Windsor select board approves building codes

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by The Town Line staff

Windsor Select Board members in attendance, Chester Barnes Jr. was absent, unanimously approved the town of Windsor’s building codes, 4-0, at their meeting on January 30, 2024. Sections of the codes the select board had specific questions about were reviewed in depth. It was also noted that yearly reviews of ordinances will be done as needed.

The board also voted to accept and sign the assessor’s abatement for Samuel A. Newcombe in the amount of $163.85 as recommended by C. Vern Ziegler, Windsor’s assessor’s agent. They also unanimously approved the supplemental tax warrant to Double Eagle Properties LLC, in the amount of $361.05.

Public Works Director Keith Hall reported that truck #6 is back in service, for now. He also stated the 2016 International is still the next truck to be replaced in the public works fleet. In the meantime, McGee covered the extra hours while the truck was out of service. Town Manager Theresa Haskell noted that 40 hours of addition to McGee’s contracted hours were used for roads.

Hall went on to report the transfer station is now fully staffed, and they have also hired a fill-in attendant to help when needed.

Haskell then reported the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department would like to use the MMA Grant to purchase an ice rescue alive sled. This would be for cold water rescue. The grant would cover 70 percent of the slad, and the WVFD would cover the other 30 percent. The board approved it unanimously.

Haskell informed the board the town has received the stabilization refund from the state. Windsor received $14,505.16. The town received about 56 percent of the stabilization refund expected due to a shortage. The state anticipates receiving more funds and get more refunds to the towns in the spring.

Haskell reported switching from TRIO SQL to TRIO WEB would be very costly. She has again looked at the price to make the switch and from a few years ago, the price has almost tripled. She has also been looking into the possibility of using TRIO as the town’s back-up instead of using the current back-up server. Haskell will possibly be looking for new IT options and further review of TRIO options.

Haskell noted that Dirigo Assessing Group is ready to go, and take over for Ziegler as the town’s assessor’s agent. She gave some more background on the group and the employees, and what the working hours and days would be. The select board approved $825 per day for 30 days, one in office day per week, and one remote day per week.

Haskell reported that some towns have come up with a counter offer for Delta Ambulance of $20 per capita, even though Delta was looking for $25 per capita. More information will be forthcoming.

Haskell said work on the 2024-25 municipal budget is coming along, and the first meeting was scheduled for February 6.

Adrian Prindle, a resident, came before the select board with an interest in becoming a conservation committee member. After giving a background of himself, the board unanimously approved his appointment, effective immediately, and running through June 2024.

The next select board meeting was scheduled for February 13.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: People for whom ponds are named, part 4

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by Mary Grow

A suggestion to readers: this story will be easier to follow if you have a map of Windsor, Maine. Do not believe everything you see, however; your writer noted discrepancies between on-line maps and official tax maps of Windsor and its neighboring towns. Two Kennebec County atlases, published in 1856 and 1879, offer other variations.

Windsor is the southeasternmost of the dozen municipalities this series has included in the central Kennebec Valley. Henry Kingsbury called its shape unique in Kennebec County, with “four equal sides and four right angles.”

Windsor covers 36 square miles, Kingsbury wrote. Starting as New Waterford Plantation, it was incorporated as Malta in 1809, became Gerry in 1820 and Windsor in 1822.

It is bordered by Vassalboro and China on the north, Augusta on the west, Somerville on the east and Whitefield on the south. Only Vassalboro and Augusta have frontage on the Kennebec River.

Kingsbury counted “seven distinct bodies of water” partly or wholly in Windsor. Windsor’s tax maps show five named ponds (plus others that are nameless, and numerous wetland/swamp areas) entirely within town boundaries. Four more ponds – Wellman and Given in the south, Threemile (or Three-mile, to Kingsbury) in the northwest, Long in the northeast – are shared with neighbors.

Some of these ponds derived their names from early settlers, according to Kingsbury and Windsor historian Linwood Lowden.

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map of Windsor, Maine

WELLMAN POND

Starting, arbitrarily, in the southwestern corner of Windsor, on the border with the City of Augusta, the Windsor tax map shows that Windsor includes a small part of the east shore of Wellman Pond. (An on-line map shows this pond entirely in Augusta.) This pond might well have been named after a Wellman family, but your writer was unable to find evidence.

The Lakes of Maine website says this pond has an area of 12 acres. It gives no depth.

The Windsor tax map shows the State of Maine owning the land around the Windsor end of the pond, and a large surrounding area that includes Baker Bog a short distance northeast.

East of Wellman Pond and a short distance south of Route 17, Windsor tax maps show the northern tip of Given (or Given’s; formerly, as on the 1856 and 1879 maps, Longfellow) Pond inside the Windsor town line. Three-fourths of the pond is in Whitefield, Kingsbury said.

The Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) website says this pond covers 20 acres; Lakes of Maine says 23 acres. Both give its maximum depth as 20 feet.

Kingsbury wrote that Longfellow Pond “probably” took that name “from an early settler,” and was definitely renamed Given’s Pond to honor “another family living on contiguous land.”

Lowden said David Given, born in Newcastle Sept. 4, 1779, and married to Mary Marson there on Dec. 1, 1803, came to Windsor in or after the spring of 1808. He “settled to the east of Given Pond.”

In Kingsbury’s version, David Given arrived in 1810 with his son James (1792-1881). The 1856 and 1879 maps both show J. Given living northeast of Given Pond.

James and his wife, Elizabeth “Betsey” (Johnson) Given (Feb. 27, 1797-March 6, 1888), had three sons (one named David, who was, in 1892, living on what had been his grandfather’s farm, Kingsbury said).

They also had a daughter named Annie (1821-September 1822), who was the first or one of the first people to be buried in the Oak Hill (or Colburn or Coburn) cemetery. The Find a Grave website shows a gravestone Annie shares with Elizabeth J. Given, born in 1830 and died June 17, 1888, at the age of 58.

Family members listed on the Given monument, also pictured on Find a Grave, include an earlier David, born in 1745 and died Jan. 8, 1825, and his wife, Ann, born in 1749 and died Oct. 5, 1832; James’ widow, Betsey (whose birth year is listed as 1795); and David (probably James and Betsey’s son), born in 1837, married Sylvia Le Ballister (1848-1930), and died in 1921.

The youngest David was a teacher as well as a farmer, and served the town as a selectman for eight years and supervisor of schools for three years, Kingsbury said.

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East and north of Wellman and Given ponds, close enough to Wellman so the State of Maine owns its western shore, is long, narrow Moody Pond, the southernmost widening of Dearborn Brook.

According to Kingsbury, Moody’s Pond, near Given’s Pond, “received its designation in a similar manner” to Given’s. Lowden found that Windsor attracted several families named Moody, one (or more) of whom might have lived close to Moody’s Pond.

Deacon Clement Moody, Lowden wrote, was born in Nobleboro c. 1746; an on-line source corrects the date to 1776, which fits better with his history. He died May 5, 1863.

Lowden said Clement and Mary (Moody) filed marriage intentions April 4, 1796, in Nobleboro; presumably they married soon afterward. Mary Moody Moody was born Dec. 10, 1772. She died Dec. 10, 1856, according to an on-line genealogy, or Dec. 10, 1865, according to Lowden.

Lowden wrote that the Moodys came to Windsor in the summer of 1801. Clement served as deacon of the Whitefield Baptist Church, and in 1820 helped organize the North Windsor Baptist Church.

Clement’s land was on the Windsor-Whitefield line in southern Windsor. Lowden wrote that he sold his property to his nephew, Clement Moody II, Richard’s son.

Your writer worked hard to unscramble the Moody genealogy. She concluded that Richard Moody, another early settler Kingsbury named, was Deacon Clement’s brother.

An on-line source says Richard was born in Nobleboro in 1762 and died in Windsor in 1839. This source lists only one (the oldest?) son in each succeeding generation.

Richard, if your writer interpreted different incomplete sources correctly, had (at least) three sons.

John was born Dec. 4, 1789. Lowden’s list of early Windsor residents says he owned land on Windsor Neck in the northern part of town.

Richard II was born in 1793 in Nobleboro and died in 1876 in Windsor. The on-line source lists the younger Richard’s son as Clement F., born in 1823 in Windsor and died there in 1888; and Clement F.’s son as John H. (1868-1952).

Richard I’s son Clement was born in 1800 and died in 1858. Clement’s son Miles was living when Kingsbury finished his history; Kingsbury said he had moved in 1888 from “the old homestead where his father died” to South Windsor to take care of his in-laws.

Lowden’s list of Windsor men who served briefly in the War of 1812 (they spent less than three weeks in Belfast after the British had occupied it, he wrote) includes Sergeant Clement Moody and private John Moody (uncle, in his mid-30s, and nephew, aged 22, if your writer’s genealogical conclusions are correct).

The 1866 Windsor school committee report included in Lowden’s history lists Miles Moody as District 2 school agent and yet another Clement Moody as District 7 agent.

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Less than a mile south of Windsor’s four corners (the intersection of Route 32 and Route 105), on the east side of Route 32, is a small round pond ignored by IF&W and Lakes of Maine, but mentioned by Lowden and Kingsbury. It is nameless on contemporary tax maps; the historians said its names have included Dorr’s Pond, Donnell Pond (on the 1856 and 1879 maps) and Grant Pond (to Kingsbury in 1892).

This “aqueous lilliputian” covers a little more of an acre, but is worth notice because, Kingsbury wrote, “it has no perceptible outlet, and, as near as can be ascertained by soundings, no bottom.”

Your writer found no relevant Dorrs or Grants. The name Donnell Pond recognizes Methodist preacher, Rev. Moses Donnell, Jr.

Donnell was born in Wiscasset Aug. 25, 1789, and came to Windsor in March, 1818. He kept detailed records, from which Lowden took information about his strenuous life and how much – or little – money he earned. Lowden listed different houses Donnell probably owned at different times and wrote that he preached in Windsor in 1822 and again from 1832 until his death.

After 1838, he was appointed to different circuits, preaching in multiple towns and traveling thousands of miles. His home base was Windsor; Lowden said he moved back for good on Dec. 3, 1839, taking over the “circuit house” that stood between Donnell Pond and the road that is now Route 32.

The Find a Grave website says in 1817, Donnell married Martha Cunningham, born in 1793. The couple named their children Mary (1819-1876), Jeremiah (1821-1906), John Wesley (1826-1869) and Moses (1833-1904).

Rev. Donnell died on October 2, 1861, and Martha sometime in 1868. Find a Grave has a photo of the family monument in Windsor’s Resthaven Cemetery, which is on Route 32 a short distance south of his former house.

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MUD POND

Other ponds in or partly in Windsor are not named for people.

Going back west to the Augusta line, north of Route 105, is Mud Pond (and on the tax map another unnamed pond north of it). It covers either 52 acres (IF&W) or 65 acres (Lakes of Maine) and has a maximum depth of 12 feet. Located below Porcupine Hill, Mud Pond is accessible by “an old woods road and trail,” the state says.

Barton Brook connects Mud Pond with the south end of Threemile Pond, which is mostly in Windsor’s northern neighbors, China and Vassalboro.

THREE MILE POND

Threemile Pond is the largest of the named lakes – 1,162 acres, according to IF&W, or 1,174 acres according to Lakes of Maine. Its maximum depth is 37 feet; it has shore frontage in Vassal­boro on the northwest and China on the northeast. Public access is via the state-owned boat landing on Route 3, in Vassal­boro.

The on-line Google map shows town lines following the shoreline to leave the pond entirely in China & Vassalboro. All three towns’ tax maps show straight lines, putting the triangular southern end of the pond, and one of its four small islands, in Windsor.

To Kingsbury, this pond’s name “requires no elucidation.” Wikipedia relates the name to its size, saying that “Despite the name,” the pond is 2.71 miles long.

Jumping to northeastern Windsor, near the Somerville town line, on-line maps show four more ponds; the tax map shows two and some swampland. The smaller northeastern pond is named Fox Pond. The tax map shows a brook – one-eighth of a mile long, Kingsbury wrote — connecting it with larger Savade Pond.

Savade Pond’s outlet flows a short distance west into the intersection of Bull Brook and Choate Brook. Choate Brook flows into the west branch of the Sheepscot River. The State of Maine has a Savade Pond boat landing on a 14.1-acre parcel on Greeley Road.

Kingsbury said Fox Pond was “a favorite resort” of wild foxes. Savade he equated with “surveyed.”

South of Route 105 on Windsor’s eastern boundary, Long Pond is a wide place in the west branch of the Sheepscot River, on the Somerville town line. This pond covers 523 acres (IF&W) or 504 acres (Lakes of Maine), and is only 16 feet deep at its deepest.

Main sources

Kingsbury Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993).

Websites, miscellaneous.

WINDSOR: Absent board members delays building codes review

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by The Town Line staff

With two of the five select board members absent at their January 16 meeting prevented the select board from reviewing the building code. The building code is to be reviewed in its entirety. Selectman Thomas McNaughton has asked the board to review page 6 closely when the review takes place. Select board members present were Ray Bates, Andrew Ballantyne and Thomas McNaughton. Absent were William Appel Jr., and Chester D. Barnes Jr.

Town manager Theresa Haskell also briefly discussed the six-month 2023-24 budget. There were no concerns from the board, as Haskell pointed out the budget lines for Central Maine Power Co., and the public works trucks.

Haskell also handed out the monthly transfer station report. December was down from last year at this time by $729.30, making the overall total $3,866.59 up for the year.

In other matters:

– Haskell discussed an invitation to the select board for a self-protect class being offered to female municipal employees at the Chelsea School. The select board agreed it was a great opportunity for anyone interested in taking the class.
– Haskell discussed with the select board writing a letter requesting a grant for Community Concepts offering housing to very low income people who have applied to USDA-Rural Development for funds to assist families in achieving the dream of home ownership through the 523 Self-Help Homeownership Program. The board agreed it would be suitable for Haskell to write this grant letter.
– Haskell brought up the fact that the transfer station is short staffed on Saturday. Select board member Ray Bates indicated he will be able to help in the morning, and Haskell volunteered to assist in the afternoon, until a person can be hired to fill the gaps when needed.
– The town will be receiving a proposal from Dirigo Assessing, according to town assessor Vern Ziegler. Talks are ongoing with Dustin and Nicole from Dirigo Assessing.
– RHR Smith and Company, the town’s new auditor, has requested copies of ledgers and statements to begin the audit.

Resident Steve Hoad commended the Windsor Rescue for their hard work and dedication to the town. With the recent passing of his wife, Helen, he has asked to have donations made to the Windsor Rescue and Windsor Volunteer Fire Department on his wife’s behalf. Donation should be brought to the town office.

The next meeting of the select board was scheduled for January 30.

Windsor board carries over $300,000 in WVFD tanker truck funds

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by The Town Life staff

Select board members, at their January 2, 2024, meeting, approved carrying over Windsor Volunteer Fire Department tanker truck funds in the amount of #300,000, which was approved at the last town meeting. Town manager Theresa Haskell said the tanker truck should be ready by the end of January.

Keith Hall, public works supervisor, reported that clean up work continues along Windsor roads from recent storms.

Hall also reported that a culvert will need to be replaced on Coopers Mills Road, an item that will be discussed more in the upcoming budget. The projected cost is $12,000 for the four-foot or five-foot culvert. This estimate does not include labor cost to install the culvert.

At the transfer station, Hall reported they had to disconnect the switch on the gate to one of the compactors, for now, because it wasn’t working properly. J&M Electric inspected the switch will take another look at it when they have time.

The annual inspection of the compactor has been done, at a cost of $1,995.65, an expense that is expected to increase next year.

In other business:

– Haskell reported the town of Windsor has received $25,000 from Mark Scribner, for the NET Co Scholarship Fund for the 2024-25 school year. This will be the 11th year the town has received this donation.
– The town’s assistant E-911/CEO/LPI has been working on updating roads and mapping. He will be joining the codes enforcement officer to look at some roads in the coming weeks.
– Haskell also informed the board the town will be mailing, via certified mail, the impending automatic foreclosure notices to residents who sitll have not paid on property that has a lien.
– Presidential primary voting will take place at the Windsor Elementary School on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The budget committee is also scheduled to meet that day, at 6 p.m., at the town hall.

Windsor Cub Scouts Pack holds holiday party

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Cubmaster Shawn MacFarland passes out pinewood derby car kits to the Cubs. Over the next few weeks, the Cubs and their parent or grandparent will carve and cut these blocks of wood into sleek racers.

by Chuck Mahaleris

Corbin Burdeck is a Webelos in Pack #609 and lives in Whitefield. “I love everything about Cub Scouts!”

Cub Pack #609 held their holiday party on January 4, at Windsor Elementary School. The event was delayed due to the “Grinch” storm that left many in the area without power for days. Families brought food to share and Cubs learned a new song. The highlight of the evening came when each Scout received a new pinewood derby car kit.

“We have a busy January and February,” said Cubmaster Shawn McFarland. “We have the Klondike Derby at Camp Bomazeen later this month, perhaps the China Ice Fishing Derby next month and then the Pinewood Derby after that.” The pinewood derby is the wood car racing event of Scouting.

Julia Hartwell, of Windsor is, in fourth grade at Windsor Elementary. She has been in Cub Scouts for a year and is one of the six original members of Pack #609 after it restarted this past autumn. She enjoys hiking and is looking forward to the Pinewood Derby.

With the help of adults, Scouts build their own unpowered, unmanned miniature cars from wood, usually from kits containing a block of pine wood, plastic wheels, and metal axles. The Scouts use their imagination to come up with the design for their wooden car which ranges from Formula 1 racers to tanks to tractors to spaceships and even cartoon characters. Those cars are raced down the pack’s Pinewood Derby track and the fastest go on to race at the district level. “It is a lot of fun,” McFarland said. “One of the best parts is it is a great project for a kid to do with their parent or grandparent.”

Pack #609 had ceased operation before Covid-19 and only began this past autumn. “We started back up after the Windsor Fair,” McFarland said. Six youth and parents from Augusta Pack #684 who lived in Windsor were the nucleus but since then the pack has grown to 19 kids drawing from Jefferson and Whitefield. “I am glad to see it taking off. Scouting has a great opportunity to build character in these kids and it is a lot of fun,” McFarland said.

All photos by Chuck Mahaleris

Ivan Peaslee is a Lion Cub Scout and is in kindergarten, in Jefferson.

Pack 609

WINDSOR: Delta Ambulance chief gives select board presentation

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by The Town Line staff

At their December 5, 2023, meeting, the Windsor Select Board heard Chris Mitchell, interim executive director for Delta Ambulance, speak about a variety of topics on behalf of the board of directors for Delta Ambulance.

He started by answering questions regarding his relationship with Delta and his history with the corporation. He then reviewed some future financial and demographic goals for Delta Ambulance. He confirmed the rumors that Delta will be selling the Cony Street location, in Augusta, and relocating up to 80 staff and up to five trucks, emphasizing they have not been using the location at full capacity. The reduction of rescue calls and transfers were a couple of the big deciding factors. New locations have been discussed with other towns, Windsor being one of them. Delta covers 13 towns.

Mitchell reported that currently the town of Windsor pays $15 per capita and that will increase. What the increase will be has yet to be determined, but could go as high as $25 per capita, if not higher.

Delta currently pays operating expenses only at the Cony Street location. They have contacted a consulting group and meetings will be held soon. He pledged to keep Town Manager Theresa Haskell up to date with any financial changes.

In other business, Haskell handed out the monthly transfer station report. November was up from last year at this time by $642.89 making the overall total $4,595.95 for the year.

– Acting as the Board of Assessors, they accepted the assessor’s agent’s 2023-24 supplemental tree growth penalty commitment in the amountt of $3,040, as presented by Assessor Vern Ziegler.
– The Select Board accepted the three-year contract from RHR Smith Buxton & Co., for auditing services. Haskell sent out six bid requests and received two responses.
– Haskell updated the board on renovations that could take place in the future at the town hall. The renovations include adding interior walls near the lift and adding office space and possible storage area. There was also discussion about heating and cooling in the office areas as well as upstairs. More information will be forthcoming.
– It was agreed to sign the certificate of appointments for the Windsor Educational Foundation & Reed Fund member.
– Haskell reported the Health Trust rates have increased by 4.25 percent. Dental rates didn’t change.

Windsor public works director applauds work crew

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The Town Line staff

The Windsor Board Selectmen, at their meeting of December 19, 2023, heard Keith Hall, Public Works Director, report on the storm of December 18, 2023. He said truck #6 is still out of service.

He then praised the public works crew for working until 5 p.m., on December 18, during the wind and rain event, until they ran out of daylight. He said they did what they could do with the equipment available. With many downed trees and limbs, they were able to open all roads with at least one passable lane. There was no loss of roads nor bridges at the time, and flooding was held to a minimum. Town Manager Theresa Haskell has begun the FEMA paperwork for storm damages.

Tim Coston, Public Works driver and laborer, said that with the approval of the select board, effective immediately, the transfer station will no longer accept tires on rims.

Haskell reported the town received seven applications for the transfer station attendant position. They conducted six interviews last week, with one no show, and a decision will be made soon and training will begin.

In other business, Haskell handed out and reviewed the town’s 2023-24 three-month budget figures. There were no areas of concern.

– The building code that was on the agenda will be reviewed in its entirety at a later date. Coston asked the other select board members to review page 6 closely when time approaches.
– Haskell distributed nomination papers for the Spirit of America Award and asked the select board to think about possible candidates.

Windsor’s Elwin Hussey dies at age 100

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Elwin Hussey at 100 years old

WINDSOR – Elwin F. Hussey, 100, died peacefully at home on Saturday, December 9, 2023, following a short illness. The only child of Harland and Mildred (Shuman) Hussey, he was born in 1923, the same year his parents started their new business, Hussey’s General Store.

He grew up around the store and on his grandparents farm just down the road, attended Windsor Corner one-room schoolhouse, graduated from Erskine Academy, in South China, in 1940, and from Colby College, in Waterville, in 1944. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as an aviation electronics technician.

After the war he returned home to the family business. He earned his pilot’s license and owned his own small plane for several years, taking off and landing in local pastures and touring up and down the Atlantic coast. In 1954 he married Shirley Avery, and he and his parents undertook a major expansion of their store to it’s present three-story location with many departments including radios, televisions and modern appliances.

Elwin and Shirley first traveled to Hawaii in the early 1960s. which began decades of wintering on the Big Island where they welcomed many friends and relatives over the years. He enjoyed tending his orange orchard there and making fresh-squeezed orange juice for every breakfast.

Elwin was an avid collector of 78 rpm records, phonographs and radios. He also bought, sold and collected books, especially books about Maine and by Maine authors, and books about military and war history. He did much research on Windsor history and genealogy of his ancestors and other local families.

He was predeceased by by his wife Shirley (2012).

He is survived by his three children, Roxanne Hussey, of Windsor, Rebecca Hussey, of Malibu, California, and Jay Hussey, of Windsor; three grandchilden, Kristen Ballentyne (husband Andrew), of Windsor, Jesse Reinherz (wife Jessica), of Juno Beach, Florida and Anna Reinherz, of New York City; and two great-grandchildren, Olivia Austin and Adeline Ballantyne, both of Windsor.

A graveside service will be held in the spring of 2024.

See also:

Windsor’s Elwin Hussey reaches the century mark

Hussey’s General Store: The history of a humble country business

A history of Hussey’s General Store

WINDSOR: Transfer station, town hall rentals top agenda

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by The Town Line staff

At their November 21 meeting the Windsor Select Board was informed on a number of activities at the transfer station.

Town Manager Theresa Haskell reviewed in length the solid waste ordinance draft. Updates and changes were made. Haskell also noted the transfer station committee is discussing using stickers, again. More information will be available later.

Haskell then reviewed the Windsor recycling pamphlet. Updates and changes were also made to the pamphlet.

Haskell also reviewed the town hall policy with the select board. She would like to get suggestions from the select board on how to make the rules clearer to residents when using the town hall. Haskell noted it is a cost to the town when emergency response is needed. Haskell made note of an example: the heat sensors in the town hall are very sensitive. When fogging devices are used, they set off the heat sensors. The fire department will respond. The town pays a fee to each firefighter who responds. It is printed in the rules tha fogging devices are not to be used, but people still use them. A suggestion to revise the policy to charge a fee to residents for non-emergency calls might help cut down on some of these calls.

A question has come up about whether a minor could ride along with the town’s plow truck. There was discussion about minor or adult riding along in the public works vehicles, and how it would affect insurance and what waivers would or should be signed by the driver and rider. More information and discussion will follow.

In other business, Haskell reported the transfer station revenues were up for October from last year by $1,481.25, making the total for the year at $3,953.

There have been three applications received for the part-time transfer station attendant position. Interviews will take place after the holidays.

The select board also voted on a plan that would limit the hours Tim Coston, a public works driver and laborer, would spend covering at the transfer station. That would allow Coston to get rest for his role plowing and sanding the town roads. Haskell said other people will be available to cover at the transfer station.

The next meeting was scheduled for December 5.

WINDSOR: Rescue director addresses complaint of response time

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by The Town Line staff

At the October 24 meeting of the Windsor Select Board, Raymond Chavarie, Director of Windsor Rescue, addressed the board about an article noting a resident unhappy with rescue response time for a certain call in Windsor. He noted response times recorded from dispatch services and logged of a certain call. The call came into the dispatch center at 5:20 p.m., and dispatched at 5:23 p.m., with the Windsor Rescue Unit leaving the station at 5:27 p.m. The rescue unit was on-site at 5:30 p.m.

Chavarie explained that all are volunteers and get there as quickly as possible. In any emergency, five minutes can seem like an hour to someone. It is the first responders’ job to get there and do what they can before paramedics arrive. Chavarie said he welcomes the younger generation to get involved, and be trained to fill some much-needed shoes.

Carol Chavarie asked the board if the town could post on the website asking residents to mark their mailboxes and houses more clearly. Fire and rescue units need to be able to find the homes in case of an emergency and some homes just aren’t marked. She also asked if the town has an ordinance on factory start times. She said the asphalt company in town starts work very early in the morning. Town Manager Theresa Haskell said she would look into the matter.

Haskell reported that the transfer station is still currently down one employee. Many town employees have been volunteering their time to cover at the transfer station, but she noted state restrictions on running certain equipment under the age of 18 have made things difficult. The select board proposed public works assume supervisory responsibilities until the transfer station is fully staffed and the role of a supervisor has been re-established. Currently, there are five members on the transfer station committee, Barbara Seaver-West, John Deeds, Tom Reed, Cheryl Pratt and David Coons.

Animal Control Officer Ryan Carver has reported a lot of calls for animal control, some requiring the assistance of state police and sheriff’s department deputies. Haskell said she would be meeting with the Chelsea town manager in December to talk about options for coverage and back-up for animal control in surrounding towns.

In other business, Haskell noted:

  • Raymond Chavarie has resigned as a member of the Windsor Educational Foundation and Reed Fund, and that the position would be advertised.
  • The resident looking for information regarding the proposed new power line that may come through Windsor was given information by the town office staff and helped put “her mind at ease.”
  • The position of deputy clerk and transfer station attendant would be advertised.
  • Select Board member Chester Barnes Jr. and Codes Enforcement Officer Arthur Strout met with a resident to review what the requirements are for her property to be considered a residence. She was given a copy of the town’s building code.

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

At their November 7 meeting, the Windsor Select Board was told by Keith Hall, public works supervisor, that the new employee has been shown the plow routes and that all went well.

The department is currently down one truck, and is at the shop for repairs. The Western Star truck #5 is back in service following repairs at O’Connor’s, in Augusta, and the work cost $6,459.

Hall also reported that James Page would stay on as a fill-in driver. Resident Tim Coston mentioned the several years of service Page has given to the public works department.

Hall also noted that with good weather, the paving job will be finished on Vigue Road, completing this year’s paving contract.

There was some discussion about the cement wall at the transfer station. Town Manager Theresa Haskell mentioned she has tried to get Avery Glidden to come and fix the wall, but he hasn’t returned the calls. Hall has received a couple of quotes. No decision was reached.

In other business:

  • Haskell reported Delta Ambulance’s third quarter report. She noted that Tim Beals has stepped down as executive director for Delta and is being replaced by Chris Mitchell as the interim executive director. Haskell received information that Delta will be selling the Cony Road location, in Augusta, and there isn’t much more information on the closure or relocation, which is said to be taking place to a southern locale.
  • Haskell received the state of Maine check that Maine towns will be receiving to offset general assistance costs. Towns will be sharing $8.5 million, of which Windsor’s share will be $521.25. The money will go into a miscellaneous town revenue account.
  • Haskell noted that as of the November 7 meeting, there have been no applications received for the part-time transfer station attendant position.

The next meeting of the select board was scheduled for November 21.