Vassalboro select board approves three questions for November ballot

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by Mary Grow

At their Sept. 5 meeting, Vassalboro select board members approved three questions for a Nov. 5 local referendum ballot, on three different topics.

One question asks Vassalboro voters to authorize using already-available funds to contribute toward replacing the Dunlap bridge on Mill Hill Road.

A second asks voters to amend the town’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Ordinance to allow TIF money to be used for environmental projects in town.

And the third question seeks voter approval of an amendment to the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s charter to set up a system of electing VSD trustees.

The Mill Hill bridge project has many uncertainties, and generated the most discussion at the Sept. 5 meeting.

Town Manager Aaron Miller shared a sheet of financial calculations for a $1.8 million project to replace the existing culvert. Assuming successful grant applications, the town’s share would be about $160,000.

Vassalboro officials have more than $160,000 available in various funds. The proposed article for the Nov. 5 ballot, drafted by the town’s attorney, asks voters to authorize select board members to spend some of it for the bridge.

Board member Chris French urged rewording the article, fearing it was not clear enough. Miller said town officials would need to provide supporting information, but recommended leaving the article as presented.

Uncertainties, in addition to the success of grant applications, include which of three plans for a replacement bridge over Seven Mile Stream is best; how much the town will be expected to pay out and get reimbursed later, instead of being paid as expenses are incurred; and timing. French is concerned the culvert will fall apart before its replacement is ready.

Board members authorized paying Calderwood Engineering up to $58,500 to continue preliminary work on the bridge. They approved a draft letter supporting a grant application to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which is interested in the project because migratory fish use Seven Mile Stream.

If voters approve this project and also approve the question about using TIF money for environmental projects, TIF funds can help with the bridge.

Miller recommended an Oct. 3 public hearing on the ballot questions.

In other business, Miller gave a brief update on Eagle Park, the streamside recreational area on Route 32 (Main Street) a short distance north of East Vassalboro Village.

Conservation Commission members and the town’s public works crew are involved in developing the area, he said, with plans for a metal-roofed pavilion on a concrete pad, picnic tables and wide gravel paths to facilitate handicapped access.

The manager expressed thanks to the state Department of Transportation and its contractor, Pratt & Sons, for donating clean fill from their sidewalk reconstruction in North Vassalboro to level parts of the park. Other donations may be pending, he said, for the park and the town recreation fields.

Board members approved a proclamation recognizing Sept. 17 through 23 as Constitution Week, observed annually since 1956 to recognize the Sept. 17, 1787, adoption of the United States Constitution by the Congress of the Confederation.

They scheduled a workshop meeting for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, and combined with it their regular meeting that would have been Oct. 31, to be able to stay home on Halloween.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19.

EVENTS: Vassalboro Days 2024: Weekend Event Happenings

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Vassalboro Days : Weekend Event Happenings

Friday, September 6

8 am – 6 pm – Lemieux’s Orchard Apple picking, corn maze, sunflower fields, donuts & hayrides
10 am – 6 pm – Vassalboro Public Library bake & book sale
10 am – 5 pm – Old Mill Place Gift Shop
2 pm – 6 pm – Oak Grove Chapel & Caretaker’s Cottage tours
5 pm – 6 pm – Oak Grove Chapel Art Exhibit. Meet the Artist Jackson Gregory. Snacks & Cider, paintings for sale.
6 pm – 9 pm – The Mill 934 Main St. Outside dance & music by DJ Dustin from Root Notes Production

Saturday, September 7

8 am – 6 pm – Lemieux’s Orchard Apple picking, corn maze, sunflower fields, donuts & hayrides
9 am – 2 pm – Freddie’s 9th Annual Cruise-In TOwn Office at 682 Main St (rain date Sunday)
9 am – 3 pm – HIstorical Society Museum & Blacksmith Shop open
9 am – 3 pm – Vassalboro Recreation Field opening day of soccer games & field day
9 am – 5 pm – Old Mill Place Gift Shop
10 am – 11 am – Professor Smarty Pants show at the Vassalboro Grange. Pies for sale on Grange Porch
10 am – 4 pm – VPL Book & Bake Sale
10 am – 4 pm – Vassalboro Masonic Lodge Fried Chicken Baskets & burgers. You may order your baskets that day by calling 208-441-0378 from 9 am – 3:30 pm that day! Proceeds benefit Bikes for Books at The Mill.
1 pm – 3 pm – St. Bridget Center Cribbage
2 pm – 6 pm – Oak Grove Chapel & tours of the Caretaker’s Cottage. Art Exhibit by Artist Jackson Gregory. Paintings for sale.
3:15 pm – Double Dam Duck Cerby tickets $3 each or $10 for 5 tickets. Purchase at the Mill or by contacting Ray Breton at 207-877-2005

Sunday, September 8

8 am – 6 pm – Lemieux’s Orchard Apple picking, corn maze, sunflower fields, donuts & hayrides
9 am – 3 pm – The Mill Indoor Yard Sale
9 am – 3 pm – HIstorical Society Museum & Blacksmith Shop
9 am – 5 pm – The Mill indoor gift shop
10 am – 1 pm – Special Sunday worship service & Brunch at the Vassalboro methodist Church
11:30 am – 2 pm – Childrens activities & prizes with an Ice Cream ‘Sunday’ Sundae Bar
2 pm – 6 pm – Oak Grove Chapel & tours of the Caretaker’s Cottage. Art Exhibit by Artist Jackson Gregory. Paintings for sale.
3 pm – Oak Grove Chapel Jazz band preformance “All Together Now” trio playing with audience participation on bells & drums. Outdoor venue unless raining, then concert will be held inside the chapel.

Compiled by Gillian Lalime

Vassalboro school supplies drive another success

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From left to right, Ira Michaud (VCS Principal), Jessica, Lisa and Donald Breton, Tabitha Brewer (VCS Assistant Principal). (contributed photo)

The 6th annual School Supplies Drive By Drop Off, held on August 24, to support the children who attend the Vassalboro Community School, was another huge success. The organizers thank Walmart, Huhtamaki, Caswell’s Liquidation, Staples and Marden’s for their donations, as well as all the folks who stopped by to make a donation towards the school supplies drive and those who made cash donations.

Vassalboro stanchions a state experiment

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by Mary Grow

Until Nov. 1, East Vassalboro Village will be the site of an experiment aimed at slowing traffic. Aware that it could also make roads impassable for large farm equipment, town officials have provided what they hope will be a remedy.

Temporary PVC stanchions have been placed along roads’ white lines, and in places along the center double lines, on all sides of the four-way intersection in the village: Route 32 running north and south, Bog Road to the west and South Stanley Hill Road to the east. Maine Department of Transportation Engineers expect most vehicles obeying the speed limit to pass between them safely.

However, if farm equipment is more than 11-feet wide, its operator will need to find an alternate route or ask the town’s public works crew to move one or more stanchions. The public works department is open Mondays through Thursdays; crew members need three business days’ notice to move stanchions; the telephone number is 923-3985, and the email address is publicworks@vassalboro.net.

Town officials urge motorists not to run into or over the stanchions. The town will have to pay to replace any that get broken.

Residents with additional or alternative ideas for enforcing safe speeds are invited to submit them to the East Vassalboro Village Project Team, through an email to Town Manager Aaron Miller, amiller@vassalboro.net.

Window Dressers create affordable window inserts

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Volunteers hard at work assembling insulated window inserts. (photo by Roberta Barnes)

by Roberta Barnes

Our nights becoming chilly is a reminder to begin preparing for winter.

One of the first places to focus on is your windows.

While replacement energy efficient windows might not fit into your budget, insulating window inserts are affordable and assembling them with others can be enjoyable.

Last November I was one of the people who, after having windows measured by volunteers from WindowDressers, joined others like me, and volunteers, from China, Vassalboro, Windsor and Albion at the Vassalboro Mill to assemble insulating window inserts.

Together we securely assembled wooden frames, covered each side of the frame with strong clear plastic, and added foam edges.

The strong plastic securely sealed on all sides of the frame forms the pocket of insulating air that can help to keep your home warm.

While completing each insulating window insert requires the correct equipment, materials, instruction, and time, the atmosphere was so enjoyable that people volunteered for extra shifts.

This year the location in Vassalboro has changed and there is also a location in Waterville which can be seen on the WindowDressers website.

Today you can either request window inserts by filling out the form online on the website https://windowdressers.org/ or sign up to volunteer.

In Maine you can also call (207) 596-3073. The deadline for signing up for inserts is September 15, 2024.

The cost for these insulting window inserts is kept affordable by the donations and volunteers helping to assemble the inserts.

You can estimate the cost of the inserts on the windowdressers.org website. There is also a low or no-pay Special Rate Program where you pay what you can afford.

You can discuss paying for your inserts with the person or people from WindowDressers when they come out to measure the windows.

There may be a limit of 10 inserts for this Special Rate Program.

The deadline for signing up to receive the window inserts for this winter 2024/2025 is September 15, 2024.

It is best if you go online today at https://windowdressers.org/, or call (207) 596-3073. Doing this can help you keep the chilly air outside your windows and enjoy being one of the people assembling the inserts in a friendly upbeat atmosphere.

(photo by Roberta Barnes)

EVENTS: Vassalboro Days Sunday at the Methodist Church

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Rory and Terra Pillow with their children and Buzz Crandall enjoying some kids’ activities at the Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC). Supervised children’s activities will be among the offerings at VUMC during Vassalboro Days on Sunday, September 8, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. (contributed photo)

The Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) is holding a special worship service during Vassalboro Days, on Sunday, September 8, at 10 a.m. when the history of their church will be shared.

“We would like to see people attend who were part of the congregation when our church was built in 1988,” said Pastor Karen Merrill. “We want to gather memories from those folks as well as share some of what we know.”

The Sunday service will take place 10 – 11 a.m., followed by food, friendship and fun. The public is welcome to come for the service and any or all of the following. A breakfast brunch will be served in the fellowship hall from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m.; an ice cream sundae bar will be open from 1 – 2 p.m., and supervised childrens’ activities will be set-up from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. There is no charge but donations are gratefully accepted.

VUMC was built in 1988 and serves as a community center for people of Vassalboro and surrounding towns who come to attend Sunday services, special programs, concerts, public suppers and more. VUMC members provide outreach through participation in the local fuel fund, food pantry, senior programs, Scouting, kids’ scholarships to Camp Mechuwana and by delivering welcome baskets to new residents. VUMC also organizes and publishes a community calendar each year, and delivers them door to door throughout town.

All are welcome to VUMC every Sunday for the worship service, at 10 a.m., at 614 Main Street. Public suppers take place in the church fellowship hall May through October, every third Saturday 4:30 – 6 p.m. Senior public luncheons for 55+ year olds are held in collaboration with the Vassalboro Recreation Department every second Wednesday 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

FMI visit Vassalboro United Methodist Church on Facebook, phone Pastor Karen Merrill at (207) 873-5564 or email karenmerrill62@gmail.com. FMI about other activities at other locations during Vassalboro Days on September 7 – 8 contact Samantha Lessard at (207) 314-4940 or samanthalessard@yahoo.com.

LETTERS: Let’s all support Laura Jones!

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To the editor:

I am excited and fully support Laura Jones’ candidacy for House of Representatives for our district (i.e., Vassalboro and Sidney). Laura’s Vassalboro ties go back four generations, and her dedication and devotion to our area and our state are remarkable. Laura recently retired from a stellar career in the military (which highlights her commitment to country as well as community). Laura has taken on a leadership role in engaging citizen participation in the community, providing opportunities for people to share ideas, activities, and ways to make our community better. Laura has the energy, enthusiasm and abilities to take her knowledge and skills and do the same things for us at the state level. Please vote for Laura Jones, House District #61 on or by November 5.

Amy Davidoff
Vassalboro

Vassalboro planners hear request to amend subdivision

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by Mary Grow

The three leaders of Augusta’s All Season Home Improvements company met with Vassalboro Planning Board members on Aug. 6 to talk about amending a nine-year-old subdivision.

The 2015 plan was for land on Church Hill Road; it included a dead-end road named Karen Lane that runs southeast off Church Hill Road near the Augusta line. Robert Grieg, Robert “Bobby” Grieg and Carl Brickett explained that the plan had two lots for single-family homes and a larger “parcel” that was to provide space for seven duplexes sharing a common septic system.

The single-family houses were built, but none of the duplexes. Now the applicants want to create one or two separate lots in that area, too.

During discussion, they mentioned that the boundary of one of the single-family lots had been changed.

Planning Board Chairman Virginia Brackett said that change should have been brought to the planning board as a requested amendment. Subdivisions are recorded not just in the town office, but also in the Kennebec County Registry of Deeds; any lawyer involved in a land transfer will require the record to be up to date if the transaction is to be valid, she explained.

Brackett and Town Manager Aaron Miller, filling in as board recorder until Vassalboro hires a new codes officer, advised the Griegs and Brickett on how to find a subdivision application form on line.

Board member Douglas Philips and Brackett raised two other issues they had observed: woodchips apparently being stockpiled on a shoreland lot in East Vassalboro; and possible violations of Olin Charette’s Route 201 junkyard license that the select board approved in February. Miller planned to investigate both situations.

The next regular Vassalboro Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Sept. 3.

Vassalboro board rules they have no jurisdiction on appeal

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by Mary Grow

Three members of the Vassalboro Board of Appeals found they lacked jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a June 4 planning board decision.

On June 4, planning board members approved most of an expansion plan for Sidereal Farm Brewery, at 772 Cross Hill Road. (See the June 13 issue of The Town Line for details.) Neighbors Peter and MaryBeth Soule, who spoke repeatedly at the planning board meeting, filed an appeal of the approval.

When board of appeals members Rebecca Lamey, Kevin Reed and John Reuthe met July 30, they had a memorandum from attorney Cameron A. Ferrante, of the law firm of Preti Flaherty, saying they had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

Ferrante explained that state law lets municipalities create local boards of appeal. It limits such boards’ jurisdiction to subjects the municipality has specified.

Vassalboro’s Site Review Ordinance says people may appeal planning board decisions to Superior Court. It does not authorize appeals of planning board actions to the board of appeals; nor, Ferrante wrote, does any other Vassalboro ordinance authorize such appeals.

Board members voted unanimously and without discussion that they lacked jurisdiction to hear the Soules’ appeal. They therefore did not discuss any details of the case.

Other actions taken July 30 were election of Reuthe as board chairman and Lamey as board secretary.

Planners OK water district shoreland zoning permit in 15 minutes

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members needed only a quarter-hour-long July 23 meeting to approve the Kennebec Water District’s application for a shoreland zoning permit on Outlet Stream near the KWD plant on Route 32.

KWD General Manager Roger Crouse and Water Quality Manager Robbie Bickford had presented the plan to the select board in June (see the June 20 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). They filed a planning board application that Bickford and Project Engineer Max Kenney reviewed briefly at the July 23 meeting.

The permit is for a pipeline under Route 32, from the plant on the west side of the road, that will carry used filter-cleaning water into Outlet Stream. Bickford and Kenney explained that KWD needs to dig up the road and wants to do it before the Maine Department of Transportation rebuilds parts of it and repaves this summer.

“We just need to be under the road before they pave it,” Kenney said. Waiting to dig up fresh pavement would be significantly more expensive.

To accent the point, MDOT crews were working on the road in front of the town office as the planning board met.

Tunneling was a less safe option than opening the pavement, Bickford said, because there are already under that section of road a water main, a sewer main and two fiberoptic cables.

KWD’s application provided detailed plans for the pipe, which will open into an outfall channel between Route 32 and Outlet Stream. Bickford explained to the planning board, as he had to the select board, that the water from the plant will add no contaminants and no significant volume to the stream; it might slightly increase the oxygen level, he said.

If China Lake and Outlet Stream were to flood again, KWD could reduce its discharge, he said, and being completely underwater would not harm the discharge channel.

Planning board members conditioned their unanimous approval on receiving for their files a copy of the easement allowing KWD to cross the lot between the road and the stream. Bickford promised it.

Since Vassalboro is now without a codes officer, Town Manager Aaron Miller filled in as secretary for the planning board. He said David Savage, from Oakland, is assisting with essential codes enforcement duties while Vassalboro seeks applicants to fill the position. The arrangement is working well, he said.

The next regular Vassalboro planning board meeting will be Tuesday evening, Aug. 6. Miller said as of July 23, there was one pending application.