China planners vote unanimously to forward new version of appeals board ordinance, following another fight

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by Mary Grow

At a March 2 meeting, China Planning Board members unanimously voted to forward their recommended version of the Board of Appeals Ordinance to the select board, scheduled to meet March 6.

The decision was not reached without yet another argument – they started in January – about the relationship between the select board and the planning board, with planning board co-chairman James Wilkens and select board member Brent Chesley squaring off again.

Chesley first proposed amending the ordinance. The rest of the select board endorsed it at a Jan. 3 meeting, leading to the ongoing argument about what town body recommends ordinance changes.

[See related story: More discussions take place on appeals board ordinance]

Voters have the final say. Select board members intend to have an amended Board of Appeals Ordinance (Chapter 9 of the China Land Development Code) on the June town meeting warrant.

Planning board members generally approve Chesley’s suggested procedural changes, but their final draft, as co-chairman Toni Wall explained it March 2, rejects three of his substantive points.

  • The existing and proposed ordinances allow the Board of Appeals to vary some dimensional requirements (setbacks from property lines, for example) within limits. Chesley proposed allowing relaxation of the 20 percent limit on setback variances with written consent from the abutting property-owner; planning board members deleted the provision.
  • The planning board’s draft ordinance includes the existing prohibition on variances that would allow new or enlarged principal structures on lots less than 20,000 square feet in resource protection, stream protection and shoreland zones, a prohibition that Chesley’s draft deletes.
  • The planning board draft includes a list of nine standards for approving a variance that Chesley’s draft removes. The standards say that the Board of Appeals should find that approval would not cause “unsafe or unhealthful conditions,” water pollution or other harmful effects and would protect shoreland vegetation, public access to the water body and other benefits.

Two other proposed additions are a requirement that the landowner register an approved variance at the Kennebec County Registry of Deeds and a paragraph authorizing disability variances.

During the March 2 meeting, resident Scott Pierz recommended town officials register variances and pass the cost on to the landowner, rather than assuming the landowner will do it. Without a record, future title searches are apt to lead to confusion.

The disability variance would be included in a permit issued by the codes officer and would be only for equipment or a structure to make a building accessible for a handicapped resident or frequent user – for example, a handicapped ramp that needs to encroach into a setback area.

The second major topic at the March 2 meeting was China’s comprehensive plan. Wall had excerpted references to planning board responsibilities under the plan.

Board members agreed they should review China’s Phosphorus Control Ordinance (Chapter Four of the Land Development Code), first educating themselves on new water quality information. The town website, china.govoffice.com, dates the ordinance June 5, 1993.

Planners also intend to return to discussion of a solar ordinance to govern future siting of commercial solar developments.

The comprehensive plan calls for an implementation committee to supervise carrying out plan recommendations. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said March 3 that the select board created a new implementation committee in July 2022; she is waiting for residents to volunteer to become members.

The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 14.

ICE OUT 2023? Take a guess. Win a prize!

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SEND US YOUR BEST ICE OUT GUESS FOR 2023

Write down your best guess (one per person) and send it to The Town Line, PO Box 89, South China, ME 04358, or email us at townline@townline.org with the subject “ICE OUT 2023“. If more than one person guesses the correct date, a drawing will be held to determine the winner. Get your guess to The Town Line office by noon, Friday, March 17, 2023.

Email: townline@townline.org. Or use our Contact Us page!

PRIZE: To be determined

The records below, of ice out dates on China Lake, were provided by China residents Bill Foster, Captain James Allen and Theresa Plaisted.

Bill Foster brought in the ice out dates from 1874 to 1883. They came from a 215-page log/diary. In the log/diary are recorded the comings and goings from 1870 to 1883 of the F. O. Brainard Store, as well as personal notations of special and everyday events.

Captain James Allen brought in the ice out dates from 1901 to 1948. They had been recorded on the outhouse wall of the old Farnsworth house, also located in China Village.

Theresa Plaisted brought in the ice out dates from 1949 to 1991. She explained to us that a friend and neighbor, Ben Dillenbeck, had kept the record on his cellarway wall until his death on December 12, 1987.

Theresa transcribed Mr. Dillenbeck’s record and has kept the record up to date ever since.

This year, we will be checking China Lake to determine the official date for “Ice Out” in 2023. We will not be looking in hard-to-access areas for that very last crystal to melt, so the definition of “Ice Out,” for the purpose of this contest, is: “When, to the best judgment of the assigned viewer, the surface of the lake appears to be free of ice.” The judge’s decision is final.

Can you guess the day The Town Line declares China Lake free of ice?

Ice Out dates for the last 149 years!

1874 – April 22
1875 – May 6
1876 – April 30
1877 – April 16
1878 – April 12
1879 – May 3
1880 – April 21
1881 – April 19
1883 – April 29
1901 – March 27
1921 – March 28
1932 – April 27
1933 – April 20
1934 – April 19
1935 – April 25
1936 – April 4
1937 – April 20
1938 – April 20
1939 – May 4
1941 – April 16
1945 – April 2
1947 – April 12
1948 – April 8
1949 – April 6
1950 – April 14
1951 – April 9
1952 – April 19
1953 – March 19
1954 – April 19
1955 – April 13
1956 – April 27
1957 – April 10
1958 – April 16
1959 – April 22
1960 – April 21
1961 – April 30
1962 – April 20
1963 – April 22
1964 – April 21
1965 – April 18
1966 – April 18
1967 – April 29
1968 – April 13
1969 – April 23
1970 – April 23
1971 – April 30
1972 – May 1
1973 – April 8
1974 – April 2
1975 – April 23
1976 – April 11
1977 – April 18
1978 – April 21
1979 – April 12
1980 – April 10
1981 – March 18
1982 – April 22
1983 – April 1
1984 – April 17
1985 – April 6
1986 – April 8
1987 – April 6
1988 – April 6
1989 – April 22
1990 – April 11
1991 – April 8
1992 – April 15
1993 – April 21
1994 – April 20
1995 – April 9
1996 – April 5
1997 – April 23
1998 – April 9
1999 – April 2
2000 – April 4
2001 – April 27
2002 – April 6
2003 – April 21
2004 – April 14
2005 – April 16
2006 – March 26
2007 – April 23
2008 – April 17
2009 – April 11
2010 – March 19
2011 – April 17
2012 – March 21
2013 – April 6
2014 – April 19
2015 – April 22
2016 – March 15
2017 – April 17
2018 – April 23
2019 – April 12
2020 – March 27
2021 – March 30
2022 – April 2
2023 – ????????

Jasmine Daly named to Clarkson University’s dean’s list

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Jasmine Marie Daly, of South China, a junior majoring in political science, was named to the dean’s list for the Fall 2022 semester at Clarkson University, in Potsdam, New York.

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.