Vassalboro JMG students at Statehouse

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Students from the Vassalboro Community School were visiting the Statehouse as Pages of the Day on the same day the Senate had given all of JMG a proclamation for their work in community service throughout the state. Front, from left to right, Malaki Baker, Dominic Goodrich and Alexander Hoffman. Back, Mrs. Horan, Mrs. Gram, Cameron LaFavor, Aidan Fleck, Hunter Gunning, Lexi Allen, Jada Pelkey, Mr. Craig Larrabee (JMG president), Kazlynn Davidson, Camille Chabre, Ms. Bvosseau, and Victor Esposito. Contributed photo

Vassalboro News: Finally, agreement on school budget

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by Mary Grow

After a series of serious and occasionally contentious meetings, Vassalboro Budget Committee members, school board members and selectmen have agreed on budget recommendations to voters at the June 5 town meeting.

The total budget they support, if it remains unchanged, would increase the local property tax rate by 0.88 mils (88 cents for each $1,000 of valuation), a result that does not please most of the officials involved – and that they expect will not stand.

The two factors that encourage them to predict the actual result will be easier on taxpayers are:

  • The estimated amount of state subsidy for the school department is about $3.644 million, a decrease of more than $249,000 from the current year, based on figures and a state education plan proposed by Governor Paul LePage. Vassalboro officials expect the legislature to amend the figures to the town’s advantage, but they do not anticipate a final figure until after town meeting.
  • Town Manager Mary Sabins’ estimated property valuation is likely to increase when assessor Ellery Bane finishes his review. A higher valuation spreads the tax burden over more property, lowering the tax rate.

The total municipal budget endorsed by the selectmen and budget committee is $60,450 above the current year’s budget, including a three percent pay increase for town employees (except Sabins, who by contract gets two percent). Because income from sources other than taxation is expected to increase, the municipal budget alone would lower the tax rate slightly.

The town’s required contribution to the Kennebec County budget has gone up a grand total of $258, making an almost invisible 0.08 percent impact on taxation.

Even the school budget has increased very little, less than $10,000 in an almost $7.4 million total. The outsize impact on local taxes – a request for $338,681 – comes because revenues other than taxation have declined, especially the state subsidy.

Voters will make final 2017-18 spending decisions at their annual town meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at Vassalboro Community School. The meeting will continue Tuesday, June 13, at the town office, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voters to ratify or reject the school budget approved June 5 and elect local officials.

Vassalboro News: Selectmen sign final warrant for June town meeting

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen signed the final warrant for the June 5 and 13 town meeting at their May 4 meeting, after public hearings on two ordinances that are included and a final discussion of school funding.

The ordinances, in Articles 24 and 25 of the 68-article warrant, are titled “Town of Vassalboro Shoreland Zoning Ordinance as revised November 2016” and “Vassalboro Sanitary District Charter, as revised March 2017.” Copies of both are available at the town office and on the town web site.

Planning board members and sanitary district trustees attended the hearings to answer audience questions. There were none about the sanitary district charter; several people were interested in the revised shoreland ordinance. Planning Board Chairman Virginia Brackett told them:

  • The revisions presented June 5 are the same ones that voters rejected in November. She said without exit polling, she did not know why voters did not approve the changes. Selectman Lauchlin Titus surmised that voters did not understand the changes and therefore voted against them.
  • The major change is from volume to floor area or impervious surface as the standard for deciding how much a building in the shoreland can be expanded. The change means, for example, that basements can now be allowed, as they do not change the area of impervious surface. Brackett and others think voter approval of the changes would increase expansions of camps and houses within 250 feet of lakes.
  • The revised ordinance transfer authority over timber harvesting in the shoreland zone from the town to the state, a change Brackett expects would provide more expert regulation.

A two-page handout summarizing changes from the current to the proposed ordinance is also available at the town office and on the web site.

Selectmen commended planning board members for their hard work on the ordinance revisions.

The one issue remaining in the town meeting warrant presented May 4 was a wording question in the article added to deal with possible additional state school funding, beyond what the school board currently expects.

Over a series of meetings, school board and budget committee members and selectmen have predicted the legislature will provide more than the $3.644 million in the current list of school revenues. That figure is more than $249,000 lower than the current year’s subsidy.

However, no one knows what the final figure will be, and legislative action is not expected until after Vassalboro’s town meeting.

To deal with anticipated post-town-meeting changes in the state education subsidy, school officials proposed an article at the end of the school budget asking voters to authorize giving part of any additional state revenue to the town to make up for the amount required from property taxes, $338,681 in the budget as it now stands. Initially, the school board approved that wording, while selectmen endorsed an article that would have given the town all unanticipated state revenue.

At the May 4 meeting, School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur asked indignantly if town officials expected a million dollars if the state should somehow provide that much. Selectmen agreed on an article saying the town will receive up to $338,681 in additional state revenue, if it materializes; should the state subsidy increase even more than that, the rest would go to the school budget.

In other business May 4, selectmen again discussed the request to designate a handicapped parking place in front of Hairbuilders on Oak Grove Road. Town Manager Mary Sabins said a representative of Lucas Striping told Road Commissioner Eugene Field that marking the area would cost about $100, and that it needed a 16-foot-wide area. Selectmen advised asking Field to measure to see if that much space is available without running into the road or onto the sidewalk.

Sabins and Selectman Philip Haines reported briefly on a meeting they attended at which a preliminary plan for a fishway at the China Lake Outlet Dam was displayed.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18.

Vassalboro school board to hold special budget meeting

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by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro School Board holds a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, May 1, at Vassalboro Community School to put the 2017-18 budget request in final form. The Budget Committee is scheduled to review the proposed school budget and municipal policies at a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, in the town office meeting room. Both meetings are open to the public.

Vassalboro News: Public hearing set for two articles

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen scheduled public hearings for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 4, on two of the currently 68 articles on the June 5 town meeting warrant.

  • Art. 24 asks voters if they will approve amendments to the town’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. Voters rejected the changes in November 2016 on a written ballot by a little over 200 votes, 981 in favor to 1186 opposed.
  • Art. 25 asks if voters will approve a revised Sanitary District Charter.

Copies of both documents are available at the town office and on the Town of Vassalboro web site.

Selectmen reviewed a draft of the town meeting warrant at their April 20 meeting. The warrant is still incomplete, because the budget committee has not finished its review; a budget committee meeting was scheduled for Tuesday evening, April 25. Selectmen agreed with appropriations recommended by the budget committee earlier in April, including changing some of their previously-recommended amounts and deleting the article that would have asked voters to buy a police vehicle.

They are scheduled to sign the final warrant on May 4, during the selectmen’s meeting that follows the public hearings.

The deadline for submitting signed nomination papers for elective positions on the board of selectmen, school board and sanitary district board of trustees is 4 p.m. Monday, May 1, for candidates’ names to appear on the June 13 ballot.
The June 5 open town meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Vassalboro Community School. June 13 written-ballot voting will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.

In other business April 20, selectmen discussed requesting a state-approved handicapped parking space in front of Hairbuilders on Oak Grove Road with owner Beth Morse, Public Works Director Eugene Field, Police Chief Mark Brown and David Allen of the Maine Department of Transportation.

Morse explained that drivers ignore her unofficial sign, making access difficult for her customers who use wheelchairs, walkers or canes. Selectmen wondered how many other town businesses might need handicapped spaces on public ways, how much additional street painting would cost and how the restriction could be enforced. They plan to get more information and return to the topic at one of their May meetings.

Selectmen signed a proclamation designating May 7 through 13 as Municipal Clerks’ Week. According to the International Institute of Municipal Clerks’ web site, the week “will feature a week-long series of activities aimed at increasing the public’s awareness of municipal clerks and the vital services they provide for local government and the community.” Town Manager Mary Sabins said Vassalboro town office staff will “continue to provide service to the public as we have always done,” with no special events planned.

Vassalboro News: Budget workers frustrated over state’s lack of action

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Budget Committee and School Board members trying to work on the 2017-18 school budget are frustrated by the state legislature’s annual inability to decide on state funding.

Additionally, some budget committee members are frustrated by school board members who, they say, made minimal budget reductions between the two groups’ joint meetings March 30 and April 11.

At the March 30 meeting, AOS (Alternative Educational Structure) Superintendent Eric Haley and Finance Director Paula Pooler talked about potential savings in teacher salaries, health insurance and high-school tuition. By April 11, they presented a revised budget that was $137,698 lower than the March 30 draft, with most of the savings in the three areas previously listed. However, under currently estimated state funding the revised budget would still require an increase in local property taxes approaching $388,000, which would raise the tax rate by close to one mil ($1 for each $1,000 of valuation).

Meeting without the school board on April 13, budget committee members advocated another $139,000 be taken from the school budget. They scheduled their next meeting for Tuesday evening, April 25, instead of the previously planned April 18, hoping to give school board members time to react (despite school vacation week).

Factors likely, but not guaranteed, to improve the financial situation include a more generous state subsidy for schools and, Town Manager Mary Sabins said, more state revenue sharing to the town than she currently projects and/or a larger than anticipated increase in property valuation when the assessor finishes his work.

Until at least some of these possibilities are realized, budget committee members made only tentative decisions on endorsing proposed municipal expenditures. In general, they accepted the proposals from Sabins and the board of selectmen, with the following exceptions:

  • Transfer Station Manager George Hamar asked for up to $20,000 for two new roll-off containers (about $7,500 apiece) and a snow-pusher attachment and chains for the backhoe he is acquiring from the Public Works Department. Selectmen approved both; budget committee members recommended $15,000 for the containers only.
  • After talking with Dan Mayotte, chief of Vassalboro’s First Responders, budget committee members on a 4-3 vote recommended $10,000 for the service instead of the $4,900 Sabins and selectmen recommended.
  • Selectmen endorsed the request for up to $35,000 to buy a new police vehicle in 2017-18. The budget committee recommended delaying the purchase.
  • Both boards advise voters to give $5,000 to the China Region Lakes Alliance (which requested $15,000), but selectmen plan to use money from taxes and the budget committee recommends appropriating it from the alewife fund (money from the sale of alewives caught at Webber Pond dam each spring).

Both boards agreed to recommend a $500 donation to Waterville Area Literacy Volunteers, the selectmen on a 2-1 vote. Selectmen have not had a chance to react to budget committee members’ recommendations on expenditures on which the two boards disagree. The next selectmen’s meeting is at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20, in the town office meeting room.

Vassalboro’s annual town meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, June 5. Budget committee members discussed postponing it to the end of June to get firm state figures on which to base local decisions; Sabins pointed out legal requirements surrounding the annual meeting and the school budget validation vote that made postponement too difficult to be seriously considered. Local elections will be held June 13 in conjunction with the state election day. Nomination papers for positions on the board of selectmen, school board and sanitary district board are available at the town office.

Vassalboro News: Public hearing planned for revised sanitary district charter

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO — At the April 6th Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting, selectmen and Sanitary District trustees discussed the revised sanitary district charter that town voters will be asked to approve or reject at the June 5th town meeting.

Selectmen scheduled a public hearing on the document for Thursday evening, May 4. Town Manager Mary Sabins suggested a hearing on proposed revisions to Vassalboro’s shoreland ordinance the same evening if the date is acceptable to the Planning Board.

Raymond Breton, chairman of the sanitary district board, said the current charter dates from 1972. The trustees had an attorney prepare the revision to bring the charter up to current standards.
Selectmen had questions about whether the revised charter matches actual practice. In other business April 6, board Chairman Lauchlin Titus congratulated public works employee James “J.J.” Wentworth on receiving a Road Scholar award for participation in state training sessions.

Sabins explained that the Road Scholar designation, granted by the state Department of Transportation, is the “highest achievement of public works employees,” equivalent to certification for a town clerk or a town manager. To earn Road Scholar status, a public works employee must attend ten workshop days, seven mandatory classes and three optional, sponsored by the department’s Local Roads Center.

Public Works Director Eugene Field attained his Road Scholar certification in the spring of 2014, Sabins said.

Selectmen awarded two bids. The cemetery mowing bid went to Scott’s Property Care, of Oakland, the company which did the work last year for the same price, $24,500, Sabins said. The 1984 fire truck was sold to David Saunders, of Orland, highest of seven bidders, for $4,125.25. Board members unanimously agreed that the transfer station will be closed Sunday, April 16, for Easter.

They approved and signed a letter asking the school board to take time to advertise future vacancies, instead of filling them immediately.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting will be Thursday evening, April 20. The budget committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 13, and if necessary again on Tuesday, April 18, to make recommendations on proposed town meeting expenditures.

VASSALBORO NEWS: School budget does not look good for taxpayers

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by Mary Grow

State and other non-tax revenues down, expenditures up – the initial proposal for the 2017-18 Vassalboro school budget does not look good for taxpayers.

At the first joint meeting of the school board and budget committee, AOS (Alternative Educational Structure) #92 Superintendent Eric Haley said he expects a slight improvement by the time the two committees meet again April 11; but he will not have final revenue figures until state legislators and the governor approve school funding in June.

Potential reductions in expenditures include a downward revision of the salaries and benefits line to allow for the replacement of two veteran teachers who are retiring in June with less experienced and lower-paid teachers; a reduction in expected tuition costs; and, with luck, a smaller increase in insurance premiums than projected.

The preliminary budget papers school board and budget committee members shared at their March 30 meeting showed an increase in expenditures of more than $196,000 and a decrease in non-tax revenue of almost $329,000. Without changes, the school department would need $525,522 from local property taxes for 2017-18, 16 percent more than in the current fiscal year. School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur observed that every school district in Maine is taking a similar hit. Perhaps, he said, there will be pressure on the legislature to increase state funding.

Superintendent Haley said one provision in Governor Paul LePage’s school budget plan eliminates state support for superintendent’s offices, to encourage schools to join in regional service centers. AOS #92 is slated to lose its central office support, a loss of more than $100,000, Finance Director Paula Pooler said. Haley said by his definition the office is a service center administering the three separate Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow school systems, and should not be penalized.

Budget committee members did not go into details of the proposed budget. They met April 3 to develop questions to forward to the school department in advance of the next joint meeting, scheduled for Tuesday evening, April 11.

VASSALBORO NEWS: Budget process begins with committee agreeing on two items

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO — At the end of their third 2017 meeting, Vassalboro Budget Committee members agreed on two things: they cannot start making recommendations on the 2017-18 municipal budget until after they talk with school officials about the school budget, and they might need more than one other meeting after two joint meetings with the School Board.

The school board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at the school, to be joined at 7 p.m. by the budget committee. The two boards meet again Tuesday, April 4, probably at 7 p.m. at the school. The budget committee plans to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at the town office, and if necessary Tuesday, April 18, same time and place.

As in past years, budget committee members have differing views on basic questions, including whether and if so how they should recommend a municipal budget that will not raise property taxes; whether town equipment needed part-time should be rented or bought (referring specifically to the excavator the public works department has been leasing); and whether necessary equipment purchases should be financed by setting aside reserve funds or borrowing money when it’s needed.

After their initial meeting March 9, budget committee members met March 21 with representatives of non-profit and social service agencies and March 23 to consider capital improvements and other issues.

Committee members heard presentations from Nan Bell of the Family Violence Project, which served 23 Vassalboro residents last year; Lucille Murphy of the Waterville area Literacy Volunteers, an agency that has not previously asked for town support; Jim Wood of Kennebec Valley Community Action Program (KVCAP) transportation services; Lee Duff of Friends Advocating for Vassalboro Older Residents (FAVOR), also making its first request; Jim Hart of the China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA); and new police chief Mark Brown.

Murphy said there has been “an alarming increase in illiteracy in Maine” that Literacy Volunteers aims to combat. She added that the percentage of children not reading proficiently by fourth grade has been found to be an indicator of future need for prisons. Brown nodded agreement.

Wood has been working with Town Manager Mary Sabins to expand transportation services to Vassalboro and perhaps China. Duff said FAVOR’s purpose it to determine how best to organize support for senior citizens, including but not limited to KVCAP transportation.

Hart summarized three major CRLA projects: the courtesy boat inspections that seek to protect China Lake and nearby lakes from invasive plants; the Youth Conservation Corps, which includes the LakeSmart program recognizing landowners who minimize pollution from their properties; and the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI) aimed at restoring sea-run alewives to China Lake via the Sebasticook River and Outlet Stream.

Family Violence asked for $4,925 from the town; the selectmen and town manager recommend $2,500. Literacy Volunteers requested $500, not supported by the selectmen. KVCAP asked for $1,350, supported. CRLA asked for $15,000; the selectmen recommend $5,000. FAVOR’s $1,000 request has the selectmen’s endorsement.

Police Chief Brown’s main concern was the proposed new police vehicle, suggested by his predecessor, Richard Phippen (who is a budget committee member). Brown has specifications on a Ford Explorer, with an estimated cost of $35,000 including equipment. Trading in or selling the current vehicle would contribute toward the new one.

Committee Chairman John Melrose raised a broader issue: does Vassalboro need a policeman, or should town residents rely on county and state law enforcement? The 2017-18 request for public safety totals almost $68,000, with almost $14,500 for animal control, $26,476 for dispatching and the rest for the police chief’s salary, benefits, equipment and vehicle maintenance.

At the March 23 meeting Sabins summarized the town’s revenues and answered committee members’ questions about employees’ salaries and benefits. She recommends three percent salary increases next year except for herself; her contract calls for a two percent increase.

VASSALBORO NEWS: Selectmen postpone vote on mowing contracts

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO — At a short meeting March 23, Vassalboro selectmen reviewed four bids for mowing town cemeteries and postponed action until they review references.

Town Manager Mary Sabins reported that the Maine Municipal Association told her the Vassalboro School Board broke no laws by appointing a new member without advertising the vacancy.

Earlier in March, resident Douglas Phillips asked Sabins to seek a legal opinion. In December 2016 the school board promptly appointed Lori Fowle to the seat from which Elizabeth Mitchell resigned after being elected judge of probate.

Lauchlin Titus, chairman of the board of selectmen, commented that he saw no harm in telling the school board that selectmen “are not happy” with the procedure.

In other Vassalboro news, Town Clerk Cathy Coyne has posted notice that nomination papers are available for June local elections. Positions to be filled are one seat on the Board of Selectmen, three seats on the School Board and two seats on the Sanitary District Board of Trustees. Signed papers are due at the town office by 4 p.m. Monday, May 1, for candidates’ names to appear on the local ballot.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, April 6.