Board unanimously approves library move

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members have unanimously approved the first steps in the South China Library’s plan to open a new building in a new location.

Jean Dempster, president of the library Board of Trustees, explained the project at the board’s Sept. 12 meeting.

The library, currently located on a very small lot on Village Street opposite the South China church, will be moved to a 4.75-acre lot on Jones Road, sharing it with the 1815 Rufus Jones birth-place, one of several China buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

Downhill from the Jones house, Dempster said, library trustees plan to create a new driveway and parking lot; put the former portable classroom acquired from the Town of China on a cement slab; build an addition on the portable building; and move part of the existing library building to the new site. Planning board members voted unanimously to waive a public hearing. Reviewing the town’s criteria for such a project, they found the application met them all and approved it after half an hour’s review.

Dempster said water will come from the existing drilled well and an appropriate septic system will be installed so the library will finally have plumbing. The new parking lot will accommodate 16 vehicles, including two handicapped spaces. The building will have a permit from the state fire marshal and will meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

She told board members the trustees hope to do the driveway and site preparation this fall; the slab might be postponed to spring, depending on workers’ availability and weather.

In the future, she said, trustees hope to revive the Jones house as a historic site.

A second applicant on the Sept. 12 planning board agenda did not attend the meeting, so the application was not reviewed. In the absence of Chairman Jim Wilkens, board members postponed decisions on the ordinance amendments and procedural issues they have been discussing.

Codes Officer Paul Mitnik said he received an exploratory phone call about possible construction of a Dollar General store at the intersection of Route 3 and Windsor Road, near the South China Hannaford. He emphasized there is no definite proposal.

The next China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, Sept. 26.

Selectmen reduce ballot questions to three

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen cut the Nov. 7 local ballot from four questions to three at their Sept. 18 meeting, postponing the proposed Local Food Safety Ordinance to the March 2018 town business meet-ing.

Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux expects the state legislature will amend the state law on which the local ordinance is to be based. He therefore recommended waiting until the state law is final so the local ordinance will conform.

In addition to local elections, China voters will decide at the polls whether to:

  • approve a statement requiring nonprofit organizations seeking town funds to provide financial statements;
  • expend up to $8,500 from sur-plus for a fire pond on Neck Road;
  • authorize selectmen to lease space on the town-owned com-munications tower behind the town office building; and
  • approve a Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 bond issue for building improvements and repairs.

Candidates for positions on the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and Budget Committee have until 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, to return signed nomination papers to the town office to get their names on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The selectmen’s Oct. 2 meeting will be preceded by two public hearings. The first, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room, will be on the three local ballot questions. The second, tentatively scheduled for 6:55 p.m. and expected to be brief, will be the annual public hearing on amendments to the General Assistance Ordinance.

RSU #18 officials will hold public hearings on the bond issue in four of the five member towns. China’s hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 23, at China Middle School.

Also likely to be on the China selectmen’s Oct. 2 agenda are a presentation from Transfer Station Committee Chairman Frank Soares on the committee’s five-year capital plan and two code enforcement issues.

In other business Sept. 18, selectmen unanimous approved the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee’s recommenda-tion to hire Wright-Pierce Engineering for preliminary work on a new causeway bridge at the head of China Lake’s east basin and authorized L’Heureux to sign an agreement with the firm.

Selectman and TIF Committee member Irene Belanger said the committee authorized re-estab-lishing a temporary committee to look for a site for a China Lake public beach. Volunteers for that committee and for the China Bicentennial Committee should contact the town office.

Selectmen made two committee appointments, approving Jean Conway as secretary of the budget committee until November 2018 elections and Tom Rumpf as a member of the Revolving Loan Fund Committee. The latter group reviews applications for the revolving loan fund for town businesses set up by the TIF Committee.

Belanger announced two upcoming special waste disposal options for China residents. On Saturday, Oct. 21, Winslow holds its annual household hazardous waste disposal day at the Public Works Department on Halifax Street. Pre-registration is required through the China trans-fer station; information on acceptable waste will be avail-able there and at the town office.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, China will host Shredding on Site, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the public works garage just west of the transfer station and a drug take-back program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the transfer station.

L’Heureux reported representa-tives of The Town Line newspa-per inspected the old town house basement and found it potentially suitable for a relocated office. Selectmen and contractor Robert MacFarland discussed work still to be done to prepare the base-ment for renting.

Selectman Ronald Breton expressed his disappointment that no one from RSU #18 reported to the town on the recent water back-up that closed China Middle School for a few days, or on other school issues.

“We never hear from them,” he said of China’s RSU board representatives, Dawn Castner and Charles Clark.

After the selectmen’s meeting, board members reconvened in their capacity as assessors to act on recommendations from town assessor William Van Tuinen. The Oct. 2 meeting will probably be followed by another assessors’ meeting, as board members found they lacked information on one request for a change in valu-ation and want to hear from Van Tuinen and the property owner.

Webber Pond residents gear up for Sept. 18 drawdown

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland Hallee

In what was the least controversial vote in recent memory, members of the Webber Pond Association voted overwhelmingly for a Monday, September 18, drawdown.

Nearly three dozen lake association members were present at the August 19 meeting, held at the Vassalboro Community School.

Among the highlights of the meeting were:

  • Bob Nadeau, the association’s representative with the China Region Lakes Alliance, proposed the establishment of a LakeSmart committee, similar to the one now operating on China Lake. He asked for volunteers.
  • Members voted to donate $1,500 to the China Region Lakes Alliance to aid with complimentary boat inspections, meant to identify invasive plants on boats and trailers entering the pond.
  • Discussion about the effects, good and bad, of the alewives entering the lake through the fish ladder.

Jim Hart presented how alewife presence in the lake may have exceeded the tipping point in the lake. The alewife count in 2010 was 83,905, and 2016 was estimated at 353,470. Charles Backenstose, association vice president, questioned how many alewives were too many. “Over population could affect water quality,” he suggested. It is believed that with the number of alewives entering the pond, they may be bringing in more nutrients to contribute to algae blooms than they are taking out in the fall. It was the consensus of many present that the answer may probably be to increase the alewife harvest in the spring.

Backenstose also reported that water quality has improved over the years, and the Secchi disk readings as of early August was at 7.3 feet of water clarity.

Regarding the drawdown, it was reported by Frank Richards, association president, that four boards will be removed at the same time. More boards cannot be removed because of hydraulic pressures. The ideal water level is two inches below the spillway. As of mid-August, the lake level was five inches below the spillway, due mostly to evaporation and seepage at the fish ladder. Also, a certain level of water must be maintained in the stream to allow for the egress of alewives.

The current slate of officers and board of directors was re-elected by the body.

Richards, president; Backenstose, vice president; Phil Haines, treasurer; Rebecca Lamey, recording secretary.

Those wishing to be added to the email list should contact Frank Richards at Frank04989@gmail.com.

China Voters will be asked to act on four business related items in November

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen are moving toward asking voters to act on at least four business items at the polls Nov. 7, in addition to local elections and state questions.

The potential questions ask if voters will approve:

  • A tentatively-titled “Local Food and Community Self-Government Ordinance,” as authorized under the 2017 state food sovereignty law allowing municipalities to regulate local food production;
  • A request to spend up to $8,500 from Unassigned Fund Balance (surplus) to build a fire pond on Neck Road;
  • A statement that all non-profit organizations asking for town funds are required to submit a financial statement, a question aimed at making permanent a policy often followed already; and
  • Authorization for selectmen to rent out space on the town’s communications tower. The proposed ordinance is borrowed from another small Maine town. Selectmen asked Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux to draft wording for the other questions. They plan to give them final approval at their Sept. 18 meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

The budget committee met Sept. 11 and unanimously recommended voters approve the second, third and fourth questions, with a minor change in wording in the third one to require organizations’ “most recent” financial statements. The proposed ordinance did not require budget committee review. Officials to be elected are three members of the board of selectmen, two for two-year terms and one for one year to finish Joann Austin’s term after she resigns effective Nov. 1; Planning board members from Districts 1 and 3 plus the alternate at large; and budget committee members from Districts 1 and 3 plus the chairman.

Signed nomination papers must be returned to the town office by 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, for candidates’ names to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.

In other business Sept. 6, board Chairman Neil Farrington reported on the most recent bicentennial committee meeting. Board members unanimously appointed the following people to the committee to plan the 2018 two-hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of China: Eric Austin, Donald Bassett, Irene Belanger, Bob Bennett, Farrington and Betty and Sherwood Glidden. More volunteers are welcome.

Selectmen agreed unanimously to allow The Town Line newspaper to rent space for a nominal fee in the old town house basement, after planned cleaning and renovations are finished.

CHINA: TIF committee approves preliminary engineering work on Causeway bridge

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by Mary Grow

China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee voted unanimously at a Sept. 11 meeting to recommend that selectmen award a contract for preliminary engineering work for a new causeway bridge to Wright-Pierce Engineering, an East coast firm with Maine offices in Topsham and Portland.

Replacing the current bridge at the head of China Lake’s east basin with a new one with space for pedestrian walkways and fishing platforms has been an ongoing TIF project for months.

A TIF subcommittee, after lengthy discussions with representatives of three firms, recommended Wright-Pierce, at a price of $50,700. Wright-Pierce’s plan for preliminary work was comparable to and less expensive than its closer competitor’s plan, Tom Michaud said for the subcommittee.

If selectmen accept the recommendation, the company will be expected to conduct tests at the site of the proposed new bridge, advise on a design and get permits for the work. After preliminary work is done, selectmen will choose a contractor to build the new bridge.

A related expenditure committee members proposed is hiring an engineer from A. E. Hodsdon of Waterville as the town’s representative overseeing the work, at a price to be negotiated.

Example of a box culvert type bridge.

The current causeway bridge is old and beginning to deteriorate. It does not provide pedestrian and fishing space that TIF Committee members want as part of their plan to improve lake access. Some committee members want a new bridge to be high enough for canoes and kayaks to go under it.

Over the past few months, committee members have talked about either a box culvert or a slab bridge. Their decision will depend partly on the results of test borings and other studies, committee member Jim Wilkens said.

Committee members also seek improvements to the often-crowded boat landing just east of the causeway bridge. Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux said he and committee member Frank Soares prepared an application to the state Department of Conservation for more than $175,000 for a larger dock. He expects if the project is approved, the town will share the cost.

An example of a slab bridge

Committee member Irene Belanger asked if there is interest in reviving the former Lake Access Committee to look for a site for a public swimming beach on China Lake. She said while some former committee members want nothing to do with the project after voters rejected their proposal to buy the former Candlewood Camps property, others have asked her about trying again.

L’Heureux told the committee the state Department of Economic and Community Development approved adding tax payments from the new Central Maine Power Company substation off Route 3 to TIF funds. As a result, he said, this year’s payment should be more than $350,000, up from just under $279,000 last year.

The state also approved extending the program from the initial 20 years to 30 years, the manager said.

The next TIF Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Oct. 16.

UPDATED INFO: Kennebec Historical Society’s September presentation

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CORRECTION

Information regarding the Kennebec Historical Society’s September presentation was inadvertently omitted from last week’s issue. (Read the original story here!)

The Kennebec Historical Society September presentation is co-sponsored by the Maine State Library and free to the public (donations accepted). The presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 20, at 6:30 p.m., at the Maine State Library, 230 State St., Augusta. The program will be preceded at 4:30 p.m. by a potluck supper and at 6 p.m by the society’s annual meeting, and election of officers and directors.

This month’s program is John H. Twomey, who will speak about his recent book, Retiring To, Not From, – From Massachusetts Professor to Maine Farmer.

Vassalboro Historical society to hold annual meeting, potluck supper

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The Vassalboro Historical Society will hold its annual meeting and potluck supper at the Grange Hall on Main Street in East Vassalboro, on Thursday September 21, at 6 p.m. The program will feature Pearley Lachance of Winslow, speaking on real-life superheroes – World War II Veterans from Vassalboro and Central Maine.

Camp expansion OK’d by Vassalboro planning board

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by Mary Grow

At their Sept. 5 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members used their revised shoreland zoning ordinance for the second time since the June town meeting, approving an application to enlarge a camp at 138 Park Lane on Three Mile Pond.

Donald and Linda Lathrop got approval at the board’s August meeting to put a roof over an entrance. At the time, Codes Officer Richard Dolby told them they are now allowed a 15 percent expansion, in addition to the previous expansion in 2006.

The Lathrops therefore applied to add a screened porch to the side of the camp.

Board members found the proposed 218-square-foot expansion met the 15 percent limit and did not extend any closer to the high-water mark and unanimously approved the project.

Storm damage in Fairfield

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An intense line of strong thunderstorms passed through the area with the winds uprooting this tree at the home of David “Bucky” Redmonds, on Brooks St., in Fairfield. Braden Littlefield, 11, of Fairfield, surveys the damage.

Contributed photo

ACBM library to receive support from Hannaford

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A Hannaford program has selected Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village, to be a part of the exciting and innovative Hannaford Cause Bag program, which is specially designed to support local nonprofits.

For every Hannaford Helps reusable bag purchased at the Hannaford located in South China during the month of September, $1 is donated to the library’s cause in order to help us fulfill their mission.

Tom Parent, president of the board of trustees says, “We continually appreciate all the support you give, which has allowed ACBM China Library to maintain the work we do in our community. The Hannaford Cause Bag program is a simple and fun way to continue this support.”

Please visit the Hannaford store located at South China during the month of September and buy the specially designed bag with the good karma message.

“Imagine if every one of our supporters purchases just one bag!” Parent continues. “What if everyone bought two! and, purchasing these beautiful Hannaford Helps reusable bags will support us while also helping to eliminate paper/plastic use.”

The board asks that individuals pass this exciting news on to your friends and family. Let them know that the Hannaford Helps bags are located on the reusable bag rack and at various registers.