China select board hears first budget draft

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by Mary Grow

China select board and budget committee members met together Feb. 5 to hear Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s presentation of the first draft of the 2024-25 municipal budget.

By Hapgood’s figures, the fiscal year 2023-24 budget for municipal departments totaled a bit over $4.4 million. The preliminary request for FY 2024-25 comes to $4.9 million.

The manager had no figures yet for the 2024-25 school budget ($5.2 million this year) or Kennebec County budget ($607,333 this year). She expects both will increase.

Select board and budget committee members will review proposed 2024-25 expenditures and potential income this month and next, to produce a budget the select board recommends to voters. Voters will act on the 2024-25 budget at the June 11 annual town business meeting, and it will become effective July 1.

Hapgood said China is in good shape financially, debt-free and with a healthy surplus. She summarized changes proposed for the new fiscal year.

— Two potential new expenditures are the storage vault at the town office, to be partly paid for with federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds; and perhaps setting up a kayak and paddleboard rental station on China Lake (see the Feb. 1 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).
— The proposed wage increase for town employees is 3.2 percent (cost of living adjustment) plus 1 percent merit raises.
— Hapgood would like to add two employees, if they can be found: a half-time community program director, and a person whom she described as “an attorney, a planner and consultant,” whose salary would come partly from funds that would otherwise be used to pay for outside legal services. She also sees a need for an assistant animal control officer.
— As discussed previously at select board meetings, Delta Ambulance’s service fee will increase from $15 per resident to $25 per resident, increasing China’s charge from $66,300 this year to $110,200 in 2024-25.
— Hapgood recommends an increase in the public works department’s budget, because, she explained, the department should, if possible, hire a mechanic, to minimize sending equipment away for repairs; two trucks are due for replacement soon, and she advises starting a reserve fund for building expansion; and a summer intern is included, whose main job would be to map every culvert in China.

With projected increases in the price of paving and other areas, the preliminary recommendation for the 2024-25 public works budget is $1.86 million, up from $1.63 million this year.

Select board members are likely to begin discussing the budget at their next regular meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 12.

Budget committee members did not set their next meeting; Hapgood proposed they meet alternate Monday evenings from the select board, if that schedule was convenient.

China TIF committee reviews nine requests: OK to all

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by Mary Grow

Five members of China’s Tax Increment Financing Committee reviewed nine requests for 2024-25 TIF funds at a Feb. 5 meeting. They unanimously recommended the select board approve all nine.

The only long discussion was over requests from the Thurston Park Committee and the Four Seasons Club for money from the trails fund. As they did last year, the two groups asked for a total of more money than the fund can grant.

The trails fund is authorized to spend $65,000 a year. The Thurston Park Committee, represented by chairman Jeanette Smith and member Scott Monroe, requested $48,482. The Four Seasons Club, represented by president Thomas Rumpf, asked for $40,000.

The Thurston Park request was further complicated by including plans to use the money to buy equipment. Smith explained that some of the park’s five volunteers bring their own trailers, side-by-sides, chainsaws and whatever else is needed to mow the picnic area, clear fallen trees, add gravel to washouts and do other maintenance.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said town-owned equipment cannot be used by volunteers unless they have been trained. Otherwise, the town gets in trouble with the Bureau of Labor Standards and the insurance company.

Rumpf’s major project, which will cost a good deal more than $40,000, is to rebuild the north-south Narrow Gauge Trail, aka Bog Trail, which has seriously deteriorated. For last summer, he had approval to use sections of Bog and Pleasant View Ridge roads as alternative ATV trails.

Rumpf and Smith presented information on the importance of trails to the town, for residents’ recreation and as an attraction for visitors who spend thousands of dollars at local stores and eating places.

Rumpf said people from all over New England use Four Seasons Club trails, not just for ATV riding and snowmobiling, but for hiking, biking and riding horseback. The windstorms did considerable damage, he said, but thanks to “the best volunteers in town,” trails are now “open, cleaned out and ready to go.”

Smith said since November, a game camera has shown many hikers, some with dogs, a few horseback riders and one bobcat enjoying Thurston Park.

TIF committee members agreed on the value of both groups’ work. After almost an hour’s discussion, they voted unanimously to recommend the select board split the trails money between them, $32,500 each.

Rumpf and Smith were satisfied, but both had requests for future changes. Rumpf wants the committee to review the allocation of TIF funds, to see if more money can be spent on trails at the expense of less popular, or less needy, projects.

Smith pointed out that for at least the second year, the Thurston Park Committee’s two major problems are not addressed. The maintenance situation is unresolved, and so is the issue of park access.

Currently, the only road access is from the north, through Albion, down a steep gravel-road hill that is not adequately maintained. The former Yorktown Road runs through the park to the south boundary, but a landowner there is not open to having park visitors pass by his house. Monroe emphasized the desirability of providing a south entrance.

Rumpf presented one of the other funding applications, for $5,000 for fireworks for China Ice Days in 2025. The 2024 Ice Days ice fishing derby is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18.

The China Lake Association requested $25,000 for environmental improvements. Association president Stephen Greene said the funds would go toward the Youth Conservation Corps’ water quality protection work and the Courtesy Boat Inspection program aimed at keeping invasive weeds out of area lakes.

The China Broadband Committee had a double application, $10,000 to continue to contract with consultants Mission Broadband and the next $30,000 installment of a continuing grant to increase broadband access for town residents.

The Town of China requested TIF funds for four purposes: $10,000 for China Community Days 2025 ($5,000 for fireworks and $5,000 for general support, Hapgood said); $10,000 toward hiring a summer intern; $7,725 for Kennebec Valley Council of Governments dues; and $500 for Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce dues.

China Days is identified as an economic development event, and the last three projects are aimed at promoting the town as a business location.

Money in the TIF fund comes from taxes on Central Maine Power Company’s north-south line through the town and its substation in South China. These taxes bring in more than $300,000 a year, according to China’s “Tax Increment Financing District and Development Program” on the town website.

TIF committee members set their next meeting for 6 p.m. Monday, April 1.

China commercial solar ordinance ready for review

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 23 meeting, China Planning Board members discussed one permit application and forwarded one draft ordinance to the select board.

They decided the long-discussed commercial solar ordinance, planned to be Chapter Eight in the town’s Land Development Code, is ready for select board members’ review. The ordinance was on the agenda for the Jan. 29 select board meeting.

Board chairman Toni Wall had worked on amendments to China’s Land Use Ordinance, which is Chapter Two of the Land Development Code; this document is also on the Jan. 29 select board agenda.

Wall said a major piece remains to be added, to incorporate relevant parts of the 2022 state law requiring municipalities to provide for additional housing. The major changes involve relaxing restrictions on the number of dwelling units per lot. China officials have asked the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments for help adding appropriate language.

The law says towns must incorporate the new provisions by July 1, 2024. China’s version needs to be ready for voters’ action at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

The permit application is from Carrol White, to convert the former Silver Lake Grange Hall, on Main Street, in China Village, to four two-bedroom apartments.

White said after he gets the permitting process started, village resident Daniel Coleman intends to buy the building and do the conversion.

Back in 1992, White said, he applied for and received the necessary variance from ordinance requirements, specifically the setback from the side lot line and the square footage needed for multiple dwelling units. However, the variance was not registered with the state Registry of Deeds within the required 90 days.

When the omission was discovered in 1999, the variance was duly notarized and registered, but there seems to be agreement that a seven-year delay made it invalid. White therefore needs a new one; variances are granted by the town board of appeals.

In addition, planning board members voted that White’s application was incomplete, because he provided too few details on some aspects of the plan.

Wall said she and codes officer Nicholas French will work with White to add information to the application. She suggested the board review it and hold a public hearing to get neighbors’ input, probably at the Feb. 13 planning board meeting. Then White can again ask the board of appeals for a variance from setback and lot size requirements.

China select board postpones decision on revised ordinances

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 29 meeting, China select board members postponed decisions on submitting two revised ordinances to voters and on a Recreation Committee idea.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the new Solar Ordinance and the planning board’s amendments to the Land Use Ordinance (Chapter Two of the Land Development Code) are in the town attorney’s hands.

The next steps are for the select board to approve final versions of the ordinances and hold public hearings on them before they are submitted to voters to accept or reject, perhaps at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

Board members needed more information on a proposal to authorize the Recreation Committee to offer kayak and paddleboard rentals. Hapgood said she and Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth had discussed contracting with a company called Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan.

For $39,000, the company would provide China with four kayaks and four paddleboards, with paddles. They would be kept near China Lake – beside the Courtesy Boat Inspectors’ shelter on the causeway, Hapgood suggested.

No staffing would be needed, as potential renters would use an app to unlock the board or kayak of their choice and pay the hourly fee. Rent.Fun and the town would split the rental income, so the town would earn back its investment.

Hapgood intends to ask Wentworth to get more information from Rent.Fun. She hopes also to get information from municipalities the company already serves.

Two guests brought messages to the select board meeting.

Jacob Poulin, deputy from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, reminded residents to lock their vehicles and hide any valuables left inside whenever the vehicles are parked outdoors. People have been breaking in to steal purses and other items, he said.

Erika Presley, senior land conservation manager with Edgecomb-based Midcoast Conservancy1, introduced herself and her organization, which owns 12.5 acres on the West Branch of the Sheepscot River off Dirigo Road, in China.

She said the lot encompasses the former Pullen Mill Dam2 site and showed a picture of the dam remains. Protecting the forested property is important for water quality and water temperature in that part of the river, she explained.

The four select board members present Jan. 29 made two unanimous decisions:

— They authorized Hapgood to seek new bids on building a vault to improve storage space at the town office. The present plan is to have the vault inside a small addition on the south side of the west section of the present building.
— They authorized the South China volunteer fire department to spend up to $8,000 from the fire department reserve fund to connect the fire station to three-phase power on Route 32 South.

The connection will let the department accept a gift of an air compressor from the Biddeford fire department, to replace its worn-out compressor. The compressor is used to refill SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) bottles for members of all three China departments. Hapgood said there is $150,000 in the reserve fund.

The manager reported:

— About 130 residents have signed up for E911 identifying numbers for their properties; more are welcome. A form to request a number is on the website, china.govoffice.com, on the first page.
— China is applying for services from the Maine National Guard for work on a section of Hanson Road near Evans Pond.
— The roof of the large white garage north on the town office lot needs repair.

China select board and budget committee members will meet together at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, in the town office meeting room, for a preliminary discussion of the 2024-25 town budget.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12.

1. More information on the Midcoast Conservancy is on its website, midcoastconservancy.org.
2. Several on-line sites provide information on the Pullen Mill Dam, where a fish passage completed Aug. 21, 2011, was dedicated on May 18, 2012, in memory of Dr. Melissa Laser, of the state Department of Marine Resources.

Vassalboro select board to hold two public hearings

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by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members plan February and March public hearings on two town ordinances they intend to finish revising in time for voter action at the June 3 town meeting.

Amendments to the Solid Waste Ordinance are nearly final (see the Jan. 11 issue of The Town Line, p. 3, and the Jan. 25 issue, pp. 2-3). The hearing on this ordinance is scheduled for Thursday evening, Feb. 22.

Board members are still working on the town’s Marijuana Business Ordinance. They intend to have a revised version ready for a hearing on Thursday, March 7.

Town attorney Kristin Collins attended the board’s Jan. 25 meeting and confirmed what chairman Chris French believes about small medical marijuana growing operations in town: since the state authorizes them, the town cannot ban them (see the Jan. 18 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

However, Collins said, the town can regulate such operations, including requiring licenses and conformity with local licensing rules.

Discussion of amending the marijuana ordinance was followed by discussion of amending the town’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Ordinance, to expand allowable uses for TIF funds. This amendment, too, would need voter approval, Collins said, and approval by the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Board members then considered amending yet another local ordinance, the one setting a high quorum requirement for any special town meeting. Town Manager Aaron Miller considers that requiring 125 voters be present to start a special meeting effectively bans such meetings. No decision was made.

The Jan. 25 meeting included a public hearing on renewing marijuana business licenses for five “grandfathered” commercial growing operations, those in business before the 2017 ordinance was approved. Four are on Old Meadows Road; the building housing one on Cushnoc Road is being rebuilt after a fire in the fall of 2022, but select board members did not consider the business had been discontinued.

As codes officer Jason Lorrain recommended, board members renewed the licenses for 2024. One renewal is conditional on installation of a security system, a job Lorrain said is in process.

Chris Mitchell, newly chosen executive director of Delta Ambulance after months as acting executive director, explained again that because of rising costs and stable or declining revenues, Delta needs to join Maine’s other ambulance services in charging an annual fee to towns whose residents it serves.

This year, Delta’s 13 member towns, including Vassalboro, paid $15 per resident, Michell said. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the request is $25 per head; and it will be higher again in 2025-26.

French asked what happens if some towns don’t pay. Their residents don’t get ambulance service from Delta, Mitchell replied.

He told French losing supporting towns would not raise the 2024-25 rate; the $25 is firm for the year.

The majority of Delta’s board of directors represents area hospitals. French recommended more input from municipalities; Mitchell agreed, and said revamping board membership was a project he hadn’t had time to explore yet.

From the audience, Vassalboro rescue head Dan Mayotte and fire chief Walker Thompson told French they have no problems or concerns about Delta’s service.

Returning to previously-discussed transfer station plans, select board members unanimously approved a contract to pay Senders science engineering and construction, of Camden, $7,600 for mapping Vassalboro’s site; redesigning the facility and assisting with seeking grant funding; and preparing a final plan and obtaining state and local permits.

Miller said company head Jeff Senders’ Jan. 23 meeting with the Transfer Station Task Force had been “productive” and led to a consensus to move ahead.

Select board members briefly discussed two other money matters, making no decision on either.

Resident John Melrose, speaking for the town’s trails committee, asked for funding to improve the South Loop Trail, which he said runs between the public works garage parking lot and the soccer field. Committee members’ main concerns are avoiding bridges and “getting out of the water and the mud,” Melrose said.

He plans to present options with cost estimates at a future select board meeting.

Brian Lajoie, for the public works department, asked approval to use left-over 2023-24 paving money this spring to pave some of Vassalboro’s few remaining gravel roads. Winter gravel road maintenance is challenging, he said.

By that point in the meeting, board member Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., had left. French preferred saving the left-over funds; board member Michael Poulin favored Lajoie’s request; a decision was therefore postponed until Denico can break the tie.

French and Poulin accepted the board’s new Remote Participation in Public Proceedings Policy (currently available on the website, vassalboro.net, under the agenda for the Jan. 25 select board meeting; as of Jan. 29, not added under Documents: Ordinances and Policies).

The next regular Vassalboro select board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, Feb. 8.

Towns seek Spirit of America nominations (2024)

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by Mary Grow

Several area towns, including China and Vassalboro, are seeking nominations for 2024 Spirit of America awards.

According to its website, the nonprofit Spirit of American Foundation was established in Augusta in 1990 to honor volunteerism. Initially, municipalities presented awards “to local individuals, organizations and projects for commendable community service.”

Since 2022, the program has included a Spirit of America Foundation School Award.

In a Dec. 11 email to municipal officials, Bruce Flaherty, President of Maine Spirit of America, invited them to seek nominations.

At the Jan. 2 and 16 China select board meetings, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood encouraged China residents to recommend outstanding volunteers. The town has an on-line nomination form, found twice on the website, china.govoffice.com, under Town Clerk and Town Manager. These pages are under Administration, which is under Town Departments on the main page.

Deadline for nominations to be submitted to the China town office is Friday, March 1.

Vassalboro Town Manager Aaron Miller is also soliciting nominations from his town’s residents. Vassalboro has no form, he said; people wanting to nominate someone should call the town office at 872-2826 or email amiller@vassalboro.net.

Both China and Vassalboro have in the past presented annual Spirit of America awards at their June town meetings.

Flaherty explained that municipalities submit their awardees’ names to the state organization by June 1, and the names are forwarded to county officials for county-wide ceremonies in the fall.

Windsor board carries over $300,000 in WVFD tanker truck funds

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by The Town Life staff

Select board members, at their January 2, 2024, meeting, approved carrying over Windsor Volunteer Fire Department tanker truck funds in the amount of #300,000, which was approved at the last town meeting. Town manager Theresa Haskell said the tanker truck should be ready by the end of January.

Keith Hall, public works supervisor, reported that clean up work continues along Windsor roads from recent storms.

Hall also reported that a culvert will need to be replaced on Coopers Mills Road, an item that will be discussed more in the upcoming budget. The projected cost is $12,000 for the four-foot or five-foot culvert. This estimate does not include labor cost to install the culvert.

At the transfer station, Hall reported they had to disconnect the switch on the gate to one of the compactors, for now, because it wasn’t working properly. J&M Electric inspected the switch will take another look at it when they have time.

The annual inspection of the compactor has been done, at a cost of $1,995.65, an expense that is expected to increase next year.

In other business:

– Haskell reported the town of Windsor has received $25,000 from Mark Scribner, for the NET Co Scholarship Fund for the 2024-25 school year. This will be the 11th year the town has received this donation.
– The town’s assistant E-911/CEO/LPI has been working on updating roads and mapping. He will be joining the codes enforcement officer to look at some roads in the coming weeks.
– Haskell also informed the board the town will be mailing, via certified mail, the impending automatic foreclosure notices to residents who sitll have not paid on property that has a lien.
– Presidential primary voting will take place at the Windsor Elementary School on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The budget committee is also scheduled to meet that day, at 6 p.m., at the town hall.

China select board approves emergency services dispatching

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by Mary Grow

At a brief meeting on a snowy Jan. 16 evening, China select board members approved an emergency services dispatching agreement, made three committee appointments and briefly discussed pending ordinance changes.

One amended ordinance will be on the ballot for the June 11 annual town business meeting. Board members approved for presentation to voters the official copy of the revised Planning Board Ordinance.

Planning board members are working on revisions to the Land Use Ordinance, Chapter Two of China’s Land Development Code. Planning board chairman Toni Wall said it would be on the Jan. 23 planning board agenda.

Select board member Brent Chesley questioned provisions dealing with expansion of non-conforming uses in the shoreland. Other members had additional suggestions for planning board members to consider.

The nine-page dispatching agreement provides for the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to continue to dispatch emergency service providers in China for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The fee will be $51,528.94 for the year, which Hapgood said is about a five percent increase over the current year.

Select board members unanimously approved the contract and appointed Hapgood the town’s contact person with DPS.

Other appointments were James Hinds and Benjamin Weymouth to the transfer station committee and Trishea Story as budget committee secretary. Last fall, board members appointed Weymouth to the comprehensive plan implementation, broadband and tax increment financing committees.

Board member Janet Preston said she is working on getting electric vehicle charging stations in China, seeking cost estimates and possible locations. She said she has been advised that the town office is not a good place for Level 2 chargers, despite its central location, because of the length of time charging takes.

Hapgood reminded those present that the town office is accepting nominations for Spirit of America awards for volunteerism until March 1.

The Jan. 16 select board meeting was followed by an executive session. Hapgood said no action was taken afterward.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29.

Vassalboro transfer station committee looks for redesign

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 18 meeting, members of Vassalboro’s transfer station task force finished proposing revisions to the town’s Solid Waste Ordinance, now renamed the Solid Waste and Recycling Ordinance, and planned next steps for the ordinance and for their other task, redesigning the transfer station (see the Jan. 11 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Transfer station manager George Hamar and committee member Amy Davidoff had made more ordinance changes, based on suggestions offered at the previous meeting and emailed afterwards. The Jan. 18 discussion topics included recycling; use by commercial haulers and multi-family building owners and occupants; and enforcement. By the end of the meeting, committee members had a rough draft mostly ready for select board review.

Town Manager Aaron Miller had arranged for Jeff Senders, the engineer working with the town on the transfer station redesign, to visit the transfer station and meet with task force members Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 23.

Miller and the two select board members on the task force, chairman Chris French and member Michael Poulin, decided the group should discuss Senders’ visit at 5:45 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 25, before that evening’s select board meeting.

French would like to have the draft ordinance on the Jan. 25 select board agenda. The select board’s version will be reviewed by the town attorney, he said, and a public hearing will be scheduled for residents’ comments and questions, probably in February.

Assuming agreement on a revised ordinance, it will be presented to town voters for approval or rejection at the annual town meeting in June.

The Jan. 25 select board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with public hearings on five applications to renew commercial marijuana-growing licenses. Four of the growing operations are on Old Meadows Road; one is on Cushnoc Road.

Vassalboro school board takes up several money items

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Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Although discussion of the 2024-25 budget doesn’t start in earnest until February, Vassalboro school board members had several money items on their Jan. 22 agenda.

Board members approved wage increases for five categories of substitute employees, to keep them slightly ahead of the state minimum wage that went up to $14.15 an hour on Jan. 1. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said the increases were coordinated with the Waterville and Winslow school departments and keep Vassalboro competitive with most other area schools.

The current year’s budget will cover the higher pay, Pfeiffer said. Additional pay increases for more employees will be discussed as part of planning next year’s budget.

Board members also accepted Special Education Director Tanya Thibeau’s recommendation to hire a part-time IEP (Individualized Education Program) coordinator for the rest of the current school year, to help oversee these programs at Vassalboro Community School.

The current year’s budget will cover this position, Thibeau said, because one of VCS’s social workers is part-time – she could not find the full-time employee whose compensation was included in the 2023-24 budget.

Thibeau informed board members of proposed legislation that, if approved, would expand special education in public school to three- and four-year-old students. She said Maine is one of only two states without such a program.

Maine Commissioner of Education Pender Makin has promised generous state financial support if the program comes into effect, Thibeau said.

Pfeiffer distributed copies of the lease under which the day care program run by Jenifer Lizotte uses VCS space. He asked board members to consider whether it should be renewed for another year and if so, whether there should be changes, specifically a small increase in the $25 a day rent, due to inflation.

Pfeiffer strongly supports continuing the day care program at the school. He had high praise for Lizotte and her staff; said he has heard of no other local facilities that would take over if the VCS program were discontinued; and called the program “a big win for the community.”

VCS Principal Ira Michaud and Assistant Principal Tabitha Brewer seconded Pfieffer’s commendation. They said Lizotte runs a good program with well-trained staff, goes out of her way to accommodate families’ needs and consistently cooperates with school staff.

The current lease runs to the end of the school year, so immediate action is not expected.

Pfeiffer said when secondary-school tuition rates for calendar year 2024 came out in December 2023, they were about 5.5 percent higher than for 2023. The Vassalboro board had anticipated and budgeted for the increase, he said.

The superintendent reported on on-going work at VCS, like installing the ceiling fans authorized last year, and on use of the building as a warming center during the December power outage. Thanks to cooperation from residents and school staff, the warming center was a success, he said.

Town office staff are collecting names of residents who would like to be trained to work as volunteers at the center in future disasters. Pfeiffer said about 20 people had signed up so far.

Other business at the Jan. 22 meeting included approval of three new hires: Gifted and Talented teacher Rod Robilliard and Special Education Technicians Julie Chavez and Isaac Mercier. Board members accepted two resignations, from Speech and Language Pathologist Sharon Peabody and Special Education Technician Heather Bassett.

The next regular Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at VCS.