Vassalboro select board brings back workshops, hoping to revive tradition

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members held a workshop meeting on Oct. 30, hoping to revive the annual tradition after several years’ break. The purpose is to begin prioritizing issues they plan to address in the next few years.

The Oct. 30 meeting (changed from the usual Thursday evening to avoid Halloween) lasted about an hour and a quarter and covered a long list of topics. Some have been discussed at past meetings, some were new proposals.

Board member Chris French’s suggestions included two that would require voters’ approval:

— Consider either a town charter, or a comprehensive plan that would update Vassalboro’s 20-year-old strategic plan; and
— Consider expanding the select board from three to five members.

He also offered a suggestion that the other two board members and Town Manager Aaron Miller adopted on the spot: better publicize the process of nominating candidates for the annual Spirit of America awards for volunteerism.

Board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., had a list that included a suggestion from earlier meetings to amend Vassalboro’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program to make an affordable housing development in town eligible for TIF funds.

Affordable housing needs two circumstances for success, Miller said: a suitable location and a willing developer.

The discussion started as a possible way to add more Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD) customers to share costs. The high cost of VSD’s service to about 200 East and North Vassalboro households has been an issue for more than a year.

To achieve that goal, board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico pointed out, the new housing would have to be adjacent to the presently-served areas, on what are now back lots.

Board members and Miller will consider appointing a committee to explore this idea, maybe in the first quarter of calendar year 2025. Since an amended TIF plan would require voter approval preceded by a public hearing, they considered scheduling a TIF discussion in January 2025, although by then they will be busy with the 2025-26 budget.

The town personnel policy, and related standards for volunteers on town boards and committees, were a major topic. Board members began discussing revisions to the personnel policy months ago, and have previously mentioned guidance for volunteers.

They decided to devote half an hour of each of their Dec. 12 and Dec. 26, 2024, and Jan. 9, 2025, meetings to those subjects.

License fees for marijuana growers in Vassalboro need quicker action; they are scheduled for review at the Nov. 14 board meeting. Miller has been gathering information on other Maine towns’ fees.

The transfer station was discussed in terms of French’s work with a local committee and an engineer. One possibility is using part of the foreclosed property adjoining the Lombard Dam Road facility for an expansion; the process of surveying and appraising the property is under way.

French recommended new cement pads for items like white goods that currently sit in mud and snow. He asked whether it is time to replace the transfer station’s backhoe, leading to a brief discussion of reviving the town’s capital improvement plan.

Denico said the plan was developed in 2013 and looked ahead 20 years. There have been many changes since, he said, agreeing that it was time for an update.

An even more ancient issue that French raised is the former quarry on the east side of Riverside Drive where Statler Tissue dumped contaminated sludge in, Denico said, the 1960s. Denico said the site originally provided rock used to rebuild Route 201; later the quarry filled with water and became a local swimming hole.

Taxes have not been paid for years, but the town has not taken over the site because of the waste. Now, French said, state funding for clean-up costs is a possibility; perhaps the town should review the situation.

Miller would like board members to consider more town employees. He reminded them they discussed hiring a fifth public works employee last year and did not include the position in the current budget. Since Vassalboro is accepting applications for a new public works director, he suggested waiting for that person’s input.

Another town office employee able to do multiple tasks would be useful when one of the regulars is out, or merely to fill in at the counter during lunch breaks, Miller said.

The transfer station is well staffed, Miller thinks. Select board member Michael Poulin concurred: “The two of them [manager Adam Daoust and assistant Nicholas Curtis] are doing a wonderful job.”

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Nov. 14. Board members plan only one November meeting, because their second one would fall on Thanksgiving Day.