by Mary Grow

On Nov. 27, China selectmen began their annual visioning session, at which board members informally discuss goals and priorities, with a list of two dozen items reviewed a year earlier.

They added one short-term and three long-term items and found four items that have been or are being taken care of.

The short-term addition, suggested by Jeffrey LaVerdiere, is finding a successor to Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux, who plans to leave his position at the end of June after more than 23 years.

Longer-term, Board Chairman Robert MacFarland and new board member Donna Mills-Stevens recommended hiring a full-time policeman, if voters approve the expenditure. LaVerdiere questioned the need; Mills-Stevens said people want protection against vandalism and theft, and part-time officers are not enough.

Selectman Neil Farrington suggested reviewing the town’s personal property tax policy and perhaps setting a minimum valuation below which taxes would not be assessed. Mills-Stevens agreed, saying China’s personal property taxes deter new businesses from coming to town. L’Heureux was less enthusiastic, reminding board members of the state programs that ease the burden and pointing out that less personal property tax money from business means higher property taxes for everyone. Selectman Irene Belanger said updating China’s comprehensive plan should be on the selectmen’s list, though she and former Selectmen Ronald Breton agree the planning board needs to start the process. In the past a special committee has revised the plan. Belanger said China’s revised plan is due to be submitted to the state next year. Items from the 2016 list that are irrelevant or under way include:

• Dealing with recreational marijuana, now that town voters have agreed to ban it;
• Elderly housing, being considered by the China for a Lifetime Committee;
• Better internet service, the province of the Broadband Committee and, selectmen decided informally, eligible to apply for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding if needed, since good internet service is necessary for the economic development TIF dollars are supposed to promote; and
• Making the emergency shelter in the former portable classroom behind the town office usable.

The ongoing causeway project at the head of China Lake’s east basin, funded by TIF money, though neither new nor on the 2016 list, was discussed repeatedly. MacFarland proposed bonding part of the cost; LaVerdiere agreed the project is likely to cost more than the $750,000 voters allocated.

Farrington wants to continue discussion of acquiring all of the Bailey property on both sides of Lakeview Drive as part of the project. Board members would like to own the small lot now used for boat-launch parking, but it is financially connected to Bailey’s larger lot. That land, they suggest, could provide parking for the recreational trail that crosses it and perhaps a site for a new China Village fire station.

Additional public access to China Lake is another ongoing issue. Belanger is trying to revive the committee that recommended the town buy the Candlewood property on Lakeview Drive and develop a town beach, only to be rejected by voters. Farrington is interested in trying to acquire the lot north of the Four Seasons lot on Lakeview Drive, which he said has 800 feet of frontage on China Lake.

Discussion of selling town property covered a small piece on the east side of China Lake designated a boat launch for canoes and other hand-carried craft, but, L’Heureux said, too small for parking; the 39 acres opposite the former Candlewood Camps given to the town, for which various uses have been discussed but none pushed; and Bradley Island in China Lake’s west basin. Sidewalks or other pedestrian and cyclist safety measures, on the 2016 list, merited brief discussion, with Belanger proposing sidewalks in China Village and L’Heureux suggesting the relocation of the South China Library might warrant extension of South China’s sidewalks up Jones Road.

The manager mentioned state and federal grants in connection with the sidewalks and other items discussed, saying he is always looking for relevant grant money. Much of China’s regular budget comes from the state, he said. With state funding declining, for example school allocations and revenue-sharing, he advised selectmen to look into enhancing local sources.

Because the visioning session was not a formal meeting, selectmen took no action on any of the items discussed.

by Mary Grow

Members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee postponed action on all six items on their Nov. 20 agenda. They scheduled another meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, hoping the chairman and three other absent members will be able to attend.

The seven members present Nov. 20 did not act on a subcommittee approval of proposed contracts with two engineering firms. Nor did they act on requests for TIF funds to buy land at the head of China Lake’s east basin and to supplement the LakeSmart program. A preliminary proposal for a building in the China School Forest was reviewed and will be followed up. The final two agenda items, involving internal committee matters, were postponed without discussion. The contract proposals are from Wright-Pierce Engineering, of Topsham, for engineering design and permitting services for the proposed new causeway bridge at the head of China Lake’s east basin and from A. E. Hodsdon of Waterville to provide engineering oversight on behalf of the town. Wright-Pierce’s proposed fee is $23,475; A. E. Hodson’s is $21,172.

After a short discussion of the town’s freedom to use data Wright-Pierce collects, an issue Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said he will clarify, L’Heureux moved on the proposal to use $120,000 to buy Susan Bailey’s land nearby.

The Bailey land consists of about six acres, mostly wetland, where people using the boat launch now leave their vehicles, and approximately 32 acres across Route 202. L’Heureux said the two lots are a single parcel with a mortgage.

Buying the smaller lot has long been on the TIF Committee’s agenda, to provide more parking at the head of the lake. The larger parcel, L’Heureux said, would provide parking for people using the snowmobile trail that crosses it as well as overflow parking for the boat landing, and might in the future become the site for a new China Village fire station.

Most of the committee members present were ready to recommend that selectmen present the proposed expenditure to voters. H. David Cotta was the most vocal dissenter. He pointed out that the 33-acre lot would need considerable fill along Route 202 to make the area usable, and the fill would probably require permits. He questioned the need for the purchase and suggested if someone else bought the Bailey land, the new owner might be willing to sell the town the six acres close to the lake.

Irene Belanger suggested that L’Heureux ask the mortgage-holder if the two parcels could be separated. Newly-appointed committee member Ronald Breton said the town values the entire property at $88,900 for tax purposes.

By consensus, action was postponed to Dec. 4. Meanwhile, L’Heureux will get in touch with the mortgage-holder.

China Lake Association President Scott Pierz asked committee members for $20,000 in TIF funds to assist China’s Youth Conservation Corps with run-off controls and other measures aimed at protecting China Lake’s water quality.

The state-wide LakeSmart program, coordinated locally by Marie Michaud for the China Lake Association with assistance from the China Region Lakes Alliance and the Kennebec Water District, involves assessing shoreline properties and suggesting and implementing measures to limit run-off, usually by installation of buffer strips. Pierz said the Youth Conservation Corps does the work and the China Lake Association provides plants and other materials. Eight buffers were installed in 2016 and 21 in 2017, he said; more money would mean more buffers.

When Belanger proposed postponing action until additional committee members were present, Pierz offered to return Dec. 4. Former China teachers Elaine Philbrook and Anita Smith presented contractor Blane Casey’s plan for a building in the school forest, to be used as a program space, visitor center and almost-outdoor classroom. They were not yet asking for money, they said, especially since the building came with a price tag of almost $300,000.

The school forest is located behind China Primary School on town-owned land.

Committee members suggested possible sources of financial and technical assistance to reduce the project cost. They agreed the committee would get in touch with Philbrook and Smith again.

by Mary Grow

Discussion of emergency services stipends at the Nov. 13 China selectmen’s meeting led to discussion of related issues: recent legislation, a new local requirement and how to make sure residents are safe during power outages and other emergencies.

In March, town meeting voters appropriated up to $40,000 to compensate China fire and rescue volunteers for their time. Selectmen approved a plan developed by the three fire departments and China Rescue providing fixed stipends for officers and per-call stipends for other volunteers.

At the Nov. 13 meeting, Fred Glidden, treasurer of the South China volunteer fire department, presented a draft requisition form he proposed to request the stipends for the first half of the fiscal year. Weeks Mills department spokesman David Van Wickler said his department could use the same form; China Village was not represented. Selectmen unanimously approved submission of forms – China Village officers are not obliged to match South China’s – by Nov. 30 and June 30 of each year the stipend program continues.

South China Chief Richard Morse started discussion of LD 150, a new state law presented by state Representative and China Village Fire Chief Tim Theriault, that allows towns to give each department its voter-approved annual funding in a lump sum. Until now, fire and rescue bills have gone through the town books with the town paying bills for the departments from each department’s funds.

In March, voters appropriated $22,000 for China Village, $21,000 for South China, $17,370 for Weeks Mills and $20,950 for China Rescue, plus money for dispatching and emergency services insurance.

Selectman Jeffrey LaVerdiere said the departments would need “financial reporting” if they were to get lump-sum disbursements. Morse said LD 150 requires that the appropriations, not necessarily the expenditures, be itemized.

LaVerdiere then cited the local requirement approved by voters in November that “all nonprofit organizations” receiving town funds provide “their most current respective financial statements” in order to be considered for funding. China’s emergency services are nonprofit organizations.

Morse, Selectman Irene Belanger and resident Lynne O’Connor were dismayed to realize that the requirement applies to the emergency services – they had assumed it applied only to out-of-town nonprofits like the Red Cross.

Morse and Van Wickler feared they would be asked for additional and more detailed bookkeeping. China Rescue spokesman David Herard said there have been 289 rescue calls since the beginning of 2017 – he has enough to do keeping those records without adding financial reporting.

LaVerdiere said repeatedly he had in mind a simple single-page report that would let selectmen fulfill their responsibility to oversee expenditures of town funds. Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said whatever was done would have to satisfy the town’s auditors.

Selectmen postponed further discussion until they talk with Theriault about his intention when he proposed the state law and perhaps until they get legal advice.

While the firefighters were there, Selectman Neil Farrington asked if they could do wellness checks, making sure people living alone, the elderly and residents with medical needs are all right during major storms, power outages and the like.

Van Wickler and Morse said firefighters are not qualified, especially to interpret medical conditions. Van Wickler said while clearing roads after the windstorm he visited a couple people he knew were alone.

L’Heureux said the town’s health nurse can make wellness checks in some cases. Belanger added the China for a Lifetime Committee is working on the issue, tentatively considering a program of neighbors looking out for neighbors.

In other business Nov. 13, L’Heureux said the town’s plan to buy part of Susan Bailey’s property at the head of China Lake’s east basin to provide parking for the boat launch was stalled, because the lot cannot be separated from her larger property on the east side of Route 202. The Four Seasons Club is interested in part of the east-side land for trail parking, and it could also provide space for a new China Village fire station, he said.

L’Heureux said Bailey is willing to sell all the land for $120,000. Despite concerns about wetlands and other issues, selectmen unanimously authorized him to draft a proposal that could lead to a request to voters to approve the purchase.

Belanger said China needs a second representative and a substitute to serve on the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments board. L’Heureux said a second Kennebec Regional Development Authority representative was also needed; board members unanimously appointed former selectman Ronald Breton, conditional on his accepting.

L’Heureux said about 180 residents had returned the China for a Lifetime Committee’s surveys. A committee meeting tentatively scheduled for Nov. 16 might be postponed to give time to review survey results, he said.

Selectmen elected Robert MacFarland the new board chairman on a 3-2 vote, with LaVerdiere, MacFarland and Donna Mills-Stevens the majority and Belanger and Farrington opposed. Belanger was unanimously re-elected board secretary.

Selectmen scheduled their annual visioning session for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, before their next regular meeting.