CHINA: Killdeer Heights subdivision request postponed to May 9

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members’ review of Timothy O’Brien’s application to subdivide one lot in Killdeer Heights subdivision into four lots has been put off to their May 9 meeting.

The review was to continue April 25, but on April 21 codes officer Nicholas French said surveyor Adam Ellis was still waiting for information and had asked to be on the May 9 agenda instead.

The 4.3-acre lot is bounded on the east by Lakeview Drive (Route 202) and on the west by the private road named Mountain View Drive, which runs south off Killdeer Point Road.

Board members held a well-attended public hearing on the application at their April 11 meeting. Neighbors suggested concerns they think board members should address as they consider the subdivision.

On the assumption that each of the proposed four lots would become a house site, abutters and members of the Killdeer Point Road Association asked for more attention to and information about steep slopes and the effect of development on run-off; the impact of more traffic on Mountain View Drive and the safety of entrances onto Lakeview Drive; the applicability of China’s Phosphorus Control Ordinance; and effects on wildlife, natural resources and the quality of life in an uncrowded rural town.

Neighbors would like to see results of the test pits that were dug to make sure each planned lot has a place where the soil is suitable for a septic system. One asked whether potential new home-owners would need to blast ledge to make basements, and if so whether the blasting could damage nearby houses.

They cited requirements in China’s subdivision ordinance (Chapter 3 of the town’s Land Use Ordinance), which has a list of effects to be avoided on the environment and on municipal services.

At the April 11 meeting, planning board co-chairman James Wilkens said information would be made available to the public as promptly as possible.

French said materials will be posted on the China website, china.govoffice.org, under Agendas & Minutes 2023 on the Agendas & Minutes tab under the Planning Board, which is under the right-hand tab Officials, Board & Committees.

After the hearing, board members tabled, again, consideration of changes in the Planning Board Ordinance and review of China’s comprehensive plan.

The main agenda item for their Tuesday, April 25, meeting is an application for an addition to the town office building. The meeting is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

China transfer station water tested; it is potable, with issues

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Transfer station staffer Cheyenne “CJ” Houle reported on several projects she is working on. The one completed at the end of March was getting the water at the transfer station tested: it is potable, Houle reported.

However, it still has an unpleasant odor that she and Director of Public Services Shawn Reed called “undescribable.” They think it comes from the water heater.

Asked about the water, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said, “I will not be drinking it nor requiring them to drink it.”

Houle is working on ways to make the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system more useful. If she cannot increase its value to town staff, she will consider alternatives.

She is also pursuing a possible grant, through the Maine Municipal Association, that would provide a solar lighting system for the free for the taking building. Again, if grant money is not available, she has an alternative in mind.

When Palermo representative Robert Kurek suggested a different grant program that might help develop a small waste-to-energy generation system at the China transfer station, Houle offered to investigate it.

Committee members praised Houle for her many activities.

Lucas and Reed discussed the possible reopening of the waste-to-energy plant in Hampden, financed by China and 114 other Maine municipalities and inactive for almost three years. The Municipal Review Committee (MRC), the group representing member towns, had scheduled an April 13 virtual meeting to discuss a new partnership, Lucas said.

Hapgood said she and Kurek had adjusted the cost of the trash bags Palermo residents need to dispose of household trash at China’s transfer station. The new prices are $2.80 for large bags (or $14 for a “sleeve” of five bags) and $1.60 for small bags.

The fee for trash Palermo residents bring in non-official bags will rise from $3 to $4.

The committee adjourned without setting its next meeting date.

China select board schedules May public hearings

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

By the end of their April 24 meeting, China select board members had a public hearing scheduled for each of their May meetings.

The Monday, May 8, meeting will be preceded by a 6 p.m. public hearing on warrant articles for the June 13 annual town business meeting. The June 13 voting will be entirely by written ballot, with no chance to ask questions before voting.

China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood invited select board members’ comments on a six-page draft document to inform China voters about the upcoming May 8 hearing and June 13 voting.

On Monday, May 22, select board members plan a public hearing on the Four Seasons Club request to open about two miles of town road for ATV use. Club President Thomas Rumpf made the request at the April 24 meeting.

Rumpf explained that part of the Bog Trail needs rebuilding before ATVers can use it. Therefore, he would like town officials’ approval to let them ride on a section of town roads east of China Lake.

The proposed route, shown on a map Rumpf prepared for the select board meeting, runs along Pleasant View Ridge Road and Bog Road between Jeff LaVerdiere’s gravel pit (with LaVerdiere’s permission) and Cole’s Corner at the north end of Hanson Road.

Select board members had many questions; Rumpf answered some and promised to find answers he was unsure of. In addition to how ATVs and motor vehicles would share the roads, board members are concerned about roadside homeowners’ reactions.

When they voted unanimously to schedule the public hearing that Rumpf said is a requirement if the proposal is to be allowed, they specified that residents along the affected roads are to be invited. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said she will see to it.

The ATV season begins June 1 and runs until Columbus Day (the second Monday in October), Rumpf said. He said 110 ATVers use China’s trails on an average weekend.

If select board members approve Rumpf’s request, they are considering leaving an opening to rescind their action if there are many complaints after ATVs start sharing the road.

In other business, board members agreed unanimously to start immediately enforcing the prohibition on out-of-towners bringing trash or recyclables to China’s transfer station. The only exception is for Palermo residents, who use the China facility under an agreement between the two towns.

Jeanette Smith, chairman of the Thurston Park Committee, announced a Community Clean-up Day at the park on Saturday, May 20 (rain date Sunday, May 21). Work begins about 9 a.m. Potential volunteers can get more information by emailing thurstonpark@outlook.com.

The May 8 China select board meeting will begin after the 6 p.m. public hearing concludes.

VASSALBORO: Members look at school calendar with no decisions

/0 Comments/in , /by

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

At a short April 11 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members talked about the 2023-24 school calendar, without making a final decision, and accepted two more staff changes.

The calendar issue was how to provide teaching staff with more professional days, time without students to work together, school-wide and in groups by grade or specialty, on the variety of educational issues they deal with.

The initial proposal was more early-release days, Thursdays when students are sent home at mid-day. This year has seen one early-release day most months; the draft new calendar proposes two.

Discussion suggested an alternative: full days when only teachers come in. Advantages include longer uninterrupted discussion time and, school board member Jessica Clark pointed out, days when buses wouldn’t have to run.

Board members and Principal Ira Michaud tried to figure which option would be less disruptive to parents’ schedules. Michaud proposed sending out a survey before a final decision is considered.

The staff changes were:

  • Appointing Sandra McCausland, of Vassalboro, new head cook at Vassalboro Community School (VCS). Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said she substituted in the VCS kitchen last year.
  • Accepting the resignation of sixth-grade teacher Morgan Wellman, who will be moving out of state. Michaud praised her as an excellent teacher (and a VCS graduate, he added).

McCausland succeeds Mary Dumont. Michaud said Dumont will stay through the current school year, as will art teacher Susan Briggs; both women are retiring.

The next regular Vassalboro School Board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, at VCS.

Vassalboro budget committee recommends town voters approve 2023-24 budget

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

At their April 11 meeting, Vassalboro Budget Committee members recommended town voters approve the 2023-24 school budget as presented by the school board. They also endorsed most of the municipal budget recommendations, differing from the select board on three issues.

Select Board Chair Barbara Redmond said select board members would consider the budget committee actions at their April 13 meeting, when they are scheduled to review the draft warrant for the June 5 town meeting. Her preference, she said, is for the two boards to agree.

The increase in the 2023-24 school budget over the current year’s is $145, 475.91, according to the figure presented at the meeting. Budget committee members supported it unanimously.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer thanked Budget Committee member Michael Poulin for attending school board meetings for the past two years so he would be informed about issues making up the budget.

Town Manager Aaron Miller said the proposed 2023-24 municipal budget had an increase of $54,472.

Budget Committee member Douglas Phillips raised a main issue early in the meeting: his goal is to keep the tax rate from rising. Miller said it is now 14.40 mils, or $14.40 for each $1,000 of property valuation.

To determine the new tax rate, committee members needed to know both proposed expenditures and expected revenues for 2023-24. Miller had assembled some revenue figures, but some are not yet available.

Notably missing, and not available for weeks, is the assessor’s report on how much Vassalboro’s property valuation has increased since last year. Normally, the select board sets the tax rate in August, after town meeting voters have approved expenditures and after the valuation is known.

Without complete revenue figures, as budget committee member Philip Landry pointed out, the committee members could only guess whether reductions were needed at all to hold the tax rate level. Nor could they be sure a lower figure, if accepted by voters, would be low enough to achieve Phillips’ goal.

By the end of the April 11 meeting, the two boards were in disagreement over the public safety budget – Police Chief Mark Brown asked for more hours, the select board approved, the budget committee majority disagreed; the budget for paving, specifically Road Foreman Eugene Field’s plan to pave short gravel roads; and the requested increase for the China Region Lakes Alliance.

At that point, estimates of the impact on tax bills ran from an increase of 30 cents to an increase of 70 cents for each $1,000 of valuation.

Topics discussed at length included proposed salary increases for town employees; expansion of the recreation program; and support of the Vassalboro Public Library.

In two separate votes, budget committee members unanimously supported the select board’s proposed salary increases and endorsed the 6.5% cost of living increase by a 9-1 vote. They recommended the proposed $65,898 recreation budget on an 8-2 vote and the library request for $71,000 on a 7-3 vote.

Early in the meeting, Redmond settled one issue quickly. Budget Committee member Frank Richards asked why Vassalboro is asked to pay Delta Ambulance more than $66,000 next year, after no fee in the past.

Redmond and the rest of the select board recommended the item after hearing that Delta gets no reimbursement for calls when the patient is not transported; that insurance payments have not kept up with costs; and that most other Maine ambulance services charge towns more than the $15 per person (according to the census) that Delta requests.

She told Richards if voters don’t approve the funding, “We won’t have coverage. If you call 911 you might get a First Responder from town, but you won’t get an ambulance.”

Vassalboro First Responders are not licensed to transport. Select board members said they asked about other towns’ ambulances, and no neighboring service wants to add Vassalboro.

“What choice do we have?” Richards conceded.

Budget committee members did not plan to meet again on the 2023-24 budget. Vassalboro select board meetings were scheduled for April 13 and April 27, with the town meeting warrant to be signed April 27.

WINDSOR – Appel Jr.: School budget is up 10.8 percent

/0 Comments/in , /by
by The Town Line staff

At the March 14 meeting of the Windsor Select Board, William Appel Jr., a member of the select board, reported the school budget is up 10.8 percent. Town Manager Theresa Haskell added this could be up as much as $500,000, according to her calculations. Howie Tuttle, superintendent of RSU #12, was scheduled to present the 2023-24 school budget to the select board at their March 28 meeting.

Resident Chester Barnes Jr. informed the select board that he spoke with a service technician at Togus VA who would be willing to do the service inspection of the lift at the town hall. Barnes will pass along contact information and have him reach out to Haskell.

Barnes also told the board of an off-road ATV that will soon be retired from the VA and going up for auction. The select board asked that Barnes pass this information along to the fire department as they are the ones looking for this equipment.

Barnes also spoke of stump work that his dad may be interested in removing next to Dyer Hill Cemetery and possibly adding gravel in exchange for donation of land to extend the cemetery.

In other business, Haskell announced the town did receive a check from Time Warner in the amount of $14,361.84 for the yearly franchise fee.

  • Pay Pal Giving Fund gave a check to the Windsor Educational Foundation in the amount of $14.63.
  • She has not heard anything more regarding the new Delta contract from the town’s attorney. Select board member Ronald Brann reported he received information that Jefferson Rescue Service, who get their rescue services out of Damariscotta and Waldoboro, pay $220,000 a year.
  • Road supervisor Keith Hall was told both MSW cans were ful, the demo can was also full, and there is a hydraulic leak. Hall and Tim Coston called to confirm the cans will be picked up, cleaned up around the cans and the hydraulic leak will fixed.

Haskell then went over the remaining administration warrant articles and non-property tax revenue.

The next Windsor Select Board meeting was scheduled for March 28.

Vassalboro planners approve one application, in part; discuss four other items

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

With only one application on their agenda, and the proposed – and long-discussed – solar ordinance forwarded to the select board, Vassalboro Planning Board members had time to consider broader issues at their April 4 meeting.

The application was from Duane Ellis, seeking to expand his building at 27 Birch Point Road, on Webber Pond. He asked to enlarge the building footprint by no more than 30 percent, on the side away from the water; and to raise part of the roof by three feet.

Planning board members unanimously approved the first part of the application.

They were unable to authorize raising the roof, because Vassalboro’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance sets height limits in the shoreland and Ellis’s building already exceeds them. Board members advised Ellis that he can apply to the Vassalboro Board of Appeals for a variance from the height limit.

Ellis praised the helpful state Department of Environmental Protection staff member with whom he had discussed other issues on his lot.

Planning board member Douglas Phillips asked his colleagues to consider four issues: a possible new ordinance, effects of a new state law and two procedural planning board documents.

First, he asked, given the water quality problems in Webber Pond, should board members consider asking voters to adopt a Phosphorus Control Ordinance, like the one China has had since 1993?

Part of the discussion of procedures at the April 4 Vassalboro Planning Board meeting covered the timing of submission of applications. Board members agreed that anyone wanting to be on a planning board agenda must submit an application to codes officer Robert Geaghan at least two weeks in advance.

Any application to be considered at the board’s May 2 meeting should be on Geaghan’s desk by Tuesday, April 18, at the latest.

The rationale is two-fold: Geaghan can review the application in time to distribute the agenda to board members by April 25, to give them a week to consider it; and he can forward the agenda to Vassalboro’s webmaster in time to get it on the website a week before the meeting.

(A copy of the China ordinance, chapter four of the town’s Land Use Ordinance, is on the website china.govoffice.org, under the heading Ordinances, Policies and Orders.)

A reason to consider such an ordinance is that Vassalboro still has undeveloped land around water bodies; requiring management of run-off should mean new development would not worsen water quality. But, board chairman Virginia Brackett asked, would it do enough good to matter?

Brackett suggested board members start with a review of Vassalboro’s strategic plan, adopted 17 years ago this June, instead of considering ordinances individually.

Phillips said he will ask Town Manager Aaron Miller if the opinion survey to be mailed out this summer with tax bills could include questions from the planning board – like whether residents would like a phosphorus control ordinance — if members choose to develop some.

Phillips’ second issue, on which board alternate member Dan Bradstreet (Waterville’s codes enforcement officer) had information, was the recent state law allowing more than one dwelling unit on a single-family lot. Designed to help alleviate the affordable housing shortage, Bradstreet said it is now in the rule-making stage, and is to take effect in July.

Right now, he said, “nobody knows what to do.” The law is complex, confusing and in places self-contradictory; the relationship to lot size and plumbing code requirements is unclear; even Maine Municipal Association attorneys with whom he talked “can’t agree on the meaning.”

Phillips had been reviewing old planning board documents and had questions about two. He recommended that board members review application forms to make sure they are complete. And he asked about a document called planning board rules of order.

Brackett commented that her copy of the rules is “so old it’s typewritten.”

In the past, planning board members served five-year terms, instead of the present two years; and at some point there were two alternate members, instead of one.

Board members thought two-year terms all right, but agreed to ask the select board to appoint a second alternate member. Their goal is to have one more resident well informed about board responsibilities and history.

Brackett thinks Vassalboro is in a minority of Maine municipalities whose planning board members are appointed rather than elected. She and Phillips approve of appointed members. They said election risks a complete membership turnover and a lack of consistency.

The next regular Vassalboro Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, May 2.

China select board to hold hearing on CRP application

/0 Comments/in , /by

The China Select Board will host a community workshop on Monday, April 24, at 5 p.m., at the town office to gather ideas for projects that would benefit the Town of China and its residents. The hearing is part of the application process for becoming a Community Resilience Partner (CRP) through Maine’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.

The partnership costs China nothing and would allow China to become eligible to receive Community Action Grants and other support for projects that reduce carbon emissions, help us to move toward clean energy, and steer us to becoming more environmentally, socially, and financially resilient. The effects of climate change can have negative consequences on public health, roads and bridges, natural resources, and our overall long-term resilience as a community.

Enrolled partners are paired up with a regional coordinator who then helps develop future project ideas and apply for both state and federal grants to fund those projects. Some ideas batted around include: fixing the South China boat landing, sidewalks in China Village, rides for senior citizens, and digitizing town office records. What do you think?

Robyn Stanicki, of Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG) is assisting China with the Community Resilience Partnership application process and will be at the workshop to answer questions, help us brainstorm, and prioritize. Please come share your ideas. If you cannot attend but would like to submit your ideas, please contact select board member Janet Preston at Janet.Preston@ChinaMaine.org.

For more information on Maine’s Community Resilience Partner program, please visit this link: https://www.maine.gov/future/climate/community-resilience-partnership.

China select board approves final warrant for business meeting

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

Early in a series of unanimous decisions at their April 10 meeting, China select board members approved the final version of the warrant for the June 13 town business meeting.

The warrant has 32 articles. The one they did not previously approve asks voters to appropriate up to $43,000 from unassigned fund balance for a new fireproof storage vault for municipal records. It is now approved, and the whole warrant is ready for voters.

Copies of the warrant and of the two ordinances voters are asked to approve or reject are on the town website, china.govoffice.org.

Another unanimous vote adjusted fees at the transfer station. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood explained that there are two changes:

  • Instead of being charged individually, bulky items, like pieces of furniture, will count as demo debris and be charged by weight; and
  • The fee for discarding passenger-car tires will increase from $4 each to $5 each.

Hapgood said China’s transfer station is not supposed to take out-of-town waste except under contract (as with Palermo). In the past, China accepted other towns’ recyclables, because disposing of them was slightly profitable. Prices have gone down and profit has disappeared.

Select board members voted unanimously to stop accepting recyclables from any towns except China and Palermo.

Recycling in-town materials does save money, Hapgood said, because it takes things out of the waste stream; getting rid of waste costs more than getting rid of recyclables.

The manager recommended board members ask codes officer Nicholas French and his part-time assistant, Dwaine Drummond, to update the list of penalties for land use violations and present it to select board and planning board members for their review.

Select board members agreed, and Hapgood said she would see if a draft could be available for the April 24 board meeting.

By additional unanimous votes, board members approved three expenditures:

  • They authorized Hapgood to sign a contract with the Maine Department of Public Safety to provide law enforcement dispatching for the next fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), at a cost of $49,089.24, money Hapgood said is already budgeted.
  • They agreed to buy portable traffic lights for use at road construction sites (so the public works crew can fix roads, instead of holding stop signs) for $48,960 from Northeast Traffic Technologies of Plymouth, Massachusetts; and to spend not more than $13,000 for an enclosed trailer to move the signs. The trailer will come from a local vendor, Hapgood said in a later email.
  • They accepted another one-year contract with attorney Amanda Meader, whose hourly rate Hapgood said will increase by 8.11 percent. Other towns pay their lawyers more than China does, the manager added.

Hapgood and, in their bi-weekly reports, other town officials announced pending events that include, in chronological order:

  • On Monday, April 17, China municipal departments will be closed for the Patriots’ Day holiday.
  • On Saturday, April 22, at the public works garage just west of the transfer station on Alder Park Road, household hazardous waste take-back day, 8 a.m. to noon (preregistration required). Information is available in a hand-out at the transfer station and in the April 7 issue of “China Connected.”
  • On Saturday, April 22, at the transfer station, drug take-back day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • On Monday, April 24, at 5 p.m. in the town office meeting room, a public meeting to learn about and collect ideas for resiliency projects in China, with Community Resilience Coordinator Robyn Stanicki, of the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments; followed by a select board meeting.
  • Monday, May 1, is the deadline for applications for money from the Doris L. Young Scholarship Fund. Information is on the town website, under the heading Town Clerk, which is under Administration, which is under Town Departments.
  • Monday, May 8, at 6 p.m. in the town office meeting room, public hearing on June 13 warrant articles, followed by a select board meeting.
  • The annual Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 budget meeting and vote will be held Thursday, May 18, at 6 p.m. at Messalonskee High School Performing Arts Center in Oakland.

China budget committee endorses 2023-24 spending articles

/0 Comments/in , /by
by Mary Grow

At a short April 3 meeting, China Budget Committee members reviewed and endorsed proposed 2023-24 spending articles in the warrant for China’s June 13 town business meeting.

Committee members had previously discussed the proposed budget at a March 7 meeting. They still had a few questions, and on some of the spending articles a member dissented or abstained. Each proposal received at least five recommendations.

After action on the draft warrant articles, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood and committee chairman Thomas Rumpf jointly announced that committee secretary Trishea Story is resigning: the April 3 meeting was her last. Rumpf thanked her for her service.

The China Budget Committee’s seven members include one elected from each of China’s four districts (created in June 2006 to ensure geographical variety on the committee) plus a chairman, a secretary and an at-large member, all of whom can be from anywhere in town.

Members whose terms end this year are Rumpf, Kevin Maroon (district one, northwestern China) and Michael Sullivan (district three, southeastern China). China’s local elections will be held Nov. 7.

Hapgood said because Story’s term does not end in 2023, her replacement will be appointed by the select board rather than elected. The June 2006 Budget Committee Ordinance says the appointment is to be done “within 45 days of the date of resignation.”

The ordinance adds, “If there are two or more qualified candidates, the Select Board may at their discretion hold a special election to fill the vacancy.”