by Mary Grow

Of the various decisions China selectmen made at their March 2 meeting, they hope one will affect every household in town.

That one is the unanimous vote to contract with Mission Broadband, a telecommunications advisory company with a goal of bringing broadband service to unserved and underserved areas. Company representative John Daugherty and China Broadband Committee spokesman Bob O’Connor explained that Mission Broadband will help China’s Broadband Committee develop and conduct a census of China residents.

“Census,” rather than survey, Town Manager Dennis Heath said, because he hopes to get answers from most town residents, not just a sample. The census will ask people what they know about broadband; whether they have it; whether they want it; and if they want it but don’t have it, whether the problem is cost, lack of access or something else.

Heath said the resulting information will be the basis for evaluating town needs and applying for grants to help expand broadband coverage. He plans to conduct the survey both by mail and on line, and hopes for many responses.

No timetable was set. Heath said developing the survey will take “a few months.” The cost of Mission Broadband’s services, he said, will be $1,900, with town office staff doing the mailing.

Another project that will affect many residents is planned Maine Department of Transportation work on Routes 32 and 137. Selectmen unanimously approved an overlimit permit for trucks working on the roads in case it is needed.

Information on planned road work can be found here: Area roads earmarked for improvements in 2020-21.

Now that the warrant for the April 4 annual town business meeting is in final form, Heath said the next voting opportunity will be June 6. Anyone who wants to propose a local ballot question needs to deliver it to selectmen before their March 16 meeting, he said.

Selectmen reviewed and approved a five-year plan for updates at the transfer station, presented by Transfer Station Committee Chairman Larry Sikora, with the understanding that it can be amended and that expenditures will be approved annually by selectmen and voters.

They questioned the need to heat the Free-for-the-Taking building, but supported adding electricity for lights and so people picking up electrical appliances can test them.

The plan proposes $28,500 in facilities improvements for the fiscal year 2020-21, less than the $50,000 in the recommended transfer station budget, Heath said.

Looking at a more immediate expenditure, selectmen approved taking $7,737.40 from the fire department reserve fund to pay Yankee Communications to install the radio repeater bought with grant money.

They unanimously approved the following appointments:

• Karen Hatch as a member of the Transfer Station Committee; and
• Ann Austin, Eric Austin, Barry Blackinton, Jodi Blackinton and Jeanne Marquis as members of the China for a Lifetime Committee.

Heath believes he has found a way to reduce town buildings’ electricity costs slightly. Selectmen authorized him to continue negotiations and sign a contract if results are satisfactory.

A recommendation from Codes Officer Bill Butler to authorize third-party inspectors for major projects (instead of leaving the responsibility with him) generated several questions. Selectmen decided they need a planning board recommendation, and they need to know whether the authorization would be a policy boards can approve or an ordinance needing voters’ action.

The March 16 China selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office.

by Mary Grow

China selectmen thought they approved the final warrant for the April 4 town business meeting at their Feb. 18 meeting (see The Town Line, Feb. 20).

Afterwards, Town Manager Dennis Heath discovered three needed expenditures that had been overlooked. The selectmen and budget committee therefore met Monday evening, Feb. 24, to approve the final, final warrant.

Both boards quickly accepted the revised figures, which added $35,500 to the amounts previously recommended. Heath explained that the figures were on the budget sheets selectmen and budget committee members reviewed, but the program that translates budget sheets into warrant articles overlooked them. Heath and town office staff spotted the omissions as they did one last warrant review.

The total municipal budget voters will approve or amend is well over $4.3 million, with the selectmen’s and budget committee’s recommended expenditures differing by a little over $2,000 and, Heath emphasizes, sources other than local taxation providing significant income.

At the Feb. 18 meeting, the other major action was approval of a new employment agreement with Heath, after a discussion in executive session. The vote to approve was 3-1, with Wayne Chadwick voting no.

Chadwick later explained he wanted more time to review the contract. He thinks it “has potential long lasting liability for the town,” and he would have liked to ask the town attorney questions about some of the clauses.

In other business Feb. 18, selectmen unanimously signed a new contract with town attorney Amanda Meader, retroactive to Jan. 1.

Heath said he used the new communications network to notify residents during a recent ice storm and during the Spectrum outage. The network has two capabilities, he said. Hyper-Reach sends messages to residents who have signed up, by the medium of their choice, all over town. Accu-Reach automatically calls people in a specific area affected by the emergency, both people who have signed up and people who have a landline with a listed number.

Selectman Donna Mills-Stevens said she has a landline but did not get any calls.

Residents who would like to sign up for emergency notifications should start by clicking on Emergency Preparedness on the left side of the town website and follow instructions under “Sign up for Emergency Alerts from the Town of China.” (Or click here to go directly to the sign-up.)

Selectmen’s seat at stake Tuesday

On Tuesday, March 3, in addition to the state primary elections and referendum vote, China holds a local election to fill the vacant seat on the Selectboard. Candidates are Christopher Hahn, Janet Preston and Kevin Rhoades. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the former portable classroom behind the town office.

The 2020 town business meeting begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 4, at China Middle School, with doors open for check-in at 8:30 a.m. A quorum of 118 registered voters must be present to open the meeting.

Revising earlier bookkeeping (see The Town Line, Feb. 6), Heath transferred expenditures for installing three-phase power at the transfer station from the contingency fund to the transfer station reserve fund. The result is that the $55,000 contingency fund, which voters authorized selectmen to spend for unanticipated expenses, has a balance of more than $46,000, instead of less than $4,000. Selectmen and budget committee members recommend voters approve the same amount for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The manager reported progress on two ongoing projects:

• The state has donated 64 ten-foot planks to be used to upgrade the boat launch at the head of China Lake’s East basin, and the Tax Increment Financing construction subcommittee is preparing to solicit bids for work in the area.
• The Broadband Committee continues to work on plans for a town-wide broadband survey.

At the Feb. 24 joint meeting with the budget committee, after swift agreement on the revised figures, selectmen spent another half hour discussing how the warrant articles should be written.

All but five ask, “To see what sum of money…,” so-called open articles that voters can approve, decrease or increase at the town meeting. Below each article the selectmen’s and budget committee’s recommendations are printed.

The other five – for town administration (Art. 3), fire and rescue services (Art. 9), social services (Art. 13), community support organizations (Art. 14) and Tax Increment Financing expenditures (Art. 19) – ask “To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate” a specified amount. These articles are called capped; voters can approve or reduce them, but they cannot increase the stated appropriation.

Chadwick wants the five capped articles rewritten as open articles. He emphasized that he does not want more money spent, but thinks voters should have the option.

“I hope they don’t vote to raise any of them. I’d encourage people to vote lower numbers. But they ought to have a choice; it’s their money,” Chadwick said.

Breton objected to making the changes, fearing the minority who attend town meetings would increase expenditures enough to raise taxes substantially.

Budget Committee Chairman Robert Batteese observed that for the last 25 years all but one article have been open. Last year, he said, voters added $13,000 to recommended amounts – “That didn’t break the budget.”

After a sometimes acrimonious discussion among selectboard members, Chadwick’s motion to uncap the five articles failed on a 1-1 vote, with Chadwick in favor, Breton opposed and Mills-Stevens and Irene Belanger abstaining.

The next regular China selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, March 2.

by Mary Grow

China Budget Committee members and selectmen have made their final recommendations on the warrant for the April 4 town business meeting, agreeing to disagree on two of the 28 articles.

Pay for three town employees was a major discussion topic at several meetings of each board. Town Manager Dennis Heath recommended making Town Clerk Becky Hapgood and Transfer Station Manager Tim Grotton salaried managers rather then hourly employees, with upward pay adjustments.

He also recommended a substantial raise for Public Works Manager Shawn Reed in recognition of his managerial responsibilities. Because Reed incurs so much necessary overtime driving a plow truck, Heath did not recommend putting him on salary.

After discussion of appropriate pay, considering responsibilities and length of service with the town, the two boards agreed on compensation for Hapgood, which is included in the administration budget, and for Reed, in the public works budget.

They disagreed on how much Grotton should earn. Heath said at the Feb. 18 selectmen’s meeting the budget committee recommended a 10 percent increase in total earnings (including benefits) and the selectmen a 6 percent increase. The result is a difference of a little over $2,000 in recommendations on the transfer station budget.

The other question on which the two boards do not agree is Heath’s proposal to hire a full-time town policeman, whose work would supplement the current part-time coverage at an additional cost of more than $113,000. Selectmen recommend the new position on a 2-1 vote; the budget committee recommends against it on a vote of 1 in favor and 5 against.

Most budget committee recommendations were unanimous, with more abstentions to avoid conflict of interest than dissents. The town meeting warrant records votes on each article, so voters will have a chance to ask who disagreed or abstained and why.

China’s 2020 town business meeting opens at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 4, at China Middle School on Lakeview Drive.