China select board handles two agenda items in short order

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

China select board members whipped through two short agendas in less than 10 minutes at their July 14 meetings.

Meeting first as the town’s board of assessors, they unanimously approved a tax abatement for $2.34.

Re-meeting as the board of selectmen, they approved two payroll warrants for town employees, totaling just under $83,000, and authorized paying almost $600,000 in other bills. Almost $500,000 went to Regional School Unit #18.

Board member Blane Casey offered a tribute to former select board member Thomas Barber, who died recently.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, July 28.

China transfer station committee presented with draft mission statement

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by Mary Grow

At the July 8 China Transfer Station Committee meeting, Palermo representative Bob Kurek shared a mission statement for Palermo’s new Solid Waste Committee – one he had Artificial Intelligence (AI) write.

The unedited result is very comprehensive, incorporating public education and outreach, waste reduction and recycling, waste-to-energy plans, pay-per-bag (PPB) or pay-per-throw (PPT) trash disposal, planning for future growth and funding.

Kurek suggested China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood use AI to write a list of advantages and disadvantages of China’s adopting PPT. Committee members have repeatedly mentioned the idea.

Committee chairman J. Christopher Baumann praised the Palermo document, and recommended prioritizing. Its present content is broad enough to fit the State of Maine or the United States, he said.

(The Town of Palermo website says the Palermo Solid Waste Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 23, at the town office. The meeting is open to all interested residents.)

In other business July 8, Hapgood said she is considering preparing minor amendments to China’s transfer station ordinance. Her goal would be to make it easier to deal with the very few “ornery” users who consistently ignore rules and give staff a hard time.

China’s current Solid Waste Ordinance (on the town website, chinamaine.org) authorizes municipal officials to suspend or revoke an individual’s entry permit, after notice and, when requested, a hearing, for violating the ordinance. A separate section says violators are subject to arrest and, if found guilty, punishment for a Class E crime.

Station Manager Thomas Maraggio said two improvements are planned for 2025: replacement of one waste can, as recommended in the station’s five-year plan; and installation of a pad under the wood pile, required by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Funding is in the transfer station budget, Hapgood said.

Hapgood and others admired the “creative” decorations at the station. Maraggio said new staff member Paul Bunker is doing a good job.

Committee members voted to skip an August meeting. Their next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Chris Diesch, Palermo’s other representative on the China committee, said she intends to resign by September, expecting a Palermo Solid Waste Committee member to take her seat. Other members thanked her for her service.

One application approved by China planners

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

China Planning Board members approved the only application on their July 8 agenda, partly because several board members considered it already approved six years ago.

The application was from Justin Rolfe, of Fairfield, to use half of the building at 360 Route 3 to dispense medical cannabis, as a licensed caregiver.

The other part of the building, which is owned by Clifford Glinko’s Waterville-based Glinjan, LLC, is a licensed medical cannabis growing facility. Rolfe said he has worked there for two years. He intends to buy his cannabis there, because, he said, it is a clean and tested product, grown organically without pesticides.

According to 2019 The Town Line reports, on Sept. 24 of that year planning board members unanimously approved Glinko’s application to open “a two-part marijuana business” in the existing building. Current board chairman Toni Wall called the building ‘the train shop,” because it was formerly the home of Maine-ly Trains, run by the late James Ferrone.

Glinko’s 2019 plan was to completely separate the two parts of the building, with no inside communication between them. One would be, and is, a medical cannabis growing space, not open to the public. The other side, where Rolfe will run his business, was then to be a retail store for “recreational marijuana accessories.”

Each business would have its own entrance. The only overlap, Rolfe told China planners, is that employees in the grow facility will use the restroom in the retail shop.

Rolfe’s application says he plans to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m, seven days a week. He plans no exterior changes to building or grounds except adding a sign, and does not expect significant traffic – two or three cars at a time at most, he estimated.

Board members voted 4-1, with Elaine Mather opposed, that they did not need to hold a public hearing on the application. Earlier hearings had attracted few or no residents; and adding Rolfe’s caregiver sales is essentially expanding an existing use.

Mather favored a hearing in case local people had changed their minds since the 2019 action.

After Rolfe’s permit was approved, Wall reminded him there is a 30-day period during which someone can appeal the decision.

In other business, a brief discussion of a draft cannabis ordinance (which would provide local regulation of medical cannabis businesses in town, but would not add recreational uses) led board members to question their involvement: perhaps the select board should be the regulatory body.

Codes Officer Nicholas French said there were currently no applications for a July 22 planning board meeting. Board members therefore canceled it; the next regular meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 12.

Winslow’s Adirondack chairs are gone

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photo: Maine Airondeck Chairs Facebook page

by Mary Grow

“It’s a sad, sad situation. People love the chairs,” Winslow Parks and Recreation Director Amanda McCaslin said regretfully.

The chairs she meant were the wooden Adirondack chairs that used to be in Fort Halifax Park, near the Kennebec River. Early in June, unknown people apparently threw them into the river.

Since they disappeared, McCaslin estimated she’s received more than a dozen calls asking where they’d gone.

McCaslin said the vandalism was reported to police. Winslow fire department members took their boat out to look unsuccessfully for any chairs that might have grounded downriver.

McCaslin explained that the chairs cannot be secured in place, because they are in a flood zone. When town staff have warning of high water, they are moved to safety. Besides, people using them like to rearrange their conversational groups.

There is no money for new chairs in Winslow’s 2025-26 budget, which is effective July 1. Town officials are uncertain about replacements anyway, because, McCaslin said, “We can’t justify putting them out to have them thrown away.”

The alternative of having people bring their own chairs would be difficult for some older residents, she said.

Four of the 10 chairs were a gift from Maine Adirondack Chairs, in Vassalboro.

Rob Lemire, owner of Maine Adirondack Chairs, said he initially donated four chairs some years ago. After the unexpected December 2023 flood carried them away, he contacted McCaslin’s department and last spring donated another set of four “to be enjoyed by the public.”

Vassalboro planners OK one application, no action needed on another

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Vassalboro Town Officeby Mary Grow

Vassalboro Planning Board members approved one application on their July 1 agenda and decided the second one needed no action.

They unanimously approved the planned replacement fishway at the Webber Pond dam, which has been discussed repeatedly at Vassalboro select board meetings.

Matt Streeter, of Maine Rivers, presented a detailed application, with plans prepared by Acadia Civil Works, of Leeds. He said preparatory work will start promptly and the project should be completed by the end of September, if not earlier.

The replacement fishway is needed, Streeter explained, because the 2009 one is too small to accommodate all the alewives that try to get into Webber Pond every spring. The new fishway will be 114 feet long by six feet wide and six feet deep.

The project already has its permits from the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The major local disruption will be closing Dam Road, approved by the select board at its June 26 meeting. Streeter said the Webber Pond boat launch area will not be significantly affected, except that construction vehicles may use some of its parking space.

The project will include repaving the bridge, making the dam gates easier to operate, adding a small “shed” on the dam and installing a dry hydrant for use by Vassalboro firefighters. Streeter intends to return to the planning board for approval of follow-up projects that are not included in the July 1 permit.

After the unanimous vote to approve the fishway, planning board member Paul Mitnik commented, “All the alewives are gonna be happy.” Streeter agreed.

The second application was from the Kennebec Water District (KWD), represented by Water Quality Manager Robbie Bickford and General Manager Roger Crouse. It is a follow-up to a permit board members approved in July 2024.

The 2024 permit allowed KWD to run a pipe under Route 32 from the water treatment plant on the west side of the road toward Outlet Stream. The pipe will be used to transport used filter-cleaning water from the plant to the stream. KWD officials wanted that part of the project done before Route 32 was repaved.

The 2025 application is to finish the job, by extending the pipe, building a concrete headwall and running an eight-foot-wide riprap channel to Outlet Stream. Bickford again assured board members the quantity and quality of the discharged water will not affect water quality, wildlife or downstream uses.

The project has ACE and DEP permits, he said. KWD officials plan to start work in August and be done by the end of September.

Board member Douglas Phillips expressed appreciation for the information. Board members voted unanimously that they did not need to issue another permit.

When board chairman Virginia Brackett remarked to Bickford and Crouse that board members would see them again for a planned solar project on their property, Crouse said it has been canceled.

In other business July 1, Phillips asked whether the Vassalboro Historical Society could plan an addition to a barn it owns on Main Street, in East Vassalboro, beside the Grange Hall. The barn is in the Outlet Stream shoreland zone.

Board members concluded an expansion “wouldn’t be unreasonable.”

They also discussed amendments to Vassalboro’s junkyard ordinance, and instances of town ordinances being ignored, matters that Codes Officer Eric Currie is looking into.

The next regular Vassalboro Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5.

China select board deals with food pantry, parking and fire department

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

At their June 30 meeting, China select board members got information on the China Food Pantry, the Golden Agers and the China Village volunteer fire department. They appointed municipal officials and board and committee members for the fiscal year that began July 1.

The only contentious issue was a proposed no-parking ordinance for Peking and Canton streets, in China Village. Board members approved it unanimously after a sometimes heated discussion among residents.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood raised the issue, after she drove by Peking Street last month when one of contractor Lance Robitaille’s trucks was parked so as to block it. Concerned about emergency access, Hapgood suggested an ordinance.

At the June 30 meeting, select board members had a letter signed by half a dozen residents of the two streets supporting a no-parking ordinance, for safety and historic reasons. The letter described the roads as laid out to be one rod – 16.5 feet – wide (in fact narrower) and labeled them part of the “distinctive charm and cultural value” of the China Village Historic District.

Another concern is plowing the narrow streets. Select board members amended the ordinance to ban parking on the pavement in the summer and in the wider right of way from Nov. 1 to April 15.

Robitaille said the truck that attracted Hapgood’s attention had been parked briefly by an employee stopping to pick up tools. He blamed himself for not telling the employee to park off the pavement.

Four years ago, Robitaille said, he got approval from Codes Officer Nicholas French and Public Services Director Shawn Reed to gravel the side of his lawn on Peking Street. His vehicles should now be parked off the pavement on the gravel, or on a Causeway Road property he has arranged to use, where he hopes to negotiate additional space.

To Canton Street resident Norma Wilkinson’s complaint that trucks had “chewed up” her yard at the corner where Peking and Canton streets intersect, Robitaille replied not his trucks: maybe oil or other delivery trucks. He offered to repair the damage, if the town asked him to and if Wilkinson authorized him to work on her property.

Robitaille also said he is willing to plow and sand Peking and Canton streets any time town trucks cannot.

China Community Food Pantry supporters also had a letter for select board members, presented by Thomas Parent, chairman of the organization’s board. He explained that after 33 years of operation from the Lakeview Drive home of the late Lee Austin and his widow, Ann, the pantry managers are looking for a new space to rent or buy.

The food pantry serves about 125 families in a typical year, averaging about 75 families a week, many including children and/or senior citizens. Until now, it has depended on donations. Parent estimated monetary donations at around $15,000 a year, plus in 2024 about a million dollars worth of donated food, from area Hannaford stores and other stores, local growers, the Winslow Food Pantry and the state-wide Good Shepherd Food Bank.

Food donations may decrease as government programs are cut. A new space is expected to cost at least $45,000 a year, added to ongoing expenses like insurance and running the organization’s van. For these reasons, Parent said, Food Pantry officials intend to apply for town funds for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Parent requested no immediate action; select board members took none.

To donate

The China Community Food Pantry and the Golden Agers welcome donations.

The China Community Food Pantry is awaiting Internal Revenue Service approval for tax-exempt status (having previously been tax-exempt under the umbrella of the New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends). Its mailing address is PO Box 6012, China Village, ME 04926.

Information on the Golden Agers, including how to donate, is available from Sheldon Goodine, whose telephone number is (207) 215-9780.

Sheldon Goodine, speaking for the Golden Agers, said the group started with eight members and now has 67. He thanked select board members for sponsoring the organization and providing a meeting place in the portable building behind the China town office.

In addition to Wednesday morning meetings, Goodine said last year the group took four bus trips to Maine attractions, and more are planned this summer. Donations to fund bus rental are welcome.

China Village Fire Chief Joel Nelson sought select board support for funding for a new fire truck. He had one quote, for almost $490,000.

Select board members recommended continuing to seek grants – Nelson listed several the department has received recently for equipment and supplies, but said he has been unable to find one for a fire truck – and looking for an acceptable used truck. Meanwhile, they tabled the issue.

Many residents were reappointed to town positions, like Hapgood as town manager and her other jobs, and to town boards and committees. Board members made one change, appointing Edwin Bailey representative to the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments General Assembly (succeeding former select board member Janet Preston). They reappointed Blane Casey as alternate.

A Freedom resident’s application to join the China Community Forest Committee was rejected, with only Jeanne Marquis voting in favor. Board Chairman Wayne Chadwick voted against all non-resident volunteers, because he thinks only tax-payers should be involved in decisions that could cost tax money.

In other business, Hapgood reported that China resident Noah Rushing, a University of Maine at Orono junior next year, has been hired as China’s summer Economic Development and Community Enhancement Coordinator.

The manager said China received a check from FirstPark, the Oakland business park the town has been a member of since it was created, in the amount of $26,821. China’s 2024-25 contribution to the park was $26,987 – a cost of $166 for the year.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, July 14.

VASSALBORO: Dam Road to close in July

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Vassalboro Town OfficeThe selectboard has voted to allow the closure of the Dam Rd., in Vassalboro, due to construction at the Webber Pond dam. The earliest date for bridge closure is Monday, July 15, according to Maine Rivers Project Manager Matt Streeter.

The following are key upcoming dates:

– Start of construction of Dam Road Extension at McQuarrie Road: Monday, June 30.
– Mobilization of equipment and materials to the dam/fishway location: Monday, July 7.
– Completion of construction of Dam Road Extension at McQuarrie Road: Monday, July 15.
– Earliest date for bridge closure: Monday, July 15.

The bridge closure will not continue beyond September 30. Every effort will be made to re-open it sooner. Any questions about the construction schedule may be directed to mstreeter212@gmail.com.

Vassalboro Sanitary District seeks three trustees

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Vassalboro Town OfficeThe Vassalboro Sanitary District currently has three openings on the Board of Trustees. Two trustees must be customers of the district while one trustee must live in Vassalboro. If you would like to serve, please contact Town Manager Aaron Miller at 207-872-2826 or email amiller@vassalboro.net.

Vassalboro select board proposes town government changes

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Vassalboro Town Officeby Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members agreed at their June 26 meeting to propose, and seek residents’ opinions on, three changes to town government.

Board member Chris French recommends Vassalboro’s annual town meeting format be changed from the traditional open meeting (like the one held June 2, 2025) to a referendum vote. All questions would be on written ballots each voter would fill out individually and privately (like the June 10 municipal election).

French’s reason: at the open meeting, about 100 voters made decisions that will affect everyone in town for at least the coming year. The written ballot attracted three times as many voters, 299 (according to Town Clerk Cathy Coyne).

The change would require a second change: budget committee members could no longer be elected from the town meeting floor. French proposed a budget committee ordinance that would spell out a different procedure.

He would also like to see the select board expanded from three members to five, elected for staggered three-year terms.

His recommendation to put the changes to voters on a Nov. 4 ballot sparked a discussion of timing for preparation of questions and public hearings.

Select board members intend to resume discussion of a different form of town meeting, a larger select board and a new budget committee ordinance at their Thursday, July 17, meeting.

Their only August meeting is now scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 12 (changed from the usual Thursday to accommodate Town Manager Aaron Miller’s schedule). Their first September meeting is Sept. 4. They propose having Nov. 4 questions ready by then, for submission to the town clerk.

In other business June 26, in a series of unanimous votes, board members awarded bids:

— To remove trees in the Nelson Road and Farwell-Brown cemeteries, to Pro Tree Service of Vassalboro, lowest of three bidders.
— For new culverts, to Paris Farmers Union, lowest of three bidders and recommended by Public Works Director Brian Lajoie.
— For a new boiler for the town office, to Knowles Mechanical, of Vassalboro, lower of two comparable bidders (a third bidder offered a boiler they considered too small for Vassalboro’s needs).

Cemetery committee chairman Savannah Clark and member Jane Aiudi joined board members and Miller in discussing three other issues (see the June 26 issue of The Town Line, p. 2).

After inspecting the East Vassalboro cemetery, Miller agreed the erosion problem there needs attention. He and Public Works Director Brian Lajoie are considering remedies.

Select board and cemetery committee members think a survey of trees in Vassalboro cemeteries and a plan or schedule for removing those threatening damage would be useful. Miller plans to draft a request for proposals from qualified foresters.

The manager had checked town records trying unsuccessfully to find out how many members the cemetery committee is supposed to have. It currently has six; several people preferred an uneven number.

Select board members intend to appoint/re-appoint town committee members at their July 17 meeting. Miller again referred to the application process described on the town website, Vassalboro.net.

Returning to the previously-discussed topic of a town recreation director, Miller repeated his preference for a “hybrid” position: someone hired for 30 hours a week who would oversee youth sports and would fill in at the town office as needed.

The town office position would involve cross-training, so that the new person could take over when regular staff were on sick leave, vacation or merely lunch breaks. One of Miller’s main goals is to let the bookkeeper do her time-consuming job without interruption.

French wanted consideration of contracting out routine jobs – payroll was specifically mentioned – to save staff time without adding a person. Miller agreed to try to get costs.

The manager suggested another option that would be a partial solution: close the office for a daily lunch break, as some other Maine towns do.

On another topic from previous meetings, Matt Streeter from Maine Rivers updated board members on plans to enlarge the Webber Pond fishway (see the June 12 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). He said all McQuarrie Road residents have signed agreements accepting use of their road as an alternative route while Dam Road is closed during construction.

Select board members unanimously approved closing Dam Road. Streeter said the contractor planned to start preparations June 30; work is scheduled to start in earnest July 14 and must end by Sept. 30 – earlier, he hopes.

Board members returned to the much-discussed town personnel policy long enough to vote unanimously to send it to the town’s attorney for review.

Miller led another pre-year-end review of town finances and promised more information at the July 17 meeting, after the 2024-25 books have closed.

After the long delay in getting past audit reports to guide planning for 2025-26 – a problem Miller said is not unique to Vassalboro – the manager reported he expects final information from 2023 and 2024 in July, and the audit for the 2024-25 fiscal year to start soon. Select board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico urged Miller to follow up with the auditors.

The July 17 select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

China planners approve new proposed ordinance on transmission lines

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China Town Officeby Mary Grow

At their June 24 meeting, China Planning Board members unanimously accepted the first draft of a proposed new ordinance titled “High Impact Electric Transmission Lines and Corridor Ordinance.”

Board Chairman Toni Wall will forward the document to Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood. Wall expects the next steps will be review by the town’s attorney, Amanda Meader, and by the select board. The plan is to present a final version to China voters on the Nov. 4, 2025, local ballot.

China officials, like those in other Maine towns, were motivated by the proposed 2022 LS Power transmission line, which would have brought wind-power from northern Maine nearly to the coast. In November 2023, China voters approved a moratorium on such lines through town; the select board renewed the moratorium in November 2024, but it ends for good in November 2025.

The 10-page draft ordinance begins with a statement of purpose. That paragraph says the ordinance is intended “to provide a set of standards for the construction and expansion of High Impact Electric Transmission Lines and Corridors” in China.

The abbreviation for such lines is ETFC.

The plan is to present a final version to China voters on the Nov. 4, 2025, local ballot.

An applicant for a permit for an ETFC will be required to prove financial viability. A subsection requires that if the planning board needs to hire outside professionals to help review an application, the applicant shall provide a $50,000 fund to pay for such services. If $50,000 is not enough, the fund is to be replenished as the town requires.

This provision generated considerable discussion at the June 24 meeting. Members debated whether it would discourage applicants, and whether an outside expert being paid by the developer could fairly represent the town’s interest.

Ultimately, the paragraph was left unchanged, subject to attorney Meader’s review.

The draft ordinance requires that ETFC lines be buried. Later provisions require a blasting permit and notice to nearby residents whenever blasting is needed. In case underground lines should later be prohibited by law, there is a screening requirement for any subsequent above-ground lines.

Other provisions require that construction and maintenance of a transmission line have no “significant impact” on “the natural environment, existing uses, scenic character, air and water quality, other natural resources….” A fund to cover decommissioning costs when the line is no longer needed is another requirement.

Wall said she adapted the draft from the Town of Benton’s similar ordinance.

In other business, Wall said attorney Meader has drafted an ordinance governing medical cannabis facilities in China.

French notified board members of more pending ordinance changes, one the result of his research in town records, others because of recent state legislative actions.

The codes officer found that some years ago, when a previous board recommended and voters adopted resource protection districts in parts of town, they redefined some of the businesses and residential properties included as non-conforming uses. Town action should not create a non-conforming use, French said, and the situation needs correcting.

Among laws the state legislature enacted are two the governor has signed that deal with land use and housing. French said they will require China – and probably most other Maine municipalities – to amend local ordinances. Legislators gave municipalities until July 1, 2027, to bring ordinances into conformity.

The next China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 8.