Waterville and Winslow schools.

New staff are: Sarah Leach, fifth-grade teacher; Breeanne Desmond, sixth-grade teacher; John Jefferson, special education teacher; Lisa Arzola, fourth-grade teacher; Destiny Poulin, third-grade teacher; Sheldon Eames, Title I Educational Technician II; and Hilary Martin, Educational Technician II.

Resignations were accepted from fifth-grade teacher William Brooks, Educational Technician II Ashley Gooldrup, fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Isbell and eighth-grade teacher Julie Houston.

The school board’s Sept. 20 meeting will be preceded by an informal gathering with new staff members, scheduled for 5:45 p.m. at the school.  The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Alewife restoration meeting set in Vassalboro

An information meeting on Alewife Restoration Initiative  will take place on Monday, August 29 at 6 p.m., at the Vassalboro Grange Hall

There will also be an update on the East Vassalboro Water Company pipe relocation work, Masse saw mill and dam dismantling, and stream bank revegetation planning.

Local students on UNH honors list

The following local students have been named to the honors list at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire:

Highest honors: Kelly McCormac, of South China, Michaela Hinckley-Gordon, of Benton, Kellie Bolduc and Luke Violette, both of Waterville, and Maxwell Kenney, of Fairfield.

High honors: Julie Arbour, of Augusta, Taylor Ferguson, of Sidney, Bayleigh Logan, of Augusta, Sarah Wildes, of Winslow, Samantha Mestieri, of Fairfield and Adam Bovie, of Vassalboro.

Honors: Myrilla Hartkopf, of Albion, Andrew Marden, of Bingham, and Kyle McLain, of Fairfield.

Have you seen the signs?

If you drive through Vassalboro proper or on the Dunham, Oak Grove or Bog roads, you may see a sign with the Vassalboro Historical Society logo advertising an Audio Tour stop, with a name, stop number, a QR code (like a barcode only square), and a phone number.Vassalboro Historical Society

If you call the phone number and at the prompt enter the stop number, you will hear a short description of the history of the stop. Using the QR scanner on a smart phone will link to the same site, but in a different way. The first of at least seven stops have been entered. Can you find them all?

Using OnCell technology which “is the leading digital storytelling platform for cultural destinations and other interesting places,” the historical society joins the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and the National Park Service in providing a technology-based way to reach out.

It is hoped this is a first step in connecting the technology savvy with the wonderfully rich history of Vassalboro. For more information about how you can be a part of the Vassalboro Historical Society, call the museum at 207-923-3505 or by e-mail at vhspresident@hotmail.com.

Fun in the sun, with chocolate help

Mathis Washburn

Left photo, Mathis Washburn, of Canaan, makes his way down the Chocolate Slip ‘n Slide, at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, at Yonderhill Campground, in Madison, on July 30.
Photo by Mark Huard, Central Maine Photography

 

Riley Landry, of Vassalboro, Tate Jewell, Adam Fitzgerald and Landon Nunn, all of Skowhegan

Right, from left to right, Riley Landry, of Vassalboro, Tate Jewell, Adam Fitzgerald and Landon Nunn, all of Skowhegan, get set to join in the slide.
Photo by Mark Huard, Central Maine Photography

Dry conditions continue to plague central Maine lakes

by Roland D. Hallee

Dry conditions throughout the state have brought on low water levels in central Maine lakes.

Webber Pond, in Vassalboro, has experienced water levels twice as low as is normal for this time of year. The water remains four inches below the spillway at the dam off the Webber Pond Road, when normally, it is kept at two inches during summer months.

Similar conditions exist on China Lake, according to lake association president Scott Pierz. He deferred to Matt Zetterman, of the Kennebec Water District, which monitors water quality on China Lake and maintains the water levels based on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s lake level order. It is all part of KWD’s mission of improving water quality for China Lake.

Zetterman said that China Lake is experiencing a similar situation as Webber Pond.

“We started the year with a low amount of snowfall which led to a low volume of spring runoff,” he said. Continuing, Zetterman emphasized, “we had planned for it so we actually started the summer with a surplus of water in the lake.

“Fast forward to today, and we’re now an inch or so below our summer target, and without rain, the lake will continue to drop.”

Zetterman went on to point out the lake experienced a similar situation last summer and ended up six inches below the target by Labor Day.

Zetterman concluded with, “As much as rain ruins plans for the summer time, we desperately could use the rain to help build up the lake level.”

Selectmen approve funding for new fire truck

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen approved the financing for the new fire truck voters authorized at the June town meeting, after Town Attorney Alton Stevens reviewed the financing contract and proposed changes.

Authorizing Town Manager Mary Sabins to sign the necessary paperwork and approving the initial $63,000 payment were the major business items at a mostly-routine July 13 selectmen’s meeting.  Sabins said volunteer firefighters can now prepare specifications for the new truck.

Selectmen approved the rest of the bills ready for payment, some from the fiscal year that ended June 30 and others for the new fiscal year.

Sabins expects tax bills for the 2016-17 fiscal year will go out in mid-August.  By town meeting vote, the first quarterly payment is due Sept. 26.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Aug. 11.  One item likely to be on the agenda is proposed sidewalks in East Vassalboro, a project that has been under consideration for years.

Avery Cottage selected for LakeSmart award

The Avery Cottage on China Lake has won a LakeSmart Award for the owners’ efforts to protect the lake. The Avery Cottage owners maintain a deep stand of mixed vegetation along their shore. This vegetative buffer helps to prevent phosphorus from entering the lake and turning it green. Their buffer includes ground cover, duff (leaves and pine needles), shrubs, young trees and mature trees that form a protective canopy.

Ray and Joanne Kelsey

Ray and Joanne Kelsey, owners of Avery Cottage, on China Lake. Contributed photo

They have kept the buffer as natural as possible and still maintain their view of the lake. Run off from their camp roof is directed to crush stone or vegetation. There is no exposed dirt that could end up carrying phosphorous into the lake. They pump their septic system regularly and their yard is free from signs of erosion.

The founding father, Sherman Avery, had their camp built from local timber in 1929. Ray Kelsey, one of the family members said that his great-grandfather, Solomon Coffin, had the logs to build the camp hauled across the ice on the lake to and from the Massey Mill, in Vassalboro, to build the cottage. During the depression, the family ran the camp as a boarding house of sorts and had a huge garden to help with finances. Boarders came by train to Vassalboro then by boat to arrive at the cottage. What a rich history of five generations the Avery cottage has enjoyed!

Board decides no permit needed for home business

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members decided Tammy McGrath does not need a planning board permit for her proposed new business at her North Belfast Avenue home.  McGrath says her confectionary products will be sold on-line and perhaps at farmers’ markets and local stores, so there will be no unusual traffic at the house.  She plans no new building or other external changes. Board members therefore decided no permit is needed from them.  McGrath said her kitchen requires state approval, which she is in the process of obtaining.

In other business at the July 5 board meeting, Codes Officer Richard Dolby asked board members to consider proposing amendments to the Building Permit Ordinance.  The current ordinance says no permit is needed for various accessory structures, and without a permit, Dolby said, there is no requirement for a setback from neighbors’ property lines.

Other town ordinances have setback requirements for various types of development.  Dolby would like setbacks added to the building permit ordinance to apply to temporary garages and storage sheds and small accessory structures and decks.

Board Chairman Virginia Brackett and Dolby eventually agreed that permits should be required in the shoreland zone.  Brackett was hesitant to support any change, for three reasons.

First, Brackett said, the planning board did not write the ordinance; it was produced by a previous codes officer, presented to selectmen and approved by voters.   Dolby nonetheless believes the planning board should recommend any changes.

Second, Brackett and audience member Ray Breton feared requiring setbacks would make it impossible for people on small lots, for example in parts of North Vassalboro, to add a temporary shed or garage.  Dolby said should a property be offered for sale, banks would probably deny a mortgage if setbacks were not required.  Brackett replied it is not the planning board’s responsibility to keep people out of trouble with banks.

And finally, Brackett said, she suspects the ordinance is non-restrictive as an expression of Vassalboro residents’ traditional attitude toward regulation.

She summarized the attitude as “You live next to people, and sometimes they really tick you off with what they do with their property,” but freedom from regulation is – or at least used to be – a higher value.

Planning board members intend to meet again Tuesday evening, July 19, to continue work on proposed revisions to the shoreland ordinance.

Vassalboro JMG students acquire grant to construct gazebo near swimming area

Vassalboro JMG students

From left to right, JMG student Cassie Horan, town manager Mary Sabins, JMG student Paeshance-Rae Horan, builder/philanthropist Ray Breton, Oak Grove board member and VCS teacher Sue Briggs, JMG student Halley Haskell, VBA member and AgMatters CEO, Locklin Titus,VCS principal Dianna Gramm and JMG master specialist Victor Esposito.
Photo courtesy Victor Esposito

Students enrolled in Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG), at Vassalboro Community School and the remainder of the student body, along with the help of advisor Victor Esposito, recently secured a grant from the Oak Grove Foundation to be used to build a gazebo near the public swimming area in North Vassalboro.

The intention was to help build community in Vassalboro and have a downtown center focus. Ray Breton, a local builder and philanthropist, who has been making a number of improvements to the downtown area, for both young people and adults, will be building the gazebo on his property that is located next to the downtown swimming area.

They were awarded a $4,000 grant from the Oak Grove Foundation, another $1,000 has been given by the Vassalboro Volunteer Fire Department, and $100 from AgMatters, in Vassalboro. There have also been smaller donations from individuals in town. McCormick Building Supply, in Winslow, is donating $2,000 in materials, and Mitchell Roofing, of Oakland, donated $500. The total cost to construct the gazebo is $9,000. If anyone is interested in helping meet the goal they should contact Ray Breton at 207-877-2005.