by Mary Grow

China planning board members began their June 27 meeting with sequential public hearings on two applications for self-storage facilities on Route 3, from Chris Harris and Lucas Adams (see the June 22 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

China codes officer Nicholas French had allowed half an hour per application. He was spot on: the hearings themselves took one and three minutes, respectively, and board members’ review of the criteria for approval brought the total time for each application to 25 minutes.

Both applications were approved unanimously with one condition: each applicant needs to submit to the town office a letter from the South China fire chief saying emergency access to the site is adequate.

Harris’ units will be in what is currently an open field at 623 Route 3. Abutter Joann Austin asked about potential run-off onto her property; Harris anticipated no problem, but said if there were one, he would dig ditches to divert the water.

Adams’ abutter, Jordan Giroux, who lives on Horseback Road, had questions about buffers and visibility. Adams said he had cleared what he needed, leaving as much wooded buffer as he could on Giroux’s side of his lot; he and Giroux consulted amicably over maps in the application.

Harris and Adams both plan to have the facilities available all the time. Both are installing downward-pointing lighting to keep access safe without illuminating neighboring properties. Both said the contract each user signs will prohibit storing hazardous substances.

Planning board co-chairman James Wilkens reminded them of the 30-day window during which the approval can be appealed.

In other business, board members postponed continued discussion of the proposed solar ordinance until they have more time to review the current draft.

Co-chairman Toni Wall reported briefly on the discussion of planning board districts with select board members at that board’s June 20 meeting (see the June 29 issue of The Town Line, p.3). She and Wilkens agreed the discussion was “really good.” Wilkens is pleased that the two boards are working together, after disagreements earlier this year over the board of appeals ordinance.

Because of the July 4 holiday, the China planning board’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, July 11. Board members agreed to meet only once in July and August, unless there are enough applications to require a second meeting. They scheduled the August meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 8.

French said he expects the July 11 agenda to include an application for an auto detailing shop in an existing building on China Road.

by Mary Grow

China select board members again postponed a decision on whether some town officials should be elected from geographic districts, after a discussion with two planning board members who attended the June 20 select board meeting.

The select board’s agenda included numerous other topics. Two were related to the transfer station: a suggested new system for monitoring entering vehicles and a proposed contract with Albion.

Board members also scheduled a July 31 public discussion of the South China boat landing; approved contracts for cemetery fence work and with Delta Ambulance; gifted the old generator the town office no longer uses; and agreed on off-schedule meetings for the end of the fiscal year and the Independence Day holiday.

The district election system dates from 1986, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood believes. Ordinances say four members each of the planning board and budget committee are elected from four districts in town, mapped as northwest, northeast, southeast and southwest.

The six-member planning board has one member and one alternate elected from the town at large. The seven-member budget committee has one member plus the chair and the secretary who can live anywhere in town. All China voters vote for all members of both boards.

Hapgood questioned the usefulness of the districts at the June 5 select board meeting (see the June 15 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), sparking the first discussion.

When select board members and planning board co-chairmen Toni Wall and James Wilkens resumed the discussion June 20, an early point Hapgood made was that the planning board has had trouble getting members from some districts. Select board member Brent Chesley said after he lost his first bid for election to the select board, he tried to volunteer for the planning board and was turned down because he did not live in the district with the unfilled seat.

But, Wilkens said, assuming – as speakers did – that the purpose of districts is to spread board membership throughout the town, abolishing districts won’t solve the problem: the area that doesn’t have volunteers still won’t have them.

Three residents receive Spirit of America awards

Three China residents were honored with Spirit of America awards at the June 20 China select board meeting.

Ronald Breton, former select board member and chairman, former member and chairman of the planning board and member of other committees, was recognized for his many years of volunteering. Current select board member Janet Preston called Breton “very sincere and caring about the Town of China.”

Frederick “Rick” Fischer was commended by board member Blane Casey for his conscientious care of Memorial Park, in South China. Casey estimated Fischer had volunteered his time and labor mowing and trimming the grounds and shrubs around the monument for 30 years.

Trishea Story was recognized by Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood for her many years as an election worker for the town, as well as her membership on town committees.

The half-hour discussion canvassed other possibilities, including changing district boundaries and allowing temporary appointments from out of district. Wall volunteered to draft possible ordinance revisions as a basis for continued discussion.

The first transfer station issue was the proposed revised identification system, involving the current RFID (radio frequency identification) tags plus annual stickers on the tags, with vehicle license plate numbers on them (see again the June 15 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Hapgood said she is still trying to resolve one point that generated much discussion: the plan as proposed calls for charging China residents $10 for a RFID tag (she said the town pays about $7 to buy each tag, and invests staff time), but under the contract that lets Palermo use China’s transfer station, Palermo residents cannot be charged new fees.

The Town of Palermo makes an annual payment to China, and Palermo residents pay for colored bags for their mixed waste.

Transfer station committee members (there are two Palermo representatives on the eight-person committee) will continue discussion, Hapgood said, aiming for a system accepted as equitable.

A proposed contract to let Albion residents bring to China waste that is excluded from their curbside collection – metal, demolition debris, televisions, refrigerators and the like – was not controversial. The contract Michael Gardner, chairman of Albion’s select board, and Hapgood negotiated sets fees for each category that Hapgood said will cover China’s handling and disposal costs and provide a small profit.

Albion residents will need a pass, so a China transfer station staff member can collect the fees. Hapgood does not expect enough Albion waste to increase volume noticeably.

The contract is intended as an experiment, Hapgood said. It extends only to the end of 2023, and can be terminated on two weeks’ notice.

Select board members approved it unanimously.

Select board member Janet Preston reported on the survey of ways to use a community resilience grant, if the town were to get one. Of 274 respondents, 190 ranked addressing erosion and pollution at the South China boat landing a worthwhile project – the most popular of the seven projects offered, Preston said.

Select board members scheduled a public meeting to talk about options for the landing for 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 31, before that evening’s select board meeting.

Margot Crosman, who lives next to the landing, zoomed in to the board meeting to applaud plans for a public meeting. She said a group called the South China Neighbors Association is organizing around the topic, and pointed out that the landing is used by swimmers as well as by people launching boats.

Select board members made two more unanimous decisions:

• They accepted a contract with Delta Ambulance service, at the fee previously discussed and included in the 2023-24 budget, for a year’s ambulance service. Hapgood said town attorney Amanda Meader had reviewed the contract.
• They accepted the lower of two bids for cemetery fence repairs, from Triple P Fence Company, of Augusta. The bid is $11,205, with $400 to be added if Triple P personnel have to remove old fences because China’s public works crew have no time. Hapgood said the cemeteries to get new fences this year are Lakeview, China Village Extension and Stanley Hill.

The decision to donate the unneeded old generator to the building in the China School Forest was on a 4-1 vote, with Chesley dissenting. Board chairman Wayne Chadwick agreed that a generator is a less costly option than running electricity to the building, but was concerned about future costs. He nonetheless voted for the gift.

The next two China select board meetings are scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, June 30, to approve any final FY 2023-24 payments; and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 5, to avoid the holiday weekend and let select board members get to work the day after the holiday. The preliminary agenda for the July 5 meeting includes only payment of necessary bills.

The China town office will close at noon Friday, June 30. All town departments will be closed all day Tuesday, July 4. A regular select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 17.

Poll results

Results of the poll asking China voters to rank projects that might be funded with community resilience grants were as follows, according to Janet Preston, the town’s representative to the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments.

Respondents were asked to choose three top priorities. Of 274 people who answered the survey, 190 checked addressing erosion and pollution at the South China board landing. Next most favored was providing transportation for senior citizens, with 133 votes, followed by improving and expanding Thurston Park (109); digitizing town records (101); building sidewalks on Main Street in China Village (92); adding solar panels on municipal buildings (83); and providing electric vehicle charging stations (37). Sixteen other ideas were written in.

Preston told the rest of the select board at the June 20 board meeting that this information lets her complete an application to become one of KVCOG’s community resilience partners. After KVCOG accepts the application, the town will become eligible to apply for grants.

by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members have scheduled June 27 public hearings on two applications for self-storage buildings on Route 3.

The applications, from Chris Harris and Lucas Adams, were on their June 15 agenda.

Harris plans a 40-by-100-foot, 28-unit building at 623 Route 3, beside Central Church (the church’s address is 627 Route 3). His application describes the proposed site as an open field.

Adams’ proposal is for a 30-by-100-foot building with 26 units. The site was described at the planning board meeting as the lot between Hanson and Horseback roads that is being cleared.

Both men plan to have their facilities accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Both plan buffers from neighboring properties; neither expects the business will cause disturbance to abutters or damage the environment.

Because the applications are for new commercial uses, planning board members voted unanimously to hold the June 27 public hearings to let neighbors and other interested parties comment on the plans.

China currently has three operating self-storage facilities, board members said. One is at 937 Route 3 by the laundromat; two are on Vassalboro Road not far north of Route 3.

The other business on the planning board’s June 15 agenda was continued review of the proposed solar ordinance. Board members decided their next step is to complete previously-proposed rearrangements of sections of the document. Co-chairman Toni Wall volunteered to prepared a revised draft for review before the June 27 meeting.

Wall raised the topic of planning board districts, which select board members discussed at their June 5 meeting (see the June 15 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). Select board members leaned toward eliminating the four districts from which some planning board and budget committee members – but not select board members – are elected. They postponed action until members of the other two boards had time to weigh in.

Wall, planning board co-chairman James Wilkens and member Walter Bennett spoke in favor of retaining districts. Wall and Bennett said they consider themselves district representatives, even though they are elected by a town-wide vote. Each makes a point of driving around to keep an eye on her or his district and asks questions of the codes officer when appropriate.

Wilkens thinks given the diversity within the town, residents like to have a neighbor to whom to bring questions or concerns. He suggested select board members, too, should be elected from districts.

The topic was on the agenda for the Tuesday, June 20 select board meeting (a day later than usual because of the Juneteenth holiday). Wall and Wilkens planned to attend the meeting if they were free that evening.

Elections by district are part of the planning board and budget committee ordinances. If boards agree to recommend eliminating (or revising) provisions about districts, voters’ action on ordinance amendments will be needed.