VASSALBORO: Auto junkyard permits approved by select board

by Mary Grow

The two Vassalboro select board members at the Nov. 30 meeting approved six 2024 auto junkyard permits, after a public hearing that drew no comments.

Codes officer Jason Lorrain said he received renewal applications from six of seven residents listed as junkyard operators. He found no complaints on record; he inspected the premises; and he recommended select board members approve the applications.

Those approved are: Stanley Garnett, North Belfast Avenue; Robert Parise, Riverside Drive; Voit Ritch, Route 3; Dale Clement, Taber Hill Road; Bill Pullen, South Stanley Hill Road; and James Cogley, Main Street.

Lorrain said he had not received applications from 2023 junkyard licensee Olin Charette or auto hobbyist Robert Dore. Board members said the two could apply in time for a second hearing at either of the December select board meetings; whoever did would be charged for a second round of notices.

The other major agenda item Nov. 30 was opening requests for proposals for engineering services to design a new building at the transfer station. Town Manager Aaron Miller said he sent emails inviting 21 Maine engineering firms to submit proposals; he received one reply, from SENDERS science, engineering and construction in Camden.

Board chairman Chris French and member Michael Poulin agreed not to accept nor reject the bid, but to refer it to the transfer station task force, which Miller said was scheduled to meet the following week. They asked Miller to ask some of the other firms why they had declined to respond.

The request asked engineering firms to provide information on “permitting, design and cost estimates for a 60-foot by 80-foot transfer station building.” Task force members are interested in either “an open-ended Quonset steel building or a steel-pole barn structure.”

Select board members intend to discuss the issue at their next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 14.

They had planned a workshop session on local issues immediately following the Nov. 30 meeting, but with Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., absent, they skipped it.