WINDSOR: Absent board members delays building codes review

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by The Town Line staff

With two of the five select board members absent at their January 16 meeting prevented the select board from reviewing the building code. The building code is to be reviewed in its entirety. Selectman Thomas McNaughton has asked the board to review page 6 closely when the review takes place. Select board members present were Ray Bates, Andrew Ballantyne and Thomas McNaughton. Absent were William Appel Jr., and Chester D. Barnes Jr.

Town manager Theresa Haskell also briefly discussed the six-month 2023-24 budget. There were no concerns from the board, as Haskell pointed out the budget lines for Central Maine Power Co., and the public works trucks.

Haskell also handed out the monthly transfer station report. December was down from last year at this time by $729.30, making the overall total $3,866.59 up for the year.

In other matters:

– Haskell discussed an invitation to the select board for a self-protect class being offered to female municipal employees at the Chelsea School. The select board agreed it was a great opportunity for anyone interested in taking the class.
– Haskell discussed with the select board writing a letter requesting a grant for Community Concepts offering housing to very low income people who have applied to USDA-Rural Development for funds to assist families in achieving the dream of home ownership through the 523 Self-Help Homeownership Program. The board agreed it would be suitable for Haskell to write this grant letter.
– Haskell brought up the fact that the transfer station is short staffed on Saturday. Select board member Ray Bates indicated he will be able to help in the morning, and Haskell volunteered to assist in the afternoon, until a person can be hired to fill the gaps when needed.
– The town will be receiving a proposal from Dirigo Assessing, according to town assessor Vern Ziegler. Talks are ongoing with Dustin and Nicole from Dirigo Assessing.
– RHR Smith and Company, the town’s new auditor, has requested copies of ledgers and statements to begin the audit.

Resident Steve Hoad commended the Windsor Rescue for their hard work and dedication to the town. With the recent passing of his wife, Helen, he has asked to have donations made to the Windsor Rescue and Windsor Volunteer Fire Department on his wife’s behalf. Donation should be brought to the town office.

The next meeting of the select board was scheduled for January 30.

Winslow council hears explanation of physicians assisting emergency response calls

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by Jonathan Strieff

The Winslow town council met Monday, February 12, to hear presentations from two local groups and vote on various resolutions carried over from previous meetings.

The meeting opened with a presentation by Dr. Tim Pieh, of the Kennebec County EMS Physician Response Team. Dr. Pieh described his group as testing the hypothesis that having fully trained physicians assisting with emergency response calls in rural areas can improve health outcomes. Dr. Pieh explained that this model for care is well established in many American cities, but is relatively untested in less populated areas regions.

His group has operated for two months and in that time his team of three physicians has responded to nearly 50 911 calls, 20 of them involving active physician care.  The group received funding from the American Rescue Plan to operate through September, at which point, if the data shows improve health outcomes, Dr. Pieh will pursue additional funding directly from Kennebec County.  The majority of calls responded to have been in Augusta, Waterville, and Gardiner.  The group operates Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and has recently added two new hires in hopes of offering greater coverage.

Next, Kate Newkirk, the chairman of the Winslow Agricultural Commission, spoke to introduce objectives of the commission and some of the programs it supports. The volunteer led commission works to promote agricultural and forestry in Winslow and surrounding towns.  One program, the Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program, offers taxes reimbursement on agricultural land and infrastructure that preserves soil health and biodiversity. Like other conservation easements, the program offers farmers in Winslow financial compensation for pursuing good agricultural practices. The commission also operates the Winslow Town Forest, a 500-acre woodland preserve open to the public on the Albion Road and the Winslow Community Garden, on Dallaire Street. The community garden offers 30 garden beds to lease for $10 per season. The commission also plans to host the first Winslow Harvest Fest on October 5, 2024, to coincide with this years Fort Halifax Days.

The council voted unanimously to add Peter Beringer, an employee of the U.S. Forest Service to the Agricultural Commission and voted to add Amanda McCaslin, Ella Bowman, Karl Morse, Ray Caron, Tanya Verzoni, Christine Nichols, Mike Heavener, and Mickey Poulotte to the Fort Halifax Park Stage Committee.

Following considerable back and forth, the committee voted to keep a resolution to sell one of Winslow Public Safety’s three ambulances tabled for a later date.

The council voted unanimously to renew a three-year municipal contract with Central Maine Growth Council, a regional economic development group.

The council also voted unanimously to authorize the town manager to sign an agreement with Mold Bros of Maine to remediate mold from the Winslow Fire Department for an amount not to exceed $16,000, as well as an additional agreement with Unique Building Solutions for reconstruction work following the mold remediation for an amount not to exceed $70,000.

China select board spends much time on new budget

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by Mary Grow

China select board members spent much of their Feb. 12 meeting going over the draft 2024-25 municipal budget. They gave Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood questions and comments about proposed expenditures, but made no decisions.

Before and after the budget review, board members considered other issues, voting on several.

Board chairman Wayne Chadwick began the meeting by presenting Hapgood with a plaque, “with greatest appreciation” for her 30 years of service to the town.

Resident Sheldon Goodine summarized the growth and activities of the Golden Agers, the senior citizens group that meets Wednesday mornings in the former portable classroom for games and socializing.

Goodine said by summer, the group is likely to have three dozen members each week. The bingo and cribbage groups have grown until there is room for only one more game table in the building, he said.

In 2023, Golden Agers went on two field trips, at a cost of almost $6,500, with the town contributing $2,101 and group members paying the rest. The first 2024 trip, to Isles of Shoals, is already being planned.

Goodine gave select board members two questions to think about: when the Golden Agers outgrow the portable building, where is their next meeting place? And could a bus and driver be provided for their field trips, so they would not have to arrange a rental?

A school bus is not the answer to the second question, Goodine said. The group used one for a trip to Fryeburg Fair and quickly learned that school bus seats are not designed for adults.

After receiving Goodine’s presentation with approval and thanks, board members:

— Accepted the highest of three bids for the no-longer-needed 2012 GMC Sierra 1500, $1,234.56 from Ken Dyer, Sr., of China;
— Appointed Tara Oxley China’s local health officer;
— Approved two financial reorganization recommendations from the auditor; and
— Accepted three recommendations from Hapgood to write off uncollectible personal property taxes from businesses no longer operating in town.

Board members postponed action on two draft ordinances. Hapgood said the town attorney is still reviewing the draft of new solar ordinance and draft amendments to the land use ordinance.

After a request for proposals to repair February 2023 water damage in the town office building got no responses six months ago, Hapgood is about to try again. Meanwhile, she said, the town’s insurance has paid $14,542.26.

Board member Janet Preston reported on a meeting with officials from Hannaford supermarkets, ReVision Energy and Kennebec Valley Council of Governments, among others, to discuss a town-owned electric vehicle charging station in Hannaford’s parking lot in South China.

Board member Jeanne Marquis suggested finding out if the installation could include electric bicycle charging.

The proposal is not close to a decision yet, Preston said. The application for a grant for a charging station is due in March.

Select board members spent about an hour talking about the 2024-25 budget. They skipped the proposed public works and transfer station sections, which total $1,860,800 and $681,825, respectively, until they invite Director of Public Services Shawn Reed to join the discussion.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 26.

On Tuesday, March 5, China polls will be open in the portable building from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the state presidential preference primary. Absentee ballots are now available, and will be through Feb. 29. The town office will be closed March 5.

Hapgood said budget committee meetings to review the proposed 2024-25 budget are not yet scheduled.

VASSALBORO: New town park officially named Eagle Park

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by Mary Grow

It’s official: Vassalboro’s new town park on Outlet Stream and Route 32, a bit north of East Vassalboro village, is named Eagle Park.

Select board members made the decision unanimously at their Feb. 8 meeting, at the request of conservation commission chairman Holly Weidner. Weidner told them a Boy Scout intends to make a sign for the park as his Eagle Scout project.

The name is appropriate, Weidner said, because now that alewives can migrate the length of the stream, from the Sebasticook River to China Lake, the park attracts bald eagles (and great blue herons) that prey on the fish.

The Feb. 8 meeting included recognition of the week that includes Feb. 8 as scouting’s anniversary week. With troop leaders and members present, select board member Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., read a proclamation listing the Vassalboro Scouts’ many volunteer projects and activities.

Select board members spent much of the rest of their meeting talking about the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s (VSD) financial problems and about allocating remaining federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

The VSD is deeply in debt for the recent connection to the Waterville-Winslow sewage disposal system. Because of debt repayments, the fees charged to its 200 or so customers in East and North Vassalboro have risen steeply and will continue to rise.

Town Manager Aaron Miller said VSD officials have asked the town for $200,000 from the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) fund. Miller said he asked the VSD’s attorney and the town’s attorney to consider the situation together.

Meanwhile, Denico reported, he had connected VSD officials with U. S. Senator Susan Collins’ office, as Vassalboro’s state senator, Matthew Pouliot, recommended. Select board chairman Chris French added that state representative Richard Bradstreet had discussed VSD customers’ concerns with Maine Governor Janet Mills.

Vassalboro’s TIF money comes from taxes paid on the gas pipeline that runs through the town.

Miller said Vassalboro has about $84,000 in unappropriated ARPA funds. Board members discussed three potential uses and approved two, work on the fuel tanks at the public works garage (which are used by Vassalboro’s school, fire and police departments as well as public works) and buying generators for the town office, the food pantry and the Riverside fire station.

A third request was from Police Chief Mark Brown, for a rifle and related items, radar and additional equipment for the police vehicle. A discussion among board and audience members started with whether Brown’s duties justify the additional weaponry – board members said yes, all law enforcement officers face danger – and veered into speeding control.

The claim that Vassalboro select board members told Brown not to enforce speed limits was partially denied. Because he works only 15 hours a week – and, French reminded everyone, voters at the 2023 town meeting rejected a proposal to increase his hours to 20 a week – board members want to minimize time he spends in court defending speeding tickets.

Audience members divided over whether law enforcement is the best way to deter speeders. Weidner, referring to the recent meeting on East Vassalboro traffic, advocated for measures that make the roadway appear narrower – a narrow road is most likely to make drivers slow down, she said.

Board members unanimously approved funds for the rifle and radar, only; they await more information on vehicle modifications.

Douglas Phillips presented the Historical Society’s request for continued ARPA funding for lighting and other work at the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse, owned by the town and leased by the historical society as its headquarters and museum. Select board members unanimously approved.

Miller proposed adding a municipal buildings account in future budgets.

The historical society owns five East Vassalboro buildings, Phillips said: the Weymouth barn on the east side of Main Street south of the Grange Hall, and on the west side of the street the former Taylor house and barn, the adjacent blacksmith shop, the former East Village Fire House just north and the harness shop behind the fire house. Society officials are applying for grants to maintain these buildings.

In other business, board members asked Miller to draft an article for the town meeting warrant asking voters to delete the quorum requirement for a special town meeting. Since 1991, 125 registered voters must sign in before a special meeting can begin, a requirement select board members consider an obstacle to trying to hold a special meeting.

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 22. It will start with a public hearing on proposed amendments to the town’s solid waste ordinance (now renamed the Solid Waste and Recycling Ordinance).

Vassalboro planners take up three issues

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro planning board members discussed three very different issues at their Feb. 6 meeting, none needing a yes or no decision.

— The consideration of a new state law might lead to recommended amendments to town ordinances, which would need voter approval.
— An application for a commercial solar development is unlikely to re-appear until May or June.
— Planned repairs to a seasonal home on Webber Pond appear to be in the codes officer’s jurisdiction.

The state law, still widely called LD 2003, was passed in 2022 and is intended to provide more housing by allowing greater density. Vassalboro board chairman Virginia Brackett sees it as applying primarily to towns with zoning restrictions, which Vassalboro does not have.

After considering what the law and various words and phrases in it mean, board members asked codes officer Jason Lorrain to draft any amendments he thinks Vassalboro ordinances need.

Board member and former codes officer Paul Mitnik mentioned other ordinance changes he would like to have considered.

Annalise Kukor, of ReVision Energy, presented a revised preliminary plan for a solar development on Webber Pond Road. The site is on land owned by Eileen M. Flanagan, at 1026 Webber Pond Road, south of Vassalboro Community School.

The original plan, presented to the board on Nov. 14, 2023 (see the Nov. 23, 2023, issue of The Town Line, p. 3), asked for a waiver of setback requirements to allow the solar panels to be close to the rear boundary.

After discussion with the abutting landowners, Kukor said, the waiver request is withdrawn and the solar panels moved south to meet boundary setback requirements.

Board members had no objections to the preliminary plan. Kukor expects to need several months to have a final plan ready for board review.

Ron Blaisdell brought up the camp repairs. He explained that he is caretaker for several summer places on Webber Pond, and one needs a deck replaced, with minor changes including the addition of stairs.

He also needs to dig out and replace some overgrown shrubs on the property, he said.

Planning board members established that the rebuilt deck will not be closer to the lake than the original one. They decided that Blaisdell’s replacement projects fall under Lorrain’s jurisdiction, not theirs.

In other business, board member Marianne Stevens reported on some of the suggestions for slowing traffic through East Vassalboro Village that were discussed at a recent meeting of local residents.

Lorrain reported that he knows of two sheds crushed by fallen trees in the shoreland zone that need to be replaced. He anticipates applications to the planning board.

Lorrain asked about an issue involving enforcement of covenants in a board-approved subdivision. Mitnik and Brackett said the issue needs to be settled by subdivision residents; it is not the planning board’s business.

The next regular Vassalboro planning board meeting will be Tuesday evening, March 5.

Vassalboro select board begins review of 2024-25 budget

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members began review of the draft 2024-25 town budget, prepared by Town Manager Aaron Miller, at a Feb. 6 meeting that lasted almost three hours. They continued discussion for an hour before their regular Feb. 8 meeting.

Miller’s first draft totaled close to $3.9 million, and represented an increase of more than $256,000 over the current year. By Feb. 8, the estimated increase was more than $258,000.

This part of the budget covers municipal services and an estimated 10 percent increase in the 2024-25 bill from Kennebec County. The 2024-25 school budget is separate; Vassalboro school board members were scheduled to begin work on it at their Feb. 13 meeting.

Select board chairman Chris French emphasized that the budget presented to voters at the June 3 annual town meeting “will look very different” from the February draft. Select board members will continue to refine figures for proposed expenditures and compare them with expected revenues.

Select board chairman Chris French emphasized that the budget presented to voters at the June 3 annual town meeting “will look very different” from the February draft. Select board members will continue to refine figures for proposed expenditures and compare them with expected revenues; budget committee members will review the entire proposal; and the two boards will negotiate agreements, or agree to disagree in their recommendations.

Select board members began the Feb. 6 discussion by accepting Miller’s recommendation that town employees get 3.2 percent cost of living raises plus two percent merit raises for 2024-25.

Miller had recommended continuing the select board members’ stipends at the current level, $2,500 apiece. French argued for a cost of living increase, and, he said, the board chairman should get $500 more than the other two members because of the extra time he (or she) spends on town business.

French will not be board chairman in 2024-25, unless board policy is changed. If he runs for another three-year term and is re-elected, he will become the junior board member and Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., will become chairman.

The result of the discussion was, for now, a recommended increase of $680 in the budget line for select board.

Miller recommended, and board members supported, hiring a part-time staff person at the town office, primarily to cover the counter during especially busy times, lunch hours and when another staffer is out sick, running a town errand or on vacation. Details remain to be worked out; by the Feb. 8 meeting, the cost was estimated at $21,000.

The preliminary public works and paving budgets are about $167,000 higher than this year, generating considerable discussion of equipment needs – costs and timing – and paving plans.

How to plow the new sidewalks planned for North Vassalboro was one subtopic. Board members considered buying a piece of equipment, and discussed what they could buy that would be useful year-round; or contracting out the work.

Another subtopic was the bridge on Mill Hill Road, on which the state has threatened to post a speed limit. The issue first came up at the board’s Nov. 2, 2023, meeting, when board members learned the double culvert carrying Seven Mile Stream under the road had deteriorated significantly (see the Nov. 9, 2023, issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Board member Denico said as of the previous night, posting had been delayed a year or so; but the town will have to fix the bridge eventually. He estimated the cost at up to $600,000 if the bridge were one lane wide and up to twice that for a two-lane bridge.

Proposed additions to the public works budget range from increasing employees’ boot allowance to hiring one more full-time employee, perhaps shared with the transfer station. Adding a person would reduce hours each driver works during blizzards and other emergencies.

The manager recommends starting a reserve fund to pay for a town-wide property revaluation. His suggested figure for 2024-25 is $40,000.

During the Feb. 8 select board meeting, French suggested a town meeting warrant article asking voters to approve $25,000 for town expenses when Vassalboro Community School is used as an emergency shelter.

Douglas Phillips, speaking for the Vassalboro Historical Society, discussed problems at the former East Vassalboro schoolhouse, owned by the town and leased by the society as its headquarters and museum. The wooden building and its roof need repairs; if another heat pump is installed, the boiler might be removed, making more storage space; the restroom should be made handicapped-accessible (a chairlift provides access to the building); and cracking tiles in one room contain asbestos, a hazardous substance.

Select board members added $15,000 to the 2024-25 budget for asbestos remediation.

The draft social services budget for 2024-25 currently contains two new requests: $4,000 to support the local Window Dressers program that provides window inserts to help insulate houses; and $3,500 for Kennebec Behavioral Health, an Augusta-based organization that has not previously asked for town support. The Vassalboro food pantry asks for a $2,000 increase that would be used for stipends for volunteers.

China select board hears first budget draft

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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 $4.9 million.

The manager had no figures yet for the 2024-25 school budget ($5.2 million this year) or Kennebec County budget ($607,333 this year). She expects both will increase.

Select board and budget committee members will review proposed 2024-25 expenditures and potential income this month and next, to produce a budget the select board recommends to voters. Voters will act on the 2024-25 budget at the June 11 annual town business meeting, and it will become effective July 1.

Hapgood said China is in good shape financially, debt-free and with a healthy surplus. She summarized changes proposed for the new fiscal year.

— Two potential new expenditures are the storage vault at the town office, to be partly paid for with federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds; and perhaps setting up a kayak and paddleboard rental station on China Lake (see the Feb. 1 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).
— The proposed wage increase for town employees is 3.2 percent (cost of living adjustment) plus 1 percent merit raises.
— Hapgood would like to add two employees, if they can be found: a half-time community program director, and a person whom she described as “an attorney, a planner and consultant,” whose salary would come partly from funds that would otherwise be used to pay for outside legal services. She also sees a need for an assistant animal control officer.
— As discussed previously at select board meetings, Delta Ambulance’s service fee will increase from $15 per resident to $25 per resident, increasing China’s charge from $66,300 this year to $110,200 in 2024-25.
— Hapgood recommends an increase in the public works department’s budget, because, she explained, the department should, if possible, hire a mechanic, to minimize sending equipment away for repairs; two trucks are due for replacement soon, and she advises starting a reserve fund for building expansion; and a summer intern is included, whose main job would be to map every culvert in China.

With projected increases in the price of paving and other areas, the preliminary recommendation for the 2024-25 public works budget is $1.86 million, up from $1.63 million this year.

Select board members are likely to begin discussing the budget at their next regular meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 12.

Budget committee members did not set their next meeting; Hapgood proposed they meet alternate Monday evenings from the select board, if that schedule was convenient.

China TIF committee reviews nine requests: OK to all

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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. As they did last year, the two groups asked for a total of more money than the fund can grant.

The trails fund is authorized to spend $65,000 a year. The Thurston Park Committee, represented by chairman Jeanette Smith and member Scott Monroe, requested $48,482. The Four Seasons Club, represented by president Thomas Rumpf, asked for $40,000.

The Thurston Park request was further complicated by including plans to use the money to buy equipment. Smith explained that some of the park’s five volunteers bring their own trailers, side-by-sides, chainsaws and whatever else is needed to mow the picnic area, clear fallen trees, add gravel to washouts and do other maintenance.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said town-owned equipment cannot be used by volunteers unless they have been trained. Otherwise, the town gets in trouble with the Bureau of Labor Standards and the insurance company.

Rumpf’s major project, which will cost a good deal more than $40,000, is to rebuild the north-south Narrow Gauge Trail, aka Bog Trail, which has seriously deteriorated. For last summer, he had approval to use sections of Bog and Pleasant View Ridge roads as alternative ATV trails.

Rumpf and Smith presented information on the importance of trails to the town, for residents’ recreation and as an attraction for visitors who spend thousands of dollars at local stores and eating places.

Rumpf said people from all over New England use Four Seasons Club trails, not just for ATV riding and snowmobiling, but for hiking, biking and riding horseback. The windstorms did considerable damage, he said, but thanks to “the best volunteers in town,” trails are now “open, cleaned out and ready to go.”

Smith said since November, a game camera has shown many hikers, some with dogs, a few horseback riders and one bobcat enjoying Thurston Park.

TIF committee members agreed on the value of both groups’ work. After almost an hour’s discussion, they voted unanimously to recommend the select board split the trails money between them, $32,500 each.

Rumpf and Smith were satisfied, but both had requests for future changes. Rumpf wants the committee to review the allocation of TIF funds, to see if more money can be spent on trails at the expense of less popular, or less needy, projects.

Smith pointed out that for at least the second year, the Thurston Park Committee’s two major problems are not addressed. The maintenance situation is unresolved, and so is the issue of park access.

Currently, the only road access is from the north, through Albion, down a steep gravel-road hill that is not adequately maintained. The former Yorktown Road runs through the park to the south boundary, but a landowner there is not open to having park visitors pass by his house. Monroe emphasized the desirability of providing a south entrance.

Rumpf presented one of the other funding applications, for $5,000 for fireworks for China Ice Days in 2025. The 2024 Ice Days ice fishing derby is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18.

The China Lake Association requested $25,000 for environmental improvements. Association president Stephen Greene said the funds would go toward the Youth Conservation Corps’ water quality protection work and the Courtesy Boat Inspection program aimed at keeping invasive weeds out of area lakes.

The China Broadband Committee had a double application, $10,000 to continue to contract with consultants Mission Broadband and the next $30,000 installment of a continuing grant to increase broadband access for town residents.

The Town of China requested TIF funds for four purposes: $10,000 for China Community Days 2025 ($5,000 for fireworks and $5,000 for general support, Hapgood said); $10,000 toward hiring a summer intern; $7,725 for Kennebec Valley Council of Governments dues; and $500 for Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce dues.

China Days is identified as an economic development event, and the last three projects are aimed at promoting the town as a business location.

Money in the TIF fund comes from taxes on Central Maine Power Company’s north-south line through the town and its substation in South China. These taxes bring in more than $300,000 a year, according to China’s “Tax Increment Financing District and Development Program” on the town website.

TIF committee members set their next meeting for 6 p.m. Monday, April 1.

China commercial solar ordinance ready for review

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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 agenda for the Jan. 29 select board meeting.

Board chairman Toni Wall had worked on amendments to China’s Land Use Ordinance, which is Chapter Two of the Land Development Code; this document is also on the Jan. 29 select board agenda.

Wall said a major piece remains to be added, to incorporate relevant parts of the 2022 state law requiring municipalities to provide for additional housing. The major changes involve relaxing restrictions on the number of dwelling units per lot. China officials have asked the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments for help adding appropriate language.

The law says towns must incorporate the new provisions by July 1, 2024. China’s version needs to be ready for voters’ action at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

The permit application is from Carrol White, to convert the former Silver Lake Grange Hall, on Main Street, in China Village, to four two-bedroom apartments.

White said after he gets the permitting process started, village resident Daniel Coleman intends to buy the building and do the conversion.

Back in 1992, White said, he applied for and received the necessary variance from ordinance requirements, specifically the setback from the side lot line and the square footage needed for multiple dwelling units. However, the variance was not registered with the state Registry of Deeds within the required 90 days.

When the omission was discovered in 1999, the variance was duly notarized and registered, but there seems to be agreement that a seven-year delay made it invalid. White therefore needs a new one; variances are granted by the town board of appeals.

In addition, planning board members voted that White’s application was incomplete, because he provided too few details on some aspects of the plan.

Wall said she and codes officer Nicholas French will work with White to add information to the application. She suggested the board review it and hold a public hearing to get neighbors’ input, probably at the Feb. 13 planning board meeting. Then White can again ask the board of appeals for a variance from setback and lot size requirements.

China select board postpones decision on revised ordinances

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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 the town attorney’s hands.

The next steps are for the select board to approve final versions of the ordinances and hold public hearings on them before they are submitted to voters to accept or reject, perhaps at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

Board members needed more information on a proposal to authorize the Recreation Committee to offer kayak and paddleboard rentals. Hapgood said she and Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth had discussed contracting with a company called Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan.

For $39,000, the company would provide China with four kayaks and four paddleboards, with paddles. They would be kept near China Lake – beside the Courtesy Boat Inspectors’ shelter on the causeway, Hapgood suggested.

No staffing would be needed, as potential renters would use an app to unlock the board or kayak of their choice and pay the hourly fee. Rent.Fun and the town would split the rental income, so the town would earn back its investment.

Hapgood intends to ask Wentworth to get more information from Rent.Fun. She hopes also to get information from municipalities the company already serves.

Two guests brought messages to the select board meeting.

Jacob Poulin, deputy from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, reminded residents to lock their vehicles and hide any valuables left inside whenever the vehicles are parked outdoors. People have been breaking in to steal purses and other items, he said.

Erika Presley, senior land conservation manager with Edgecomb-based Midcoast Conservancy1, introduced herself and her organization, which owns 12.5 acres on the West Branch of the Sheepscot River off Dirigo Road, in China.

She said the lot encompasses the former Pullen Mill Dam2 site and showed a picture of the dam remains. Protecting the forested property is important for water quality and water temperature in that part of the river, she explained.

The four select board members present Jan. 29 made two unanimous decisions:

— They authorized Hapgood to seek new bids on building a vault to improve storage space at the town office. The present plan is to have the vault inside a small addition on the south side of the west section of the present building.
— They authorized the South China volunteer fire department to spend up to $8,000 from the fire department reserve fund to connect the fire station to three-phase power on Route 32 South.

The connection will let the department accept a gift of an air compressor from the Biddeford fire department, to replace its worn-out compressor. The compressor is used to refill SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) bottles for members of all three China departments. Hapgood said there is $150,000 in the reserve fund.

The manager reported:

— About 130 residents have signed up for E911 identifying numbers for their properties; more are welcome. A form to request a number is on the website, china.govoffice.com, on the first page.
— China is applying for services from the Maine National Guard for work on a section of Hanson Road near Evans Pond.
— The roof of the large white garage north on the town office lot needs repair.

China select board and budget committee members will meet together at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, in the town office meeting room, for a preliminary discussion of the 2024-25 town budget.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12.

1. More information on the Midcoast Conservancy is on its website, midcoastconservancy.org.
2. Several on-line sites provide information on the Pullen Mill Dam, where a fish passage completed Aug. 21, 2011, was dedicated on May 18, 2012, in memory of Dr. Melissa Laser, of the state Department of Marine Resources.