China select board calls special meeting to address board of appeals ordinance

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Favor 6 percent pay increase for town workers in proposed budget

by Mary Grow

China select board members have scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 6, in the town office meeting room. They hope it will be a short one; the primary purposes are to finish – temporarily — talking about the Board of Appeals Ordinance and to make remaining preliminary recommendations on the 2023-24 municipal budget.

At the Feb. 27 select board meeting, planning board co-chairmen Toni Wall and James Wilkens said they thought the Board of Appeals Ordinance was in a final draft by Feb. 14, for the planning board to review at its Feb. 28 meeting (see The Town Line, Feb. 23, p. 2).

They learned, however, that after Wall finished and distributed to fellow board members the “final” version, town attorney Amanda Meader reviewed the draft again and more changes, mostly not substantive, were made.

“What copy are we supposed to look at tomorrow night?” Wall asked.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the latest version was not yet on the website because it had been finished earlier that day. It would be available the morning of Feb. 28, she said.

After 20 minutes’ discussion, there was agreement that planning board members would send Feb. 28 comments to the select board, and select board members would consider them March 6.

Due to the Feb. 28 snowstorm, the planning board discussion was rescheduled to March 2.

Select board members’ major project Feb. 27 was a detailed review of the draft FY 2023-24 town budget.

Hapgood does not yet have final, complete information on either costs or revenues. From preliminary information, she said the municipal budget will not affect the tax rate, but predicted a 2023-24 increase to cover the Kennebec County tax and the school budget.

Select board budget recommendations will be forwarded to the budget committee for review and recommendations. That committee’s recommendations will be reported back to the select board.

The June town business meeting warrant will present the budget articles, with the two committees’ recommendations (whether identical or different), for voters to accept or reject.

Three themes recurred through the Feb. 27 discussion: the labor market is highly competitive; the cost of everything from sunscreen to plow trucks has increased; and when something breaks down, getting parts or repairs is a slow process, if they are available at all. Spokespeople for town organizations added a fourth note: it is increasingly hard to get volunteers, so some work may need to be paid for if it is to continue.

The longest discussion was over town employees’ salaries. Hapgood proposed a 6.7 percent increase across the board, to retain employees in a competitive labor market.

Select board members seconded Hapgood’s praise of China’s employees, but were also concerned about taxpayers. At least one board member initially preferred 5 percent raises.

A vote on 6.7 percent was defeated, with Jeanne Marquis and Janet Preston in favor and Blane Casey, chairman Wayne Chadwick and Brent Chesley opposed.

Toward the end of the meeting board members returned to the topic, after reducing the budget line for the select board by $9,000 and, at Marquis’s suggestion, adding the $9,000 to employees’ salaries. They unanimously approved recommending a 6 percent increase.

Hapgood proposed a new part-time employee, a community program director who would coordinate and assist with activities including the weekly senior gatherings (“That group is having a blast,” she commented as she recommended increasing financial support from $1,000 this year to $1,500 next), outdoor recreation programs, Thurston Park, the school forest and the annual China Days celebration.

She proposed the person be paid $21,000, without benefits, for a 20-hour week. Hours would vary with the season, she explained. After debate, board members recommended $11,500 for an average 10-hour week “to see how it works,” as Preston said.

Hapgood also recommended a new full-time employee to be shared between the transfer station and the public works department; he or she would have a Class C driver’s license and be qualified to drive a plow truck, she said.

Thurston Park Committee chairman Jeanette Smith had submitted a budget request for $7,675, intending to add to it $6,000 left from the current year. In the written request, she warned that she might ask for more if unanticipated “significant expenditures” before June 30 used the $6,000.

She told select board members the Dec. 23 rainstorm did major damage to the park’s entrance road, her request for federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds was rejected and she needs the $6,000 – and could use more – for prompt road repairs.

Select board members recommended $13,675 for Thurston Park for FY 2023-24.

China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA) executive director Scott Pierz explained the different programs and activities that organization and the China Lake Association (CLA) carry out. He mentioned successes, like the courtesy boat inspection program so far keeping invasive plants out of China Lake.

Pierz asked for $58,500 in town funds, partly because Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds have been reduced.

Select board members discussed the monetary value of the lake – Preston and Marquis emphasized its importance in the town’s tax base, Chadwick said China should become more business-friendly to increase taxes.

After Preston’s motion to recommend $45,000 was defeated with only Marquis and Preston voting for it, Casey’s motion to recommend $35,500 was approved 4-1 with Marquis dissenting.

The rest of the proposed budget brought little or no discussion Feb. 27. There will be further deliberations at budget committee meetings, to be scheduled. These meetings will be publicized and are open to the public.

After the budget discussion, Preston raised another topic for the March 6 select board meeting: should China join the Kennebec Valley Council of Government’s program called Community Resilience Partnerships? There is no additional charge over the KVCOG dues already in the proposed budget ($7,213) and the program offers grants, including for heat pumps, she said.

Thomas Rumpf, budget committee chairman and Four Seasons Club president, thanked select board members for participating in what everyone agreed was a successful China Ice Days Feb. 17 through Feb. 19.

After the March 6 special meeting, China select board members have a regular meeting scheduled for Monday evening, March 13.

CHINA: Thurston Park committee talks mostly about money

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Hikers on bridge in Thurston Park (Photo courtesy: Town of China)

by Mary Grow

At a Feb. 16 meeting, five members of China’s Thurston Park Committee talked mostly about money to repair and improve the entrance road and trails and add amenities.

Committee chairman Jeanette Smith reported that China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee had cut the request for $44,000 in 2023-24 for trail work in the park to $25,000 (see the Feb. 16 issue of The Town Line, p. 3) and had asked for a revised application indicating how the money would be spent. The next TIF Committee meeting is scheduled for March 8.

Thurston Park Committee member Steve Nichols protested that getting estimated costs to fix, maintain and improve trails would be impossible with snow on the ground.

As of Feb. 16, Smith was still waiting to hear whether Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money would be available to repair the entrance road, washed out in the Dec. 23 storm.

People who want to snowshoe, ski or walk can still get into the park, Smith said; but until the washed-out road is fixed, access for work crews is difficult. The Yorktown Road coming from Albion south into the park goes down a steep hill, with parking areas at the top and bottom; the worst washout is at the bottom of the hill.

Smith said with spring work pending, the committee has available a little over $6,000 in the current year’s budget; a little over $32,000 in TIF money, intended for a storage building; and a little over $9,000 in the park reserve fund.

Nichols would like to see spring maintenance work done by Friday, May 26, the beginning of Memorial Day weekend.

Thurston Park is listed on some Maine trail websites. Committee members discussed more ways to publicize it.

Options for long-term funding they mentioned included creating a Friends of Thurston Park fund-raising organization; working with a land trust; or selling memberships or otherwise charging for use of the 400-acre parcel.

Possible future improvements include buying picnic tables and siting them not only in the picnic area, but at stopping places along trails; and installing a canoe rack at the pond, so repeat users would not have to bring their canoes in and out every time.

Another discussion topic was the role of the committee. Smith thinks the group should be advisory, and that town officials should find someone other than committee members to do trail maintenance work, outhouse cleaning, tree trimming and other physical labor.

Smith said she found one other Maine town with a large forested park: Shapleigh, in York County, has Williams Town Park, 300 acres with three miles of trails. (A 2018 description is on line on the mainebyfoot.com website, which also has a 2020 description of Thurston Park: almost 400 acres, 5.2 miles of trails and footpaths.)

The next Thurston Park Committee meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Match 16, in the portable building behind the China town office. New committee members are welcome; those interested can contact the town office or email thurstonpark@outlook.com.

SNHU announces fall 2022 dean’s list

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It is with great pleasure that Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshore, congratulates the following students on being named to the Fall 2022 dean’s list. The fall terms run from September to December.

Those attaining dean’s list status are Brandon Stinson, of Augusta; Jessica Autieri, of South China; Patric Moore, of Waterville; Crystal Hillman, of Fairfield; and Petra Sullivan, of Vassalboro.

SNHU announces summer ‘22 president’s list

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Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshire, congratulates the following students on being named to the Summer 2022 President’s List. The summer terms run from May to August.

Kate Murphy and Justin Drescher, both of Augusta, Matthew Bandyk, of Jefferson, Merval Porter, of Palermo, Lisa Johnson, of South China, Lacey York, of China, Lilly Reardon, of Benton, Jeffery Wheeler and Brendon Peace, both of Waterville, Talon Mosher, of Winslow, Jacob Colson, of Albion, Carrie Stackpole, of Clinton, Stormy Wentworth, of Fairfield, Glenn Rich and Mariah Rich, both of Madison, and Kassandra Grant, of Vassalboro.

Endicott College announces local dean’s list students

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Endicott College, in Beverly, Massachusetts, the first college in the U.S. to require internships of its students, has announced its Fall 2022 dean’s list students.

The following students have met these requirements: Emily Clark, of China, daughter of Stacy Clark and Christopher Clark, is majoring in nursing; and Hunter Scholz, of Augusta, son of Kimberly Scholz and Stephen Scholz, is majoring in history.

China 2023 Ice Fishing Derby winners

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AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Lunker of the Day – Large Mouth Bass – Randall Glidden – 5.48 lb

Brook Trout:

1st and 2nd place – David Hamilton – 1.06 lb and .70 lb
There was no 3rd place in this category

Brown Trout:

1st place: Jaden Callahan – 3.40 lb
2nd place: Emmet Ambrose – 3.34 lb
3rd place: Dan Horning – 2.80 lb

Large Mouth Bass:

1st place: Randall Glidden – 5.48 lb
2nd place: Kolby Glidden – 4.86 lb
3rd place: Christine Casmer – 4.84 lb

Small Mouth Bass:

1st place: Terry Couture – 3.02 lb
2nd place: Mile Michaud – 2.76 lb
3rd place: Tom Monroe – 2.32 lb

Pickerel:

1st place: Isabelle Pelotte – 4.2 lb
2nd place: Damien Lee Theriault – 3.88 lb
3rd place: Brad Wing – 3.70 lb

Kids Perch by Count:

1st place: Max Collins – 24
2nd place: Nicole – 22
3rd place: Blake Owens – 17 (first in at fire house)
4th place: Griffin Smith – 17
5th place: Alexis Wentworth – 14

China planning board holds workshop on land use ordinance

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by Mary Grow

After the China select board held a Feb. 13 public hearing on proposed amendments to the Board of Appeals Ordinance (Chapter 9 of China’s Land Use Ordinance) and invited members of the planning and appeals boards to participate, planning board members devoted their Feb. 14 meeting to a workshop on the ordinance. They were joined by select board and appeals board members and others interested.

Initial discussion on Feb. 13 was a rehash of arguments over which board should have started the amendment process, plus criticism of the late availability of the draft being discussed and the difficulty in telling which comments came from whom.

Participants in the Feb. 14 workshop debated at length the content of the ordinance. In the week after the workshop, planning board co-chairman Toni Wall changed the two-color draft available Feb. 13 to a three-color draft.

The new version shows the original document, the changes proposed by select board member Brent Chesley and the changes proposed by town attorney Amanda Meader. Wall intends this version to be the basis for a Feb. 28 planning board discussion.

The three-color draft was to be on the China website, china.govoffice.com, as soon as possible (the Presidents’ Day holiday caused a delay).

The appeals board has two functions under the ordinance:

  • “to hear appeals from any decision or failure to act by the Codes Enforcement Officer, Plumbing Inspector, or Planning Board with regard to this Land Development Code and
  • “to review and act on variances.”

A variance is an exception to an ordinance provision.

Chesley’s proposed amendments, which select board members forwarded to the planning board after the Jan. 3 select board meeting, are in two categories, administrative changes and substantive changes. The latter deal with variances.

Planning board members generally agree with most of the administrative recommendations. They disagree with most of the proposed substantive changes.

Examples of administrative changes, according to the latest draft, include appointing appeals board members for staggered three-year terms instead of the current five-year terms, and setting time limits for filing a variance request and for board review.

Substantive changes Chesley suggested deal mostly with loosening restrictions on expanding use of a substandard, grandfathered lot, which discussants defined as a lot of less than 20,000 square feet with an existing dwelling (built before land use ordinances defined 20,000 square feet as too small to build on).

For example, Chesley recommends allowing larger variances from some limits, like letting an owner extend a structure closer to a lot line with written consent from the affected abutting landowner.

Chesley thinks China’s ordinances are too strict. Planning board members, and in earlier discussions other residents, disagreed, some citing the need to protect water quality in China Lake. Planning board co-chairman James Wilkens said repeatedly the present ordinance works, so there is no need to change it.

Chesley said his waterfront lot has 25,700 square feet; he will not be affected, whether his proposals are accepted or rejected, but other shorefront property-owners could be.

The ordinance is to be considered again by the select board at its Feb. 27 meeting, as well as by planning board members on Feb. 28.

The Feb. 27 select board meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., to allow time to discuss the 2023-24 town budget. Planning board meetings usually begin at 6:30 p.m. Both boards meet in the town office meeting room.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said there will be another public hearing before a final version of the ordinance goes to voters at the annual town business meeting in June.

China select board holds two public hearings on two draft ordinances

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by Mary Grow

Note: this report does not cover the Feb. 13 select board public hearing on the draft Board of Appeals ordinance (Chapter 9 of China’s Land Use Ordinance), to which select board members invited members of the board of appeals and the planning board. The same topic is the main agenda item for the Feb. 14 planning board meeting, to which the planning board has invited select board and board of appeals members. A report is planned for the Feb. 23 issue of The Town Line.

China select board members started their Feb. 13 meeting with more than an hour of consecutive public hearings on two draft ordinances.

The first hearing, on the amended board of appeals ordinance that has been previously discussed at select board and planning board meetings (see the Jan. 12, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 issues of The Town Line) lasted a full hour. No action was planned or taken; the topic was to be re-discussed at the Feb. 14 planning board meeting.

The second, shorter hearing was on a draft solid waste ordinance that Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood explained was a melding of two existing ordinances, the Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance and the Solid Waste Flow Control Ordinance. Revisions included updates and elimination of duplicate language.

Residents Toni Wall and James Wilkens suggested minor changes. If select board members approve a final draft, the ordinance will be submitted to voters at the annual town business meeting in June.

The major decision at the select board meeting that followed the hearings was to deny a request to seek to increase the 25-mile-an-hour speed limit on Cross Road, which runs from Lakeview Drive to Hanson Road.

Hapgood said to her knowledge, the limit had been in place since the road was a narrow, curvy, hilly dirt road; it is now paved, and curves and hills have been modified, she said.

Maine’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) sets speed limits, the manager said. Select board members could ask the department to study the road and recommend an appropriate limit. She did not know whether local officials had any say on what change, if any, to make.

Audience members agreed that few drivers obey the speed limit on Cross Road, or anywhere else. Speakers disagreed over whether the average driver would continue at his or her usual pace if the limit were raised, or if a higher limit would increase speeding.

Select board member Blane Casey called 25 “a little slow.” Brent Chesley admitted he finds 35 or 40 a “comfortable” speed when he drives Cross Road; but, he said, residents’ opinions were his main concern.

A Cross Road resident in the audience said she likes the road slow; it is safer for children, wildlife and pedestrians.

A Hanson Road resident was willing to support a 35-mile-an-hour limit like the one on Hanson Road. The two roads are similar, she said; and she researched MDOT records and found no reports of accidents on Cross Road.

Hapgood shared two emailed comments from Cross Road residents opposing an increase. One said her family moved to the road seeking a safe place for children, pets and pedestrians; she called it “a freaking drag strip,” to the delight of those at the meeting.

The writer of a more detailed email pointed out that Cross Road has no shoulders, no lines and no lights; that it serves a residential area with many pedestrians; that some of the driveways have very short sight distances; and that slow-moving tractors and other farm equipment use Cross Road.

Both emails mentioned the lack of policing to enforce the speed limit.

Casey commented as testimony ended that he had heard “a lot of opposition to doing anything with” the speed limit. The decision to reject the requested increase was unanimous.

Other Feb. 13 business included:

  • A reminder that the China town office will be closed Monday, Feb. 20, for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
  • A reminder that the second half payment of 2022-23 local taxes is due at the town office by the close of business Friday, March 31.
  • Notice that China will host a regional household hazardous waste collection day at the transfer station on Saturday, April 15.
  • Approval of quitclaim deeds to return foreclosed properties to two people who paid back taxes, and acceptance of a third payment that was two days past deadline. Hapgood said a quitclaim deed for that property would be prepared for the next meeting.

As the time reached 8:15 p.m., board chairman Wayne Chadwick proposed postponing the initial review of the 2023-24 budget that was next on the agenda. After discussion of board members’ schedules, there was agreement to begin the Feb. 27 select board meeting at 5 p.m., rather than the usual 6:30, with the budget again a topic.

China Four Seasons Club, Thurston Park to split TIF money 60/40

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by Mary Grow

Five members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee met Feb. 8 and reviewed most of the requests for TIF funds for the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins July 1.

China’s TIF money comes from taxes Central Maine Power Company pays on its north-south transmission line through the town. By state law, TIF expenditures are to focus on promoting economic development. On the town website, china.govoffice.com, under the TIF Committee, the Second Amended TIF Program approved in 2021 lays out details of permissible expenditures.

Committee chairman Brent Chesley, who is also a member of the China select board, said he intended to participate in discussions, but would not vote, because the TIF Committee reports to the select board and he votes there. “One man, one vote,” he summarized.

A major topic at the Feb. 8 meeting was requested expenditures from Project C.7, titled Trails. The Thurston Park Committee asked for $44,000 from that category for trail work in the park in northeastern China; the Four Seasons Club asked for $60,000 from the same category for work on the snowmobile and four-wheeler trails its members maintain throughout the town.

The total annual expenditure for Project C.7 is capped at $65,000.

Four Seasons Club President Thomas Rumpf and Thurston Park Committee Chairman Jeanette Smith each said they could spend a great deal more than the requested amounts. Smith talked about repairing damage from the Dec. 23 storm, fallen trees and washouts, as well as normal trail maintenance and mowing some trails and the picnic area. Rumpf said meeting new state requirements requires major trail improvements; miles have been done, but more work is needed, especially south of Route 3.

Smith also requested funds to buy a side-by-side off-road vehicle to tow the bush-hog. Committee members talked about whether TIF money can be used for equipment, whether using volunteers’ equipment and labor for park work is appropriate and what alternatives there might be.

Smith said she is waiting for a reply to an application for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to repair the entrance road to Thurston Park, which was badly damaged in the December storm. Only after the road is reopened, she explained, can she hope to get cement poured for the planned storage building in the park. Money for the cement pad was included in the current year’s budget and appears as an unspent balance.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said FEMA’s response to town requests might come in days, weeks or months.

TIF Committee members suggested Rumpf and Smith move to the far end of the room and talk out their differences. They did, and reported an agreement to split the $65,000, $32,500 apiece.

After further discussion, committee members overruled them and voted 3-1 (Danny Boivin, James “JJ” Wentworth and Michael “Mickey” Wing in the majority, Jamie Pitney opposed and Chesley abstaining) to give $25,000 to the Thurston Park Committee and the remaining $40,000 to the Four Seasons Club.

The majority’s rationale was that people bringing in snowmobiles and four-wheelers from out of town spend more at local stores and thus contribute more to the town’s economy than do Thurston Park visitors.

The Four Seasons Club’s request for a separate $5,000 from Project C.2 (Economic Development Events) for next year’s annual Ice Days celebration was tabled, as was the China Lake Association’s request for $1,000 from the same account.

Committee members unanimously endorsed the China Lake Association’s request for $10,000 and the China Region Lakes Alliance’s request for $20,000 for environmental improvements.

They also approved a total of $40,000 for the China Broadband Committee, with Pitney abstaining because he is a member of that committee.

Votes on requests from the Town of China were postponed to the next TIF Committee meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 8.

TIF Committee recommendations go to the select board. The select board will ask voters to approve total TIF expenditures at the annual town business meeting in June. At the June 14, 2022, meeting, voters approved spending a total of $265,000 in TIF funds (Art. 15 of the meeting warrant).

CHINA: Wings denied variance by board of appeals to build garage

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by Mary Grow

Four of the six members of China’s Board of Appeals met Feb. 8 to hear a variance request from Charles and Julie Wing for their property on Fire Road 12, off Neck Road.

Stephen Greene, Lisa Kane and Alan Pelletier promptly re-elected Spencer Aitel board chairman. Aitel explained the variance procedure, which is mandated by state law as well as by China’s Land Use Ordinance.

A variance is an exception to a land use rule, in this case a rule about setbacks from protected areas. The Board of Appeals can grant a variance only if strict application of the ordinance would “result in undue hardship to the applicant.”

To make the case for “undue hardship,” Aitel said, the applicant must prove four things:

  • “That the land in question cannot yield a reasonable return unless a variance is granted;
  • “That the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general conditions in the neighborhood;
  • “That the granting of a variance will not alter the essential character of the locality; and
  • “That the hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner.”

The Wings said they bought a vacant four-acre lot near the lot on which their new house stands, intending to acquire space to build a garage. The lot has a flat area where they would like to put the garage, and a bank they estimate to be at least 20 feet high.

If the garage were built on the flat area, it would be 112 feet from a protected area that they said is a forested wetland. A state Department of Environmental Protection staffer, relying on state maps, told them a 75-foot setback would be adequate. But China’s town maps zone the wetland at a higher value, requiring a 250-foot setback.

The garage could be moved to be 250 feet from the wetland, the Wings said. But relocating would require digging out about 14 feet of the bank and building a retaining wall, costing an estimated $50,000 or more and increasing the risk of run-off that environmental ordinances are intended to control.

Board members’ discussion defined the main issue as whether the lot could “yield a reasonable return” without a variance.

Two of the four members, Greene and Kane, voted that it could, because it could still be used as the Wings intended; therefore the variance request should be denied. Pelletier dissented, and Aitel abstained, as he habitually does unless his vote is needed to break a tie.

Aitel then led board members through shorter reviews of the other three criteria. In a series of 2-1-1 votes, Greene and Kane found that the Wings met all three, Pelletier dissented and Aitel abstained.

In conclusion, the Wings’ variance was denied, again on a 2-1-1 vote, because they had not met all four criteria.

When they asked what to do next, Aitel advised trying to reconcile the different ratings on the town and state maps. He recommended asking the China select board how to seek an amendment to the town map.