Vassalboro select board discusses upcoming work at Webber Pond dam

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members’ March 6 meeting included updates on several ongoing issues and continued review of the proposed 2025-26 municipal budget, now in draft number four. A joint meeting between the select board and the budget committee is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 (time undetermined as of March 9).

The major topic of the pre-budget discussions was again this summer’s planned rebuilding of the fishway at the Webber Pond dam (see the Feb. 27 issue of The Town Line, p. 2). Matt Streeter, from Maine Rivers, reported on on-going discussions about traffic diversions during the work, showing photos illustrating the size of the project and the need to close the road beside it.

Preliminary plans now include rebuilding a small section of the private McQuarrie Road to eliminate a blind spot, he said. Responding to a concern from two weeks earlier, Fire Chief Walker Thompson said Vassalboro fire trucks can get to residences.

Streeter praised the crew who will be rebuilding the fishway as experienced and skilled, used to working close to older structures like the Webber Pond dam.

He plans to continue discussions and to report again in two weeks.

David St. Pierre, vice-president of the Dam Road association, was still concerned about the dam and bridge. If something does go wrong, he asked whether the town would pay for repairs, or whether the full cost would fall on local residents.

Select board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico said the answer would depend on the situation, including whether whatever needed fixing was due to the dam’s age or a direct result of the fishway project and how much money was involved.

In other business not directly related to next year’s budget:

— Town Manager Aaron Miller and board members discussed continuing questions related to the tax-acquired property on Lombard Dam Road, part of which they would like to keep for potential future transfer station needs.
— Board members agreed with Miller that the town insurance policy should be expanded to cover committee members and other volunteers – sports coaches, people who repair cemetery stones or maintain town trails – in case someone is injured. Miller proposed increasing the draft budget to cover the $2 per person cost he quoted.
— Board members unanimously appointed Michael Cayouette as Vassalboro baseball commissioner.

The hour-long budget discussion included Miller’s recommendations for adjusting to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration; a new proposal for town office staffing; and another discussion of funding to replace Dunlap Bridge on Mill Hill Road.

Miller recommended increasing amounts budgeted for next year’s fuel in several accounts. Vassalboro has signed 2025-26 fuel contracts, but the contracting company is not entirely firm on honoring prices if tariffs raise its costs, he said.

For the town office, Miller has repeatedly urged adding a part-time person who would cover lunch hours and fill in if needed when a regular staffer is on vacation or out sick. Board member Chris French suggested increasing the community program director’s position to full-time and adding town office substituting to the job description.

Miller was noncommittal until he has time to consult the people involved.

Last summer’s federal grant that would cover a generous part of the expensive Mill Hill Road project is now in doubt, Miller and board members fear, leading to consideration of alternatives, including using Vassalboro’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund.

At the Feb. 20 meeting, board members asked Miller to ask the town’s attorney whether they can repeat on the June 2 open town meeting warrant the same question about using TIF money that voters rejected in November 2024. Miller said the attorney had not yet answered.

The next Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 13, in the town office meeting room. The agenda includes continued budget discussions.

The Thursday, March 20, select board meeting is to be preceded by a 5:15 p.m. meeting of the transfer station task force, according to the calendar on the town website.