Webber Pond dam main topic at select board meeting

by Mary Grow

A main business item on the Feb. 20 Vassalboro select board agenda, a discussion of planned enlargement of the fishway at the Webber Pond dam, turned into a discussion of movement for people, not fish.

The 2009 fishway “has been so successful that it’s now undersized,” Maine Rivers Executive Director Landis Hudson summarized. Project Manager Matt Streeter explained a detailed plan to rebuild the fishway in the same place, but wider, deeper and longer.

(Hudson and Streeter are familiar with Vassalboro: Maine Rivers headed the 2017-2022 China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative [ARI] that opened Vassalboro’s Outlet Stream to alewife migration from the Kennebec River to China Lake.)

The work needs to be done between July 15 and Sept. 30, by federal regulation of work done in the water, Streeter said. It will require big machinery, which will be left on site overnights and weekends.

To make room for parked machinery, the plan includes closing the entrance to Dam Road from Webber Pond Road. Streeter described the planned 3.5-mile detour for residents on the southwest side of Webber Pond via Hannaford Hill and McQuarrie roads.

Three audience members objected strongly. Not to the bigger fishway; they said that’s a good idea.

But more traffic on McQuarrie Road is a bad and dangerous idea, they said. The road is narrow; they were especially concerned about a steep pitch where it’s impossible to see oncoming traffic.

They asked Streeter about alternatives, like moving the machinery nights and weekends or installing a temporary bridge to provide a new entrance to Dam Road.

Fire Chief Walker Thompson said he checked McQuarrie Road recently and thought emergency access would not be a problem.

Area resident and former select board member Barbara Redmond and present board member Chris French wondered about the town’s right to close private roads without residents’ permission. Board Chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., asked if Maine Rivers could prepare a supplemental plan showing roads and elevations.

Streeter and Thompson offered to meet with affected residents. Redmond said if a meeting is scheduled, she will help publicize it.

In addition to the fishway, Streeter said discussions with the Webber Pond Association led to planned new dam gates, electrically operated, that will be easier to manage and will allow greater control of the pond’s outflow.

In other business Feb. 20, select board members settled one issue and decided another is not urgent.

— After another brief discussion, they voted unanimously to accept transfer station fee increases that Manager Adam Daoust proposed in December 2024, to take effect July 1, 2025.
— Town Manager Aaron Miller said the Secretary of State’s office will not be able to evaluate the suitability of the town office for state voting until fall. The issue is whether the space can be arranged to meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements.

Board members decided they can hold the June town meeting at Vassalboro Community School and June elections – which are local only ­– in the town office, as in past years, and worry about November’s voting place later.

The Feb. 20 select board agenda included the proposal to amend Vassalboro’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) document to allow TIF money to help pay for replacing Dunlap bridge on Mill Hill Road.

Voters rejected a Nov. 5, 2024, referendum question asking them to add environmental improvement projects to authorized uses of TIF money, by a vote of 1,200 in favor to 1,338 opposed.

Select board members have been considering a revised question for this spring’s open town meeting. French proposed submitting the November 2024 question again, believing when board members have an opportunity to explain it, voters will approve it.

Miller said he would consult with the town’s attorney.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 6.