Committee has been reviewing “very different and very complicated proposals”

by Mary Grow

After their two-hour discussion Feb. 18 (see The Town Line, Feb. 25, p. 3), China Broadband Committee (CBC) members spent more than four hours interviewing representatives of three broadband program vendors, with brief intervals of committee reaction, on Feb. 22; and talked another three-quarters of an hour in a time-limited (to allow another committee to meet) Feb. 24 meeting.

They hoped the result would be a recommendation to China selectmen to choose one of the three vendors with whom to negotiate about expanding and improving broadband service.

Instead, the document they approved unanimously for submission to the selectboard’s March 1 meeting contains information about each vendor’s proposal, with no recommendation to prefer one over another. The three vendors are Axiom Technologies, of Machias, Maine; Sertex Broadband Solutions, of Plainfield, Connecticut; and Spectrum Community Solutions, of Augusta, Maine.

A second document, at committee member Jamie Pitney’s insistence, was a request that selectmen include $25,000 in the 2021-22 budget as a first payment on a broadband development fund that will eventually begin to cover a town share of costs.

One factor contributing to CBC members’ difficulty in getting to a recommendation is that the committee has been reviewing “very different and very complicated proposals,” as committee member Tod Detre said during the Feb. 24 discussion. Axiom and Sertex offer similar programs, building networks from scratch with the town ultimately to own the system. Spectrum’s proposal, until Feb. 24, was to extend its existing system in China and to retain ownership under contract with the town.

Its original plan included China borrowing via a bond, and Pitney, who is an attorney specializing in public finance, doubted the legality of bonding for a contract that would not give the town ownership.

A second reason for delaying a recommendation came up just before the Feb. 24 meeting: committee members received notice from Spectrum that a revised proposal that would result in town ownership was in the works.

Detre asked if the revised proposal was the equivalent of a new or late submission and would therefore justify accepting proposals from other vendors who missed, or requested an extension of, the Dec. 31 deadline that Axiom, Sertex and Spectrum met. The committee majority was willing to see Spectrum’s fleshed-out proposal before answering the question.

Consequently, they concluded they could not recommend either Spectrum nor one of the other vendors until they had Spectrum’s updated proposal.

Some of the information from the Feb. 22 interviews:

• Mark Ouellette, President of Axiom Technologies, said municipal ownership of the system has a big advantage: if townspeople are dissatisfied, they can kick out the service provider and contract with someone else. However, he was confident that if Axiom were chosen, their “world-class service” would attract significant numbers of customers, new ones and Spectrum’s.

Axiom offers tiered service, with monthly charges of $60, $70 or $100. Committee members saw no additional costs. Once the bond proposed to fund the project is paid off, presumably in 20 years, town voters could use the freed-up money for other town purposes or projects or to reduce users’ monthly fees.

• Mike Solitro, President of Sertex Broadband Solutions, said his company provides prompt service in case, for example, a tree falls on a broadband line, by hiring local linemen and technicians to be on call. In post-interview discussion, Detre said Sertex’s monthly fee for users would be around $70, comparable to Axiom’s.
• Ben Topor, Spectrum Community Solutions’ Vice-President in charge of the northeast division, said Spectrum is the second-largest cable provider in the United States. Spectrum, like the other two, would provide service to an estimated 120 unserved households, extending its current system. It offers a $29.95 monthly fee that would increase by 4% a year.

However, committee members pointed out in discussion, the $29.95 is misleading in two ways. It assumes every household, estimated at 2,300, sign up, to generate the income Spectrum expects; and it omits money the town would need to spend to hire a firm to do billing, estimated to be at least $20 per month per household.

The China Broadband Committee has scheduled its next meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4, by zoom. The main agenda item is review of the revised proposal from Spectrum Community Solutions, which committee members expect to receive on March 3.

by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members decided at their Feb. 23 meeting neither of two ordinances they are working on would be ready for a vote at the June 8 town business meeting.

They hope by November to have a new solar ordinance, and probably an addition to the Land Use Ordinance dealing with shoreland stabilization, ready for voters’ action.

The new solar ordinance is a fairly complete draft, but board members continue to tweak it. The basic wording is taken from a Maine Audubon Society document that board member Toni Wall converted to ordinance form and she and the rest of the board adapted to China’s needs.

For example, the Town of China has only four districts. All land not in a shoreland, stream protection or resource protection district is in the rural district. Board members had adjusted the Audubon district list at an earlier meeting; on Feb. 23, they also amended the permitting process for solar projects in the three protective districts.

In related decisions, they redefined the size of projects, enlarging those classified as small or medium for permitting purposes. The initial definition of a small ground-mounted project as less than 100 square feet was changed to allow up to 500 square feet, for example.

Board members talked about how tall solar panels should stand. Most in Maine have lower edges about three feet from the ground, but Codes Officer Jaime Hanson said in other states, panels stand five feet above the ground to allow crops to be grown underneath them.

They discussed whether any of the equipment in a large commercial solar project would make noise, and if so how to deal with it. Board Chairman Randy Downer said noise was a concern to neighbors as the board reviewed the previously-approved project on Route 3.

The second proposed change in town ordinances, regulation of shoreland stabilization projects, would require local provisions adding to state requirements, because China currently uses state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) standards. Hanson described them as a “functional product” that controls run-off into water bodies.

Board members are considering drafting provisions that would exceed the DEP regulation by considering aesthetics and special ecological protections. Their initial focus was on China Lake; they postponed answering Downer’s question about including China’s share of the Three Mile Pond shoreline.

Board member Scott Rollins referred them to the website of the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC), which regulates land use in Maine’s unorganized territories. The other board members agreed they should read relevant parts.

Board members unanimously approved Downer’s suggestion that he ask a limnologist to offer advice. He has a person in mind, and if she is not available knows where to find others. (A limnologist is an expert on all scientific aspects of inland waters.)

As part of his report to the planning board, Hanson said he has completed the course of study required to become a certified local health officer.

The next China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 9.

by Mary Grow

China Broadband Committee (CBC) members discussed competing proposals to improve China’s broadband service for more than two hours Feb. 18, in preparation for virtual interviews with vendors starting at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, and a recommendation at a virtual CBC meeting scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.

The recommendation will go to China selectmen for review at their meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 1.

The three vendors under consideration are Axiom Technologies, of Machias, Maine; Sertex Broadband Solutions, of Plainfield, Connecticut; and Spectrum Community Solutions, of Augusta, Maine.

The only substantive action at the Feb. 18 CBC meeting was a unanimous vote to reject a bid that was submitted after the Jan. 31 deadline for replies to the request for proposals.

Consultants Mark Van Loan and John Dougherty, of Mission Broadband, had received replies to questions they asked of the three competing companies. Two had come in the afternoon of the meeting, and Van Loan said he uploaded them to Sharepoint for committee review.

However, the automatic notice from Sharepont to committee members was evidently not enabled, so they had not seen the responses. They agreed they needed more time and more information to prepare a complete comparison of the plans.

Axiom and Sertex both propose a new town-wide system that would become town-owned. Spectrum, which already provides many China residents with broadband, telephone and/or television, would expand its existing network and continue to own it.

Spectrum has not indicated how long it would take to extend service. Sertex proposes complete installation in two years. Axiom proposes up to a year’s work after engineering plans are complete, a task committee member Jamie Pitney estimated would take a minimum of six months.

One item discussed at length was the cost to consumers, as well as it could be projected from available information. A subtopic was whether, if Spectrum were chosen, payment would come entirely from Spectrum customers, from local taxes or from a combination of the two.

Another major concern was how each company’s proposed technology would adapt to future technological changes, which consultants and committee members consider inevitable, and what if any additional costs would be generated.

If a proposal is to be presented at the June 8 town business meeting, committee members discussed whether they will have time to negotiate with the selected company and to explain their choice to voters. They considered postponing a ballot question to November.

by Mary Grow

China Budget Committee members held their first meeting on the proposed 2021-22 town budget Wednesday evening, Feb. 10. Town Manager Becky Hapgood presented the selectmen’s recommendations, expecting no immediate decisions.

Four topics drew brief discussion.

• Committee member Elizabeth Curtis queried the request for funds for a building in the China School Forest behind China Primary School. Hapgood replied that proponent Anita Smith foresees using it for year-round programs for children and adults and for storing forest-related equipment and supplies. Smith had given no estimate of the number of people who might use the building.
• Hapgood summarized the proposal to eliminate the local police force and instead contract for Kennebec County Sheriff’s deputies to cover China 10 hours a week, in addition to the regular patrols. She explained that the part-time officers from other departments who make up China’s local police often lack time to work as many hours as expected.
• Committee Chairman Robert Batteese asked whether Palermo’s contributions for use of the China transfer station cover costs. Hapgood said selectmen planned to review the contract with Palermo at their Feb. 16 meeting and to talk with Palermo officials.
• Hapgood said if China repaves the planned five miles of town road in 2021, repaving will be behind schedule. In 2020, she said, six miles of repaving were initially scheduled and four miles were done.

Budget committee members were still waiting for final recommendations from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee on TIF contributions to the 2021-22 budget, and for bills from Kennebec County and FirstPark, in Oakland. The TIF Committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday evening, Feb. 17.

Committee members decided their next meeting should be to review the selectmen’s warrant for what was then expected to be the May 18 town business meeting, and discussed alternate dates depending on when selectmen put the warrant in final form.

However, selectmen at their Feb. 16 meeting rescheduled the town business meeting from May 18 to Tuesday, June 8, extending deadlines for pre-meeting preparations.