by Mary Grow

China selectmen spent the most time during their Jan. 4 virtual meeting on two issues, one of which was on the agenda.

That issue was the request from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee to hire a Portland attorney to assist with preparation of China’s proposed revised TIF document (see related story, linked here).

Board Chairman Ronald Breton made a motion not to hire the Portland attorney. He said town attorney Amanda Meader also has experience with TIF documents, her hourly rate is lower and she is familiar with China.

Board members Blane Casey and Janet Preston thought the attorney could be paid from TIF funds. Breton said no; the money would come from the town’s already-overspent legal account.

Town Manager Becky Hapgood confirmed the $20,000 voters approved in March 2020 for legal expenses is gone, and $1,522 more. The legal reserve fund, saved from inexpensive years to cover expensive ones, has about $9,000 in it, she said.

Selectmen voted unanimously not to contract with the Portland attorney. Breton then made a motion to ask Meader if she would work on the TIF document. At Casey’s suggestion, he added the provision that she would be paid no more than is in the legal reserve fund. But, he said, the selectmen’s contingency fund, approved in March 2020 at $55,000, could provide back-up money if needed.

Meanwhile, TIF Committee member Jamie Pitney was waving his hand and shaking his head vigorously. Breton, who was participating by telephone due to computer problems, could not see him. After the third time Hapgood said, “Jamie wants to speak,” Breton polled the board and, when no one objected, allowed Pitney to speak outside the public comment period.

Pitney said if voters approve the planned amendments to the TIF document at the annual town meeting, there will be a TIF legal fund.

Before the unanimous vote to contact Meader, TIF Committee Chairman Tom Michaud was also allowed to speak. He told selectmen committee members will write the revised document; the attorney will need only to review it.

The second well-discussed issue was conflict of interest, raised by Breton in response to an email from Scott Pierz. Pierz, president of the China Lake Association, explained during the public comment period that he believes Michaud, Pitney and Daniel Boivin, members of the association board of directors and of the TIF Committee, should abstain on TIF Committee votes on funding the lake association.

The three men represent the China public on the TIF Committee to which selectmen have appointed them, but they also have responsibilities to the private organization, in Pierz’s view. He does not object to their contributing to discussion, only to their voting.

Breton went further. He said people with a conflict of interest should not participate in discussion related to their other responsibility, and that members of a committee’s subcommittee should not vote on the subcommittee’s recommendations in the full committee. Doing so gives them a double vote, he said.

Pitney offered a more restrictive view, saying conflict of interest arises when an individual has a direct financial interest in a board decision. When people have overlapping positions, for example as a TIF Committee member and a lake association director, they should say so, he added.

No action was taken. The desirability of written policies was suggested.

In other business Jan. 4:

• Overriding their Dec. 21 informal decision to accept Selectman Irene Belanger’s offer to represent the selectboard on the Broadband Committee (the committee unanimously requested a selectboard member as liaison), board members voted 4-0 to appoint Selectman Janet Preston as a non-voting committee member. Hapgood pointed out that Belanger has other committee responsibilities, and said Preston, who abstained on the vote, had expressed interest.
• By a 4-1 vote with Wayne Chadwick opposed, board members re-approved the town’s tobacco-free policy. Hapgood said the policy replicates the November 2015 Tobacco Free/Tobacco Litter Free Ordinance, which essentially says nobody can smoke anything anywhere on town property. Chadwick, remembering his former life as a smoker, said it is unfair to make employees work for eight hours or more without a cigarette break.
• In preparation for 2021-22 budget discussions, selectmen briefly considered new projects they might propose, like Preston’s suggestions of a farmers’ market or a community garden.

Hapgood relayed reports from town departments. Highlights included:

• Beginning in February, the town office will return to its pre-pandemic Saturday schedule, open every Saturday from 8 to 11 a,m. It will also be open the last Saturday in January, Jan. 30. Residents are still encouraged to do as much business on line as possible.
• Town Clerk Angela Nelson reported China has 3,185 registered voters as of the beginning of 2021. The quorum requirement for an open town meeting is therefore 128.
• Assistant assessing agent Kelly Grotton plans to send letters to new homeowners in town reminding them of the state homestead exemption that reduces some people’s property taxes. Other year-round homeowners who do not receive the exemption can inquire about their eligibility.
• Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 directors have scheduled the 2021 meeting to vote on the 2021-22 school budget for Thursday evening, March 20, in Oakland. The written-ballot budget validation referendum will be Tuesday, June 8.

Breton urged board members to attend the March 20 meeting. He pointed out that selectmen do not get information from China’s RSU board members, Dawn Castner and Neil Farrington. Preston suggested inviting them to a selectmen’s meeting, and Belanger said she attends RSU board meetings regularly.

Budget consideration is slated to begin at a special meeting with the budget committee at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 11. The budget discussion will be followed by Hapgood’s annual performance review, in executive session.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 19, because the town office will be closed Monday, Jan. 18, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

by Mary Grow

China Broadband Committee members unanimously adopted two motions on the agenda for their Dec. 16 meeting. Both required approval from China selectmen, who postponed action on the major one.

The major committee action was acceptance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for expanded broadband service in China, prepared by consultants Mission Broadband. The 27-page RFP and supporting documents are posted under the Broadband Committee on the China website, china.govoffice.com.

The RFP, to be distributed as widely as possible, invites interested parties to propose ways to provide improved and expanded internet access. All technologies will be considered. One of the accompanying documents is a scoring matrix intended to help Mission Broadband personnel compare replies.

Consultants and committee members planned on selectmen’s approval Dec. 21 and distribution of the RFP Monday, Dec. 28. The deadline for submitting bids is 3:45 p.m., Jan. 31, 2021. They expect potential bidders to have questions and are allowing time for answers.

However, not all selectmen received the draft before the afternoon of Dec. 21. With so little time to review it, they postponed action to a special meeting scheduled for Dec. 28.

Broadband Committee members agreed that, if selectmen approved on Dec. 28, distribution Dec. 29 would give bidders adequate time.

Mark van Loan from Mission Broadband said assuming a proposal is recommended by the committee, put on the May 18 annual town business meeting agenda by the selectmen and approved by voters, work could begin by July 2021.

The second motion on the Dec. 16 Broadband Committee agenda was to ask selectmen to choose one of their number to serve on the Broadband Committee. At the Dec. 21 selectmen’s meeting, Selectman Irene Belanger volunteered and was promptly accepted.

The next Broadband Committee meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11.

Selectmen approve RFP

China selectmen unanimously approved the Broadband Committee’s RFP at their Dec. 28 meeting, after 10 minutes of clarifications. Board Chairman Ronald Breton wanted assurance the contract issued to a successful bidder would include financial incentives to finish the work completely and on time; and Selectman Wayne Chadwick wanted a guarantee of lower rates for broadband users, for at least the first few years, after an improved system was in place.

Broadband Committee Chairman Robert O’Connor said John Dougherty of MissionBroadband told him the organization’s standard recommended contracts include penalties for missing the final deadline and withholding of full payment until work is completed.

The question of guaranteed rates would now be part of discussions with bidders, O’Connor said.

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).