China town clerk: Get funding reports in soon; late fee now in place for dog licenses

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by Mary Grow

Town Clerk Rebecca Hapgood had three messages for residents and selectmen at the Feb. 4 selectmen’s meeting.

One was a reminder that any group that has not submitted its fiscal year 2017-18 report to be included in the 2018 town report needs to do so immediately.

Another was that dog licenses have a $25 late fee added as of Feb. 1, and it isn’t the town’s fault – it’s state law.

And, Hapgood assured selectmen, residents are watching their meetings on line and have told her how much they appreciate being able to follow town affairs on their own schedule. Most public meetings, including the selectboard, planning board and budget committee, are live-streamed and recorded. To watch a past meeting, anyone interested in viewing them should click here.

Selectmen also heard a presentation on the school forest behind China Primary School from Anita Smith. She and fellow retired teacher Elaine Philbrook have supervised maintenance and uses of the property for more than 20 years.

The forest has three main purposes, Smith said: education and recreation for all area residents, including, but by no means limited to students; display of the forest as a “dynamic ecosystem”; and, as a working forest, provision of natural resources, notably wood.

The forest has 20 outdoor classrooms and multiple trails. Signs provide directions and point out significant features.

Smith pointed out that the forest does not depend on tax money, but funds activities through proceeds from timber-harvesting and private organizations’ and state grants. She and Philbrook also welcome gifts of labor and relevant materials; for example, she said, Erskine Academy students and Eagle Scout candidates have worked on trails and facilities, and Inland Hospital donated enough snowshoes to outfit two classes at a time.

Another timber harvest is about due, Smith said. The most recent was early in 1998, to clean up after the ice storm.

Pending grants from Project Canopy and the Oak Grove Foundation will be used to replace the roof over the reading tree, one of the early improvements on the property.

Smith sees the property as an asset to China and the surrounding area and as a model for other towns and school units.

Selectman Ronald Breton encouraged her to ask for more help from the town public works crew and suggested she request an annual appropriation.

In other business, selectmen unanimously approved a Boston Post Cane policy setting out requirements and procedures for choosing the town’s oldest known resident.

Recommendations are welcome; the recipient must have been a resident for at least 25 of the previous 40 years.

They also approved the revised personnel policy on which they have worked for several weeks.

Because their next regular meeting would have fallen on Presidents Day, Feb. 18, when the town office is closed, they moved it to Tuesday evening, Feb. 19.

TIF members approve proposed spending

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by Mary Grow

Members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee approved their proposed 2019-2020 expenditures unanimously at a Jan. 28 meeting.

The total to be taken from TIF revenues is a little more than $457,000. The largest amount, more than $200,000, is designated for Phase Two of the causeway road project at the head of China Lake’s east basin.

The committee had no update on plans for Phase Two, which is intended to make the area between the new bridge (Phase One) and the boat landing more usable for fishing and other recreation.

Town Manager Dennis Heath said Phase One will be finished in the spring, when the final coat of paving is applied to the road. At the same time, he said, the town plans to grant the China Baptist Church trustees’ request to fill potholes in their parking lot caused by construction equipment parked there.

The next-largest expense category in the TIF budget benefits China Lake: $50,000 to the China Lake Association’s LakeSmart program, half designated for improvements to three camp roads identified in 2016 as sources of run-off, and $20,000 to the China Region Lakes Alliance.

If voters approve the budget as presented, Thurston Park is slated to get $52,000 for maintenance and the China Four Seasons Club $50,000 for trail work.

Frank Soares, temporarily abandoning the TIF Committee chairman’s gavel to speak for the club, said the trail work will be spread over two years, repairing two sections of the power line trail north of Cross Road, parallel to Lakeview Drive.

TIF money comes from taxes paid by Central Maine Power Company on the power line and the substation in South China. Committee member Stephen Nichols commented it seemed fair to use CMP’s money on CMP’s right-of-way.

In other business, committee members talked about the revolving loan fund being developed with the assistance of the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments and decided they should meet with the KVCOG staff member involved in the program.

They scheduled their next meeting for Monday evening, Feb. 25.

Town manager presents detailed budget proposal; Final resident input tentatively set for Feb. 5

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by Mary Grow

China Budget Committee members and an audience that included town employees and volunteer firefighters heard Town Manager Dennis Heath’s detailed presentation of his proposed 2019-2020 budget at a Jan. 23 meeting.

Heath gave selectmen the same information at their Jan. 17 budget workshop. Currently, selectmen are scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, to put the April 6 town business meeting warrant in final form. If all goes as scheduled, that meeting will be the final chance for residents to try to influence selectmen’s budget recommendations.

Budget committee members will meet again on Feb. 11 to make their recommendations on each proposed expenditure, supporting the selectmen or suggesting voters approve a different amount.

Among points Heath and others made at the Jan. 23 meeting:

  • The proposed budget does not fund a cost of living or other across the board raise for town employees. Instead, there is money for merit raises and for bonuses (for example, holiday gifts).
  • Funds are included for the new part-time codes officer’s position, planned to become full-time when current Codes Officer Paul Mitnik retires at the end of 2019. No one has been hired yet; Heath said as of Jan. 23 no candidates had been interviewed.
  • The police and animal control budget is increased to cover expected higher costs for police dispatching if China has to change from the state’s Regional Communications Center to the Augusta Police Department and buy updated radios.
  • Heath recommends $6,000 for China’s Economic Development Committee. Asked by Budget Committee Secretary Jean Conway if the committee is active, the manager replied, “No, but it will be.”
  • Scott Pierz, who is involved in both the China Lake Association and the China Region Lakes Alliance, asked for $25,000 to make improvements to three fire roads identified in a 2016 survey as contributing run-off to China Lake. Budget committee member Wayne Chadwick asked Pierz to try to set up cost-sharing arrangements with the shorefront owners responsible for the roads.

Selectmen give OK for appraisal on Bailey property

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 22 meeting, China selectmen unanimously authorized Town Manager Dennis Heath to have an appraisal done on part of Susan Bailey’s much-discussed property at the head of China Lake’s east basin. The manager expects the appraisal to give selectmen a basis for further negotiations with Bailey.

Bailey owns two pieces of land: about 6.2 acres across Causeway Street from the boat landing, used for unofficial parking, and a larger piece on the far side of Lakeview Drive. Selectmen and Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Committee members would like to acquire the smaller piece and make the parking official.

In the past, they were told that the two parcels could not be separated. Heath said at the Jan. 28 TIF Committee meeting they now can be, because after the house on the larger property burned, the insurance paid off the mortgage on the whole property.

Heath also told the TIF Committee getting the appraisal is “a little more complicated than I would have liked.” He is seeking a commercial appraisal; the first appraiser he heard from would have charged $2,800, compared to Heath’s initial estimate of $500 or so. Heath is seeking other quotes.

In November 2016 voters approved using up to $10,000 in TIF funds to buy the smaller piece. At the Jan. 22 selectmen’s meeting, Heath said the town’s valuation is about $1,700, because only about half an acre is dry enough to be usable.

Selectmen also approved unanimously Heath’s proposal to get a design and cost estimate for adding a climate-controlled records storage space, probably a new 12-by-12-foot room on the south side of the town office meeting room.

The current area is about four-by-eight feet, Heath estimated, and is full. State law requires municipalities to keep a variety of documents, some forever. The proposed new room would accommodate the present collection and future additions.

In other business Jan. 19:

  • Heath announced the schedule of March pre-town meeting informational sessions on the 2019-2020 budget, as follows: Wednesday, March 20, at 6 p.m. at Erskine Academy, on Windsor Road; Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m. at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, on Main Street in China Village; and Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in the town office meeting room. The annual town business meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, April 6.
  • Board members reappointed Selectman Irene Belanger a member of the town Forestry Committee, with Belanger abstaining on the vote.
  • In response to an earlier selectmen’s discussion of comparative costs of crushing glass versus adding it to the mixed waste in the hopper, Transfer Station Manager Tim Grotton reported crushing costs a maximum of $30 per ton, versus $92 per ton to treat glass as mixed waste.

Selectmen postponed action on three items: Heath’s draft policy for awarding China’s Boston Post cane, to allow time to make sure it conforms to the publisher’s original intent in 1909; Heath’s proposal to create a new parks committee, expanding the Thurston Park Committee’s jurisdiction to the town forest behind China Primary School; and the revised personnel policy they have deliberated at past meetings and a special workshop.

The next scheduled selectmen’s meetings are a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, and a budget workshop at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The goat farmer who grabs life by the horns

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Brandon Holmes, with one of his goats, at 3 Level Farm, in South China. (contributed photo)

by Emily Cates

Can farming save a life? Is there redemption in working with one’s hands and caring for Earth’s creatures? The answer to these questions may be found in the life and experiences of an apprentice at a local farm right here in China, Maine.

This past December, I had the privilege of meeting Brandon Holmes – an intelligent, fun-loving, motivated person with a passion for the natural world. Right away, he made an impression as an authentic human being who has overcome unimaginable obstacles to get to where he is in life.

As I interviewed him in the apprentice cabin at 3 Level Farm, I was struck by how his story is about more than a simple goat farmer. It’s one about redemption and seizing life by the horns. It’s a story about the power of the individual to change his own life, and the power of the community to support him. Brandon is living proof that connecting with the earth can be one of the most compelling positive forces a person can experience.

Reflecting on his journeys in life that took him from a job at Harvard, to homelessness, to finally finding meaning in a simple life on a farm in rural Maine, Brandon fearlessly recounted his life with the perspective of someone who has experienced much more than a typical thirty-something.

In the early 2000s, at age 13, he started his own computer business and became financially successful, picking up his first major client at only 15 years old. Eventually, his skills and expertise landed him a job at Harvard University, despite the new and destructive habits which he was already developing.

He says, “There was lots of money flowing around, and with it comes a certain lifestyle – including lots of alcohol and other party drugs…at first it seemed to give me the world.”

Ultimately, Brandon became a victim of his own success and developed a severe addiction to alcohol. After several warnings from his employer, Brandon chose alcohol over job security and moved to Maine. Though now closer in proximity to his family, he found himself homeless.

“Stitching together several different jobs, couch surfing with lots of different friends,” he relates, “I was just a mess, basically drunk for 12 years, from the time I got up to the time I passed out at night.”

Even moving to Michigan, becoming a father, and an interlude of sobriety did not provide him with relief from his downward spiral.

He confesses, “My rock bottoms all had trap doors.”

Unfortunately, he resumed heavy drinking and ended up serving 17 months in maximum security prison for assaulting an officer while intoxicated.

After he was released from prison, Brandon found it difficult to obtain employment due to his felony status. Eventually, he moved back to Maine, and in 2017 he started helping his mother run a restaurant.

However, as he recalled, “Things didn’t go as planned…so I started drinking again and fell into a very serious depression. I ended up overdosing on all my medication and spending nine days in the intensive care unit.”

Following that harrowing experience, Brandon was finally willing to commit himself to a six-month recovery and work program in Portland, sponsored by the Salvation Army. By going through this and several other programs, focused on addiction and recovery, he realized he had to make radical changes in his life.

As he contemplated the benefits of a simple, healthful life, he thought of the idea to apprentice on a farm. Research through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Asso­cia­tion’s apprenticeship program yielded a farm in Freeport that was a match for him, and he applied for the position. To his relief, he was accepted even though he had a criminal background. A new chapter of his life was about to unfold, beginning a journey that would acquaint him with the natural world and begin his healing process.

After finishing the first year of his apprenticeship in Freeport, he continued his second year at 3 Level Farm, in South China.

When he arrived at 3 Level Farm last January, one of Brandon’s first assignments was to observe the moon. “It was really a fun approach to connecting with nature,” he says. Mindfulness of the four directions (north, south, east, and west) was also very grounding and orientating for him. Most importantly, it was essential for him to be a part of a thoughtful community that provided the opportunity to be his best, and who encouraged him when he wasn’t.

Since Brandon has demonstrated the dedication and determination necessary to live a sober life, others in his community have taken notice and supported his decision. On one occasion, when he had a relapse with alcohol, the farmer he had apprenticed for handled it effectively and with compassion. Brandon has since been successful in his recovery as a result of this understanding, realizing that the people around him really care and want him to succeed. Most importantly, his personal resolve to deal with life without succumbing to addiction keeps him moving forward.

Since I also write The Town Line’s garden column, Garden Works, I had to ask Brandon, what is his approach to farming? In Brandon’s mind, good health through a holistic approach to tending the land and to one’s body are inseparable. Just as the health of the soil and its fruitage depends on being properly nourished and taken care of, he believes the same is true with our bodies. By keeping this in mind, he has been able to improve his own physical and mental health dramatically. He even lost 90 pounds!

He takes a similar approach with the creatures in his care. He always ensures his animals aren’t stressed, whether it involves their diet or their mental health and well-being. “I muck the barn once a week so that they’re not in their own squalor, and to keep virus and parasite loads down,” he says. Rotational pasturing also contributes to the health of his herd.

Most importantly, Brandon spends more time with the goats than his work assignment requires, so that he knows them well enough to spot problems early on. “I have a blast with them!” he says.

Regarding growing vegetables using moon cycles, he says, “During the full moon the gravity is going to be pulling outwards, so that’s the time to plant your leafy greens. When it’s a new moon, you’ll want to be planting your root crops, because they’ll be able to get down there [in the soil] faster.”

Brandon cautions that farm life is not for everyone, but can be very stimulating and rewarding for those who take to it. “The key thing for me is that no two days are alike,” he says. “There are some processes that you do every day, but even if you get up with a plan of what’s going to happen that day, it’s not necessarily going to happen. Everything can go to hell in a hand basket just like that! You thought you were going to be up setting up irrigation today? Well, guess what? You’re going to be mending goat fences because the goats found a hole they can get out of. You never know where you’re going to end up in a day. For me, I like that as opposed to the monotony of a lot of jobs that are available to [those in my life position].” Best of all, he says, “I feel like I’m getting paid to work out!”

“One great thing about the farming world,” he tells me, “is how helpful they all are. Since I’ve started [a lifestyle vlog and a trending GoFundMe page to help fund it], I’ve had farmers reach out to me from all different areas of the farming world – cheesemakers, a licensed vet tech – who offered to help finish raising money for the GoFundMe project.” It’s that sense of community and support that keeps him going.

Also, of equal importance, are the goats that bring meaning, purpose, and unconditional friendship to his life. To Brandon, this is essential. “I feel that society could learn a lot from them,” he says. “I never feel judged when I’m out there with the goats.” To him, caring for goats is a healthy outlet that can help with the rougher realities of the worlds around us and within us.

If you, like Brandon, have the same determination to live a sober life and would like to be part of a supportive community that finds meaning in connecting with the natural world, feel free to reach out to him. If you’d like to check him out on social media and be utterly entertained, look up his website “Life Beyond the Burbs” and his YouTube channel. Enjoy, reflect, and see for yourself the joys and benefits of working closely with nature.

2019 Real estate tax schedule

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2019 Real estate tax schedule

CHINA

Second half taxes due
Friday, March 29, 2019

VASSALBORO

Third quarter payment due
Monday, February 25, 2019

WINDSOR

Second half payment due
Sunday, March 31, 2019

WINSLOW

Third quarter payment due
Friday, March 8, 2019

SNHU announces fall 2018 president’s list

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Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshire has named the following students to the fall 2018 president’s list.

Eligibility for the president’s list requires that a student accumulate an academic grade point average (GPA) of 3.7-4.0 and earn 12 credits for the semester.

The students include, Nicholas Howes, of South China, Taylar Lamontagne, of Waterville, and Noah Michaud, of Winslow.

Davis, Nicholson named chairman, vice chairman of Northern Light Inland Hospital board of directors

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Tom Davis, chairman of the board of directors at Northern Light Inland Hospital, in Waterville.

Northern Light Inland Hospital is proud to announce two new officers for its board of trustees. Tom Davis of Winslow, begins a three-year term as chairman; and Jim Nicholson, of China Village, becomes vice chairman. Davis is owner of Are You Ready to Party?, in Waterville, and has been a member of Inland’s board for 10 years. He succeeds Mike Phillips as chairman. Nicholson is a semi-retired CPA with Nicholson, Michaud & Company in Water­ville, and has previously held roles as chairman for both the In­land board and the Northern Light Health system board.

Planning board to hold public hearing on ordinance changes

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 15 meeting, China Planning Board members almost unscheduled, but then confirmed, their Jan. 29 public hearing on ordinance changes they would like selectmen to put on the warrant for the April 6 town business meeting.

There are three categories of changes. Board members put two of them in final form Jan. 15: proposed revisions to the definitions section of the Land Development Code and what they have called “the easy changes,” more formally described as “immediate changes to the Land Development Code to eliminate wording conflicts and ambiguities,” recommended by Codes Officer Paul Mitnik.

Later, Mitnik emailed to board members proposed amendments to sections on fees in the Subdivision Ordinance.

Planning board members are not asking voters to consider changes to the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance that are required to bring China’s ordinance into conformity with state standards. Mitnik said the state will not approve the local ordinance until those changes, too, are made.

The result of the past months of board activity is many pages of ordinances with changes scattered throughout. Mitnik and board members plan to explain them to interested residents at the Jan. 29 hearing, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Since the board of selectmen and the comprehensive planning committee are tentatively scheduled to meet the same evening, meeting places remain to be determined.

Jean Conway, for the comprehensive planning committee, gave planning board members a brief progress report at the Jan. 15 meeting. The committee has reviewed about eight chapters of the town’s comprehensive plan and has obtained updated statistics in relevant areas, she said.

A public meeting to seek residents’ suggestions and recommendations is to be scheduled this spring.

In the only other business Jan. 15, Mitnik reported that no work had been done to develop The Pines at Hunter Brook subdivision off McCaslin Road, approved in 2008. Since work was not started, the subdivision permit expired in 2013 and is void. He and board members will send a statement to that effect to the Registry of Deeds.

The result of the past months of board activity is many pages of ordinances with changes scattered throughout. Mitnik and board members plan to explain them to interested residents at the Jan. 29 hearing, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the town office meeting room.

Selectmen presented with preliminary warrant

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by Mary Grow

CHINA — The preliminary warrant for the April 6 town business meeting presented to China selectmen at their Jan. 17 budget workshop looks different from previous years’ warrants.

Town Manager Dennis Heath has reorganized expenditure requests into 18 articles (numbers 3 through 20 in the first draft). Some have familiar titles, like assessing, legal expenses, the transfer station and public works. Others are new combinations, like boards and committees and community support organizations.

Under each article are the usual lines for recommendations from the selectboard and budget committee. This year there is space to record each body’s vote so voters can tell whether it was unanimous.

More important, the warrant lists no details about the proposed expenditures. By contrast, in the March 2018 warrant, fire and rescue (Art. 13) took up most of a printed page, with the individual fire departments, China Rescue, stipends and dispatching listed separately.

Nor does the warrant list potential funding sources, like excise tax or unassigned fund balance.

Instead, a blanket statement before Art. 3 reads: “For Articles 3 through 20, please refer to the ‘annual budget’ included in the town report.” The town report is usually available at the town office and other public places a week or more before the town business meeting.

For the Jan. 17 selectmen’s workshop Heath had a detailed breakdown of each article that allowed board members to review proposed spending item by item. During the more than three-and-a-half hour meeting selectmen approved most items and recommended small changes in others.

Changes in spending Heath suggested included setting aside $25,000 toward the cost of a future town revaluation (the last one was in 2008, he said); increasing expenditures for dispatching emergency services in anticipation of the much-discussed regional change; appropriating $50,000 to rebuild the transfer station capital reserve account, depleted by the new precrusher-compactor and forklift; and appropriating a similar amount to rebuild the accrued compensation fund, depleted by departures of two long-term employees, former Town Manager Dan L’Heureux and public works head Gary Cummings.

The two longest discussions of the evening were with South China Fire Chief Richard Morse, China Village Chief Timothy Theriault and other firefighters and with Landis Hudson, executive director of Maine Rivers.

Selectboard Chairman Robert MacFarland wants the fire departments to give selectmen the stipend amount each volunteer receives, by name, for responding to calls. The firefighters saw no need to provide such detailed information, but reluctantly agreed to have it for the selectmen’s next budget meeting, scheduled for Jan. 29.

Hudson asked the town for $100,000 for two years’ work on the Alewife Restoration Initiative (ARI), aimed at reintroducing migratory alewives into China Lake. The money would be used toward the planned fishway at the Outlet Dam in Vassalboro, she said.

Selectmen would prefer a smaller request, perhaps for one year’s work. The issue was left open.

Currently the state trucks alewives into China Lake in the spring and they make their way out in the fall. Some of the groups involved in area lake restoration work credit them for helping improve water quality in China Lake and Three Mile Pond.

The next regular China selectmen’s meeting was set for Tuesday evening, Jan. 22, with the budget committee to meet the following evening and the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Committee at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28. After the budget committee and TIF Committee make their 2019-2020 recommendations, selectmen will have the information they need to approve the town meeting warrant. They have scheduled a meeting for that purpose for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5.