VASSALBORO: Process begins for new town manager

by Mary Grow

Every time Vassalboro select board members talked about how much they have to do in January as they begin 2023 town meeting preparations, Town Manager Mary Sabins’ smile got broader.

Aaron Miller

Sabins is retiring at the end of the year, and early in their Dec. 8 meeting select board members had signed a contract with her successor, Aaron Miller, of Alna. Sabins said her to-do list for Miller is already several pages long; board members helped lengthen it.

Several Dec. 8 agenda items involved requests for money. Board members spent most time on reviewing requests for ARPA (federal funds granted under the American Rescue Plan Act) money, which will not come directly from local taxpayers.

Sabins shared a page-long list of requests from town departments, organizations and individual residents with ideas for improvements. The total came to more than $507,000, with no cost estimates attached to some items. Sabins said Vassalboro has about $226,000 available.

The preliminary review led to unanimous select board support for 15 requests, totaling about $125,000 (plus some costs not yet estimated). Miller will oversee the final round of decision-making.

Lauchlin Titus, chairman of the new committee reviewing capital needs at the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse that is now the home of the Vassalboro Historical Society, presented a report from Vassalboro engineer Clough Toppan, of Toppan Consulting Services.

Toppan’s recommendations included LED lights, additional insulation and caulking, a new, more efficient oil boiler and heat pumps. No firm prices were attached. Titus said the Melrose family had taken care of most of the lights, at no charge; he suggested caulking might become a Boy Scout community project.

The heat pumps generated most discussion. Select board members unanimously voted to authorize the town manager to find a “qualified partner” to meet the Efficiency Maine requirement to get state reimbursement for much of the cost of heat pump installation.

The “qualified partner,” Titus explained, is a contractor who makes recommendations on the number and type of heat pumps, applies to Efficiency Maine on the town’s behalf, and if funding is approved, installs the heat pumps. Finding such a person is likely to be Miller’s responsibility.

Yet another pending cost is a cover for the new hopper at the transfer station, so the trash will not be mixed with snow and ice. Board members unanimously authorized a search for a contractor to do the job; writing the Request for Proposals (RFP) will be another job for Miller.

In other business Dec. 8:

• Select board members unanimously approved closing the transfer station at noon Saturday, Dec. 24, and all day Sunday, Dec. 25.
• They tentatively scheduled the stakeholders’ meeting requested by the Webber Pond Association to discuss water quality for the evening of Jan. 25 or Jan. 26, 2023.
• They unanimously appointed John Reuthe a member of the Vassalboro Conservation Commission.
• They unanimously approved a staff holiday lunch at 12:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23.

By the time the Dec. 8 meeting ended, board members had one agenda item for their Dec. 22 meeting: Sabins said the annual review of marijuana business license will be that evening.