Vassalboro News: Public hearing set for two articles

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.