by Mary Grow

China Municipal Building Committee member Edwin Bailey discussed his concerns about recent changes in the plan for a records storage vault at the town office building at an Oct. 24 committee meeting. He, Scott Pierz and chairman Sheldon Goodine did most of the talking, with occasional comments from Terry DeMerchant and Angela Nelson.

Committee members voted to continue the discussion with select board members, at that board’s Nov. 4 meeting if there is time on the agenda.

Discussions of the project began more than three years ago, Goodine said. Engineer Keith Whitaker, of Presque Isle-based B. R. Smith Associates (BRSA) has assisted committee members through the years.

The basic concern is the paper records that the state requires a town to keep forever, and that needs climate-controlled, fireproof storage space. Currently they are in a room off the meeting room. The new structure planned to house them came to be called a storage vault.

In 2022, the select board authorized money for BRSA to make an engineered plan for a storage vault plus a concept plan for a larger addition.

Since then, the focus has been on versions of the storage vault, with occasional mention of a bigger addition. On April 25, 2023, the China Planning Board issued a permit for an addition housing a concrete storage vault, connected to the south side of the town office by a corridor.

At the June 2023 town meeting, voters approved up to $43,000 from undesignated fund balance (formerly called surplus) for “the municipal records fireproof vault storage project.”

When select board members sought bids on the work that summer, they received none. In the spring of 2024, however, they awarded a bid to an out-of-town firm – for more than $267,000. No contract was signed, according to Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood.

Discussion quickly turned to another alternative: create safe storage for ordinary records in the former barn north of the town office and build the special vault in the east end of the main building. The idea of using the barn has not been rejected; Goodine said there has not been time to develop details.

The main objection is the inconvenience to town office staff of having documents they might need in a separate building.

At the June 2024 annual town business meeting, voters appropriated up to $155,489 from federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for “Municipal records fireproof vault storage.”

At their Oct 7 meeting this fall, select board members approved a revised, less expensive concept plan (see the Oct. 10 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), with an engineered plan to be developed promptly.

This plan locates a 26-by-28-foot vault in a new room off the south side of the town office near the east end, with some interior redesign. The town would be general contractor, contracting with local contractors.

Goodine notified the other committee members of the select board action on Oct. 8, and offered to schedule a meeting on request. Bailey emailed questions, and Goodine scheduled the Oct. 24 meeting.

Goodine explained:

— He, select board member and builder Blane Casey and Whitaker developed the plan. Goodine received the final version the day of the select board meeting at which it was approved, so he had no time to share it with committee members.
— The contractors would be whoever is available, as local as possible, and when possible people who had worked for the town before. China’s public works crew could do the groundwork, if schedules allow.
— The budget estimates for each piece of the project, totaling $187,655, came mostly from Casey. Goodine summarized possible decreases and increases, depending on many factors.

Bailey and Pierz asked whether a new plan needed re-approval by voters. After reviewing the wording of the town meeting warrant article, they decided probably not.

Codes Officer Nicholas French told planning board members at their Oct. 22 meeting the new plan would need a new permit, because the 2023 permit has expired and the plan has been changed.

Another question was whether the state Fire Marshal’s re-approval was needed. Goodine said the engineered plan will have it.

Federal requirements say ARPA money has to be “needed” by Dec. 31, Nelson said. There was confusion over what “needed” means, and consensus that the ARPA money does not need to be spent by that deadline.

Committee members discussed inconclusively whether work can or should start this fall. Cold-weather work, like pouring concrete, costs more, Bailey said; but he and Pierz doubted bid prices would hold until the 2025 construction season.

by Mary Grow

Only two members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee, chairman Brent Chesley and member Jamie Pitney, attended the Oct. 28 meeting. Though no decisions could be made without a quorum, Chesley and Pitney heard reports from TIF fund recipients.

Martha Wentworth, chairman of the China Recreation Committee, was the only one in the audience hoping for action. She had applied on behalf of the committee for $12,500 in TIF funds to help install a self-service kayak and paddle board rental kiosk near the boat landing at the head of China Lake’s east basin.

Wentworth presented the idea to select board members at their Jan. 29, 2024, meeting. They asked for more information.

The company offering the service is Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan. Its website shows two Maine sites, in Westbrook and Norridgewock.

Wentworth explained that the company would provide four kayaks and four paddle boards, with paddles and lifejackets, in a secure cage. People could rent the equipment. The town would pay an upfront fee; the company would assume some operating costs, including, she said, liability insurance; and she expected the town to recoup its investment within five years.

CRLA executive director steps down

China Region Lakes Alliance head Stephen Greene announced Oct. 28 that CRLA Executive Director Jessie Mae MacDougall has resigned, for personal reasons, after a few months on the job. CRLA will soon be advertising for a new person for the part-time, seasonal job.

Pitney said he will review TIF rules and let Wentworth know if contributing to the kiosk is an allowable use of TIF funds. If it is, she plans to present more information to supplement her application.

Those reporting on use of previously authorized TIF money were Pitney, speaking for the China Broadband Committee; Thomas Rumpf, for the China Four Seasons Club; Jeanette Smith, for the Thurston Park Committee; Stephen Greene, for the China Lake Association and China Region Lakes Alliance; and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood, for the town.

— Pitney said the cooperative effort with Idaho-based Direct Communications and its Unity, Maine, subsidiary, formerly Unitel, to get grant funding for broadband expansion to underserved and unserved parts of China continues. The current path is a federal program called Broadband Equity and Diversity, or BEAD; the State of Maine has completed preliminary steps and is continuing.
— Rumpf said the Four Seasons Club has used TIF funds to bring two more of China’s ATV and snowmobile trails up to new state standards. He is seeking grants for the troublesome Bog Trail, which uses the former narrow-gauge railroad line.
— Smith reported two Thurston Park trails substantially improved and receiving praise from visitors, who are increasingly numerous. Storm damage has been almost all cleaned up; trail markers are scheduled to be put up this fall; picnic tables and benches are on order; and improving handicapped access is a priority.

On Oct. 27, Smith said, the park hosted its first fun runs, a one-mile and a three-mile. More than 20 people took part, she estimated.

— Greene reported the Courtesy Boat Inspection program, intended to keep invasive plants out of area lakes, ran all summer. The Youth Conservation Corps, whose members do shoreline erosion control projects, was less active, for lack of employees. No one had an answer to Pitney’s question: why are fewer high-school students seeking summer jobs?
— Hapgood said China’s TIF-funded summer intern, Gracie Stagnito, “did some great work” and China Community Days, partly TIF-supported, had been successful again.

Chesley and Pitney proposed Monday, Dec. 9, as the TIF Committee’s next meeting date. Chesley will see if the other members are available that evening.