by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members approved one application on their March 28 agenda and postponed everything else, instead making their recommendation on the amended Board of Appeals ordinance that will be on the June 13 town business meeting warrant.

Natasha Littlefield has a permit to open a 24-hour gym and fitness center at 9 Legion Memorial Drive, in South China, in the part of the former Farrington’s store not used by Phillip and Sandra McKinnis’s Blinds by Design.

Littlefield’s application says the gym, to be named Nash’s Gym, will be staffed Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Members will have keys allowing access at any time.

She plans to share the existing parking lot. Her business, like Blinds by Design, will have a security system. She intends to add lights above entrances, which she said will not shine onto neighboring properties.

Littlefield said she and the McKinnises are in agreement; she had not discussed her plan with neighbors, but can if there are problems, like noise in the parking lot at night. Board members asked her to get a letter from the fire chief attesting to emergency vehicle access and an adequate water supply, and to designate handicapped parking.

Littlefield said she would like to open Nash’s Gym by mid-May, “but probably that’s not realistic.” She plans a Facebook page and a website.

The second application on the March 28 agenda was from surveyor Adam Ellis, on behalf of Timothy O’Brien and Maine-ly Lakefront Properties, LLC, of East Sandwich, Massachusetts. O’Brien wants to divide lot number three in the Killdeer Heights subdivision, at 436 Lakeview Drive, into four separate lots.

Several nearby landowners sent letters expressing concerns about or opposition to the subdivision. Some attended the March 28 meeting.

After Ellis presented the application, board members voted that it was complete and scheduled a site walk for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, to be followed by a 6:30 p.m. public hearing in the town office meeting room. Both are open to the public.

Co-chairman Toni Wall proposed postponing discussion of changes to China’s Planning Board Ordinance in favor of making a recommendation to voters on amendments to the Board of Appeals Ordinance, which is currently Art. 32 on the draft June 13 town business meeting warrant.

The ordinance is Chapter 9 of China’s Land Development Code. The version in the warrant, and recommended by a majority of the select board, deletes a section most planning board members favor and includes a provision they do not like.

Nonetheless, citing the amount of work that has gone into preparing the ordinance, planning board members voted 3-1 to recommend voter approval, with Wall, Walter Bennett and Natale Tripodi in favor and co-chairman James Wilkens opposed.

At their March 27 meeting, select board members recommended approval on a 4-1 vote, with Jeanne Marquis dissenting. The proposed ordinance is on the website, china.govoffice.com, on the select board page, which is under the heading “Officials, Boards & Committees.”

Planning board members postponed consideration of action to implement the town comprehensive plan. Amber French, one of three newly-appointed members of the comprehensive plan implementation committee, attended the meeting; Wall and Wilkens promised her a paper copy of the 170-page plan.

Bennett asked about resuming work on a commercial solar ordinance – another topic for a future meeting, the co-chairs said. He also questioned, for the second time, whether the Dollar General store, on Route 32, in South China, is ignoring an obligation to maintain its parking lot.

Codes officer Nicholas French said he will check records for Dollar General’s permit.

by Mary Grow

“We’re spending a lot of money tonight,” China select board member Blane Casey commented as the board’s March 27 meeting wound down.

They spent much of it on two pieces of equipment, a side-by-side for the transfer station and a plow truck for the public works department. Decisions were unanimous as board members recognized needs, reluctant as they groaned about prices.

They also approved the warrant for the June 13 annual town business meeting, when China voters will have a chance to spend a lot more money; and decided other issues.

Transfer station staff member Cheyenne Houle presented four updated bids for the small utility vehicle, and the transfer station committee’s recommendation.

The transfer station committee recommended, and select board members approved, a Polaris Ranger 570 from Cove-Side Wheel & Ski, in Newport, for $11,598. (The Polaris 500 the committee endorsed on March 7 is no longer available; see the March 9 and March 16 issues of The Town Line).

Paul Lucas, chairman of the transfer station committee, said there is a little more than $38,000 in the transfer station reserve fund.

At a March 22 transfer station committee meeting, Houle said the newer model, which costs $900 more, has the roll cage members liked on the older one. It has upgraded lighting, a better dumping body, higher ground clearance and more time recommended between servicing.

Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio said the Polaris will “make work easier and more efficient” by reducing time staff spend “running back and forth” to put things in their proper places.

Select board chairman Wayne Chadwick asked whether the previously-discussed guard shack at the transfer station entrance wouldn’t serve the same purpose. No, Maraggio said, because someone planning to smuggle a discarded air conditioner into the brush pile (for example) would need only to hide it under incoming brush, and a staffer would need to move it.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said with the present efficient transfer station crew, and the monitoring cameras, she has lost enthusiasm for a guarded entrance. Chadwick commended the staff for “doing an excellent job.”

Director of Public Services Shawn Reed requested the new truck. For the last two winters, he said, the town has plowed four routes with four trucks, and sometimes two of them break down at the same time. Getting parts is slow, getting time in a repair garage is slow; he needs a fifth truck for back-up.

Getting a new truck is also slow. Reed explained the new system: people who want a truck don’t just order one, they ask a dealer for a slot, present specifications and buy the truck when it gets made.

After investigating options, Reed recommended buying from O’Connor Motors, in Augusta; O’Connor currently has slots, unlike two other dealers he called. He further recommended buying the plow equipment from Viking Cives, in Auburn, and paying $6,325 extra for a seven-year warranty.

Chadwick, board member Brent Chesley and Maraggio, all familiar with equipment, endorsed the extended warranty. A single parts failure could make it worthwhile, they said.

The total price Reed put at $274,497. Hapgood said the public works reserve fund stood at $297,195 as of late December 2022, and the 2023-24 budget will add to it, if voters approve.

Reed was told the truck might be built in September and outfitted and delivered by December. Neither he nor Chesley will be surprised if it’s delayed.

The town meeting warrant select board members endorsed has 31 articles, beginning with election of a moderator. Voting will be by written ballot. The moderator will be chosen by voters at the polls in the portable building behind the town office at 6:55 a.m. Tuesday, June 13; polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Article 14 asks voters to approve expenditures of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Select board members reviewed expenditures recommended by the TIF Committee at its Feb. 8 and March 8 meetings (see the Feb. 16 and March 16 issues of The Town Line).

One request is for funds for Thurston Park. Jeanette Smith, chairman of the Thurston Park Committee, made a presentation on the future of the town-owned recreational property as she tried to plan for a post-TIF future. China’s current TIF ends June 30, 2045.

China’s TIF plan calls for an annual $65,000 appropriation for recreational trails, to be shared by Thurston Park and the China Four Seasons Club. The majority of the TIF committee recommended $25,000 for Thurston Park and $40,000 for Four Seasons.

Select board members voted unanimously to amend the recommendation and to split the $65,000 evenly between the two groups. Casey favors funding town-owned trails. Janet Preston said her decision was based on the February 8 agreement between Smith and Four Seasons president Thomas Rumpf for a 50:50 split (overruled by the TIF committee majority).

The problem is “there isn’t enough money to go around,” Chesley, who chairs the TIF committee, commented.

Otherwise, select board members endorsed the TIF committee recommendations, all but one by unanimous votes.

The exception was the recommendation to appropriate $20,000 for the China Region Lakes Alliance. Chadwick, Casey and Chesley all had reservations about the group’s gravel road rehabilitation program, which involves using town funds to help landowners improve private roads to control run-off.

Casey and Chesley voted against recommending the appropriation; Chadwick reluctantly joined Jeanne Marquis and Preston in recommending approval.

In other business March 27, select board members appointed Amber French a new member of the Thurston Park committee. They also appointed:

• to the comprehensive plan implementation committee, French, Randall Downer and Barbara Crosier; and
• to the Community Forest at China Schools committee, Elizabeth Swahn, of Waterville, and Nancy Lemieux, Larry Lemieux, Jessica Parlin, Susan Cottle, Peter Moulton and Elaine Philbrook, all of China.

Committee would like to expand park offerings

Jeanette Smith’s slideshow on China’s Thurston Park says it started with land given in 1958 by Everett Thurston. Town officials added tax-acquired property and bought one small piece to create the present 400-acre rectangle in northeastern China.

She quoted from a 2019 state survey on the value of recreational space, in terms of personal health, making a town more inviting and increasing nearby property values.

The committee would like to continue expanding park offerings, Smith said. Goals include handicapped access, two new trails, kayak and canoe racks by the pond, a camping area and outdoor programs.

Smith has learned that many grants require handicapped access; but providing handicapped access requires money.

Preston reported on plans to participate in the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG) community resilience program. The public meeting that is an early step is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Monday, April 24, before that evening’s select board meeting, Preston said.

She hopes many residents will attend to learn more about the program and submit suggestions for making China a more resilient community. Much of the focus is on adaptation to climate change.

Select board members unanimously sold a tax-acquired mobile home on Chadwick Way to the only bidder, Ed Oliver, for $2,001. Hapgood said Oliver will remove the mobile home from the property.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, April 10.