by Mary Grow China select board and budget committee members met together Feb. 5 to hear Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s presentation of the first draft of the 2024-25 municipal budget. By Hapgood’s figures, the fiscal year 2023-24 budget for municipal departments totaled a bit over $4.4 million. The preliminary request for FY 2024-25 comes to […]
by Mary Grow Five members of China’s Tax Increment Financing Committee reviewed nine requests for 2024-25 TIF funds at a Feb. 5 meeting. They unanimously recommended the select board approve all nine. The only long discussion was over requests from the Thurston Park Committee and the Four Seasons Club for money from the trails fund. […]
by Mary Grow Moving east from Winslow to Albion, that town has Lovejoy Pond, named after an early family who settled beside it. Which family member came first is debated. Henry Kingsbury, in his Kennebec County history, named Rev. Daniel Lovejoy. Ruby Crosby Wiggin, in her history of Albion, said no, Daniel’s father, Francis Lovejoy, […]
by Mary Grow At their Jan. 23 meeting, China Planning Board members discussed one permit application and forwarded one draft ordinance to the select board. They decided the long-discussed commercial solar ordinance, planned to be Chapter Eight in the town’s Land Development Code, is ready for select board members’ review. The ordinance was on the […]
by Mary Grow At their Jan. 29 meeting, China select board members postponed decisions on submitting two revised ordinances to voters and on a Recreation Committee idea. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the new Solar Ordinance and the planning board’s amendments to the Land Use Ordinance (Chapter Two of the Land Development Code) are in […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members plan February and March public hearings on two town ordinances they intend to finish revising in time for voter action at the June 3 town meeting. Amendments to the Solid Waste Ordinance are nearly final (see the Jan. 11 issue of The Town Line, p. 3, and the […]
by Mary Grow Ask China Town Manager Rebecca “Becky” Hapgood what’s the best part of her job, and she gives you a quick double reply: “Every day is different; and the people.” “People” includes her fellow town employees, residents, visitors – everybody she meets, personally or virtually. Variety and people have been central themes since […]
by Mary Grow Previous articles have mentioned ponds and lakes in central Kennebec Valley towns with people’s names, like Pattee or Pattee’s Pond, in Winslow. Some of these water bodies are named for early settlers. Your writer intends for the next few weeks to match ponds and people, to the extent permitted by available resources […]
by Mary Grow Several area towns, including China and Vassalboro, are seeking nominations for 2024 Spirit of America awards. According to its website, the nonprofit Spirit of American Foundation was established in Augusta in 1990 to honor volunteerism. Initially, municipalities presented awards “to local individuals, organizations and projects for commendable community service.” Since 2022, the […]
by Mary Grow At a brief meeting on a snowy Jan. 16 evening, China select board members approved an emergency services dispatching agreement, made three committee appointments and briefly discussed pending ordinance changes. One amended ordinance will be on the ballot for the June 11 annual town business meeting. Board members approved for presentation to […]