by Mary Grow

Two Vassalboro Budget Committee meetings April 7 and 9 plus an April 7 school board meeting led to three conclusions.

The first was that nobody had final figures for a 2020-21 school budget, and if the town meeting were to be postponed from June 1, both committees might have their April deadlines extended. Gov. Janet Mills’ April 10 announcement moving the primary election from June 10 to July 14 made a local extension more likely; selectmen will probably decide at their April 16 meeting.

The second conclusion was that under the circumstances, town officials must make every effort to limit spending and, if possible, hold the 2020-21 tax rate at or below the current year’s rate. Below is preferable, several budget committee members said, because of the planned town-wide valuation increase that will increase tax bills even if the tax rate is unchanged.

Town Manager Mary Sabins notified committees of the impending increase, needed to realign Vassalboro valuations with state valuations and avoid, or at least delay, a costly town-wide revaluation.

The third conclusion, primarily among school board members, is that no matter how tight the budget, cutting items essential for education and for safety is a bad idea. After this spring’s disruption, students will be likely to need more help than usual in the fall, Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and Vassalboro Community School Principal Megan Allen agreed.

The school board has reduced two positions, the Gifted and Talented teacher and the librarian, from full-time to three days a week. One position was eliminated from special education earlier in the year, Pfeiffer said.

He, Allen and School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur all strongly support the one new position planned, a math specialist who would work with the new literacy specialist (needed to replace Kathy Cioppa, who is retiring) to expand assistance to students needing extra help.

After discussion, school board members abandoned their earlier proposal to eliminate funding for a new telephone and intercom system, considering it necessary for safety. The current one is unreliable, Technical Systems Administrator/Teacher David Trask said, and the only way to tell it’s not working is to try to use it – not a good situation in an emergency.

When budget committee members joined the virtual school board meeting, school board members explained the importance of the additional staff member and the telephone/intercom. The former is budgeted at barely over $65,000 for 2020-21, the latter at about $16,000 for the first year of a five-year lease-purchase agreement.

Asked about deferring staff raises, Levasseur said the issue would require negotiation with staff unions, currently in the second year of a three-year contract.

Asked about potential savings from the current shutdown, Pfeiffer said they are being tracked. He foresees savings in several areas – building heat, bus runs, substitute teachers – but has no figures yet.

Levasseur proposed taking more than planned from the school’s undesignated surplus account to reduce the impact on next year’s taxes.

With no final figures on either school or municipal budget requests, and without the crystal ball Chairman Rick Denico wished he had, the April 9 budget committee meeting was short.

Fire department officials Walker Thompson, Bob Williams and Michael Vashon joined the beginning of the meeting to talk about the need for a new fire truck.

Thompson described truck #15, the oldest truck at the Riverside fire station, as “unreliable,” in need of close to $20,000 worth of repairs and mostly out of service already, except that it carries the department’s extrication equipment, which will be transferred to another truck soon. Department officials are making plans to acquire a replacement in the summer of 2021, on lease-purchase, at a total price of around 334,000. The timing of the need for a first payment from taxation will depend on use of the reserve fund and whether the department can get a grant toward the cost.

Between August 2020, when #15’s inspection sticker expires, and the arrival of a new truck in the summer of 2021, Thompson said Vassalboro will rely on mutual aid from Augusta to supply an attack truck for southern Vassalboro.

After the firefighters signed out, staff salaries were a major topic, with Budget Committee members asking whether town and school employees would consider a pay freeze for next year.

Trask, president of the Vassalboro Teachers’ Association, reminded his virtual audience that school staff went through several years of postponed raises early in this century that made their contractual pay scale a hollow shell. In recent years, he said, they have begun to catch up; but Vassalboro school salaries are still so far behind other area schools that hiring and keeping staff is a problem.

As of April 9, the future virtual meeting schedule was as follows Tuesday, April 14, school board at 5:45 p.m. joined by budget committee members at 7 p.m.; and Thursday, April 16, selectmen at 1 p.m. – note daytime meeting – and budget committee at 7 p.m. Interested residents may watch the meetings live on the website by clicking on Information.

VASSALBORO TOWN OFFICE CLOSURE

COVID-19 STAY AT HOME ORDER

Effective, Thursday, April 2, 2020 and due to Governor Mills’ recent Stay at Home Order, the Vassalboro Town Office will be closed and unmanned through the end of April.  Every few days, staff will monitor messages on the Town Office answering machine and return calls as needed.  Call the town office at 872-2826 with questions. Thank you for your patience and understanding. The health and safety of the public and the town staff is of utmost importance to us during this challenging time.

Also through the end of April, the Public Works department will be shut down except when road conditions warrant otherwise.  PW Staff will monitor the answering machine at the Public Works Garage every few days and return calls as needed.  Call the garage at 923-3985 to report road issues.

For the foreseeable future, the Selectmen’s meetings and the Budget Committee Meetings will be held remotely through video conferencing.  Use the following link to view the list of meetings and to observe them: https://www.vcsvikings.org/information/online-public-meetings.

At the Transfer Station, a few more changes have been implemented as well.  The Transfer Station will be closed all days EXCEPT Saturday.  On Saturdays for the month of April, only household trash will be received.  Please hold all other types of trash for disposal until regular station hours resume.  We are asking the customer to toss their own garbage in the compactor hopper.  If the customer is physically unable to lift their bag of trash into the hopper, we ask that the bag be left on the ground near the hopper, and George will toss it in while keeping an appropriate “social distance” from the customer.

For residents needing to reach the Code Enforcement Officer and Plumbing Inspector Paul Mitnik, during the month of April he will be working at home and can be reached at 923-3758 or on his cell phone at 313-2648.  Police Chief Mark Brown can be reached at 557-4601.

The Vassalboro Planning Board public hearing on amendments to the shoreland zoning ordinance, scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, has been canceled, according to Codes Enforcement Officer Paul Mitnick.

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Budget Committee members spent most of their March 12 meeting talking with Public Works Foreman Eugene Field about his 2020-21 plans and budget request, a major piece of the annual municipal budget.

Also considered was a request from the Vassalboro Historical Society for the usual $2,500 appropriation plus $5,000 toward a $45,000 metal storage building to be set behind the barn on the Main Street property formerly owned by Betty Taylor.

An email from society president Janice Clowes said the building will be used to house and display “large items from Vassalboro,” like wagons and farm and boating equipment.

Committee members talked again about major culvert projects (see The Town Line, March 12) on Gray and Cross Hill roads. Field listed several other culverts that will need replacement soon and explained that if fish or other wildlife live in the brooks running through them, environmental regulations will require extensive work.

Selectman John Melrose, point man on the culverts because of his former job as state Commissioner of Transportation, said engineer Jim Foster helped Vassalboro get a grant to pay part of the estimated cost of the Cross Hill Road culvert. Melrose suggested the town crew do some of the work; Field protested mildly that the time would need to be taken from other summer work.

The Gray Road project started, on state requirements, as a 30-foot bridge replacing the current six-foot pipe, and has been reduced somewhat in size and cost. As of March 12, Melrose said, the state departments of transportation and environmental protection disagreed about how to proceed and the Selectboard had authorized hiring an engineer to create a plan both would accept. Melrose said the Army Corps of Engineers’ approval is also needed.

Discussion included a suggestion to do Cross Hill in 2020 and postpone the more complicated Gray Road project, and ideas for financing the Gray Road work.

Field outlined paving plans, saying in current global financial conditions he expects the cost of paving materials will be lower than expected a month ago. Melrose pointed out that after several years when few roads were paved or repaved, Vassalboro is beginning to catch up on needed work.

Field asked for higher wages for the public works crew than recommended by Town Manager Mary Sabins. He presented hourly rates for employees doing comparable work in area towns as the basis for his request.

Budget committee members made no decisions on spending recommendations. They canceled their March 24 joint meeting with the school board, because, Chairman Rick Denico said, school officials notified him they will not be ready.

Sabins reported March 16 that the selectmen’s and budget committee meetings scheduled for Thursday, March 19, were both cancelled. As of March 16, selectmen planned to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 2. A March 31 budget committee meeting with the school board, requested by the latter, was not confirmed.