Vassalboro select board holds shortest meeting on record

by Mary Grow

The two Vassalboro select board members at the Sept. 3 meeting (board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., was absent) held one of the shortest meetings on record, about 15 minutes.

During that time, Chris French and Michael Poulin approved final wording for three Nov. 4 local ballot questions the full board endorsed on Aug. 28 and paid bills.

The local ballot questions will ask voters if they want to:

— Authorize allocating up to $19,220 from the town’s surplus fund to cover 2024 and 2025 audit bills;
— Increase the number of select board members from three to five, with two additional members to be elected at the June 2026 town meeting, one for a one-year term and one for a two-year term; and
— Approve changes to Vassalboro’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) document, which describes how tax revenue from the gas pipeline running through town is allocated to meet local needs in accordance with state TIF regulations.

In addition, French and Poulin re-approved putting an unofficial question to voters: do they want town meeting to continue to be open, with most voting by a show of hands, or would they prefer to switch to a written-ballot or referendum town meeting?

Town Manager Aaron Miller said the revised TIF document will be available for voters to read well before Nov. 4. Board members plan an Oct. 16 public hearing on the ballot questions and the opinion survey.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18. French suggested the agenda should include discussion of the proposed replacement of the Mill Hill Road bridge.