CHINA: Historic preservation, infrastructure needs top town meeting warrant

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by Mary Grow

China voters will have an unusual number of specific decisions to make at their annual town business meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, March 24, at China Primary School (off Lakeview Drive behind China Middle School).

A quorum of 120 registered voters is required to open the meeting.

Most of the new issues involve historic preservation and local infrastructure needs. With 2018 the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of China, Selectman and Bicentennial Coordinator Neil Farrington and others organized a Feb. 5 celebration, have plans for more activities in the summer and are trying to arouse interest in preserving tangible reminders of China’s history.

The town has already lost at least one historic church and one Masonic Hall; most of its one- and two-room schoolhouses and the two buildings that housed China Academy, one after the other; the tracks and most of the buildings associated with the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington narrow-gauge railway; and recently the Dinsmore mill in Branch Mills. The once-active China Historical Society has not met regularly for years.

At the March 24 meeting, voters will be asked to hear a report from Farrington and to appropriate funds for his work, for continued maintenance of the old town house and Weeks Mills schoolhouse and for two specific projects: installing water and septic systems in the Weeks Mills schoolhouse to make it useable for community purposes, and buying the Branch Mills Union Church. The schoolhouse project (Art. 25) is expected to cost up to $20,000. The price for the church is $100; the belief is that town ownership will make it easier to get grants and donations – Art. 41 asks that up to $80,000 be authorized – to preserve the building.

The proposed infrastructure projects are the purchase of a precrusher/compactor and a new forklift for the transfer station, at a maximum cost of $80,613 (Art. 17) and two specific road projects, repaving the north end of Dirigo Road and replacing a large culvert under Bog Road, at an expected cost of up to $200,000 (Art. 19).

Voters are also asked to appropriate up to $20,000 in Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funds for the LakeSmart program, which helps lakefront landowners control run-off (Art. 34), and to appropriate up to $22,000 from TIF funds, if applicable, or Unassigned Fund Balance (surplus) to update China’s comprehensive plan (Art. 43).

Selectmen and budget committee members recommend approval of all proposed expenditures, not always unanimously. Budget committee member Wayne Chadwick dissented on requests for up to $50,000 in TIF funds for administrative work (Art. 6); the transfer station purchases in Art. 17, joined in dissent by Tom Rumpf; and the schoolhouse waste and septic systems in Art. 25. Chadwick also opposed the $4,500 request from the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, but endorsed the article (Art. 26) because it includes the same amount for the South China Library.

The budget committee splintered on the proposal to buy the Branch Mills church: Chairman Robert Batteese, Valerie Baker and Secretary Jean Conway voted to recommend it, Chadwick and Rumpf voted not to and Tim Basham and Kevin Maroon abstained.

The March 24 decisions do not include the 2018-19 school budget, which will be voted on later in the year.

Download the China Town Warrant from the Town Office website or click here!

 

Opiates in Central Maine: The Problem of Pain

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The number of Mainers who died of a drug overdose rose to 418 in 2017, driven by a 27 percent increase in deaths due to illegal fentanyl, while heroin related deaths decreased slightly, according to Maine Attorney General Janet Mills. (In the graphic, one needle equals 10 deaths in Maine.)

by Eric W. Austin

Her name? It’s not important. She lives right here in China and could easily be your next-door neighbor or relative. You’ve probably passed her going into the post office or exchanged neighborly smiles down at Hannaford. Maybe she goes to your church.

In her early 60s, with long, graying hair pulled back in an untidy ponytail, she looks a bit like a country librarian. She orders only tea, and I can tell she’s a little nervous by how tightly she holds her cup.

She has reason to be hesitant. It’s the same reason she prefers to remain anonymous. There’s a social stigma associated with drug addiction that means it’s mostly discussed in dark corners, with hushed voices. But it’s an issue that has touched many of the families in our community, and we can’t solve a problem we don’t discuss. That’s why she’s here with me now: hoping her story might bring greater awareness to a problem that is hammering our communities, destroying families, and taking lives.

Her son is addicted to heroin. Like many stories of addiction, this one began from a place of pain. For her son, that pain came in the form of social isolation and untreated depression. He was just a young kid, trying to fit in, and it began innocently enough, with teenage drinking. Under the influence, his anxiety and social awkwardness melted away and he felt, well, normal – like everybody else for once: finally able to shed his burden of perpetual anxiety and fear, and connect to those around him in a way that felt normal again. He began to hang around with other kids that also used drugs and alcohol as a way to ease their pain, social alienation, or to escape from a difficult world.

Inevitably, in the midst of this opioid epidemic, a friend eventually suggested he try heroin. From there, it didn’t take long for addiction to take hold of his life. The insidious nature of opiates makes them addictive on both a psychological and physical level after only a short time.

Working directly on the pleasure centers of the brain, opiates replace the brain’s ability to regulate pain and fear. For those already burdened with conditions such as depression or social anxiety, opiates can seem like a wonder drug – at first. But repeated use actually makes those conditions worse by replacing the brain’s own ‘capacity-to-cope’ with a pharmacological alternative. Like muscles that atrophy if unused, an addict can find his condition even worse after drug use stops.

Opiates have a similar effect on physical pain. While they may reduce pain temporarily, opiates also lower the user’s pain threshold, so when the drug wears off the pain is often more acute than before. That is one reason opiates can so quickly become addicting and are so difficult to give up.

This mother, fighting for the life of her son, gazes at me with a pain of her own shining in her eyes. “It’s a mental health issue as much as an addiction issue,” she says.

I nod. I’ve talked to a lot of people about addiction over the last few months. The problem of dealing with pain seems to be at the heart of all their stories. Whether of mental anguish or physical discomfort, it all comes down to our attempts to manage pain. Addiction often seems to be the result of our efforts to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause.

The current opioid crisis is actually a direct result of our society’s attempts to deal with the problem of pain. In the 1990s there was a movement in the medical community to be more aware of the treatment of pain in patients. In 2001, the Joint Commission, a medical standards and accreditation group, issued a new standard requiring that pain be “assessed in all patients.” Pain became the “fifth vital sign,” and a greater emphasis was placed on its assessment and treatment.

This had a ripple effect across our society in multiple ways. The greater emphasis on the treatment of pain put pressure on doctors to do more to relieve it.

After a hospital stay, patients receive a survey from the Joint Commission inquiring about their pain level. Those answers help determine a hospital’s rating with the commission. This subtle pressure encouraged doctors to prescribe more pain medication and keep patients on it for longer (or at least until after they’d returned the pain assessment survey).

The change did not go unnoticed by pharmaceutical companies, who ramped up their marketing efforts and found new ways to incentivize doctors into prescribing opiates and consumers into asking for them. It didn’t help that the marketing was often deceptive and underplayed the addictive potential of those drugs.

The increased focus on pain resulted in more opiates being prescribed, which created a larger market of opiate users; and keeping patients on them for longer increased the chances of addiction. As the addictive danger of opiates gained greater awareness and doctors became more circumspect about prescribing them, patients cut off from their prescriptions turned to black-market heroin instead. In turn, this demand stimulated the black-market supply of heroin. As the market for heroin grew, suppliers stepped up their game with better quality and supply. This resulted in users of other drugs, like cocaine, turning to heroin instead.

All of this created a snowball effect which has led to our current addiction crisis and laid fertile ground for troubled kids to get caught up in it. And yet we’ve done little about the real issue at the heart of the problem: pain.

I look up at the lady sitting across from me. Neighbor, mother, and now addiction advocate. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” she tells me. “My son is still alive.”

Eric Austin lives in China and writes about community issues and technology. He can be reached by email at ericwaustin@gmail.com.

See also Opiates in Central Maine: Not just a National Issue

China Scouts provide morning worship service on Boy Scout Sunday

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On February 4, Boy Scout Sunday, the Boy Scouts from Troop #479, along with some of their leaders, provided the Morning Worship Service at the China Baptist Church. The Scouts, under the leadership of Scoutmaster Scott Adams, have taken part in Scout Sunday Worship service for the last 26 years. Very few Boy Scout troops in the Kennebec Valley District are provided this opportunity.

The Scouts from Troop #479 were invited to prepare some of the worship service by Rev. Ronald Morrell. Under Rev. Morrell’s direction and with assistance from the Troop Chaplain Aide, Scout Rémy Pettengill and committee member Ron Emery, the worship service gave each of the Scouts a chance to participate in the Sunday Morning Worship, as follows:

Call to Worship by Scout Aiden Pettengill;
Invocation by Galen Neal;
Responsive Reading – The Scout Law by Scout Alex Stewart;
Preparation for Prayer by Tucker Leonard;
Pastoral Prayer by Scout Nivek Boostedt;
Children’s Sermon – Who was Robert Baden-Powell? – by Leader Ron Emery;
The Scout Beatitudes by Scout Hunter Praul;
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication by Scout Sam Boynton;
Reading “When You Walk Through the Woods” by Scout Rémy Pettengill;
Gifts of the People (Offering) by Scouts Rémy Pettengill, Roger Files, Ayden Newell, and Andrew Weymouth;
Benediction by Scout Michael Boostedt.

The 12th point of the Scout law, a Scout is Reverent, was exemplified by the Scouts.

A large congregation including boys and leaders in uniforms enjoyed the Sunday service. The China Baptist Church sponsors Boy Scout Troop #479.

Fellowship Hour was hosted by Troop #479 in the vestry.

Pauleys’ to present organ concert

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Don and Christa Pauley, of China, will be performing the third of five Lenten organ services at the Waterville First Baptist Church, on Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m. The organ solos are Jubilate, At Dawning, Let There be Peace on Earth, You Raise Me Up, I Believe, Golden Dreams from Epcot, and The King is Coming. Christa will be singing The Via Delarosa, Then Came the Morning, and How Great Thou Art.

The church is located on the corner of Park and Elm streets, in Waterville.

Author’s Tea with K.F. Griffin at Grace Academy in South China

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K.E. Griffin

Come one and all to visit with Maine Author, K. F. Griffin, as she talks about her book, Wreck of the Essex, and how children can further develop their writing skills on Monday, March 12, from 10: to 11:30 a.m., at Grace Academy Learning Center, on Route 3, in South China. This is a free event. Call to register 445-8239. Books will be available for sale and signing.

K.F. Griffin was born in Boston and earned a master’s degree from Boston College. In 1981 she read a newspaper article on the discovery of Thomas Nickerson’s eyewitness account of the Essex tragedy. In 1820, a whaling ship was attacked and sunk by an enraged sperm whale. This tragedy inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.

She has lectured at libraries and historical societies on this incident, considered one of the of greatest sea stories of all time.

She lives on a gentleman’s farm, in Rome, where she enjoys writing children’s books and spending time with her family.

China Planners prep for comp plan update and possible proposed land use amendments

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members used their Feb. 27 meeting to continue preparations for updating China’s comprehensive plan and to work on possible amendments to the town’s land use ordinance.

An article in the warrant for the March 24 town business meeting asks voters to appropriate up to $22,000 from either unassigned fund balance (formerly called surplus) or the Tax Increment Financing fund, if appropriate, to develop and implement a revised town comprehensive plan. The money would be spent mostly for a professional consultant’s services.

The budget committee unanimously endorsed the expenditure.

China’s present plan is valid through the summer of 2020. Planning Board Chairman Tom Miragliuolo said at earlier meetings that an update is not required, but municipalities without valid plans are disadvantaged in various ways, including losing points on applications for state grants.

There are already a small number of applicants to serve on a new Comprehensive Planning Committee. Board members hope to recruit more at town meeting. Volunteers should call the town office.

Reviewing a section of the definitions in the land use ordinance, board members found that most seem satisfactory; a few clarifications were recommended.

Any changes in the ordinance will need voters’ approval. There are no proposed ordinance amendments on the March 24 meeting warrant.

The next regular planning board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, March 13.

Exploring Nature Club Opportunities in China

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Two Exploring Nature Club participants explore natural surroundings at the China School’s Forest last year. Contributed photo

Local educator and Maine Master Naturalist, Anita Smith, will be facilitating an Exploring Nature Club for children in grades 2 – 6 this spring at The China School’s Forest in China. There will be two sessions, one for homeschoolers and one for the general public. We will be learning about a variety of topics such as trees, pond/macroinvertebrate studies, mammals, adaptations and migration, life cycles, watersheds and geology with fun interactive games and activities. Sessions will be rain or shine, so children are expected to dress for outside conditions, including rain, mud, snow, insects, etc. If RSU #18 is cancelled due to weather, our session will also be cancelled.

  • Naturalist Anita Smith at last year’s Pirate Camp. (Photo courtesy of China School’s Forest)

    Session 1 Homeschoolers – Mondays from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. April 9, 16, 30 and May 7, 14, 21. Parents are welcome to stay with siblings and use the trails while they are in session. Students should bring their own water bottle. Pick up and drop off will be at the dirt parking lot between China Middle & Primary Schools. Look for the dirt drive just before the wind turbine.

  • Session 2 General Public – Mondays from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. April 9, 16, 30 and May 7, 14, 21. China students can stay after school and are encouraged to bring a small after school snack and water bottle. Parents will pick their children up at the Primary School at the end of the session.

Cost is $30 per child for the six session program. Checks should be made out to Anita Smith.

Enrollment is limited to 10 children. If less than 7 children enroll by April 4, the sessions will be cancelled and money will be refunded. There are no refunds given after April 4 if the child cancels. Space will be reserved once payment is received – first come, first served.

For more information call 968-2255 or contact chinaschoolsforest@gmail.com. Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/chinaschoolsforest/.

The China Appeals Board will meet Thursday

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CHINA — The China Appeals Board will meet on Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Office Meeting Room to hear a request to reconsider the decision of the Board of Appeals dated February 20, 2018 on two appeals from Bio Renewable Fuels, Corp. for a property located at China Tax Map 29 Lot 15.

CHINA: Breton appointed to planning board; protest filed by other candidate

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen spent almost half an hour of their Feb. 20 meeting debating whom to appoint to a vacant planning board seat – and the question might not be resolved, because the loser has questioned the process.

The planning board has five members, one chosen from each of four districts and one from anywhere in town (at large), plus an alternate member, elected (or appointed between elections) from anywhere in town and entitled to vote only in the absence of one of the five full members. The vacant seat is the at-large voting position.

Tom Michaud has resigned from the at-large seat. Former board member and chairman Ronald Breton and former member and chairman and current alternate member Jim Wilkens both asked to be appointed.

Neither man ran for planning board in the November 2017 election. Wilkens announced he was retiring, but was elected by write-in votes to the alternate position and accepted the post. Breton ran unsuccessfully for selectman.

Wilkens told selectmen after 14 years on the board, he would like to be a voting member again. Breton said he wants to continue to serve the town.

Selectman Irene Belanger suggested moving Wilkens to the voting position and appointing Breton the alternate member. Breton said he would not accept the non-voting position.

The four selectmen present agreed both candidates were qualified. They discussed procedure at length, ending with three motions on the floor, none seconded: Belanger’s to appoint Wilkens the voting at-large member, Jeffrey LaVerdiere’s to appoint Breton to the position and Chairman Robert MacFarland’s to table the issue until a full board was present.

At that point the missing selectman, Neil Farrington, walked in, surprised by the acclaim with which he was greeted.

After more discussion, MacFarland seconded LaVerdiere’s motion to appoint Breton, arguing that Wilkens should stay in the seat to which he was elected. Breton was appointed on a 4-1 vote, with Donna Mills-Stevens joining Farrington, LaVerdiere and MacFarland in the majority and Belanger opposed.

Later that evening, Wilkens emailed Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux, asking whether the at-least-occasional precedent of making the alternate member a full member when there was a vacancy should be followed; what the appeal process is; and whether Farrington should have voted on an issue discussed in his absence.

In other business Feb. 20, selectmen signed the official warrant for the March 24 annual town business meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. at China Primary School.

They unanimously authorized L’Heureux to sign a contract with A. E. Hodsdon, the Waterville engineering firm, to act as China’s representative overseeing the planned construction of a replacement bridge at the causeway at the head of China Lake.

In November 2017 China’s TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Committee had cost estimates from A. E. Hodsdon and Wright-Pierce, the contractor for the new bridge. Wright-Pierce’s proposed fee for the work was $23,475; A. E. Hodson’s was $21,172 for oversight.

Selectmen plan to invite landowners Tom and Marie Michaud to discuss the new fire pond on the Michauds’ land on Neck Road. They authorized L’Heureux to take “necessary and prudent” steps to continue development of the pond.

Resident Linda O’Connor responded to questions selectmen asked in January about the LakeSmart program, in relation to the March 24 warrant article asking if voters want to use up to $20,000 in TIF money for the program. After a discussion of the relationship among LakeSmart, the China Lake Association (CLA), the China Region Lakes Alliance (CRLA) and the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), O’Connor asked selectmen to send further questions and suggestions directly to CLA President Scott Pierz and CRLA President Jim Hart and “get me out of the middle.”

Selectmen unanimously approved a consent agreement recommended by Codes Officer Paul Mitnik, fining a contractor $150 for putting in a garage foundation without the inspections Mitnik is required to make under MUBEC (Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code).

The Feb. 20 meeting included an executive session discussion of legal issues with attorney Amanda Meader of Ellis and Meader, in Augusta. The session lasted almost an hour and a half; no action was taken afterward. L’Heureux said Meader has a contract to advise town boards when town attorney Alton Stevens is not available.

To accommodate board members’ travel schedules, the next regular selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening, March 7, instead of the usual Monday evening. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Jim Dinkle, executive director of the Kennebec Regional Development Authority that runs FirstPark, plans to talk with selectmen.

Williams to retire as chief of Maine State Police

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Col. Robert Williams, China resident and chief of the Maine State Police

China resident accepts position as director of security at Colby College, in Waterville

Robert A. Williams, of China, head of the Maine State Police for the past seven years, has been named director of security at Colby College. His appointment follows an extensive national search. In his 33 years in law enforcement, Williams rose through the ranks, from trooper to ultimately being nominated by Governor Paul LePage to become colonel in 2011. Williams comes to Colby with extensive experience in emergency response planning, personnel management, and organizational development. He begins his work at Colby March 12.

“At a time when the security issues facing colleges and universities are increasingly complex, having a seasoned leader with experience in every aspect of protecting our communities will position Colby for continued strength,” said Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Doug Terp. “Bob also demonstrates a keen ability to build relationships, which is an important element of this role. We look forward to welcoming him to Colby.”

Williams began his career in law enforcement in 1983 as a trooper for the Pittsfield Police Department. He later became a state trooper in Skowhegan, for 11 years, before rising to the position of sergeant. In 1998 he became lieutenant in the communications unit, and in 2000 he rose to major, overseeing nine units. In 2007 Williams was named lieutenant colonel. His professional development experience includes crowd control and event security, team building and ethics, and extensive leadership training.

“As a native of central Maine, I have watched Colby continue to rise,” said Williams. “I am drawn to Colby’s commitment to excellence, something that I have continually worked toward as a member of the Maine State Police. After a full career in law enforcement, I am excited about the opportunity to interact with a whole new community.”

A graduate of University of Maine, Augusta, Williams earned a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Husson University, in Bangor. He also attended the FBI National Academy, in Quantico, Virginia. He is a longtime member of the Vassalboro Fire Department, where he has served on the board of directors since 1992.

At Colby, Williams will lead a staff of 40 employees and will manage and administer safety programming, facility security, compliance, training, emergency preparedness, and critical incident management. He will work collaboratively with students, faculty, staff, and other constituents to promote a safe and secure environment.

A resident of China, Maine, Williams and his wife, Joyce, are the parents of two adult daughters with careers in healthcare.