by Mary Grow

When China Planning Board members met virtually Dec. 22 to begin discussion of a new solar ordinance, most of the members had received the template sent in November to Codes Officer Bill Butler only that afternoon. The delay, they surmised, was due to the Nov. 30 change-over in local codes officers, as Butler retired and Jaime Hanson succeeded him.

First, board members decided to postpone discussion until after a more thorough review. Then they began bringing up specific points that had attracted their attention as they skimmed the document. Three-quarters of an hour later, they concluded they had made a good start and adjourned until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.

The planning board has already approved three solar projects in China. Having found difficulties fitting the applications into existing ordinances’ wording and definitions, board members intend to prepare a new ordinance. At the Dec. 22 meeting they doubted it would be ready to go to voters before November 2021.

Kevin Corbett, Vice-President of Construction for SunRaise Investments, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the company behind two of the China projects, said he and attorney Tom Federle, of Portland-based Federle Law, suggest Maine Audubon Society’s models as a basis for local ordinances. (Information is available on the Maine Audubon website, under the heading “Thoughtfully Sited Solar.”)

Board member Toni Wall volunteered to convert the Maine Audubon template into ordinance language. Chairman Randy Downer, who said he has attended some of Maine Audubon’s solar meetings, accepted her offer with appreciation.

The template refers to small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale solar developments. Planning board members debated whether the distinction is needed in China’s ordinance.

The document deals with both individual roof-top solar panels and land-based projects like the ones on Vassalboro Road, off Windsor Road and on Route 3. Board members considered when the board needed to be involved and when the codes officer could make decisions, and what new definitions would be needed and where they would fit in the existing Land Use Ordinance.

Another issue was whether and, if so, in what circumstances solar panels required buffers or setback requirements from neighboring properties. Yet another was what kinds and sizes of solar panels or developments should be allowed in the shoreland zone.

Further review was postponed until, as Downer put it, a “Chinafied” version is ready. Wall plans to distribute her preliminary draft by Jan. 5, 2021, for consideration at the Jan. 12 meeting.

by Mary Grow

China selectmen’s Dec. 7 split decision to ask voters to approve selling the former subdivision on the east side of Lakeview Drive (see The Town Line, Dec. 10) generated renewed and wide-ranging discussion at their Dec. 21 meeting.

The Dec. 21 meeting also saw what was probably a first-ever occurrence: board members considered not appointing someone who volunteered for a town committee. They hesitated not because of any objection to the volunteer, but for fear of overloading the committee.

The Lakeview Drive land, once part of Candlewood Camps, has been town-owned and unused for several years. On Dec. 7, board Chairman Ronald Breton and members Blane Casey and Wayne Chadwick voted to put selling it on the 2021 town meeting warrant. Board members Irene Belanger and Janet Preston were opposed.

Preston put the issue on the Dec. 7 agenda, with a proposal to develop a non-motorized trail system. She brought it up again Dec. 21, seconded during the public comment period by resident Lindsey Harwath and others.

Town records say the lot is 45.3 acres and is valued at $64,600. Town Manager Becky Hapgood believes the town-owned land is just over 39 acres; almost six acres still belong with the land on the west side of Lakeview Drive.

Reasons for selling the land include adding its value to the tax rolls (as town-owned property, it pays no taxes) and eliminating any need for town maintenance or any possibility of town liability.

Preston presented figures from town records showing that as a single lot in private ownership, the land would bring each taxpayer about 30 cents a year in tax revenue. If the land were subdivided, and if the lots were comparable to those on nearby Tarybelu Lane, each China taxpayer would gain between $12 and $13 annually from private ownership.

She and Harwath pointed out that the previous owners gave the land to China because they could not sell the subdivision lots they had mapped out.

There was consensus that the prevalence of wetlands made it hard to site a road and house lots with space for wells and septic systems. The wetlands might be an attraction for a nonprofit organization or wildlife enthusiasts, resident Gina Hoang suggested.

Harwath has a poll on the town’s Facebook page asking about the selectmen’s decision. She said so far most who reply oppose selling the land, and said she found it “disheartening” that selectmen acted without consulting townspeople or other committees.

Selectman Chadwick preferred to get residents’ opinion through a vote at town meeting rather than a Facebook poll, though he and Preston agreed neither result would represent a numerical majority.

Selectman Casey believes the town is short of volunteers to maintain its existing recreational areas, Thurston Park in northeastern China and the town forest behind China Primary School. Harwath said China’s comprehensive plan has consistently called for more recreational space, and plan-related polls show a high level of support for the recommendation.

That comment led to a short review of ways the comprehensive plan is implemented, with resident Jamie Pitney remembering the now-inactive Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee. A revised plan currently awaits voter approval.

Preston and Harwath intend to continue working on plans and public information to support keeping the land for recreation. At this point selectmen have not changed their decision to ask town meeting voters to authorize a sale.

The briefly controversial appointment of James “J. J.” Wentworth as the 10th member of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee was approved on a 4-1 vote. Casey, who voted no, emphasized that he has absolutely no problem with Wentworth; he was supporting the concern of committee Chairman Tom Michaud that 10 members are too many.

Selectmen and others agreed an oversized committee could become ineffective, and an even number can create difficulties when there is disagreement. However, Breton said, the TIF Committee has no policy limiting members.

Hapgood said on principle no volunteer should be discouraged, since there are seldom enough of them; and added that Wentworth, from southeastern China, would add geographic diversity. She further pointed out that it is unusual to have all members of a committee present at a meeting.

The selectmen’s solution was to appoint Wentworth and to recommend that committee members quickly prepare an appropriate policy covering membership and other issues. If the policy specifies no more than nine members, whoever resigns next will not be replaced, Michaud said.

Selectmen appointed Scott Rollins to the vacant District 4 Planning Board seat without debate.

In other business Dec. 21:

• Selectmen unanimously authorized continuing the single-sheet newsletters from the town office twice a month for the next six months, at an estimated cost of $5,100 to be taken from the $55,000 contingency fund town meeting voters approved. Various alternatives were considered; board members concluded none would reach as many residents as the mailings do.
• Selectmen postponed approval of the Request for Proposals for expanded broadband service, presented by the Broadband Committee, because not all board members had received a copy. The RFP will be on the agenda for a special Dec. 28 selectmen’s meeting. Broadband Committee members hope for approval that evening so they can publicize the RFP Dec. 29.

The Dec. 28 special meeting, to begin at 6:30 p.m. by Zoom, had already been scheduled to give board members more time to discuss Hapgood’s proposed updates to the town personnel policy.

The China selectmen’s January schedule includes a regular meeting Monday evening, Jan. 4; a special meeting Monday evening, Jan. 11; and a regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19 (postponed from the usual Monday because Jan. 18 is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and the town office will be closed).

by Mary Grow

China’s Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Committee members met virtually Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 to begin discussion of a proposed Amendment 2 to China’s TIF document. Progress was so slow that they scheduled another meeting for Dec. 15.

The Dec. 1 meeting was a budget workshop to consider reallocating funds among TIF projects. Committee members said the causeway project at the head of China Lake’s east basin is over budget, but no money has been spent from other accounts, like one to promote the town “as a business location” and one for job training.

On Dec. 8 committee members started discussing revising the list of projects, including adding new items eligible for TIF funding. Two proposed additions are expanded broadband service, made legal under revised state TIF regulations, and water quality.

Committee members can also recommend deleting project accounts.

The first item discussed Dec. 8 deals with improvements at the causeway at the north end of China Lake and the South China boat landing at the south end. The TIF plan estimates a $650,000 total cost for both. Pitney and Town Manager Becky Hapgood, who is treasurer for the town and for TIF, expect the causeway project alone to cost close to $1 million.

Committee Chairman Tom Michaud reported the project should be done within a week, weather permitting, except for paving that will be postponed to spring because paving plants have closed for the winter. The first phase involved building a new bridge across the head of the lake. The current phase includes installing sidewalks, more appropriate guardrails and shoreline riprap and improving the boat landing east of the bridge.

No money has been spent on the South China boat landing. Part of the Dec. 8 discussion was whether any should be, with non-committee-members Ronald Breton, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and Scott Pierz, president of the China Lake Association (CLA) and China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA), joining.

Breton and Pitney recommend deleting funding for the landing. The town owns only a 50-foot-wide roadway to the water and cannot acquire adjoining property; access is steep, with little or no room for maneuvering or parking vehicles; and the water is shallow for a good distance from the shore, they said.

Pierz said whether or not the landing is maintained, erosion control measures are urgently needed.

New TIF Committee member Michael “Mickey” Wing proposed a compromise, maintaining the area as a carry-in launch for canoes and kayaks.

The second, very specific, item on the current project list calls for using town property, and buying adjoining property if needed, on Fire Road 44 to develop a commercial site for either a “research/laboratory and/or facility developing products or services related to improving water quality and fisheries to inland waters.”

Fire Road 44 goes to the east shore of China Lake opposite Alder Park Road, just south of the town office complex. The TIF plan says the town owns the road; Pierz said the town discontinued the road, maintaining a public right of way. The plan further says town-owned land there is already used “for summer conservation programs performing water quality projects.”

This project is funded for $550,000 in the TIF document. Committee members agreed it should be either deleted or reworded more broadly, but postponed a decision on which alternative to recommend.

There was general agreement, too, on recommending that projects that promote water quality be made eligible for TIF funding. The Dec. 8 discussion focused on whether TIF money could and should be used to assist the CRLA with its Youth Conservation Corps run-off control work and its Courtesy Boat Inspection program, and to support the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI). ARI’s goal is to allow alewives access to China Lake by removing or modifying dams on Outlet Stream in Vassalboro.

One issue was whether TIF money should fund ongoing operations, like supporting a salary for the China Region Lakes Alliance director. If it did, Pitney asked, what would happen when the TIF ends in 2044?

Another issue was whether the Alewife Restoration Project (ARI) is a legitimate beneficiary. Not only is the work outside China’s boundaries, but, Pitney said, although the work has environmental benefits, its supporters do not guarantee China Lake water quality improvements.

The list of TIF-eligible projects under the current plan is on the town website, china.govoffice.com, under Tax Increment Finance Committee, sub-heading 2017 TIF First Amendment, pages 4 and 5.

Committee members still have to discuss projects under the heading of Community-Wide Municipal Investments. The larger ones are money for “The Town of China Community and Development Economic Development Department” ($55,000 a year); for events like China Days ($20,000 a year); for the revolving loan program for new and expanding businesses ($30,000 a year); for recreational trails “with significant potential to promote economic development” ($38,000 a year); and to provide matching funds for grants that help achieve TIF goals ($100,000 a year).

Committee members are also considering trying to add wording that would let China’s Board of Selectmen reassign funds from one project to another without voter approval. They do not know whether state officials would accept such a provision.

The TIF Committee will mee at 6 p.m.,Thurs., Dec. 17, to continue discussion of changes to China’s TIF document. The meeting will be virtual.

The China Planning Board will meet at 6:30 p.m., Tues., Dec. 22. The meeting, rescheduled from Dec. 8 to technology limitations, will be virtual.

Background on China’s Tax Increment Financing Program

China’s original TIF document was approved at the March 21, 2015, town business meeting, with funding to come from taxes on Central Maine Power Company’s north-south transmission line through China. Amendment 1 was approved two years later. It extended the TIF from 30 to 40 years and added taxes on the CMP substation in South China as a second revenue source.

Revenues come in as CMP pays taxes over the years, so the total amount appropriated for a category is not available immediately. New committee member Jamie Pitney pointed out that funding varies slightly from year to year as the tax rate changes, and would decline drastically if, for example, CMP discontinued the power line.

Any TIF Committee recommendations to change the TIF program are made to selectmen, who decide whether to present them to voters and hold a public hearing if they do so decide. To take effect, changes need voter approval, perhaps at the planned May 18 town business meeting, and acceptance by the state Department of Economic and Community Development.