CHINA NEWS: TIF meeting brings explanation of changes

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by Mary Grow

The March 20 public hearing on proposed amendments to China’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) document brought both explanations of the changes and a more nuanced view of the whole TIF process.

Voters at the March 25 town meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. at China Middle School, will accept or reject the proposed amendment, a three-page document with an addition and a map, when they act on Art. 5 in the 56-article warrant.

Assessor William Van Tuinen said four changes are proposed.

1) China’s TIF, initially created in 2015, would be extended from 20 years to 30 years.
2) The new Central Maine Power Company substation off Route 3 would become an additional revenue source. Taxes from the expanded CMP power line, the original TIF revenue source, bring in about $260,000 a year, according to Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux. He estimated earlier this month the substation would add about $60,000 annually.
3) Additional areas in town would be available for economic development, as shown on the map. They include an area on Route 3 around the former Fairpoint building; a small parcel on the northwest corner of the intersection of Routes 202, 9 and 137 north of China Village; the newly acquired town land on Lakeview Drive opposite the former Candlewood Camps; and an area around Branch Mills dam.
4) Selectmen would be authorized to enter into credit enhancement agreements, under which an entrepreneur is encouraged to open or expand a business in a TIF area by promising a partial or full rebate of the additional taxes generated by the project. Van Tuinen emphasized that such partial tax relief is not an entitlement; selectmen decide when it would be in the town’s interest.

The point of a TIF, Van Tuinen said, is to shelter the additional property valuation created by new development, making it not count toward the state’s valuation of the town. The advantage is that the higher a town’s valuation in the state’s eyes, the more it contributes to county taxes and the less it receives in state aid to schools and state revenue sharing.

Were China not to have a TIF, for the first two years the entire taxable value of a new development would go into the tax base, perhaps lowering taxes for everyone. However, when the state caught up with the new value in two years, higher county taxes and lower state aid would offset 65 to 70 percent of the gain.

South China resident Richard Morse argued that having the full value of the new taxes for two years and up to 35 percent afterward was useful, and China should not have a TIF. He called the program “a confusing bureaucratic mess that nobody can understand very well,” a characterization with which L’Heureux sympathized.

However, the manager said, the program is competitive. If other towns have TIFs and China does not, China’s valuation, in the state’s eyes, rises in comparison to theirs, and China pays more and gets less. For example, he said, Augusta has $149 million in valuation protected under the TIF program, shifting a larger share of the county tax burden to the other Kennebec County municipalities.

“If you don’t play the game, you’re on the losing end,” the manager concluded.

Morse, unconvinced, said he thinks lower taxes are more important than the projects on which voters will decide whether to spend TIF money, citing specifically the TIF Committee’s planned fishing platforms and other improvements near the boat landing at the head of China Lake’s east basin.

Articles 6 through 11 in the town meeting warrant ask voters to approve proposed expenditures from China’s TIF funds.

CHINA NEWS: Chief scolds selectmen on proposed stipend article

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by Mary Grow

China selectmen met with representatives of the town’s three fire departments and China Rescue March 20 to discuss the emergency services stipends proposed in the March 25 town meeting warrant – an action South China Fire Chief Richard Morse told them they should have taken weeks earlier. Art. 20 in the town meeting warrant asks voters to appropriate up to $40,000 from the town’s Unrestricted Fund Balance (surplus) to compensate emergency services personnel according to a policy to be developed by the selectmen.

Morse said the first time he heard about the proposed stipends was when a reporter called to ask his opinion. He said making the idea public with no advance notice to the department chiefs, no plan, no basis for the amount of money proposed and no evidence of need was “not a way to move a policy forward.”

Stipends, he believes, will not help increase membership in the fire departments or China Rescue. People join from a sense of pride, a desire to be part of a well-run organization and interest in community service. They are discouraged not by money issues but by too much state-mandated paperwork and training, not all of it relevant to part-time volunteer groups.

Despite his reservations, Morse said, he held a vote: his department members do not support stipends for town firefighters, but they do for China Rescue members, who get many more calls.

Morse recommended discussion among selectmen and emergency services people and development of a plan for sharing funds before a town meeting vote.

China Village Fire Chief Timothy Theriault was more inclined to go ahead now. His department members all voted in favor of stipends except himself, he said. To support them, he researched other towns’ plans for distributing funds and came up with a preliminary plan to discuss with his China colleagues.

“We have something to work on,” he said in answer to the claim that there is no plan for spending the funds if they’re approved. Theriault cited two examples from his experience which made it clear to him that earning money is one of the incentives that lead firefighters to remain active.

He sees the stipends, if voters approve, as an experiment; if after a trial he does not have more department members or higher turnout at fires, he will oppose continuing the program. Taking this year’s money from surplus instead of from taxes is consistent with the idea of an experiment, he said.

David Herard, speaking for China Rescue, said rescue members believe money might help keep members, but is unlikely to help with recruiting new ones.

Weeks Mills Fire Chief Webb Shaw was unable to attend the March 20 meeting, but Herard said the majority of that department favor stipends.

Theriault and Morse both said they repeatedly invited selectmen to meet with emergency services people to better understand the services’ needs and were repeatedly turned down, usually on the ground that selectmen’s meetings must be public. Perhaps, they suggested, one or two selectmen could be appointed a subcommittee.

Board Chairman Neil Farrington eloquently praised emergency responders who serve the community. Art. 20, he said, lets departments decide how to divide up stipend money, and doesn’t require everyone to accept it. Since the appropriation, if approved, won’t be available until July 1, there is time to develop plans.

“Let’s give it a chance,” he urged.

With bicentennial nearing, China remembers Sybil Jones

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Excerpts from the book Eli and Sybil Jones: Their life and work, written by Rufus M. Jones, in 1889. Submitted by Neil Farrington.

Sybil Jones

Sybil Jones during one of her missions in Europe. Internet photo

Sybil Jones was at work in the southern states during a part of the year 1860, and returned to her northern home only a few weeks before the attack on Fort Sumter. The sound of war carried sorrow to the hearts of herself and her husband. They were loyal to their country and the great cause of human freedom, but they were loyal also to the Prince of peace.

For years they had longed to see the light of freedom break in on the south, but they had hoped no less for the day “when the war-drum should throb no longer” and universal peace should gladden the long watchers for its dawn. Now they saw the oncoming of a most terrible civil war, threatening the life of the nation. They mourned for mothers and fathers who must see their boys go to the field; they thought of the homes shattered for ever; but they did not yet realize that their eldest son was to go forth to return only on this shield – that the son who had urged them to go forward in the work of love in Liberia, their noble son, was to be demanded as a sacrifice.
The war was hardly begun when James Parnel Jones resolved to volunteer. President Lincoln’s call seemed to call to him. He had been a logical reader of Summer, and had closely watched the development of slavery, and to his mind the war to save our nationality would necessarily free the slaves. He wrote from the South: “Did I not think this war would loose the slave’s chains I would break my sword and go home.”

That it was hard for him to go when his parents were praying for peace, there can be no doubt, but his mind was filled with the thought of saving the life of a nation, and he certainly felt that the path of duty was in that direction.

The members of the Society of Friends felt almost universally that they owed allegiance to two fatherlands. “There was a patriotism of the soul whose claim absolved them from the other and terrene fealty,” and there was a manifest inconsistency between being members of “Christ’s invisible kingdom” and taking arms in support of a dominion measured by acres.

James Parnel came home wounded, but returned to his command before his furlough had expired. He went back with the feeling that the days left him were few: he indistinctly saw what awaited him. In an engagement to carry a strong point held by the enemy at Crystal Springs, near Washington, he was struck by a ball from a sharpshooter. The ball had glanced from a tree and brought him a mortal wound. The two hearts deeply wrung to have their son go into the war at all were pierced at the news of his death.

Henceforth whoever wore a soldier’s uniform had a place in Sybil Jones’ heart. Her unspent love went out to all who were suffering on the field and in the hospitals, and she could not rest at home. Obtaining the needful credentials, she took up in a new form the arduous service of her active and consecrated life, bearing the gospel cheer to the wounded and dying in Philadelphia and Washington. She could tell the soldiers of her own son, and so touch their hearts and her sympathy and love brought joy to many a poor sufferer. The aggregate of her visits shows that she preached and talked to 30,000 soldiers. To and from the field of her labor, at the depots, wherever she saw a uniform, she went to speak gentle words and to bear good news; and only those to whom the balm came can tell the good accomplished.

Soldiers and prisoners welcomed her and those high in power listened with respect to her messages. She comforted the widow of President Lincoln, and twice stood before his successor, President Johnson, and faithfully warned him to rely on the Ruler of the universe for counsel in guiding the helm of state.

She left home in the first month 1865, with a certificate for service. On her way to the field in which she felt called to labor she visited her children in Philadelphia, and attended meeting at Germantown, where she was favored with a gospel message.

She then proceeded to Baltimore accompanied by Lydia Hawkes, of Manchester, Maine. In this city she met her dear husband, who had been separated from her for three months. He was much worn by his labors as distributing agent of the New England Friends. He had distributed to the necessities of the freedman food, clothing, beds, etc., according to the quantity sent to the mission.

Sybil Jones rested a few days, and then commenced the labors for which she was liberated. Her first service was in Judiciary Square. She, with her companion, was taken there in an ambulance, and they were preceded and introduced by their dear friend Jane James, who often gave them like aid. They were pleasantly received, and permission was granted them to perform any religious service. They visited nine wards and had service in the chapel, speaking words of comfort to those confined to their beds. They also went to the hospital at Armory Square, visited all the wards of the sick and wounded, and had chapel service.

Eli Jones went for a short time to Philadelphia to try and gain a little strength, being very weary with his labors among the colored people. The mud was very deep and the work of distributing very hard.

Sybil Jones great earnestness in prayer for the bereaved ones in the far away homes as she was called upon to attend the funerals of the soldiers. Often more than one coffin stood on a form before them.

Columbia Hospital was visited. They were obliged to move from their lodgings on account of sickness in the family, and were most kindly received by their good friends William and Jane James. They found it a great privilege to be so cared for.

They then went to Lincoln Hospital, where there were 5,000 men. At a later visit they found 400 more wounded soldiers from City Point. The afflicted men were all broken down with suffering and were ready for the consolation of the gospel. The field indeed seemed white unto the harvest. A lad told them that he had been in the Crimean War, and had served two years in this. He was an Englishman. He showed them a silver medal gained by valor in the former war Sybil Jones said, “I hope thou art seeking a crown in that higher warfare?” He quickly replied, “I am pressing after it with all my might. I am looking to Jesus as my captain.”

She sighed for “universal peace to reign” as she witnessed the untold miseries of cruel war. Many were passing away. No one could bear to tell one poor dying youth that he could not live, and in all tenderness Sybil Jones said to him, “I think you cannot get well; what is they hope?” He replied, In Jesus I believe; he has forgiven my sins. Tell my father and mother I have gone to heaven.”

Sybil Jones grave

Sybil Jones, who died in 1879, is buried behind the Jones House at Dirigo Corner, the intersection of the Dirigo Road and Rte. 3.

Sybil Jones was presented to General Auger, the military commander of the District of Columbia. He said that he was much pleased with her mission. He was spoken to concerning the interests of eternity.On 4th mo. 1st, 1865, great excitement was felt in the capital city, as the President was personally directing affairs at Richmond, and the fall of the rebellious city was hourly anticipated. On the morning of the 4rd came the joyful intelligence that the Confederate capital had been evacuated, and a great tide of rejoicing swept over the loyal states. Sybil Jones describes the scene in Washington as follows:

“I was very fearful the inhabitants would be too full of joy to remember their great Deliverer and give thanks unto His name. We went to Camp Fry, and had to press our way through the throng, often pausing to note the variety of emotions exhibited – all joyful, but neither ridiculous nor profane. A subdued awe seemed to hold in check the lawless and dissipated, and tears of joy suffused the eyes of passers-by. The whistles of the engines, the roar of cannon, the music of the various bands, and the shouts of the multitude, mingled with the prayers, praises and hallelujahs of the colored people, some down on their knees in the dust of the street, others dancing like David before the ark of the covenant on its return to its place – all commingled in one mighty jubilant song which I trust was not devoid of the grateful tribute of praise to the great God of heaven and earth.”

Later, a sad scene presented itself in Douglas Hospital. There had just arrived 300 terribly mangled soldiers, some passing away, some in agony with lost limbs. It was an indescribably paintful scene, and the one “Physician of value” was recommended to the poor sufferers.

On a visit to Stanton Hospital, Sybil Jones met a young man from Maine named Eben Dinsmore. He told her that her son, James Parnel Jones, had been his captain when he first enlisted, and afterward his major. He spoke in the highest terms of his kindness to the men and his unspotted name, and said he heard a soldier of the same regiment say that he was with him from the time he was wounded until his death, and never saw a person die so happy, singing as he passed away.

Sybil Jones went once more to Washington, holding meetings and doing all she could to “lift the skirts of darkness.” She felt that she had another message to bear to the White House, where now, at the head of affairs of state, was the late President’s successor, Andrew Johnson. She had a most touching interview with the President’s daughter, the wife of Senator Patterson. While waiting for audience, the president’s little granddaughter offered to her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and, drawing her close, Sybil Jones spoke to her of the infinitely more beautiful flowers of heaven.

After this, Sybil Jones returned to Maine, but she was not permitted long to enjoy the sweet associations in the home so dear to her.

Before engaging in the work in Europe, Sybil Jones obtained a certificate from the monthly meeting to visit the prisons and penitentiaries of some of the southern states. She went to the White House on a reception day for the president’s daughter, and passed in with the throng. Her whole soul was rejoiced to see the great change that had swept over the South since the shackles of slavery had been removed. Those who had been slaves now stood up men. She felt that there is indeed “a God who judgeth in the earth, and He only worketh wonders.”

Rumble strips to be installed on Rte. 3

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By next November, most of Route 3 through China should be a bit noisier – and a lot safer.

Stephen Bodge, of the Maine Department of Transportation, spoke with China selectmen at their March 6 meeting about the plan to install center-line rumble strips in the heavily-traveled road in late September or October.

The installation is part of a state-wide project aimed at reducing head-on collisions. Rumble strips pay off, Bodge said; Maine has been adding them for 11 years, and studies comparing the 10 years before and after a road is treated show that head-on collisions decrease by 40 percent and fatalities resulting from head-on collisions decrease by 90 percent.

The only complaints the department receives have been about noise, Bodge said. Procedures to minimize the problem include leaving gaps at intersections, in passing zones and in front of hotels, motels, campgrounds and anywhere else “where people pay to sleep.”

CHINA: Information on transfer station articles

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COMMUNITY
COMMENTARY

by Transfer Station Committee
Frank Soares, chairman; Mark Davis, Lynne O’Connor, Paul Lucas, Larry Sikora, Irene L. Belanger, China selectmen member, Cheryl York, Palermo representative, Dan L’Heureux, China Town Manager.

China Residents:

On March 25, 2017, the annual town meeting will be held. Two articles to be considered this year are the Town of China Solid Waste Flow Control Ordinance (Article #44) and the Town of China Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance, (Article #45). We would like to take a moment of your time to give you an overview of each ordinance.

The ordinances which control how we handle waste in China are essentially unchanged since the landfill at the China transfer station was closed in 1992. The Transfer Station Committee (TSC), which as established about a year ago, has worked diligently to bring these documents up to date. In many cases, the sections of the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (MRSA) governing transfer stations has changed over time though our ordinances have never changed to become compliant. The ordinances’ purpose is to protect the public health of China by establishing rules and regulations for the proper handling and disposal of wastes generated in China. Fundamentally, the ordinances set up rules all of us currently follow when we use the China transfer station, for instance, establishing collection locations for cardboard, newspaper, and paint for recycling.

The Town of China Solid Waste Flow Control Ordinance outlines specifically how the China Transfer Station handles solid waste (from receiving waste to ultimate processing) and includes hours of operation, wastes that can and cannot be accepted, authority to enforce regulations, penalties that result from improper disposal, and location of the free for taking items, etc. The Town of China Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance is a general outline for Maine towns to follow that accept solid wastes within their borders.
The ordinances the Transfer Station Committee ask you to approve now are simply updates of the old documents. These updated documents do not place any additional burdens on users of the facilities, nor do they add costs to the town. If the respective ordinances are not updated, the town will be found out of compliance by the State and we could ultimately be penalized.

If you wish to review these documents, copies can be found on the town’s Web site (http://www.china.govoffice.com/). Copies are also available at the town office. We hope, after careful consideration, that you will approve these proposed ordinance revisions at the annual town business meeting, Saturday, March 25, 2017. Thank you for your time.

You are also encouraged to contact any member of the China Transfer Station Committee for a conversation on the proposed changes.

CHINA NEWS: Three topics on agenda for March 20 meeting

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by Mary Grow

Monday, March 20, will be a good evening for China residents to gather at the town office to get information on three different topics, two related to the March 25 town business meeting.

The selectmen’s meeting that evening will be preceded by a 6 p.m. public hearing on proposed amendments to the town’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) program. The amendments, to be accepted or rejected at town meeting, include adding new areas in town as potential development areas; adding the Central Maine Power Company substation on Route 3 as a new revenue source; and extending the program to 30 years instead of 20 years.

At the 7 p.m. selectmen’s meeting, board members have invited the chiefs of China’s three fire departments and China Rescue to talk about the proposal on the town meeting warrant to appropriate funds to compensate emergency personnel.

Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux has invited a representative of Redzone Wireless, of Rockland, to the March 20 meeting to talk about potential service in town.

China Village fire chief Timothy Theriault attended the March 6 selectmen’s meeting. He told selectmen when he polled his department, all but one member – the chief himself – favored the proposed compensation.

Theriault said his main objection was lack of a plan for distributing funds if voters approve the money. Now he has learned that there will be a plan and supports the idea, which selectmen presented as a way to encourage more people to join the fire departments and the rescue unit. Based on personal experience, he believes “money’s going to make a difference,” he said.

At the March 6 meeting and in anticipation of the Redzone presentation, selectmen appointed a three-person Broadband Committee, consisting of Tod Detre, Robert O’Connor and Raymond Robert. Detre and O’Connor, and audience member Lee Pettengill, talked knowledgeably about the possibilities of competition among internet service providers for China residents’ business.

The March 6 meeting began with a proud demonstration of China’s new police vehicle by officers Michael Tracy and Tracey Frost. The 2017 all-wheel-drive Ford Explorer, plainly marked as the Town of China’s, has front-and rear-facing radar and a state-of-the-art light bar whose multi-colored flashing lights can be turned into a steady white beam to illuminate an accident scene.

Frost said the vehicle gets about 18 miles a gallon and probably can go 140 miles an hour. “It won’t with us in it,” Tracy joked. A grant plus the trade-in for the previous police truck completely paid for the Explorer, which Frost and Tracy expect should last the town 10 years or more.

In other business March 6:

  • Selectmen appointed Toni Wall to the China for a Lifetime Committee and appointed board members Irene Belanger and Ronald Breton to the Regional School Unit #18 cost-sharing committee, which Belanger said is beginning its work over again. The same two selectmen represented China on the prior cost-sharing committee.
  • Theriault, who is also a state Representative, said the bill he introduced to charge Kennebec Water District customers a fee to help with China Lake clean-up is dead for this legislative session. However, he said, it had two useful consequences: the water district is again supporting the clean-up effort financially, after a lapse, and water district customers have been educated about where their water comes from.

A season of success and championships

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The China Middle School girls varsity basketball team experienced a fantastic season, capped off by a win in the SVAC championship game against Vassalboro Community School. Both China and Vassalboro had only one loss each during the regular season, to each other, with both games decided by one point. On February 17, the two teams met for a third time for the conference championship with the China girls pulling out a thrilling three-point victory. Schools participating in the SVAC are China, Windsor, St. Michael’s, of Augusta, Vassalboro, Palermo, Chelsea, Temple Academy, of Waterville, and Whitefield. China team members include, front row, from left to right, Courtney Paine, Mackenzie Roderick, Hayden Hoague, Madison Lully and Sarah Praul. Back row, Samantha Golden, Catherine Durant, Katie Bourque, Coach Ryan Reed, Acadia Senkbeil, Madyx Kennedy, Julia Barber, Emily Clark, Lili Lefebvre, and assistant coach Mike Crommett. Absent from photo, Emma Jefferson.
Contributed photo

The Winslow Youth Wrestling team went through another successful season. Front row, from left to right, Ben Thomas, Hunter Bussell, Liam McKenney, Kael Segars, Ryder Rodrigue, Ethan Larrabee, Owen Vigue and Noah Young. Back, coach Kris Segars, Morgan McKenney, Gunner Bussell, Ian McKenney, Troy Hachey Chase Larrabee, Benjamin Ireland and coach Frank Ouellette.
Photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff

The Central Maine Youth Hockey Association Bantam Hornets won the gold medal at the MHD March showdown tournament, posting a 4-1 record during the event. Front, goalie Thomas Thornton. Front row, from left to right, Wyatt Grenier, CJ Larson, Tyler Harris, Ethan Timmins, Joel Parker, Owen Evans and Chase Cuevas Bumps. Back row, Coach Evans, Dominic Burgoyne, Nathan Miller, Nicolas Fontaine, Dominic Rodrigue, Coach Rodrigue, Abigail Ross, Katie Bailey, Connor Evans, Thomas Fortin and Coach Gendreau.
Contributed photo

CHINA NEWS: Land development issue to go before voters

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by Mary Grow

Proposed changes to China’s Land Development Code, presented as a single article in November 2016, now make up articles 46 through 55 in the March 25 town business meeting warrant. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. – if there is a quorum – Saturday, March 25, at China Middle School.

Planning board members, who unanimously endorsed passage of the articles related to land use regulations at their Feb. 28 meeting, hope dividing the questions will make them easier to understand and will allow people to reject specific provisions they dislike while approving others.

Board members plan to attend town meeting to answer voters’ questions. Codes Officer Paul Mitnik has prepared an explanatory handout, which is on the town web site, listed on the left of the main page under the title “Ordinance Revisions March 25, 2017 Annual Town Business Meeting.” Mitnik’s document starts by listing the changes covered in Art. 46 that are required for China’s ordinance to conform to minimum state standards. These changes deal with clearing vegetation and trees, docks and similar structures, campgrounds and signs.

Art. 47 deals with expansion of non-conforming structures. A non-conforming structure is a building in the shoreland zone that does not meet ordinance requirements, usually because it is too close to the water or on a lot that is smaller than the ordinance allows or lacks required water frontage.

Art. 48 deals with seasonal conversion, the change in use of a shoreland building from a seasonal camp to a year-round residence. Mitnik’s explanation says the change, if approved, would repeal China’s current rules and rely on the state’s seasonal conversion regulations to issue or deny a conversion permit. State rules, he wrote, require an adequate septic system; current town rules add lot size, water frontage and building setback standards.

Art. 49 asks voters to add a new section to the ordinance, conforming to but not required by state regulations, allowing exceptions to limits on clearing in the shoreland.

Art. 50 would repeal local regulations on timber harvesting and replace them with statewide standards.

Art. 51, Mitnik explains, makes it clear that water-dependent uses, like fishing or boating, on town or public land do not need to meet water setback standards. If approved, one effect of the change would be to remove any question of the legality of the proposed boardwalk at the head of China Lake’s east basin. The boardwalk is part of the Tax Increment Finance Committee’s recommended project for which Art. 8 in the warrant requests funding.

Art. 52, Mitnik wrote, proposes a rewritten version of conditional use standards (requirements for opening or significantly expanding a business). Currently the Land Development Code requires an applicant to prove a project will not have a list of undesired effects, negative wording the planning board has worked on revising.

Art. 53 deals with signs. If adopted, Mitnik, wrote, the new version grandfathers signs existing in 2010, exempting them from all requirements “except turning off lighted signs at night and digital signs from 10 PM to 6 AM.”

Art. 54 deals with other minor changes, mostly for consistency within the ordinance. Art. 55 amends definitions in China’s ordinance to match state guidelines and adds a definition recommended at a planning board hearing before the November 2016 vote.

CHINA NEWS: Voters to consider ordinance changes

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by Mary Grow

At the March 25 town business meeting, China voters will decide on replacement or amended ordinances on three different topics, cemetery management, solid waste disposal and land use.

Article 34, dealing with the 1985 cemetery ordinance and a proposed replacement, is new. Solid waste and land use ordinance changes are being presented again after voters rejected them in November 2016.

Under Art. 34, voters are asked to repeal the 1985 Cemetery Administration and Maintenance Ordinance and replace it with the longer China Cemetery Ordinance.

The 1985 ordinance states its purpose is to create a three-person board of trustees appointed by town selectmen to be in charge of administering and maintaining town cemeteries. The trustees are to appoint a superintendent and determine his pay; sell lots and accept trust funds for maintaining lots and other monetary gifts; and under the selectmen’s supervision spend cemetery funds.

The superintendent has “authority to supervise all burials, interments, disinterments, maintenance and care of public cemeteries.”

The proposed replacement ordinance vests authority over town cemeteries in the town manager and a cemetery committee of at least three people appointed annually by the selectmen. The committee is responsible for spending cemetery funds. A superintendent appointed by the town manager with the selectmen’s approval is to “superintend the digging of all graves, the burial of all bodies from said cemeteries, or from place to place in said cemeteries.”

The ordinance specifies that remains must be in a casket and a cement vault, with no more than one casket and up to three cremains in each plot. The selectmen set lot prices and regulations.

The ordinance would allow regulated hours of access, and contains a list of activities prohibited in cemeteries, including consuming intoxicating beverages, disorderly conduct, hunting, vandalism, letting pets roam at large and failing to pick up dog feces.

The proposed amendments to the Solid Waste Flow Control Ordinance and the Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance are in warrant articles 44 and 45. Major changes, repeated from November, include:

  • In the Flow Control Ordinance, substitution of the planned Fiberight facility for the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company’s Orrington facility as the destination for the town’s combustible and biodegradable waste, and addition of a definition of “volunteers.”
  • In the Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance, allowing disposal of out-of-town waste in accordance with agreements signed by the selectmen, like the agreement with Palermo that came into effect Jan 1. The revised ordinance also changes the transfer station days of operation from Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Authority for selectmen to make that and future schedule changes was and still is in the ordinance; selectmen have already changed the days, effective in early December 2016.

Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance provisions that have been reworded without changing their meaning include:

  • the attendants’ authority to ban anyone who does not comply with the ordinance or with their orders, to reject hazardous waste or waste not separated as the ordinance requires and if necessary to call for police assistance;
  • the requirement to obtain and display a decal from the town office; and
  • mandatory recycling of metal, newsprint, magazines and cardboard.

Planners to discuss possible land use changes

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members intend to spend the first half hour of their next several meetings talking about possible changes in town land use ordinances and board procedures, and to begin hearing applications at 7 p.m.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, with the next meeting scheduled for March 14.

At their Feb. 28 meeting, members discussed potential topics for their workshop-type discussions, including the board’s mission and responsibilities; the criteria for granting conditional use permits for new businesses; and the standards for measuring compliance with the criteria.

When Tom Michaud proposed adding teeth to the ordinance by, for example, setting specific noise limits for a business, Milton Dudley expressed a preference for minimal rules aimed at issues like protecting water quality in China Lake. Chairman James Wilkens added the need to protect everyone’s peaceful enjoyment of his or her property, citing references in the current ordinance to protection from noise, odors, dust, glare and other annoyances.

Michaud and Wilkens both live near Parris and Catherine Varney, whose controversial application to use their barn commercially for wedding receptions and similar events is now before Superior Court.

Codes Officer Paul Mitnik wants an ordinance that has measurable standards that he can enforce.

Board members said that in the fiscal year covered in the pending town report, they reviewed 13 permit applications and approved 12, contrary to what they believe is a public perception that the board never lets anyone do anything.

The other topic discussed briefly at the Feb. 28 meeting was the March 25 town meeting. The planning board is presenting again the proposed Land Development Code amendments that voters rejected in November, this time as 10 separate questions.

Wilkens said people ask him why they’re being asked to vote again on the same things. Mitnik said some of the changes are required by the state.

Board member Tom Miragliuolo said splitting the question into 10 parts was a significant change.

The board voted unanimously to recommend that voters approve the amendments, which appear as articles 46 through 55 in the March 25 town meeting warrant.