China celebrates the 5th Annual China Lake Ice Fishing Derby

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Participants of the China Lake Ice Fishing Derby set up tents and small encampments scattered throughout China Lake. Last year’s derby was held on February 19, 2023. (photo by Cindy Senkbeil, of China)

by Sandra Isaac

The China Four Seasons Club and the China Village Fire Department are co-hosting the 5th Annual China Lake Ice Fishing Derby to be held on Sunday, February 18, during Maine’s Free Fishing Weekend.

“We are excited to be celebrating our fifth year in the partnership with the China Village Volunteer Fire Department”, said China Four Seasons Club President Tom Rumpf. “These last few years have been amazing and a great way to see the community come out and celebrate Winter on China Lake. This is also Maine’s free fishing weekend which is a nice bonus. We will be following all State of Maine ice fishing laws and rules.”

Many other events will be happening around town leading up to Derby Day. On Friday there will be an “Owl Prowl” starting at 6:30 p.m., at Thurston Park, and a $15 lasagna dinner, at the China Masonic Lodge. Saturday events include an $8 pancake breakfast at the Dirigo Masonic Lodge and, starting at 10 a.m., will be a Cornhole Tournament at the China Primary School sponsored by Central Maine Power Sports, snowshoeing at the China Community Forest, and sledding at Thurston Park. Finishing off Saturday night will be an Ice-Skating Event at the China Town Rink, hosted by the China Lake Association.

(photo by Cindy Senkbeil, of China)

Rumpf continued, “Sunday is still dedicated to the ice fishing derby with fishing limited to China Lake. The ice fishing derby will finish with fireworks display after the derby’s award ceremony.” All the weekend’s activities will be open to the public, however reservations are requested for the lasagna dinner at the Mason’s Lodge, as well as for the Cornhole Tournament.

“We encourage people to check out our website and look at the Ice Derby’s Facebook page for up­dates. The other weekend events have either a dedicated page on Face­book or posts on the Fishing Derby Face­book page,” said Rumpf.

The first 100 children to stop in at the China Village Fire Station will receive special takeaway ice fishing bait buckets filled with some great items courtesy of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Jack Traps of Maine, Central Maine Powersports, New England Sled Talk, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and The Maine Audubon Society. The buckets will be available starting at 5 a.m. on the day of the derby. In addition, Central Church will be set up on the ice across from the fire station on Causeway Road to work with children who are new to fishing and Traps for Kids of Maine will be set up next to them, giving away free traps to children who need them, while supplies last.

Young anglers show off their catch during the China Lake Ice Fishing Derby 2023. This year’s derby will be held on February 18, 2024. (photo by Cindy Senkbeil, of China)

“We will also be giving away over 40 door prizes including an Orca cooler, gas grill and chair set from Lakeview Lumber, a StrikeMaster electric ice auger, courtesy of Jack Traps of Maine, and Brookfield Renewable Energy, 100 gallons of heating fuel from Augusta Fuel Company, an Roc Inflatable Stan-Up paddleboard and accessories from Hannaford Supermarket, $500 cash from Vacationland Rentals, plus many more prizes and gift certificates, all donated by great local businesses,” said Rumpf.

(photo by Cindy Senkbeil, of China)

Fishing derby weigh-in time will be at 4 p.m., on Sunday, and all entries must be in line at the fire station building [on Causeway Road] by 4 p.m., to qualify for a prize. Prizes will be awarded in the following fish categories: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, brown trout, brook trout, and pickerel. The children’s category will be perch and kids will be awarded prizes for the top five winners with the most perch caught. The lunker of the day – the largest fish overall – will be the derby’s top prize. This year the lunker prize will be its own category and not combined with another fish category prize.

Tickets for the derby are available for $5 a piece or 3 for $10 at many local stores including China Variety & Redemption, Harvest Time Bait, Tobey’s and Lakeview Lumber. You can also purchase tickets from members of the China Four Seasons Club and the China Village Fire Department.

The China Four Seasons Club maintains a dedicated Facebook page and a website to share information on door prizes, sponsors, and ticket information. Please visit https://www.facebook.com/China-Lake-Ice-Fishing-Derby or www.chinalakeicefishingderby.com.

(photo by Cindy Senkbeil, of China)

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: People for whom ponds are named, Part 3

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by Mary Grow

Dutton Pond

A small pond shared between Albion and its southern neighbor, China, has been known as Dutton Pond for as long as your writer has lived in China. But the map of China in the 1856 and 1879 atlases of Kennebec County names it Pickerel Pond.

Pickerel/Dutton Pond is on the north side of Dutton Road. Dutton Road branches off from Pleasant View Ridge Road, which goes east from Route 202 at the four corners southeast of China Village, on the northeast corner of China Lake’s east basin. At the top of a hill, Pleasant View Ridge Road turns sharp right (south); Dutton Road plunges down the other side of the hill, still heading east, passes the south end of Dutton Pond and crosses into southern Albion, where it becomes Libby Hill Road.

On the 1856 and 1879 maps, C. E. Dutton owned the house on the north side of the corner where Dutton and Pleasant View Ridge roads diverge. Diagonally across Dutton Road, in the southeast corner of the T intersection, was a schoolhouse.

Charles E. Dutton was neither an early settler in China nor a native of the town; he probably arrived in 1851 as a teenager (see below).

According to the Find a Grave website, Dutton was born Dec. 8, 1839. Henry Kingsbury, in his Kennebec County history, wrote that Charles was the son of Coffran Dutton and grandson of Jonathan Dutton, “who moved from Montville to Vassalboro, and in 1839 lived where Melvin Applegate now resides.” If Jonathan brought his family, Charles was born in Vassalboro.

Kingsbury continued, “In 1851 they [three generations again?] moved to China.” He next wrote that Charles Dutton married Annis W. Barlow, who was born in Freedom, Maine, Sept. 6, 1846 (or 1847, according to an on-line genealogy).

The China bicentennial history portrays Dutton as an educator first and foremost. Kingsbury listed him as a China selectman, elected in 1873 and serving seven terms, four of them as board chairman.

School District 7, in northern China, was named the Dutton district. The 1856 and 1879 maps each show a schoolhouse (the history says there were three consecutively), and apparently another was built for the 1886 school year. The Dutton district school was closed in 1902.

Each China school district had a school agent, usually elected by town meeting voters, whose responsibilities included allocating funds and recommending how many school terms to have for how long each year and what teacher(s) to hire. School agents were responsible to the town’s school committee (until 1857 and from 1863 to 1870) or to the school supervisor.

(China had a maximum of 22 school districts, rearranged repeatedly. School was usually held two terms a year, a shorter one [between a month and three months] in summer and a longer [two to four months] winter term. Dates were not standardized; and a district might skip or shorten a term, especially if money were tight.)

The China history includes Charles Dutton on a list of people who taught many terms, “usually with favorable comments.” Kingsbury wrote that he taught 27 terms, “nearly all in the town of China.” One term mentioned in the history was in the winter of 1872-1873: Dutton taught algebra in the China Village school, close to his home.

Dutton must have been China’s supervisor of schools in 1878, because he reported in 1879 that there were too many different textbooks in use – 20 geography texts, for example, some “so old that they listed only the first thirty-three states in the United States.” (The 34th state, Kansas, was admitted Jan. 29, 1861; it was followed by West Virginia in 1863, Nevada in 1864, Nebraska in 1867 and Colorado in 1876, for a total of 38 states by the end of 1878.)

At the March 1879 town meeting, voters accepted Dutton’s recommendation to appoint a five-man committee to look into consolidating school districts and standardizing textbooks. He and four other distinguished residents reported to a special meeting held May 5, 1879.

The history says nothing about districts, but it says voters approved the committee’s recommended textbooks and voted “to sustain” Dutton as he introduced them and disallowed all others. Dutton bought the books and, the history says, donated his commission to the students, who had to buy them in turn.

(Alas, by 1886 a new supervisor was again deploring the variety of texts; he recommended the town start buying and owning books for students. In August 1890, a state law “requiring towns to provide free textbooks” became effective. China spent $862 for textbooks in 1891and by the beginning of 1893 owned 1,730.)

In 1879-1880, Dutton was again supervisor of schools. The history related his dealings with a Colby College student whom he hired without examination, assuming him qualified, for another northern China district.

There were soon complaints that the young man “could not do arithmetic and was generally incompetent.” Dutton found the complaints valid and fired the teacher; district parents “relented and petitioned that he be reinstated.”

He came back, “but remained incompetent, and Mr. Dutton felt that the students’ time had been wasted.”

In the fall of 1879, supervisor Dutton visited the District 16 school in western China, where he found three students. The China history says he “promptly went to see some of the district parents, who told him they simply were not ready to have their children gone for five or six hours a day.” (Whether the children were too young, or were old enough so they were needed to help with fall work, the history does not say.)

Dutton unsympathetically ordered the school to stay open. The parents’ money therefore continued to be spent; and, the history says, “the students soon appeared.”

Dutton was a Mason. Kingsbury listed him as master of Central Lodge in China Village in 1864 and 1869, and of the village’s second Masonic organization, Dunlap Chapter, in 1875 and 1886.

He was active in the China Cemetery Association, organized in 1865 to manage the large China Village cemetery at the head of the lake (and since the 1940s the extension cemetery on Neck Road). The bicentennial history says he was president of the organization in the 19th century (citing Kingsbury, so before 1892) and from 1911 to 1921.

A list of members of Maine’s 17th legislature, in 1911, includes Charles E. Dutton from China.

Charles and Annis Dutton had four children. Find a Grave lists a daughter, Idella, born in 1869; twins, Arthur J. and Fannie A., born July 18, 1874; and a younger son, Everett E., born Jan. 26, 1887. All lived past 1950.

Idella married Fred H. Lewis (1860-1933), of China, and is buried with him in the China Village cemetery.

Charles Dutton died in China Sept. 5, 1922; Annis died in China April 5, 1926. Both are buried in the China Village cemetery; the same gravestone names them and their other three children.

Dutton Pond, shared between China and Albion, has an area of 57 acres and a maximum depth of 33 feet, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and to Lake Stewards of Maine.

* * * * * *

Evans Pond

China’s Evans Pond is south of Dutton Pond and entirely within the town. It lies on the east side of Hanson Road; Hanson Road runs roughly north-south east of China Lake, approximately half-way between Lakeview Drive along the lake and Pleasant View Ridge Road farther east.

The pond was named for an early settler – before the Revolution, Kingsbury wrote, and “contemporary with the pioneers” (the Clark brothers, who came in 1774) – named Joseph Evans.

An on-line source calls him Joseph Evans, Sr., born Nov. 23, 1740, in Dorchester, Massa­chusetts, to Richard and Zipporah (Blake) Evans. On April 28, 1766, he married Ame (also Ama, Amey, Ann or Anna) Payson, in Sharon, Massachusetts. She was born before July 22, 1750.

This source says Joseph “registered for military service” in 1777, but does not say from where – if Kingsbury is correct, from what is now China (which was Jones Plantation until 1796 and Harlem until 1818).

Kingsbury said he left his wife and children in the wilderness by Evans Pond while he served in the Revolution. (The first four of the Evans’ four sons and three daughters were born before 1775, this source says; another on-line site lists only one son.)

The seven-child on-line source says the Evans’ youngest daughter, Zipporah, was born in Vassalboro in 1781; married in China in 1802; and died in Houlton in 1854. Their youngest son, Nathaniel, Jr., was born in 1788 in China and died there in 1861.

This source puts Evans in Lincoln, Maine, in 1790. If so, he was back in China by 1797; the bicentennial history names Joseph and Nathaniel Evans among founding members of the First Baptist Church of Harlem, organized that year.

Nathaniel Evans could have been Joseph’s younger brother, born in Dorchester April 5, 1745; married in Vassalboro in November 1772; “registered for military service in 1777 [with his brother?]”; and died June 14, 1819, in Searsmont.

The China history says Joseph Evans was in Harlem in 1801 and 1802, and in 1801 a comparatively well-off resident: town meeting voters entrusted a pauper named Jack to his care. Evans was to receive “thirty dollars and the use of a cow” in return, prorated if Jack stayed less than a year with him.

In 1802, town meeting voters were asked to accept as a town road “the road between Joseph Evans’ dwelling and the lake [China Lake, presumably].”

The on-line source says Joseph died in mid-April 1826 and Ame sometime after 1830, both in China.

Kingsbury gave a paragraph to one of Joseph and Ame’s grandsons, Cyrenus Kelley Evans (May 13, 1816-Dec. 4, 1891). Find a Grave’s website has a photo of his gravestone in the South China Village cemetery that says his name was Cyrenius.

This Evans married Ephraim Clark’s granddaughter Asenath Clark (May 24, 1820-Oct. 9, 1911), thereby uniting two of China’s early families.

Kingsbury wrote that Evans “filled important positions in China and was twenty-one years justice of the peace.” The Find a Grave website says, “Mr. Evans filled important positions in China, and was twenty-one years of age when justice of the peace.”

A June 1870 on-line list of Maine magistrates says Evans was appointed a justice of the peace March 4, 1868, but does not specify whether that was his first appointment.

Evans Pond has an area of 19 acres and a maximum depth of only 14 feet, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (as of 2000). Lake Stewards of Maine gives the size as 29 acres and agrees on the depth.

Main sources

Grow, Mary M., China Maine Bicentennial History including 1984 revisions (1984)
Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892)

Websites, miscellaneous.

UNE announces dean’s list (2023)

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The University of New England, in Biddeford, has announced the following local students who achieved the dean’s list for the fall semester 2023:

Parker Higgins, Albion; Jessica Guerrette, Molly Mercier, Daraun White and Julie White, all of Fairfield; Alonna Battis and Caitlyn Mayo, both of Fairfield; Mallory Audette, of Jefferson; Mckenzie Kunesh, of Liberty; Katrina Barney, of Madison; Mackenzie Bertone, of Norridgewock; Brady Doucette, of Sidney; Wylie Bedard, Elizabeth Connelly, Catherine Kelso, Zoe Lambke, Ashley Mason and Dawson Turcotte, all of Skowhegan; Alexis Rancourt and Richard Winn, both of South China; Adam Ochs, Vassalboro; Asher Grazulis, Nabila Harrington, Emma Michaud, Elias Nawfel, Grace Petley, Lauren Pinnette, and Emilee Richards, all of Waterville; and Willa Dolley, Juliann Lapierre, and Justice Picard, all of Winslow.

China select board hears first budget draft

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by Mary Grow

China select board and budget committee members met together Feb. 5 to hear Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood’s presentation of the first draft of the 2024-25 municipal budget.

By Hapgood’s figures, the fiscal year 2023-24 budget for municipal departments totaled a bit over $4.4 million. The preliminary request for FY 2024-25 comes to $4.9 million.

The manager had no figures yet for the 2024-25 school budget ($5.2 million this year) or Kennebec County budget ($607,333 this year). She expects both will increase.

Select board and budget committee members will review proposed 2024-25 expenditures and potential income this month and next, to produce a budget the select board recommends to voters. Voters will act on the 2024-25 budget at the June 11 annual town business meeting, and it will become effective July 1.

Hapgood said China is in good shape financially, debt-free and with a healthy surplus. She summarized changes proposed for the new fiscal year.

— Two potential new expenditures are the storage vault at the town office, to be partly paid for with federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds; and perhaps setting up a kayak and paddleboard rental station on China Lake (see the Feb. 1 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).
— The proposed wage increase for town employees is 3.2 percent (cost of living adjustment) plus 1 percent merit raises.
— Hapgood would like to add two employees, if they can be found: a half-time community program director, and a person whom she described as “an attorney, a planner and consultant,” whose salary would come partly from funds that would otherwise be used to pay for outside legal services. She also sees a need for an assistant animal control officer.
— As discussed previously at select board meetings, Delta Ambulance’s service fee will increase from $15 per resident to $25 per resident, increasing China’s charge from $66,300 this year to $110,200 in 2024-25.
— Hapgood recommends an increase in the public works department’s budget, because, she explained, the department should, if possible, hire a mechanic, to minimize sending equipment away for repairs; two trucks are due for replacement soon, and she advises starting a reserve fund for building expansion; and a summer intern is included, whose main job would be to map every culvert in China.

With projected increases in the price of paving and other areas, the preliminary recommendation for the 2024-25 public works budget is $1.86 million, up from $1.63 million this year.

Select board members are likely to begin discussing the budget at their next regular meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 12.

Budget committee members did not set their next meeting; Hapgood proposed they meet alternate Monday evenings from the select board, if that schedule was convenient.

China TIF committee reviews nine requests: OK to all

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by Mary Grow

Five members of China’s Tax Increment Financing Committee reviewed nine requests for 2024-25 TIF funds at a Feb. 5 meeting. They unanimously recommended the select board approve all nine.

The only long discussion was over requests from the Thurston Park Committee and the Four Seasons Club for money from the trails fund. As they did last year, the two groups asked for a total of more money than the fund can grant.

The trails fund is authorized to spend $65,000 a year. The Thurston Park Committee, represented by chairman Jeanette Smith and member Scott Monroe, requested $48,482. The Four Seasons Club, represented by president Thomas Rumpf, asked for $40,000.

The Thurston Park request was further complicated by including plans to use the money to buy equipment. Smith explained that some of the park’s five volunteers bring their own trailers, side-by-sides, chainsaws and whatever else is needed to mow the picnic area, clear fallen trees, add gravel to washouts and do other maintenance.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said town-owned equipment cannot be used by volunteers unless they have been trained. Otherwise, the town gets in trouble with the Bureau of Labor Standards and the insurance company.

Rumpf’s major project, which will cost a good deal more than $40,000, is to rebuild the north-south Narrow Gauge Trail, aka Bog Trail, which has seriously deteriorated. For last summer, he had approval to use sections of Bog and Pleasant View Ridge roads as alternative ATV trails.

Rumpf and Smith presented information on the importance of trails to the town, for residents’ recreation and as an attraction for visitors who spend thousands of dollars at local stores and eating places.

Rumpf said people from all over New England use Four Seasons Club trails, not just for ATV riding and snowmobiling, but for hiking, biking and riding horseback. The windstorms did considerable damage, he said, but thanks to “the best volunteers in town,” trails are now “open, cleaned out and ready to go.”

Smith said since November, a game camera has shown many hikers, some with dogs, a few horseback riders and one bobcat enjoying Thurston Park.

TIF committee members agreed on the value of both groups’ work. After almost an hour’s discussion, they voted unanimously to recommend the select board split the trails money between them, $32,500 each.

Rumpf and Smith were satisfied, but both had requests for future changes. Rumpf wants the committee to review the allocation of TIF funds, to see if more money can be spent on trails at the expense of less popular, or less needy, projects.

Smith pointed out that for at least the second year, the Thurston Park Committee’s two major problems are not addressed. The maintenance situation is unresolved, and so is the issue of park access.

Currently, the only road access is from the north, through Albion, down a steep gravel-road hill that is not adequately maintained. The former Yorktown Road runs through the park to the south boundary, but a landowner there is not open to having park visitors pass by his house. Monroe emphasized the desirability of providing a south entrance.

Rumpf presented one of the other funding applications, for $5,000 for fireworks for China Ice Days in 2025. The 2024 Ice Days ice fishing derby is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18.

The China Lake Association requested $25,000 for environmental improvements. Association president Stephen Greene said the funds would go toward the Youth Conservation Corps’ water quality protection work and the Courtesy Boat Inspection program aimed at keeping invasive weeds out of area lakes.

The China Broadband Committee had a double application, $10,000 to continue to contract with consultants Mission Broadband and the next $30,000 installment of a continuing grant to increase broadband access for town residents.

The Town of China requested TIF funds for four purposes: $10,000 for China Community Days 2025 ($5,000 for fireworks and $5,000 for general support, Hapgood said); $10,000 toward hiring a summer intern; $7,725 for Kennebec Valley Council of Governments dues; and $500 for Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce dues.

China Days is identified as an economic development event, and the last three projects are aimed at promoting the town as a business location.

Money in the TIF fund comes from taxes on Central Maine Power Company’s north-south line through the town and its substation in South China. These taxes bring in more than $300,000 a year, according to China’s “Tax Increment Financing District and Development Program” on the town website.

TIF committee members set their next meeting for 6 p.m. Monday, April 1.

New artists’ program at ACB is off to a flying start

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by Karel MacKay

The Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village, welcomed its first artist of 2024, Maria King, on Saturday, February 3. Maria had more than 50 shadow boxes on display at the library through February 29. Incredibly, Maria began her artistic journey less than a year ago and has made over 70 shadow boxes so far.

Historically, shadow boxes were presented to members of the military upon retirement as a “medium to house honorable badge, pins, flags, and other rewards for their service to the country. Veterans would be given a shadow box to commemorate their final rank and sacrifice, a totem to be taken home with them to be showcased and protected.”

The practice actually goes back to the early years when sailors manned wooden ships. At that time people believed that when a sailor departed his ship for the last time, it was bad luck for their shadow to hit land before they did. To ward off this superstitious belief, sailors placed keepsakes that they had earned and collected in a shadow box of fine wood, which represented the “shadows” of the sailors. The boxes were kept on the ship until the sailors were safely ashore. They were then given to the sailors in a ceremony.

Maria’s shadow boxes are a trip through time. Many of them have a religious theme, while some depicted her life experiences. Others pay homage to literary and artistic works. The intricate work in her designs are fascinating, but even more enjoyable than looking at her creations was listening to her describe the story of each shadow box. It was a trip through history, told with incredible art and literary knowledge – not to mention her rapier-sharp wit.

Maria is originally from Poland and currently lives in Liberty. Before she came to the United States, she was a freelance translator and proofreader who worked with various artists and film directors. She writes screenplays and even now works on translating novels – from Illuminations by Mary Sharatt – to several novels by John Banville, all of this with elaborate annotations, which are the most fun for Maria because they require a lot of research and connecting dots. She says that her background has contributed greatly to her passion for creating shadow boxes.

The Library will host local artists throughout the year. Ann Rhinehardt, of Vassalboro, is the next featured artist for the month of March. If you are interested in showing your work at the library, please email chinalibraryacb@gmail.com.

Some of the many shadow boxes displayed by artist Maria King, at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, in China Village. (contributed photo)

China commercial solar ordinance ready for review

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 23 meeting, China Planning Board members discussed one permit application and forwarded one draft ordinance to the select board.

They decided the long-discussed commercial solar ordinance, planned to be Chapter Eight in the town’s Land Development Code, is ready for select board members’ review. The ordinance was on the agenda for the Jan. 29 select board meeting.

Board chairman Toni Wall had worked on amendments to China’s Land Use Ordinance, which is Chapter Two of the Land Development Code; this document is also on the Jan. 29 select board agenda.

Wall said a major piece remains to be added, to incorporate relevant parts of the 2022 state law requiring municipalities to provide for additional housing. The major changes involve relaxing restrictions on the number of dwelling units per lot. China officials have asked the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments for help adding appropriate language.

The law says towns must incorporate the new provisions by July 1, 2024. China’s version needs to be ready for voters’ action at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

The permit application is from Carrol White, to convert the former Silver Lake Grange Hall, on Main Street, in China Village, to four two-bedroom apartments.

White said after he gets the permitting process started, village resident Daniel Coleman intends to buy the building and do the conversion.

Back in 1992, White said, he applied for and received the necessary variance from ordinance requirements, specifically the setback from the side lot line and the square footage needed for multiple dwelling units. However, the variance was not registered with the state Registry of Deeds within the required 90 days.

When the omission was discovered in 1999, the variance was duly notarized and registered, but there seems to be agreement that a seven-year delay made it invalid. White therefore needs a new one; variances are granted by the town board of appeals.

In addition, planning board members voted that White’s application was incomplete, because he provided too few details on some aspects of the plan.

Wall said she and codes officer Nicholas French will work with White to add information to the application. She suggested the board review it and hold a public hearing to get neighbors’ input, probably at the Feb. 13 planning board meeting. Then White can again ask the board of appeals for a variance from setback and lot size requirements.

China select board postpones decision on revised ordinances

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by Mary Grow

At their Jan. 29 meeting, China select board members postponed decisions on submitting two revised ordinances to voters and on a Recreation Committee idea.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the new Solar Ordinance and the planning board’s amendments to the Land Use Ordinance (Chapter Two of the Land Development Code) are in the town attorney’s hands.

The next steps are for the select board to approve final versions of the ordinances and hold public hearings on them before they are submitted to voters to accept or reject, perhaps at the June 11 annual town business meeting.

Board members needed more information on a proposal to authorize the Recreation Committee to offer kayak and paddleboard rentals. Hapgood said she and Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth had discussed contracting with a company called Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan.

For $39,000, the company would provide China with four kayaks and four paddleboards, with paddles. They would be kept near China Lake – beside the Courtesy Boat Inspectors’ shelter on the causeway, Hapgood suggested.

No staffing would be needed, as potential renters would use an app to unlock the board or kayak of their choice and pay the hourly fee. Rent.Fun and the town would split the rental income, so the town would earn back its investment.

Hapgood intends to ask Wentworth to get more information from Rent.Fun. She hopes also to get information from municipalities the company already serves.

Two guests brought messages to the select board meeting.

Jacob Poulin, deputy from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, reminded residents to lock their vehicles and hide any valuables left inside whenever the vehicles are parked outdoors. People have been breaking in to steal purses and other items, he said.

Erika Presley, senior land conservation manager with Edgecomb-based Midcoast Conservancy1, introduced herself and her organization, which owns 12.5 acres on the West Branch of the Sheepscot River off Dirigo Road, in China.

She said the lot encompasses the former Pullen Mill Dam2 site and showed a picture of the dam remains. Protecting the forested property is important for water quality and water temperature in that part of the river, she explained.

The four select board members present Jan. 29 made two unanimous decisions:

— They authorized Hapgood to seek new bids on building a vault to improve storage space at the town office. The present plan is to have the vault inside a small addition on the south side of the west section of the present building.
— They authorized the South China volunteer fire department to spend up to $8,000 from the fire department reserve fund to connect the fire station to three-phase power on Route 32 South.

The connection will let the department accept a gift of an air compressor from the Biddeford fire department, to replace its worn-out compressor. The compressor is used to refill SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) bottles for members of all three China departments. Hapgood said there is $150,000 in the reserve fund.

The manager reported:

— About 130 residents have signed up for E911 identifying numbers for their properties; more are welcome. A form to request a number is on the website, china.govoffice.com, on the first page.
— China is applying for services from the Maine National Guard for work on a section of Hanson Road near Evans Pond.
— The roof of the large white garage north on the town office lot needs repair.

China select board and budget committee members will meet together at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, in the town office meeting room, for a preliminary discussion of the 2024-25 town budget.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12.

1. More information on the Midcoast Conservancy is on its website, midcoastconservancy.org.
2. Several on-line sites provide information on the Pullen Mill Dam, where a fish passage completed Aug. 21, 2011, was dedicated on May 18, 2012, in memory of Dr. Melissa Laser, of the state Department of Marine Resources.

Becky Hapgood cited for 30 years of community service

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China town manager Rebecca Hapgood. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

by Mary Grow

Ask China Town Manager Rebecca “Becky” Hapgood what’s the best part of her job, and she gives you a quick double reply: “Every day is different; and the people.”

“People” includes her fellow town employees, residents, visitors – everybody she meets, personally or virtually.

Variety and people have been central themes since Hapgood was first hired by the Town of China on Feb. 2, 1994 – 30 years ago.

She graduated in 1992 from Thomas College, in Waterville, with a degree in business management and experience helping in her family businesses, Back’s Dairy Bar, in South China, and an antique shop. Her plan was to start her own business.

Why, then, apply for a town job?

“Because my mother made me,” Hapgood answered, not entirely seriously.

The connection, she explained, was that her mother worked with Town Manager Gary Brown’s wife, Wanda. Brown had an opening for a deputy clerk; Hapgood applied and was hired.

That job, like every position in the office, involved learning and doing “a whole lot of everything,” with days seldom going as planned.

Brown doubled as town clerk in 1995, Hapgood found in town records. By the spring of 1996, Daniel L’Heureux was town manager and she was town clerk.

Dennis Heath succeeded L’Heureux in 2018, but didn’t stay long. Hapgood became town manager on July 18, 2020.

“Dennis set me up for success,” Hapgood commented, by sharing records and information and answering questions. She translates this openness to the entire office’s relationship with residents: nothing is hidden.

Her career has focused on providing the best possible service to everyone who comes in, calls in or otherwise gets in touch. She summarized her daily goals as “making somebody’s day, changing somebody’s day, helping somebody out.”

Moving to the manager’s private office has limited her interactions, but she still pops out to the counter when she can, especially if she overhears someone giving other staff a hard time.

Recently, she said, the new transfer station entrance stickers have created dissatisfaction and complaints. She understands: people don’t like change, and “we’re government and people don’t like government.”

But, she said, “This is local government, and we can help.”

She sees town employees as “all about trying to find the solution. We’re all willing to help; that’s what we’re here for. We want to do the best for our residents, to be the best town.”

Hapgood welcomes suggestions for running the town better. She habitually urges residents to join a town board or committee to share their ideas.

Her reaction to gripes and venting on social media is to encourage people, before they complain, to consider how their words could affect others, and to contact the town office to make sure they’re acting on accurate and complete information.

Looking back over the last 30 years, Hapgood summarized, “This is not what I thought I’d be doing in life, but I’m having a blast; 99.9 percent of the time, I love my job.”

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Local students named to president’s list at Plymouth State (2023)

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The following local students have been named to the Plymouth State University president’s list for the Fall 2023 semester, in Plymouth, New Hampshire:
Kaiden Kelley, of South China; Dylan Flewelling, of Oakland; Sidney Hatch, of Oakland; and Sondre Ashei, of Klepp Stasjon.