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.

by Mary Grow

At a brief meeting on a snowy Jan. 16 evening, China select board members approved an emergency services dispatching agreement, made three committee appointments and briefly discussed pending ordinance changes.

One amended ordinance will be on the ballot for the June 11 annual town business meeting. Board members approved for presentation to voters the official copy of the revised Planning Board Ordinance.

Planning board members are working on revisions to the Land Use Ordinance, Chapter Two of China’s Land Development Code. Planning board chairman Toni Wall said it would be on the Jan. 23 planning board agenda.

Select board member Brent Chesley questioned provisions dealing with expansion of non-conforming uses in the shoreland. Other members had additional suggestions for planning board members to consider.

The nine-page dispatching agreement provides for the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to continue to dispatch emergency service providers in China for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The fee will be $51,528.94 for the year, which Hapgood said is about a five percent increase over the current year.

Select board members unanimously approved the contract and appointed Hapgood the town’s contact person with DPS.

Other appointments were James Hinds and Benjamin Weymouth to the transfer station committee and Trishea Story as budget committee secretary. Last fall, board members appointed Weymouth to the comprehensive plan implementation, broadband and tax increment financing committees.

Board member Janet Preston said she is working on getting electric vehicle charging stations in China, seeking cost estimates and possible locations. She said she has been advised that the town office is not a good place for Level 2 chargers, despite its central location, because of the length of time charging takes.

Hapgood reminded those present that the town office is accepting nominations for Spirit of America awards for volunteerism until March 1.

The Jan. 16 select board meeting was followed by an executive session. Hapgood said no action was taken afterward.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29.

by Mary Grow

China planning board members returned to an old topic, the proposed town ordinance to govern commercial solar development, at their first 2024 meeting, held on Jan. 9.

Chairman Toni Wall shared her revised draft of the ordinance. Board members made a few immediate comments and accepted Wall’s suggestion they discuss it again at their Jan. 23 meeting.

They hope to recommend a final draft to select board members in time for that board to present it to voters at the June town business meeting.

Revisions to China’s Planning Board Ordinance are already scheduled for a June vote, Wall said.

State statute regarding new state housing law

To give readers an idea of what planning board members are dealing with as they propose amendments adding provisions of the new state housing law to the town ordinance, here is a section copied from the law:

§4364-A. Residential areas, generally; up to four dwelling units allowed.

1. Use allowed. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, except as provided in Title 12, chapter 423‑A, for any area in which residential uses are allowed, including as a conditional use, a municipality shall allow structures with up to two dwelling units per lot if that lot does not contain an existing dwelling unit, except that a municipality shall allow up to four dwelling units per lot if that lot does not contain an existing dwelling unit and the lot is located in a designated growth area within a municipality consistent with section 4349‑A, subsection 1, paragraph A or B or if the lot is served by a public, special district or other centrally managed water system and a public, special district or other comparable sewer system in a municipality without a comprehensive plan.

A municipality shall allow on a lot with one existing dwelling unit the addition of up to two dwelling units: one additional dwelling unit within or attached to an existing structure or one additional detached dwelling unit, or one of each.

A municipality may allow more units than the number required to be allowed by this subsection.

Another planning board project is revising Chapter Two of the town’s Land Development Code, the section titled Land Use Ordinance. The version on the town website, china.govoffice.com, last revised in November 2022, is 63 pages long.

A major change needed is incorporation of the new state law that began as LD 2003, titled “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions.” It became law in April 2022.

The law seeks to increase available housing by expanding the numbers and types of dwelling units allowed on a lot. Municipalities are required to amend local ordinances to include provisions of the law.

Wall said she had asked China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood to ask the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments to draft amendments to China’s ordinance. KVCOG has received many such requests from other member towns, she said.

Also needing planning board members’ attention are changes made by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that should have been added to the town ordinance years ago and were overlooked.

Wall is reviewing the entire ordinance, aided by comments from codes officer Nicholas French as he has applied it over past months. She is noting incorrect cross-references, inconsistencies, omissions, contradictions and other substantive problems, as well as correcting capitalization, punctuation, grammar and spelling.

In other business Jan. 9, French said he is still working on ordinance violations, mostly work done without obtaining required permits.

Wall said she submitted the planning board’s 2024-25 budget request to the town office and is working on the board report for the town report that will come out in the spring, covering the fiscal year from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

The next China planning board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23.

by Mary Grow

In October 2022, Timothy Beals, who was then head of Delta Ambulance, asked China select board members to ask voters to approve funding the service in 2023-24 at $15 per resident, or a little less than $66,000 for the fiscal year.

At the time, he predicted the per-person charge would rise. He was right.

At the Jan. 2, 2024, China select board meeting, Delta Ambulance interim executive director Chris Mitchell explained why the service is requesting a higher 2024 appropriation from towns it serves.

The ambulance service was organized in 1972, Mitchell said, and until last year did not ask for town subsidies. Funding came primarily from insurance reimbursements, which over the years have fallen farther and farther below expenses.

Medicare’s funding formulas are complicated, Mitchell said. They cover mileage and treatment, with different rates for different levels and types of treatment. If an ambulance and crew come to a house but no patient is transported, there is no reimbursement.

Delta gets additional funds from miscellaneous sources, like grants and fees for courses its staff offers.

Mitchell said a Maine blue ribbon commission looked into ambulance funding a few years ago and concluded no Maine service was able to break even. The commission recommended state legislators appropriate $70 million a year for five years.

The legislature approved a one-time subsidy of $31 million, with an initial grant of $200,000 per service and the distribution formula for the rest not yet determined. Mitchell called the funding “inadequate.”

China select board chairman Wayne Chadwick translated: the federal government sets a reimbursement rate that doesn’t cover costs, the state doesn’t fill the gap so the towns get billed.

Costs, Mitchell said, include insurance, payroll, supplies, vehicle and building maintenance and utilities. He estimated it costs $1 million a year to run an ambulance.

Cutting overhead without sacrificing service is difficult. Ambulances may sit idle for part of a day, and then multiple calls will send them all out at once.

Another limit on cost reduction is the wage competition affecting many areas of the economy; medical staff wages have increased significantly.

Mitchell said cost-cutting includes reassigning personnel for more efficiency. Delta’s Augusta building has been sold, effective the end of January, and will be rented from the new owners until two smaller, less costly buildings can be found.

The upshot, he said, is that the per-person fee request from member towns will rise to $25. He estimated the bill to China for 2024-25 will be slightly over $110,000.

Mitchell did not ask for any select board action. Board member Jeanne Marquis proposed the board consider supporting funding requests during the current legislative session; Mitchell said he will provide information.

In other business Jan. 2:

— Board members voted to put a revised Planning Board Ordinance on the June 11 local ballot, sharing the day with state primary elections and China’s annual town business meeting.
— They decided to put no local ordinances on a March 5 ballot with the state primary election, on two grounds: voter turnout will be higher in June and November than in March, and there is too little time to prepare a local March ballot.
— They discussed China’s town public works trucks, and voted to offer the 2012 GMC half-ton for sale by sealed bid. Information will be available at the town office.
— Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood credited transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio and staff member Cheyenne “Cj” Houle for getting China a state waste diversion grant of $14,440.57 (see the Dec. 14, 2023, issue of The Town Line, pp. 2-3). Maraggio said the grant will help fund two projects, enlarging and walling the cement compost pad and installing lights in the free for the taking building.
— After discussion, board members approved an updated transfer station fee schedule for mattresses, units with freon and commercial waste (the revised schedule is on the town website, china.govoffice.com). Hapgood said most of the increases will take effect April 1, allowing Palermo residents the three months’ notice required by the contract under which they use China’s transfer station.
— Hapgood said transfer station committee chairman Paul Lucas has resigned. China residents interested in serving on this committee are invited to contact the town office.
— Board members appointed Kemp Anderson to a three-year term on the board of appeals.

Other town employees earning praise, besides Maraggio and Houle, were deputy clerk Tammy Bailey, from codes officer Nicholas French for her help as he returns to the job long-distance; and from select board members, the public works crew for their storm clean-up and town office staff for the December 19 through Dec. 22 warming shelter.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16 (because Monday, Jan. 15, is the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday), in the town office meeting room.