China budget committee urges “no” vote on broadband expansion

by Mary Grow

China Budget Committee members recommend voters not approve the bond issue for broadband expansion on the Nov. 2 local ballot.

At the Aug. 23 committee meeting, members talked with representatives of the China Broadband Committee (CBC) before deciding to disagree with them.

The vote on a motion to add a “No” recommendation under the ballot question was 4-1, Chairman Robert Batteese announced. He, Tim Basham, Kevin Maroon and Tom Rumpf voted to recommend against the bond issue. Trishea Story dissented.

The committee majority’s main argument was that CBC members are getting too far ahead; they should wait until amounts and allowed uses of pending federal and state funds have been made clear.

One budget committee member added that the option of collaborating with other towns should be explored. Another objected on principle to town government rather than private enterprise providing broadband service.

CBC members advocate the bond issue, currently estimated at around $5.6 million, to cover most of the cost of building new broadband infrastructure town-wide. They anticipate grants will cover about 15 percent.

Having bond money would put China in an advantageous position for getting grants, because the usually-required matching funds would be available, CBC member Tod Detre said.

CBC member Jamie Pitney said there had been informal discussions about regional cooperation.

The problem with waiting for a private company to offer improved service is that China is too small to attract investors, Detre said. Pitney said CBC members have talked with Spectrum, the company currently providing internet service to about 70 percent of residents, and found no interest in upgrading and expanding. Meanwhile, Detre said, some residents have no internet access at all, and others have limited service.

When the CBC asked for proposals for broadband service at the beginning of the year, there were three responses, including Spectrum’s expensive and inadequate offer, Pitney said. Since then, CBC members have chosen to work with Axiom Technologies to provide a town-owned, Axiom-operated and maintained system funded by user fees, not tax dollars.

Story said better service is essential as needs increase, for example for education, and to attract new businesses to town. Axiom’s proposed monthly $55 fee for the lowest service tier is significantly less than she pays now, she said.

Pitney and Detre pointed out that authorizing the selectmen to apply for the bond does not mean they must do so. If too few residents sign up for the new service to provide needed income, or if grants are not awarded, selectmen need not act on the authorization.

At the Aug. 16 China selectmen’s meeting, Selectboard members decided their recommendation on the ballot question will be “Leave to the people” or similar wording, meaning that as a board they recommend neither for nor against the bond issue.

Interviews with China Lake Association leadership; Goal is to educate, re-engage membership

New China Lake Association president Stephen Greene, left, and newly-appointed executive director of the China Region Lakes Alliance, Scott Pierz, during a recent interview. (photo by Jeanne Marquis)

by Jeanne Marquis

The China Lake Association (CLA) elected a new president, Stephen Greene, which established Scott Pierz as the president emeritus for his seven-year service. Scott Pierz will remain active with the CLA, aid in the leadership transition while his passion for lake management will be shared to a greater area as the Executive Director of the China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA).

In an in-depth interview, we discovered what this shift will mean in terms of strengthening the stewardship of our natural local water resources, their visions for the future and the differences in their leadership styles.

What in their backgrounds has prepared them for these roles?

Scott Pierz grew up in Connecticut and graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with multiple degrees in philosophy, psychology and teaching. After teaching early in his career, he took a job with the State of Maine as one of the first program monitors of fuel assistance in the late seventies and eighties. In the mid-’80s, Pierz was the City of Gardiner’s codes enforcement officer and later that decade became Oakland’s first codes enforcement officer. After leaving that position, he became a planner with what is now the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG). In this position, Pierz wrote comprehensive plans and grants. One of these grants, a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the Town of Norridgewock gave him a job as the CDBG Director of this multi-phase project. In 1995, Pierz became the codes enforcement officer of China, serving for 19 years, where he saw first hand the direct connection between building codes and lake quality.

Pierz explained this connection, “Essentially, the knowledge I gained through my codes enforcement career with various communities, along with planning and grant writing experience, have formed the foundation of my education about municipal land use and lake ecology.”

Stephen Greene’s career has also extensively prepared him for the role as CLA president. Greene is a 1973 graduate of the University of Maine at Orono (UMO). Prior to continuing on to law school, he worked industrial construction jobs in Portland, Maine. In 1979, he graduated from the New York Law School and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar. For the next four years, Greene served as an assistant prosecutor for the Hudson County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office and tried over 20 jury criminal cases during his tenure.

Greene was an associate attorney with Ravin, Sarasohn, Cook, Baum­garten & Fisch , Roseland, New Jersey, during 1983 to 1990 and an associate attorney with Schwartz, Tobia & Stanziale, Montclair, New Jersey, from 1990 to 1993. At these firms, he conducted civil business litigation, including some bench trials and appellate work.

After 1993 until his 2018 retirement, Greene served as Vice President and General Counsel with G&W Laboratories, Inc., South Plainfield, New Jersey, a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm.There he was responsible for all legal matters involving the company, such as FDA, mergers and acquisitions, corporate compliance, and litigation. During his tenure at G&W, he volunteered for and performed pro bono legal work for non-profit organizations under the auspices of the Pro Bono Partnership.

Green mentioned two lessons he learned in his career that he will apply in his new role as CLA president. The first is to always rely on the facts to determine a sound decision. The second lesson is to find the common ground between people’s positions.
How did Pierz and Greene develop their connections to China Lake?

Pierz has lived on China Lake since 1981. Through his 40 years of watching sunsets over the lake and hearing the calls of the loons, he feels a deep connection to the lake. He saw through his work how the lake is the heartbeat of the surrounding area and what happens within the 26 square mile watershed area surrounding the lake impacts the water quality.

Greene also has a long relationship with China Lake. He first visited the lake with his wife, Margo Rancourt Greene, who he met at the University of Maine at Orono as students. China Lake had been an integral part of her family’s life and that continued as Stephen and Margo Greene raised their own children. In 2010, the Greene’s converted their camp into a year-round residence to get more enjoyment from the lake and, now in retirement, spend the majority of the year there.

Greene explains how his passion for the lake turned into concern, “My wife and I remember very well the purity of the China Lake in the 1970s, as well as the heartbreaking changes over the next two decades. We couldn’t abandon China Lake with our deep roots here, and decided we would do something to make a difference. We joined CLA many years ago and got involved. Margo with LakeSmart and me now with the CLA board and presidency. I have been absorbing information from friends in the community, scouring regional news sources and local journalism, including The Town Line, as well as listening to non-profit groups with similar missions as the China Lake Association.”

What does Scott Pierz’s move to the China Region Lakes Alliance as their Executive Director mean to China Lake?

Pierz told us, “ My father instilled in me a nature to participate and give time, to dedicate time, to my community and that’s a community with a capital “C.” That still drives me. I’ve got more to give. There’s more to do. So that’s why I’m making the move to the China Region Lakes Alliance to continue the core programs that have been offered not only to China, but to expand them within the region, and that’s my goal.”

The CLA and CRLA will continue their strong relationship. As the executive director, Pierz will expand the core programs to serve the regional lakes – Webber Pond and Three Mile Pond – that connect with China Lake. These programs are LakeSmart, Courtesy Boat Inspection Program (CBI), Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), and the Gravel Road Rehabilitation Program (GRRP). The strategy behind this organizational shift is that China Lake will be better protected when the surrounding bodies of water are also protected.

What does Stephen Greene see as the future and the greatest challenges ahead for the CLA?

Green responded, “The CLA has been and continues to be a vibrant, effective and constant organizing voice for China Lake protection and restoration. The campaigns it conducts and programs it supports for environmental education, science-based research, watershed surveys, YCC, LakeSmart, boat inspectIons and gravel road restoration have been instrumental in reducing and slowing the phosphorus load to the lake. … As was pointed out in our recent annual meeting, the greatest threat may be the epic task of solving the lakebed phosphorus load.”

Green sees his initial calls to action are to educate, re-engage the membership, and recruit the younger generation to get involved to preserve the lake for future generations. “We owe it to our children to do all we can to secure that destiny.”

Prize Vegetable Contest & Children’s Best-Decorated Fruit or Vegetable Award

Branch Mills Grange #336. (photo courtesy of the Kennebec Journal)

The Branch Mills Grange (20 Branch Mills Road) is hosting two agricultural contests during the Palermo VFD’s picnic, a Prize Vegetable Award and Children’s Best-Decorated Fruit or Vegetable Award, each with cash prizes! Children aged one through 12 are welcome to decorate a fruit or vegetable in their favorite style – they want entries with flair (googly eyes welcome).

Registration is on Friday, August 20, and Saturday, August 21, from 3 – 6 p.m., at the Grange. Prizes will be awarded on Sunday, August 22, during the Palermo Volunteer Fire Department fundraiser.

Pauleys celebrate 65th anniversary

Don and Christa Paula celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on August 19, 2021. This photo was taken on their 50th anniversary near Mt. Blanc, in Switzerland.

Don and Christa Pauley, of South China, are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary on August 19, 2021. They were married in Raymond on August 19, 1956, and moved to South China in 1958 after Don’s active duty in the U.S. Army. They bought their home on China Lake in 1960. Don served on all town boards over a span of 20 years with the exception of the planning board. He is the last of the original three-man board of selectmen.

Christa was gifted with a powerful lyric soprano voice and gave of her talent to so many weddings, funerals and the great adult variety shows for Erskine Academy in the 1960s through the 1980s. Don was her accompanist and gave of his time to accompany the Erskine Academy Chic-a-Laca student shows and the adult Boosters of Erskine Academy (BEA Club) variety shows during those same years. Don retired from Brown and Pauley Fluid Power Engineering Company that he and his good friend, Bill Brown, founded when he retired in 1999 at age 65.

2021 Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) at work

Members of the 2021 Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) work on a China LakeSmart project. From left to right, Beck Jorgensen, YCC Director Sage Hapgood-Belanger, and Ryan Tyler. The YCC and China LakeSmart are operated by the China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA) and CRLA Executive Director Scott Pierz. (photo by Rebecca Hapgood; text by Scott Pierz)

China planners review documents submitted to selectmen

by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members used their Aug. 10 meeting for final reviews of documents they submitted to China selectmen ahead of the Aug. 16 selectboard meeting.

Both are proposed ordinance changes that need voter approval: an amendment to the shoreland zoning section of the town Land Use Ordinance to bring China regulations into conformity with state rules; and the Solar Energy Systems Ordinance, a new section of the Land Use Ordinance to guide planning board members as they review future applications for new solar developments, individual and commercial.

Planning board members hope selectmen will put the proposed ordinance changes on the Nov. 2 local ballot for voters’ action.
However, by the time selectmen got to the request, two hours into their Aug. 16 meeting, no one argued with Chairman Ronald Breton’s postponing it to the Aug. 30 selectmen’s meeting.

Codes Officer Jaime Hanson reported at the Aug. 10 planning board meeting that he continues to be very busy. In addition to reviewing permit applications, he is monitoring two properties that are not in compliance with town ordinances and four that are categorized as dangerous buildings.

The owner of one cluttered and rodent-infested property has made progress on cleaning it up – his “only positive response” to neighborhood complaints about such situations, Hanson commented.

Planning board members intend not to meet Tuesday, Aug. 24, unless Hanson gets an application or something else requires their attention. Without any immediate new business, their next regular meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12.

China selectmen set tax rate at 14.40 mil

by Mary Grow

China selectmen have set the tax rate for the current fiscal year, after a presentation by Tax Assessor William Van Tuinen at the Aug. 16 Selectboard meeting.

The new rate Van Tuinen recommended and selectmen approved is 14.40 mil, or $14.40 for each $1,000 of taxation. The rate for the year that ended June 30, 2021, was $14.90 per $1,000, selectmen said.

Van Tuinen warned property-owners not to expect lower bills, however. Tax bills depend on the value he has assigned to property multiplied by the tax rate; and because house prices have risen so dramatically, he increased building valuations by 16 percent.

He used building values for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020. Since house prices have continued to rise, another upward revaluation is likely in a year.

Van Tuinen explained that by state law, an assessor needs to keep valuations close to market prices. If the difference gets too large, the state penalizes the town, by reducing various state financial contributions.

China is expected to spend more than $9.5 million in the current fiscal year, with more than half going to the school budget. By Van Tuinen’s figures, a little under $7.1 million will come from property taxes, the rest from other sources, including an anticipated $500,000 in state revenue sharing.

At the June 8 town meeting, voters approved a list of other revenue sources – revenue sharing was then estimated at $335,000. They also set tax due dates: the first half payment is due Thursday, Sept. 30. Town Manager Becky Hapgood expects bills will be mailed out before the end of August.

Selectmen followed up on another town meeting vote at their Aug. 16 meeting, the one authorizing them to sell the former subdivision on the east side of Lakeview Drive through a licensed real estate agent and to put the proceeds “in an assigned fund to reduce the mil rate in the fiscal year following the sale.”

After discussion, they voted unanimously that Lucas Adams of Adams Realty should handle the sale. Adams proposed a seven percent commission and, Hapgood said, he offered to work with Lindsey Harwath, head of the People’s Park organization seeking to raise funds to buy the land, and to reduce his commission if the group succeeded.

Adams valued the land at between $80,000 and $100,000. Selectmen split the difference and voted, again unanimously, to set $90,000 as a starting price.

Selectman Janet Preston asked whether the other board members had a goal for the property – did they favor the park (which she supports), or were they willing to see it become whatever a buyer wanted, even if the use did not benefit the town?

Sell it to the highest bidder, Selectman Wayne Chadwick said. He and fellow board member Blane Casey are dedicated to keeping taxes down; both reacted to the approved mil rate by commenting they need to budget more tightly this year.

Chadwick then made a third motion, to put the property on the market immediately while the market is up, rather than waiting to give the People’s Park group time to seek pledges and grants. That motion was approved on a split vote, with Chadwick, Casey and Irene Belanger in favor and Breton and Preston opposed.

Two other major items on the Aug. 16 agenda were proposed questions for the Nov. 2 local ballot.

Board members postponed action on the planning board’s requests and did not discuss the draft Solar Energy Systems Ordinance or the proposed shoreland zoning changes. (See related story, p. 8).

They debated the China Broadband Committee’s (CBC) request to ask voters to approve a bond issue for more than half an hour, discussing first whether to ask voters to weigh in at all and, after they agreed to that, whether there should be a Selectboard recommendation to approve or reject the article.

If the issue goes on the ballot, voters approve and selectmen borrow the money, currently anticipated to be $5.6 million, it would be used by Axiom Technologies to build new broadband infrastructure.

Chadwick was the only board member to vote against putting the bond issue on the Nov. 2 ballot. He thinks town government should not be in the telecommunications business.

Casey agreed with Chadwick, and Breton has strong reservations about the CBC’s plan. But both argued that after CBC members have worked so hard, they deserve a vote.

The selectmen’s recommendation on the article will be “Leave to the people,” or similar wording. Chadwick and Breton opposed that decision; Chadwick would have recommended not to approve the bond, and Breton thought selectmen should offer guidance.

“They [voters] didn’t elect us to dump it on them,” he said.

Less controversial agenda items included:

Accepting the highest of seven bids for the old grader, $13,250 from Baker Machine, in South China;
Reappointing Belanger as the town’s representative to the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments’ General Assembly, with Preston the alternate; and
Renewing the license for Wildwood Pawn Inc., outside China Village.

Hapgood presented preliminary information she had collected on heat pumps for the town office and transfer station. Chadwick suggested other local venders she could contact.

The next regular China selectmen’s meeting will be Monday evening, Aug. 30.

CHINA: New transfer station visioning subcommittee begins work

by Mary Grow

Four members of China’s new Transfer Station Visioning Subcommittee defined their job and planned how to start doing it at their initial meeting Aug. 11.

Chairman Chris Diesch, of Palermo, said the group needs to develop two documents: a brief mission statement telling what the transfer station is for, and a vision statement talking about what should be accomplished in the next five or 10 years.
Larry Sikora, Chairman of the Transfer Station Committee, said that group has a five-year plan that is reviewed and updated annually, but it is more “nuts and bolts,” focused on operations and equipment.

The visioning statement, in Sikora’s words, would be more about “something we’re not doing now but it’s possible we could do.”

Diesch volunteered to collect samples of mission and vision statements for other Maine towns’ transfer stations, and Ashley Farrington offered to provide suggestions from a course she took.

The committee’s final drafts will be reviewed by the full Transfer Station Committee and when approved forwarded to the town manager and the selectmen.

The next meeting, the group decided, should be planned for two hours, an hour on each document. Other transfer station committee members will be invited.

By consensus, preferred meeting days and times are Fridays starting at 11 a.m. The next meeting will be scheduled on a September Friday if all members are available, or early in October.

Maritime Energy president, Susan Ware Page, nominated for NEFI Legends Award

Susan Page Ware

The National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) announced its slate of Legends Award honorees to pay tribute to energy industry leaders in each state for 2021. Susan Ware Page, President of Maritime Energy, was selected for this honor in 2021 and will represent the State of Maine at the awards dinner in September of this year in Connecticut.

NEFI Legends Awards are presented to those who are industry pioneers and leaders whose experience and dedication serve as an example for all those in the heating and energy trades. In 2021, NEFI will feature an all-woman slate of honorees in recognition of the tremendous impact and leadership that women have made on the industry.

“I am thrilled to be selected as an honoree for this prestigious industry award. It is a great honor to be nominated and represent the energy industry and the State of Maine at this event.” – Susan Ware Page, President of Maritime Energy

NEFI has worked to strengthen and advance the market for liquid heating fuels through innovation, policy, education, and advocacy since 1942. The organization works at the local and national level to promote main street businesses and their efforts in efficiency, conservation, and safety. In addition to being a full service trade association, NEFI has developed the NEFI Education Foundation, Inc. a 501(c)3 non-profit organization to conduct industry research and provide education to its members.

Maritime Energy is a full service, locally owned family energy company serving Knox, Lincoln, Waldo, Hancock, and Kennebec counties. Services include heating, cooling, and plumbing installations, maintenance and repair. Maritime’s fuel products include heating oil, K-1, diesel, propane, and gasoline. As part of Maritime Energy’s fuel price protection programs, it offers participants up to 5¢ off each gallon of gasoline purchased at a Maritime Farms convenience store.

For more information or to find a fuel office or Maritime Farms store visit: https://www.maritimeenergy.com or call 1-800-333-4489. The company currently has 5 fuel offices including the main office in Rockland, Maine, and 13 Maritime Farms convenience stores throughout Midcoast and Central Maine.

Second vaccines available in China

People who got their first Covid-19 vaccination at the pop-up clinic in China on Saturday, July 24, are reminded to return for a second shot on Tuesday, Aug. 24, from 8 to 9 a.m., at the same site, the portable building behind the town office.

Town Manager Becky Hapgood surmises the limited time is because only 14 people got initial shots; those running the follow-up clinic expect to be able to finish second shots in an hour.