by Mary Grow

Although only four of the six China Planning Board members were present at the Oct. 9 board meeting, they tackled multiple questions left undecided at their previous meeting because only three members were able to attend.

The longest discussion was over an essentially procedural issue: after the board reviews an application for a conditional use permit for a new business and votes that it meets all 15 criteria in China’s Land Use Ordinance, does the written document setting forth the reasons for the decision, known as findings of fact, need a second vote?

In April, according to board minutes Chairman Tom Miragliuolo cited, board members decided no second vote was needed. The codes officer would draft the document for the chairman’s review and signature.

In August, board member Ronald Breton, who had seconded the April motion not to require a second vote, moved a vote on a findings of fact document approving an application submitted at the previous meeting, reopening debate about whether two votes are needed.

The conclusion on Oct. 9 was that a second vote is not needed, because the written findings ought to accurately reproduce decisions already voted at the meeting, without change.

When there is no hurry about issuing the permit, the codes officer and chairman may share the written findings of fact with the rest of the board. If work is to start promptly, as with the causeway project at the head of China Lake approved in August, the findings of fact should be prepared and signed and circulated afterward for board members’ information.

In a related matter, board members unanimously settled another question: the 30-day period to appeal a conditional use permit begins when the project is approved as meeting ordinance requirements, not after the written supporting document is signed.

The third issue that has been pending since spring and on which some progress was made Oct. 9 is Codes Officer Paul Mitnik’s proposals for ordinance amendments. He divided them into two categories, fairly simple ones that should be presented to voters soon – for example, elimination of contradictions in the Land Use Ordinance – and more complex ones.

Board members approved all but one of the suggested simpler changes and asked Mitnik to draft proposed revisions.

The next China Planning Board meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday evening, Oct. 23, if there is an application needing action or if Mitnik has had time to draft ordinance changes for review.

by Mary Grow

At their Oct. 15 meeting, China selectmen approved spending more than voters authorized for two different town problems. They took the major over-expenditure, in the legal account, from the legal reserve fund set up for such situations, and the minor one from the $55,000 contingency fund voters gave them at the March town business meeting. Town Manager Dennis Heath explained that the town is involved in a lawsuit over disposition of foreclosed property. So far, he said, mainly because of the one case, legal expenses have exceeded $19,000, compared to the $10,000 voters approved in March for the fiscal year.

The case could be precedent-setting for every municipality in the state, he said, so he plans to pursue it to the Law Court if necessary. He recommended, and selectmen approved, using $9,000 from the $36,000 legal reserve fund for expenses to date.

Board member Jeffrey LaVerdiere suggested if the case could affect every Maine municipality, there should be a way to get others to help with costs. He also recommended advance discussion with the board before going so far over budget.

The second issue is replacing the roof on the red barn south of the town office, which board members said has three layers of old shingles on it. They sought bids for removing the old shingles, doing any necessary repairs and re-shingling, and got three, all over $9,400. In March, voters appropriated $8,000 for the work.

Deciding the job was too important to postpone, selectmen accepted a bid of $9,600 from P and P Roofing, in Gardiner, planning to take $1,600 from their contingency fund to cover the full cost.

Board members heard another request for a purchase, but postponed action to their Oct. 29 meeting. Public Works Foreman Gary Cummings wants a $49,223 highly versatile Ventrac tractor to plow South China’s sidewalks, sweep the transfer station grounds and road shoulders and mow difficult-to-access roadside areas, among other tasks.

Cummings said the John Deere currently used as a sidewalk plow is a residential machine, not commercial, and has had frequent problems. The Ventrac would save part of its purchase price by eliminating leasing some equipment, like a shoulder broom, every year.

Other town department representatives’ reports included:

• From policeman Tracey Frost, a comment that September was a very busy month, with traffic complaints predominating, and October had not slowed down.
• From David Herard of China Rescue, another request for more volunteers to join the rescue unit, especially younger people who are settled in China.
• From the public works crew, an update on progress on rebuilding the fire pond on Neck Road, a report that the docks at the boat landing at the head of the lake have been removed for the winter and the good news that the rearranged town office water supply has provided drinkable water. Groundwater contamination from an old salt pile has been a problem in the past.
• From Transfer Station Manager Tim Grotton, a reminder of the Oct. 20 household hazardous waste collection in Winslow, for which pre-registration at the China transfer station is required, and the Oct. 27 shredding-on-site at the China town garage next door to the transfer station.

Contrary to the implication of an Oct. 12 notice in the Central Maine newspapers, free shredding of outdated private documents is available only to residents of China and nearby towns that have contributed to the cost of the program. As of Oct. 15, those towns were Liberty, Palermo and Vassalboro.

Heath had planned to film the Oct. 15 meeting and post it on the China website, but the camera apparently did not function. Once it is adjusted, future meetings will be available for public viewing.

by Mary Grow

The five (out of seven) China Budget Committee members at a special Sept. 26 meeting unanimously accepted Town Manager Dennis Heath’s proposal that the committee assume an advisory role in town investment decisions.

Part of the draft financial policy Heath has developed says that town funds will be invested as recommended by the budget committee and approved by the board of selectmen.

Budget committee members added, at Heath’s suggestion, a requirement that he make regular financial reports to them, to make their new responsibility easier. They agreed on quarterly reports, and further agreed emailed reports would not necessarily require a meeting to discuss them.

In the past, the committee’s only role has been to meet before any town vote involving appropriation of town funds and make recommendations on the proposed expenditures. Heath pointed out that under the Budget Committee Ordinance, the committee may also “make such other recommendations on fiscal matters as it may from time to time deem advisable.”

The new budget committee role is part of a more comprehensive fiscal rearrangement that Heath will present to selectmen at a future meeting.

by Mary Grow

China TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Committee members heard a presentation on the China Lake alewife restoration project, or ARI (Alewife Restoration Initiative), at their Sept. 24 meeting, preliminary to an application for financial assistance expected at their Oct. 22 meeting.

Landis Hudson, of Maine Rivers, Frank Richards, president of the Webber Pond Association, and Nate Gray, of the state Department of Marine Resources, credited alewives for better water quality in area lakes, including Three Mile and Webber ponds and China Lake. The small fish have been trucked into China Lake in recent years; ARI is clearing obstacles in Outlet Stream so they can swim into the lake from the Sebasticook River.

Hudson said of six dams in the stream, one (Masse in East Vassalboro) has been removed completely; Lombard Dam, close to the intersection of Lombard Dam Road and Route 32 between East and North Vassalboro, is almost demolished; Outlet Dam in East Vassalboro and Box Mills and Ladd dams in North Vassalboro will have fishways installed; and the fate of the Morneau dam, between the Masse and Lombard dams, remains to be decided.

Creating fishways will be more expensive, and probably less controversial, than removing dams, Hudson said. The project has received state and federal grant money and $20,000 from China TIF funds approved at the March 2017 town business meeting.

All three proponents talked of the economic advantages of cleaning up China Lake, like higher taxes on lakefront property and a better fishery, perhaps including restoration of the salmon and trout that flourished before an overload of phosphorus led to a lack of oxygen in colder bottom water.

TIF Committee Chairman Frank Soares told Hudson the ARI application will be the first to be received for this year’s TIF funds. He anticipates a request for money for trail development from the China Four Seasons Club (which, he said, he no longer heads; Tom Rumpf is the new president).

In other business Sept. 24, Soares, committee member Tom Michaud and Town Manager Dennis Heath reported on the causeway project at the head of China Lake’s east basin. Replacing the old bridge with a higher cement culvert will require closing Causeway Street, beginning Sept. 27; conspicuous signs announcing the pending closure are posted at both ends of the street.

Anyone wanting to visit the project must sign in at the town office and must wear a safety helmet and abide by all other safety rules, Heath and Soares said. To help residents follow the work without getting in the way, Heath intends to post photos on the China website.

After the bridge is replaced, Michaud said the second phase of the project requires an initial inspection and recommendations from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Committee members have discussed new structures at the head of the lake to make fishing easier, sidewalks and perhaps a four-wheeler trail connecting to the new bridge and other not-yet-fleshed-out ideas. Until state regulators tell the town what can and cannot be done, the committee cannot make firm plans.

Heath will try to get a DEP staffer to look at the area soon.