Vassalboro Selectmen deal with variety of topics

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro selectmen dealt with a miscellany of business at their Sept. 21 meeting, most of it presented by Town Manager Mary Sabins.

Sabins reported on various upcoming events, including tentative plans for FAVOR (Friends Advocating for Vassalboro Older Residents) to provide help with drafty windows through a nonprofit organization called Window Dressers.

Sabins said the Rockland-based program helps local residents learn how to measure windows and make inserts to stop drafts and save heat. The inserts are sold to homeowners able to pay for them; Window Dressers’ website lists prices varying with window size and materials. Subsidies are likely to be available for low-income residents, Sabins said.

FAVOR committee members plan to discuss the idea at their next meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, in the town office. Interested residents and potential volunteers are welcome to attend.

Vassalboro’s website says town residents are invited to participate in a household hazardous waste drop-off Saturday, Oct. 21, in Winslow. Interested people should call Transfer Station Manager George Hamar at 923-3051 for information and to register. (ep)

Two events are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28, one for cat and dog owners and one for people needing safe disposal for private documents.

Windsor Veterinary Clinic will hold a low-cost rabies clinic from noon to 1 p.m. at the North Vassalboro fire station on Route 32. Cats and dogs can get rabies shots for $15. Dog licenses will be available for people whose dogs are not yet licensed for 2017; the cost is $6 for dogs who have been spayed or neutered and $11 for those who have not.

On Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to noon, China will host a shredding on site program at the China Public Works garage, on Alder Park Road. Vassalboro selectmen agreed by consensus to pay the requested $100 to let Vassalboro residents participate.

In other business Sept. 21, selectmen held a very short unattended public hearing on amendments to the General Assistance Ordinance appendices and afterward approved the changes.

After Sabins explained new software and training needed to do the bookkeeping required by the town’s auditors, selectmen voted unanimously to authorize the expenditures. Sabins estimated the software will cost $1,500, plus $600 annual maintenance and about $800 for training.

She said two auditors had spent the week reviewing town records. The final report will not be available until school figures, audited by a different company, are available. Selectmen authorized Codes Officer Richard Dolby to institute legal action against the owner of a medical marijuana operation close to Vassalboro Community School. Sabins said Dolby reported the owner has not cooperated with his attempts to determine whether the facility conforms to state requirements.

Selectmen approved an application from a catering service to serve liquor at an Oct. 14 event in North Vassalboro.

Sabins reported the Vassalboro Historical Society declined the town’s offer to sell the former East Vassalboro School to the society for $1. Society officials prefer to continue to lease the building. Sabins will draft a revised lease to clarify maintenance responsibilities.

The next regular Vassalboro selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Oct. 5.