VASSALBORO — Meridith Cain came to the annual town meeting Monday with a question: Why is the town still funding its part-time police chief, Mark Brown?

Brown patrols Vassalboro for 15 hours every week while the town relies on the Maine State Police and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office for most of its law enforcement. Cain wondered what Brown is adding.

Others had the same question, and voters came close to cutting funding for Brown’s position when Cain moved to reduce the public safety budget by $40,000. Some felt having a local officer is an unnecessary drain on taxpayers, and some questioned Brown’s usefulness.

Cain said Brown does not write tickets, and there’s a limit to how much he can do. She hardly ever sees Brown patrolling, but she sometimes sees state police and sheriff’s deputies “several times a day.”

Cain said she knows people like to have a police presence in town, but because the Maine Criminal Justice Academy is in Vassalboro, she said the town already has this. When she spoke to the selectboard members earlier about her concerns, Cain said they told her the funding doesn’t have a huge impact on taxes.

“It’s a very small amount, but these small amounts add up,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of frivolous spending in the town that we need to stop, and it’s not going to happen unless somebody speaks out.”

Lauchlin Titus, a former selectboard member and chair of the sanitary district, said he always looked at Brown’s role as “community policing.” He said having a consistent, visible presence in schools helps children when a police officer has to come to their houses for domestic issues.

Brown is not a school resource officer.

Throughout the discussion, Brown stood, overseeing the conversation from his position at the back of the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium.

“I’ve been patrolling Vassalboro for 41 years,” Brown said. “I serve the town, so I do take a little offense when they say that I don’t do stuff for the town.”

Brown said he’d been told by the selectboard to give out fewer tickets and not to waste his time in court. He said it’s more effective for him to give someone a warning and spend more time patrolling.

Brown said he’s put his life on the line for the town, and that the state police struggle to keep full-time officers, calling on former state police Lt. Scott Ireland to verify both statements.

Ireland disputed what Brown said. He said Brown’s recollection of the incident he referred to is “not great,” and that the state police is fully staffed for the first time in 40 years.

I won’t personalize this,” Ireland said. “It’s not personal, but I’ll tell you what … It is a liability to have this agency.”

Maine State Police Lt. Jason Madore said Tuesday that when a local police officer works part-time, like Brown does, it’s not a significant help. However, he said, Brown can be first on the scene when he’s working, which means Vassalboro might see quicker response times and have more support. Madore said the state police work well with Brown.

The vote was close and required a hand count; 45 voted in favor of amending the budget, and 53 opposed it. Only one town official, Donald Brenton, voted in favor of the amendment to reduce public safety spending. Brenton is a former lieutenant with the fire department and a member of the budget committee.

Cain, who was nominated to the budget committee at the town meeting, said she hopes the selectboard will see how close the vote was and consider removing the position in the future.

Later in the evening, voters did make a change to the proposed spending plan, adding money for the town to fund the Townline Newspaper. The paper had requested $3,000 be raised and appropriated, but neither the budget committee nor the selectboard recommended that.

The board cited concerns about conflicts of interest, but voters approved the change.

Discussion also focused on the Vassalboro Sanitary District.

The selectboard and budget committee recommended the town authorize up to $30,000 from the Alewife Fund go toward debt service for the district.

The Alewife Fund comes from the profit the town makes on its alewife sales, and officials and residents at the meeting suggested it should be used for projects that protect the town’s water and wildlife.

Titus said this makes sense, because the sanitary district protects the town’s waterways. He called the connection an “environmental relationship.”

Several voters voiced concerns about giving more money to the sanitary district, which serves 197 homes and has been a large expense for its customers and the town, following an $8 million system replacement in 2020. To pay for the debt service on the loans, sewer rates have risen sharply, leaving many district residents unable to afford them.

After allocating $30,000, the town said it expects to have about $90,000 left in the Alewife fund. This year’s harvest already brought in $29,000.

Dawn-Marie Nichols, a sanitary district customer, said her bill can cost up to $400 every quarter for a family of two.

“I am sick every time my sewer bill arrives,” she said.

The town voted to appropriate the funds to debt service.

A majority of about 150 residents present also voted to approve a $4.3 million municipal and county budget, about 52% of which will be funded by property taxes.

Residents voted to borrow up to $175,000 to buy a new plow truck, rather than raise funds to repair an existing one, and to pay for a first responder to be in the fire department one day a week.

Residents approved proposed spending on the town’s school. Jolene Gamage, chair of the school board, thanked Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer for his commitment and dedication to his position over the years as he ends his role on June 30.

Residents will cast their final vote on the school budget and to elect municipal officers on June 9. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town Office at 682 Main St.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the amount Dawn-Marie Nichols pays the sanitary district every quarter for a family of two.