Maine DEP awards new round of stream crossing grants

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photo: Maine DEP

Maine DEP’s Municipal Stream Crossing Grant Program provides grants that match local funding for the upgrade of culverts at stream crossings on municipal roads. Projects funded through this program will benefit public infrastructure and safety by replacing failing culverts that are at risk of complete washout or collapse; reduce flooding and increase resiliency with the installation or larger, higher capacity and longer-lived crossings, benefit fish and wildlife by opening and reconnecting stream habitat fragmented by undersized and impassable culverts, and represent a cost-effective and efficient investment based on planning, detail, and local matching funds committed to the project.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) received 44 applications to review with a total over $5.3 million dollars in funding requests. Thirty-four stream crossing projects funded this round will result in new or improved fish passage to nearly 130 miles of streams statewide, and result in less flooding and transportation resilience.

Maine DEP has announced funds for the following central Maine communities:

Burnham – Pond Rd., $125,000; Clinton – True Road, $125,000; Cornville, Molunkus Rd., $125,000; Pittston, Blodgett Rd., $125,000; Skowhegan, Steward Hill Rd., $125,000; and Starks, Locke Hill Rd., $125,000.

For more information including examples of successful applications and the master score sheet for this round please visit Maine DEP’s website: https://www.maine.gov/dep/land/grants/stream-crossing-upgrade.html.

Vassalboro budget committee recommendations may not be final; school budget unknown

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro Budget Committee members made their recommendations on the 2022-23 municipal budget at their March 31 meeting. Not all votes were unanimous, and because the school budget is still unknown, committee members did not guarantee their recommendations are final.

Members had varying attitudes toward the school budget. Optimists said the school, like the town, should have enough extra federal revenue so that the proposed 2022-23 budget will not be significantly higher than the current year’s.

If the optimists are wrong, some budget committee members would revisit the municipal budget with the goal of lowering their recommendations, so that the two budgets combined would not increase taxes.

Chairman Rick Denico, Jr., quoted former select board member Lauchlin Titus’s advice: don’t base budget decisions on the mil rate, don’t penalize either the school or the town for the other.

Member William Browne said if the school budget does provide a surprise, anyone on the budget committee who voted in favor of an item can move to reconsider it.

And the final decisions will be up to the voters who attend the June 6 open town meeting, where they will have the option of disregarding any recommendations.

A longer-range pending issue is whether the Vassalboro Select Board will adopt a salary schedule for town employees, following up on a study they commissioned (see The Town Line, March 10, p. 3, and March 24, p. 3).

After discussion of potential costs, and despite Select Board Chairman Robert Browne’s reminder that the select board decides policy issues, Denico called a straw poll and announced that eight of the 10 budget committee members supported the estimated $37,000 additional cost in 2022-23. That figure includes one-time larger raises for employees below scale.

Committee members then proceeded to review Town Manager Mary Sabins’ draft budget and draft warrant for the June 6 part of the annual town meeting item by item. They discussed two articles.

Article 5 in the draft asks voters how much they want to raise and appropriate to support 14 individually-listed town departments or services totaling $2,582,004. Individual figures range from $3,000 for general assistance to $593,925 for public works.

Public works brought concern from budget committee members about paving costs and a question about a recently-announced federal grant to the Maine Department of Transportation, from which $800,000 has been allocated for about three-quarters of a mile of Route 32, in Vassalboro.

Road Foreman Gene Field, from the audience, said he budgeted assuming paving material will cost $85 a ton. That is not a firm price. The large grant, he said, is for road and sidewalk improvements in North Vassalboro in 2024.

The amount proposed for recreation in 2022-23 is $44,327, and for the library, $60,500. Both are significant increases over the current year and both include personnel: Sabins recommends hiring a half-time recreation director, and library trustees want to add hours for the library director, to open the library one more day a week and for programming (see The Town Line, March 24, p. 3).

Sabins told budget committee members she expects the two positions would complement each other, not overlap or compete. The recreation director would organize sports programs on the ballfields and she hopes could also write grants, do long-range planning and help the town in other ways. She is working on a job description for select board review.

Library programs would be intended for residents of all ages, Sabins said.

A motion to recommend a lower library budget was defeated by a one-vote margin.

Draft warrant Article 6 has three fund requests: $20,000 for streamside park development (parking, picnic tables and perhaps other improvements at the town-acquired lot on Outlet Stream and Route 32 between East and North Vassalboro); $25,000 to demolish a dangerous building (the former church on Priest Hill Road in North Vassalboro); and $106,000 for roadside mowing equipment (if obtainable, Field’s recommended attachment for the loader).

Budget committee members endorsed all three, the mowing equipment by a one-vote margin. Field has been renting mowing equipment. He expects rental to cost around $16,000 for two mowings. Omitting a fall cutting one year let roadside grass grow high enough to block visibility some places, he told select board members at their Feb. 24 meeting.

The proposed April 5 budget committee meeting is canceled. As of April 5, committee members expected to hear on April 6 whether the 2022-23 school budget would be ready for review at an April 7 meeting. Residents who want to know whether the budget committee will meet the evening of April 7 should contact school Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer at apfeiffer@vcsvikings.org.

Town meeting to be in two parts

The first part of Vassalboro’s two-part 2022 town meeting is the open meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Vassalboro Community School. Voters will assemble in person to act on funding and policy issues for 2022-23.

Written-ballot elections and the written referendum on the school budget adopted June 6 are scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, with polls open at the town office from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Local officials to be chosen are one select board member and two school board members. Signed nomination papers must be returned to the town office by noon Friday, April 8, for candidates’ names to appear on the June 14 ballot.

China select board wraps up “almost final” warrant

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Select Board members put the warrant for the June 14 annual town business meeting in almost-final form at a two-hour special meeting April 4.

The draft document they came up with has 37 articles and a potential 38th. Most are requests for voters to act on proposed 2022-23 expenditures and town policies.

Art. 37 asks if voters will approve a solar moratorium ordinance (see The Town Line, March 31, p. 3). Select board members debated whether to present it, because three of the five do not want a moratorium.

A majority consisting of Chairman Ronald Breton, Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston voted to leave the question on the warrant and let voters decide. Breton then joined Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick in recommending that voters reject the moratorium.

(The “Large Scale Solar Facilities Moratorium Ordinance” is not the “Solar Energy Systems Ordinance” that is on the China website, but an ordinance that would prohibit new commercial solar systems until the “Solar Energy Systems Ordinance” is in place to regulate their installation. The moratorium ordinance was not on the website as of April 5.)

Proposed Art. 38 would ask voters to approve China’s updated comprehensive plan. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood had just received notice of state approval. Voter approval requires a public hearing, and Hapgood needed to make sure there is time to meet state-required deadlines for the hearing, with appropriate notification, before adding the warrant article.

Select board members intend to prepare and sign a final warrant for June 14 at their regular meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, in the town office meeting room.

The June 14 town business meeting will be by written ballot, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the former portable classroom behind the town office.

China budget committee holds final spring meeting

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Budget Committee members held their final spring 2022 meeting on March 31, rediscussing a few of the proposed 2022-23 expenditures and making recommendations on warrant articles.

Ultimately, budget committee members changed only one proposed figure. At Elizabeth Curtis’ suggestion, and on a split vote, they recommended reducing the contingency fund appropriation from $123,80 to $88,290.

When select board members reviewed the draft warrant at their April 4 special meeting, they unanimously accepted the lower figure.

Curtis insisted that funds will not be needed to cover increased health insurance costs if a town employee with a policy covering only him – or herself leaves and is replaced by an employee who elects more expensive family coverage. The gap in salary while the position is unfilled and, if necessary, leeway in other expenditure lines should be adequate, she said.

Budget committee members also advised voters to reject one proposed expenditure. The list of projects to be funded with federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money includes buying a portable speed control sign that Hapgood said could also be used for announcements, like a road closing.

The amount proposed is $20,000. Hapgood had found two signs to consider, so far; one was 45 by 80 inches and solar-powered, the other 48 by 96 inches with batteries.

Only Curtis and Trishea Story supported the expenditure. Committee chairman Thomas Rumpf, Kevin Maroon and Michael Sullivan voted against it and Timothy Basham abstained.

Five other proposed ARPA expenditures got unanimous support: $20,000 for two new generators for the town office complex; $38,000 for 911 identifying numbers on each house; $33,000 for a digital sign on Route 32 South, shared with the South China volunteer fire department; and $5,000 for future senior events and activities – maybe a bus trip, Hapgood suggested.

Curtis cast the only “no” vote on the recommendation for $15,212 from ARPA funds for extra pay for town employees who worked through the pandemic.

Sullivan asked whether putting up the 911 numbers would be mandatory, thinking of homeowners who might object on aesthetic grounds. Hapgood, thinking of the need for emergency personnel to find the right address in a hurry, said no; but if only most houses were visibly numbered, it would be helpful.

On an earlier article, Sullivan pointed out that the proposed cemetery budget of $49,500 is a substantial increase over the current year and more than double the $24,000 appropriated in fiscal year 2020-21.

There has been an unusual amount of tree damage from storms, and the cost of mowing will go up, replied Curtis, who is a member of China’s Cemetery Committee. Hapgood added stone repairs and the plan to hire a summer intern to catalog and photograph graves and create a computer file.

Vassalboro budget committee change of venue

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by Mary Grow

The Vassalboro Budget Committee meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in the town office – not at Vassalboro Community School as previously planned – to make recommendations on the proposed 2022-23 municipal budget. The school budget will not be ready for review by March 31, committee chairman Rick Denico reported on March 28.

Vassalboro school board begins budget review

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — Vassalboro School Board members began reviewing sections of the 2022-23 school budget at their March 22 meeting, hearing proposals for funding technology, health, ELL (English Language Learners’ programs), certification and maintenance.

They got updates on the lunch program, the pandemic and pre-kindergarten registration, and accepted the resignation of Principal Megan Allen.

The lunch program drew criticism from a parent in the audience. Her children refused most of the menu items, she said, adding, “half of them I don’t even know what they are.”

Food Director John Hersey said he is developing a survey, to be distributed electronically, asking what kinds of food students would like to see on the school lunch menu. He hopes to have the survey ready in a week or two, he said.

The Vassalboro Community School (VCS) breakfast and lunch menus are posted by the month on the school website, vcsvikings. Students opting for the school meal Thursday, March 31 (an early release day), should expect a bologna and cheese sandwich, coleslaw, orange wedges and milk.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer reported three weeks of negative pool testing for coronavirus. Pool testing will continue for another few weeks, he said.

Pfeiffer said currently 27 students are signed up for pre-kindergarten at VCS in the fall. Thirty students are the minimum needed to open a second pre-kindergarten class, supported by a state expansion grant, he said.

A student must be four years old by Oct. 15, 2022, to enroll in pre-kindergarten.

Allen is resigning to pursue other opportunities, Pfeiffer said.

Turning to the partial budget review, Pfeiffer said he did not yet have figures for other sections of the budget, nor could he predict when he would have them.

Finance Director Paula Pooler offered one date for more information: she expected Anthem Blue Cross to provide the maximum insurance increase for schools on March 24, and to give each school its specific increase by the second week in April. Meanwhile, she said, her placeholder recommendation is for a 10 percent increase.

Maintenance Director Shelley Phillips’ presentation drew the most questions, about both interior and grounds work.

Phillips said residents should expect increasing building maintenance costs, because, in addition to inflation in fuel, materials and labor, VCS “is not a new building any more.” It is time to upgrade lighting, she said, and to replace things that have worn out.

Having the building designated a Red Cross emergency shelter requires new showers and upgraded toilets for the locker rooms adjoining the gymnasium, at an estimated cost of more than $22,000. No, Phillips said, the Red Cross will not pay the bill.

Plowing and sanding, in early years done by the Vassalboro Public Works crew, is now contracted, because the road crew hasn’t the time. High gasoline prices will increase the cost. Phillips added that when she has a minor need, like a little sand, Road Foreman Gene Field will help out – “The town is very good to us.”

Grounds maintenance was in-house in the early days, but the custodian who had to abandon indoor jobs to mow the extensive lawn also ran into a time crunch, and that job is contracted. Phillips is pleased with the quality of the work.

Audience members were concerned about tick control, especially with a child care program at the school in the summer. Phillips said the work is done thoroughly and safely.

Technology coordinator Will Backman told board members his recommended 2022-23 budget is $1,837.59 below the current year’s budget, and explained the changes.

Pfeiffer summarized contents of the health budget: salary and benefits for the school nurse, supplies, record-keeping software and a contracted physician’s services, the doctor shared with Waterville and Winslow schools.

Pfeiffer is not aware of a need for an ELL program in 2022-23, although there has been one at VCS in the past, he said. He did not discuss the state-required appropriation for staff certifications, since board members have no control over it.

As the budget discussion ended, Pfeiffer reminded board members they still have major areas – tuition, regular and special education, transportation – to discuss. Since he could give no date when he would have sufficient information, board members postponed scheduling a budget workshop meeting.

KWD asks planners for changes to treatment plant

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by Mary Grow

VASSALBORO, ME — The Kennebec Water District (KWD) is asking the Vassalboro Planning Board’s approval to make changes at its water treatment plant at 462 Main Street (Route 32), a little north of East Vassalboro Village. Planning board members will hear the application at their Tuesday, April 5, meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

A letter from KWD Water Quality Manager Robbie Bickford said the project includes “replacement of equipment that has reached the end of its useful life, addition of an access door into the chemical storage area of the plant, and expansion (approximately 300 sq. ft.) of the existing driveway.”

“The primary function and general aesthetic of the Water Treatment Plant will remain unchanged,” Bickford continued.

He invited people with questions to email www.kennebecwater.org/contact.

China planners shift gears on ordinance amendments

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Planning Board members have abandoned their plan to have three ordinance amendments presented to voters at the June 14 town business meeting.

After hearing objections and suggestions at a March 22 public hearing, they voted unanimously to leave the record open for written comments for two weeks and to reconsider parts of the proposed changes.

Their next chance for a town vote will be Nov. 8.

The proposed changes are to Chapter Two of the China Land Use Ordinance, which includes the principal regulations; Chapter 11 of the ordinance, definitions; and Chapter Eight, now unused, slated to become a “Solar Energy Systems Ordinance.”

The ordinance sections are on the town website, china.govoffice.com, under the Elections tab.

Comments on the draft documents should be emailed to codes officer Jaime Hanson at ceo@chinamaine.org, or mailed or delivered to the town office, 571 Lakeview Drive, China ME 04358, marked Att. CEO. Comments must be received by Friday, April 8.

Most of the Chapter Two changes are required by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which has so far given China’s ordinance only conditional approval. Chapter 11 changes are partly DEP requirements and partly for the new solar ordinance. Board members added Chapter Eight to define standards specifically for solar panels.

Most of the discussion at the hearing was over lot coverage by man-made constructs. State and town ordinances limit the percentage of a lot that can be covered. In China, the limit is 15 percent in three protected zones, shoreland (the focus of the discussion), stream protection and resource protection, and 20 percent in the rural zone.

Specifically, China’s ordinance has said for years that no more than 15 percent of a lot in the shoreland zone can be covered by “structures of all types.” It adds that “Impervious surfaces, driveways, parking areas, etc. do not apply to lot coverage.”

DEP required the last sentence be eliminated. The proposed new wording says, “non-vegetated surfaces shall not exceed a total of fifteen (15%) percent of the portion of the lot located within the shoreland zone. For the purposes of calculating lot coverage, non-vegetated surfaces include, but are not limited to the following: structures, driveways, parking areas, and other areas from which vegetation has been removed.”

The point of the limit is to minimize run-off into water bodies from development that pre-dates land use ordinances. Because of its history of poor water quality, China Lake is of particular concern.

The owner of a shoreland lot whose impervious surfaces (including structures) reach or exceed 15 percent cannot expand them. The proposed change, if approved by town voters as it stands, would increase the amount of a lot already covered, since driveways and parking areas would count.

The increase in lot coverage, said residents Brent Chesley and Michael “Mickey” Wing, would mean people who planned to add a deck or a patio or a car-cover would have to abandon their plan. Wing added that the effect might be the opposite of protective; for example, if someone wanted to move a garage farther away from the water, with a longer driveway, the driveway, and hence the relocation, might no longer be allowable.

Speakers said that China’s lot coverage requirements are stricter than the state’s. State regulations allow up to 20 percent in protected districts and 30 percent in rural districts, they said. They agreed that protecting China Lake’s water quality is necessary, environmentally and to maintain property values and the town’s tax base.

Former codes officer Scott Pierz pointed to difficulties deciding what an impervious area is. For example, does a woodpile count?

Depends, Planning Board Chairman Scott Rollins replied. If it sits in the same place for years, it should, but a temporary woodpile shouldn’t. Leaving some things to the codes officer’s discretion is unavoidable, in his opinion.

Chesley and others suggested other issues planning board members should address – for example, Chesley found a direct contradiction between two ordinance sections that had not been addressed. He objected both to the shoreland restrictions and to the 20 percent maximum lot coverage requirement in the rural area, recommending an increase to 30 percent.

China Lake Association President Stephen Greene commended planning board members for their hard work and transparency. He considers the balance between development and lake protection difficult to determine and maintain; there is “no perfect solution,” he said.

Other speakers asked whether the planning board should have given two weeks’ notice of the public hearing, and whether the town attorney had reviewed the proposed ordinances. Codes Officer Jaime Hanson said China ordinances do not require notice for this type of hearing. Rollins said if Town Attorney Amanda Meader has not reviewed all proposed changes, she will be asked to before they are deemed final.

A digression onto septic systems in the shoreland led to Hanson saying that a recent Maine law requires a septic system inspection as a condition of any transfer of ownership. Not even all realtors are aware of the requirement yet, he said; and it applies to all transfers, not just to sales.

The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 12.

China select board continues town meeting preparations

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Select Board members continued town meeting preparations at their March 28 meeting, discussing at length three topics: asking voters to approve a moratorium on commercial solar development; the proposed 2022-23 municipal budget, with a focus on town employees’ pay; and 2022-23 expenditures of federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds, which need voter approval.

At the annual town business meeting June 14, China voters will not act on a new ordinance to regulate commercial solar development, because planning board members have not finished writing it. (See related story here.)

Therefore, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said, she asked town attorney Amanda Meader about a moratorium on new solar projects, and Meader replied a moratorium would be a good way to protect town residents. The attorney was ready to draft the document if select board members approved the idea.

Three of them approved, outvoting the two who didn’t.

Wayne Chadwick objected immediately to “tying landowners’ hands for months because the planning board and the town didn’t do their job in a timely way.”

Blane Casey agreed. A landowner might lose his or her opportunity to lease property to a developer during the moratorium, he added.

From the audience, resident Brent Chesley said he thinks the draft ordinance really does need more work, for example, adding the requirement that a commercial solar developer provide money in advance to decommission and remove the installation at the end of its useful life.

He further reminded those present of resident Michael “Mickey” Wing’s testimony, during the March 22 public hearing on the draft ordinance, that the glass panels are considered hazardous waste until they’ve been sun-baked for 20 years. Wing, who runs the Waterville-based division of Casella Waste Systems, told the hearing audience that when a truck-load of panels got broken, the out-of-state supplier had to come and remove them, because the glass could not go to an in-state waste disposal facility.

Board chairman Ronald Breton agreed with Chadwick’s and Casey’s principle that people should be allowed to use their property as they wish, but he also agreed that Chesley had raised two issues needing attention to protect the town.

Breton, Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston voted to have attorney Meader proceed with the moratorium draft. Casey and Chadwick voted no.

Hapgood expects that if the select board presents a moratorium to voters on June 14 and if voters approve it, it would apply only to commercial solar developments, not to panels for individual houses; and it would be effective for no more than 180 days from the March 28 action, unless the select board extended it.

Budget discussion briefly re-reviewed parts of proposed transfer station and public works expenditures, but the main argument, again resolved on a 3-2 vote, was over Breton’s proposal to add 1.5 percent to the previously-approved 3 percent wage increases for town employees.

Breton said the economy has changed since the early vote, and he has changed his position accordingly. He calculated if voters approve the additional pay, it would add $9,807 to the 2022-23 budget, not a major increase in an individual tax bill; and it would help employees pay higher living costs.

Casey started looking for other parts of the proposed budget that could be cut by a matching amount. Preston suggested using the $12,000 in the budget for select board members’ salaries; “none of us took this job for the pay,” she said. Hapgood expects increased revenues will cover the additional raises.

Casey and Chadwick again voted in the minority. Chadwick observed that taxpayers’ cost of living has gone up, too.

China has received $227,443.53 in ARPA money, Hapgood reported, and she expects a second payment in the same amount later in 2022. She presented a list of potential uses, some for the 2022-23 fiscal year and some for the following year.

After discussion, select board members approved recommending a total of $132,206 in expenditures for the June 14 ballot. The total might change, because Hapgood needs to confirm (or revise) at least one estimated cost.

Projects on the list as it stood at the end of the March 28 meeting are installing new generators at the town office and the old town house beside it; putting 911 numbers on every house; buying a digital sign to go in front of the South China fire station to provide town and fire department information; special payments to recognize employees who worked through the pandemic; a $5,000 fund for senior events; and a portable digital sign for speed control and for community announcements.

Hapgood said each expenditure would become a separate warrant article, so voters could approve or reject each one individually.

A new sign is proposed for only one of China’s three fire stations because only South China’s, on Route 32 South (Windsor Road), is on a state road, the manager explained.

The ARPA warrant articles were approved on a 4-1 vote with Casey dissenting.

Select board members briefly discussed other topics at the March 28 meeting.

They unanimously approved two revised schedules of transfer station user fees, one for residents of China and Palermo and one for users from all other towns. The new fees are effective April 1. All changes are increases, some more consequential than others.

For example, the cost of getting rid of king-size and queen-size box springs and mattresses doubles, from $5 to $10 each. The cost of disposing of a four-foot straight uncoated fluorescent bulb goes only from 12 cents a foot to 50 cents for the bulb. Twin and full-size mattress and springs charges and eight-foot fluorescent charges remain unchanged, at $5 and $1, respectively.

Casey reported on the recent Kennebec Regional Development Authority meeting at which he represented China. KRDA runs FirstPark, the business park in Oakland supported by central Maine municipalities.

There were “a lot of angry towns” represented, Casey said, because FirstPark hasn’t produced the revenue or jobs its promoters promised. However, he said, the message sounded positive: three lots are slated to become a solar farm (not a major source of jobs, he added); two or three other lots have potentially-interested buyers; and there was discussion of the possibility of selling the whole park to a private developer.

Select board members unanimously gave Hapgood authorization to seek bids on two mobile homes the town has acquired for unpaid taxes. They are located in a mobile home park on Chadwick Way, off Dirigo Road.

The manager said discussion of implementing the new trash-bag fees for Palermo residents continues.

Board member Preston said members of the China Broadband Committee (CBC), on which she represents the select board, plan a discussion with representatives of Direct Communications at the Wednesday, April 6, CBC meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m. in the former portable classroom behind the China town office. Direct Communications is the new owner of Unitel, the communications company serving Unity.

China select board members scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, to finish work on the warrant for the June 14 town business meeting. Their next regular meetings should be at 6:30 p.m. April 11 and April 25.

China budget committee, town manager review non-final budget

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by Mary Grow

CHINA, ME — China Budget Committee members and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood spent two hours March 24 reviewing a non-final draft of the 2022-23 municipal budget.

Committee members made no decisions, but they got many questions answered. China Select Board members were scheduled to work on the budget at their March 28 meeting, and the budget committee is scheduled to meet again at 6:30 pm. Thursday, March 31, in the town office meeting room.

The public works account is one of the largest, at more than $1.4 million. Hapgood cited two important unknowns, one global and one local.

The global issue is where petroleum prices will go between now and the June 30, 2023, the end of the upcoming fiscal year. If the per-ton price of paving is too high when the town seeks bids, Hapgood said she would consider postponing scheduled work for a year.

The local issue is vehicle maintenance and repair. China’s driver/mechanic, Josh Crommett, resigned and has not yet been replaced. If his replacement can continue to do maintenance in-house, instead of sending vehicles out for work, the town will save money.

The proposed transfer station budget is more than $625,000. Hapgood explained proposed staffing changes and building maintenance issues. She told committee members two pending issues, whether to abandon the present RFID (radio frequency identification) system and go back to stickers and whether to build a guardhouse at the entrance, remain undecided.

Several other accounts generated brief discussion.

Committee member Michael Sullivan asked whether the China Broadband Committee was likely to make enough progress to justify a proposed $1,000 appropriation, or “Is their job impossible?”

Committee Chairman Thomas Rumpf replied that the committee’s reaching out to potential broadband suppliers seemed useful. After voters in November 2021 rejected the committee’s proposal to borrow money for expanded broadband service, select board members voted unanimously to authorize the committee to continue working.

Elizabeth Curtis asked why the Thurston Park Committee needed an appropriation from taxpayers in addition to the recommended allotment of Tax Increment Financing money. Hapgood replied that TIF rules did not allow TIF money to cover some necessary expenditures, like repairing washed-out roads or cleaning up storm-damaged trees.

Looking at the request for $49,500 for cemetery care, up from $34,000 in the current year, Hapgood said the recommended increase is to cover a backlog of maintenance and to pay a summer intern who will catalog graves. The town is responsible for taking care of about two dozen of China’s 30 or more cemeteries.

China voters will have a written-ballot town business meeting on Tuesday, June 14, with polls in the portable building behind the town office open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. As the budget committee meeting ended, Hapgood asked for members’ opinions on an open meeting, as in pre-pandemic days, versus a written ballot.

The reply was consensus that each has a major advantage and a major disadvantage. At an open meeting, people can ask questions, get correct answers and debate pros and cons; but a small minority of voters attend. More voters participate in a written ballot; but many are uninformed or misinformed about the questions they vote on.