by Mary Grow At their Aug. 19 meeting, China selectmen approved an eight-question ballot to present to voters on Nov. 5. They also voted non-unanimously to buy the excavator for the public works department that they have discussed since June. On Nov. 5, China voters will be asked to elect a moderator for the day […]
by Mary Grow China Planning Board members continued discussion of possible ordinance amendments at their Aug. 6 meeting, focusing on one word in one of the 15 conditional use criteria. Conditional use criteria are the requirements for a new, changed or significantly expanded commercial use. The criterion reviewed Aug. 6 requires the applicant to show […]
by Mary Grow Three members of China’s Comprehensive Planning Committee, plus Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG) representative Joel Greenwood and Planning Board Chairman Tom Miragliuolo, spent the last evening in July talking about the updated China Comprehensive Plan that Greenwood hopes to have drafted by the end of the year. As a basis, there […]
by Mary Grow The proposal to buy an excavator for China’s Public Works Department that has been on the selectmen’s agendas since June 10 is scheduled to appear again on August 19, under new management. At the selectmen’s Aug. 5 meeting, board member Donna Mills-Stevens volunteered to renegotiate the proposed purchase with Chadwick- BaRoss, believing […]
by Mary Grow China Planning Board members have a request from the Comprehensive Planning Committee to consider revising China’s land use ordinance to clarify requirements for a commercial use permit. They started discussion at their July 23 meeting, but came nowhere near a decision, partly because the issues are complicated and partly because only three […]
by Mary Grow “We’ll make a decision shortly, Shawn,” China Selectboard Chairman Robert MacFarland promised Public Works Manager Shawn Reed as selectmen for the fourth time postponed action on his recommendation that they buy an excavator for the town. Reed first made the suggestion at the June 10 selectmen’s meeting. There were follow-up discussions at […]
by Mary Grow At their July 18 meeting, Vassalboro selectmen talked about money (funding for the Vassalboro Sanitary District [VSD] expansion and buying a police car) and people (creating a new town solar committee and appointing its members, a change in codes officers and a neighborhood dispute). Richard Green of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, engineers […]
by Mary Grow Clifford Glinko gave his well-prepared presentation on his proposed medical marijuana facility on Route 3, in South China, at a July 9 public hearing – to no audience, and without enough detail to satisfy the China Planning Board, which can’t rule yet anyway. Glinko has applied for a marijuana growing facility with […]
by Mary Grow “I’m saying goodbye to China,” Paul Mitnik said toward the end of our June 25 conversation in his office in the town office. After four years as codes enforcement officer, licensed plumbing inspector and building inspector, Mitnik is moving on, sooner than he intended, with a mixture of regret and pleasure. Regret […]
by Mary Grow Money was the top issue at the China Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee’s July 1 meeting, but guardrails generated the most heated discussion. The metal guardrails run along the shore at the head of China Lake, on both sides of the new causeway bridge and for a considerable distance east. Several TIF […]