China committee continues long-discussed records storage vault addition

by Mary Grow

The long-discussed storage vault for municipal records was the main topic at the Nov. 4 China Select Board meeting, following up on the Oct. 30 China Municipal Building Committee meeting.

Building committee chairman Sheldon Goodine and members Scott Pierz and Edwin Bailey attended the select board meeting to re-discuss the revised plan for the vault and the Dec. 31 deadline for committing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

Goodine said he expects engineer Keith Whitaker, of B. R. Smith Associates, to deliver an engineered plan Nov. 6. He intends to share it with the state fire marshal, whose approval is needed, and with select board members.

ARPA is supposed to fund the vault; Goodine’s cost estimate is $187,655. The understanding as of Nov. 4 was that contracts need to be signed by Dec. 31 – merely intending to use the money will not meet ARPA requirements.

Goodine’s plan calls for the town to hire an overseer – clerk of the works was one suggested title – and to contract out the various types of work, from site preparation (perhaps to be done by the public works crew) and cement work to roofing.

Majority opinion seemed to be that work should not begin this late in the fall; contracts signed before Dec. 31 should be for work to begin next spring. Select board member and builder Blane Casey said since covid, it is common for work to be contracted well in advance.

The revised plan needs approval from the planning board. Select board members decided they can begin seeking contractors before the planning board acts.

After half an hour’s discussion, board members voted unanimously to start soliciting bids and finalize the permitting process as soon as they have Whitaker’s plan.

In other business Nov. 4, board members unanimously:

Reappointed planning board members Toni Wall and Dwaine Drummond;
After reviewing Delta Ambulance’s financial statement for calendar and fiscal year 2023, voted not to pay the 2024 fee in advance, but to pay the minimum required amounts through the year; and
Accepted the only quote for a new fence for Lakeshore Cemetery, $6,756 from Triple P Fence, of Augusta, a company Hapgood said has done other work in town.

Lakeshore Cemetery, on the east shore of China Lake south of the town office, is one of China’s oldest. Hapgood commented on features that make fencing challenging.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, Nov. 18.

CHINA: FEMA to reimburse China for 2023 storm damage

by Mary Grow

Federal and state emergency management funds will reimburse the Town of China to cover partial clean-up costs after the Dec. 17-21, 2023, storm that left roads and roadsides littered with fallen trees and other debris.

China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood shared an Oct. 28 letter from the Maine Emergency Management Agency saying payment of $46,292.54 had been approved, and a check would be sent “within the next few weeks.”

The town’s share of this part of the clean-up is $5,143.61, 10 percent. The federal government is paying 75 percent and the state 15 percent.

The work is described as removing 214.5 cubic yards of “vegetative debris” the storm left in and along roads and rights of way and transporting it to a disposal site.

CHINA: One incumbent, two newcomers elected to China select board

by Mary Grow

China Town Clerk Angela Nelson reported the following voting results early Wednesday morning, Nov. 6.

For the local select board, with five candidates for three seats, voters re-elected one incumbent and added two newcomers.

Incumbent Blane Casey was top vote-getter with 1,409 votes. Added to the board were Thomas Rumpf, with 998 votes and Edwin Bailey, with 927 votes. Incumbent Brent Chesley lost his seat, receiving 818 votes; Tod Detre got 538 votes.

Incumbent budget committee member Timothy Basham was re-elected unopposed, with 1,654 votes.

Other budget committee positions and one position on the Regional School Unit #18 board had no candidates on the ballot. Write-in winners will be declared after town office staff tabulate votes and make sure apparent winners are willing to serve.

Voters approved all five local referendum questions, as follows:

— Question 3, amending the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program, yes 1,688, no 671;
— Question 4, a revised Budget Committee Ordinance, yes 1,840, no 513;
— Question 5, adding a map of the Development District, yes 1,747, no 599;
— Question 6, amending the Land Development Code, yes 1,691, no 630; and
— Question 7, creating a moratorium on electric transmission lines, yes 1,688, no 673.

China voters’ presidential votes were as follows: Donald Trump, 1,498; Kamala Harris, 1,059; Jill Stein, 34; Chase Oliver, 19; and Cornel West 11.

For United States Senator, incumbent Independent Angus King edged out Republican challenger Demi Kouzounas, 1,218 votes to 1,112 votes. David Allen Costello got 175 votes, Jason Cherry 86.

For United States Representative from Maine’s First District, China voters gave Republican Ronald Russell 1,355 votes, incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree 1,062 votes and Ethan Alcorn 134 votes.

For state Senate District #15, Republican Richard Bradstreet, of Vassalboro, got 1,480 China votes to 1,042 for Democrat Raegan LaRochelle, of Augusta. For state House District #62, incumbent Republican Katrina Smith got 1,537 votes to 961 for Democratic challenger Pamela Jo Swift.

Elizabeth Mitchell, of Vassalboro, running unopposed for re-election as Kennebec Judge of Probate, got 1,778 votes.

China votes on five state-wide questions were as follows:

— #1 (citizen initiative to limit political contributions): yes, 1,849; no, 666.
— #2 (bond issue for technology): yes, 1,211; no, 1,294.
— #3 (bond issue for historic preservation): yes, 1,178; no, 1,338.
— #4 (bond issue for trails): yes, 1,327; no, 1,176.
— #5 (changing the state flag): yes, 840; no, 1,714.

CAMPAIGN 2024: Candidates address issues concerning Maine voters (Part 4)

LETTERS: Swift has deep roots in Maine

To the editor:

I urge you to vote for Pam Swift in House District 62, China, Windsor, Somerville and Hibberts Gore.

Pam trusts you. She knows you and your doctor will make the best decisions for you and your health. She knows that you can prepare for your children’s futures by helping them understand what they find in their school libraries, public libraries and on the Internet.

As a retired physician, Pam knows how important it is for you to have access to healthcare and affordable medicine. As a farmer she knows how important locally produced healthy food is to your family and how much small farms matter to your community.

Pam has deep roots in Maine and will fight for what Maine a great place to live.

Please vote for Pam Swift, candidate for House District #62.

Kathy Kellison
Windsor

LETTERS: Strong support for Detre and Rumpf

To the editor:

As a current member of the Selectboard for the Town of China, I am writing to express my strong support for Tod Detre and Tom Rumpf as candidates for China Selectboard.

Tod Detre is a Systems Administrator II for the University of Maine System. Tod brings a fresh perspective and a strong desire to help bring people together as a community and make China a place where people want to spend their time and enjoy all stages of their lives. His family has two young sons in our local school, and both Tod and his wife Gina have logged many hours volunteering in their activities. Tod’s technical knowledge has been an asset on our Broadband Committee and would further help China as we prepare for the future.

Tom Rumpf’s wealth of local knowledge, as the president of the Four Seasons Club and the current chairman of the budget committee, would be invaluable to the selectboard. Tom has worked collaboratively with regional businesses to build the annual China Lake Ice Fishing Derby into a spectacular weekend that showcases our town to the many visitors it attracts. Tom would help the board nurture better relationships with our local businesses.

I believe that Tod and Tom would both make excellent additions to the selectboard. They are both committed to fiscal responsibility, transparency, and open communication with residents. They both have demonstrated their understanding of the important role our local organizations have in our town.They also share a vision for a vibrant and sustainable future for the Town of China.

I urge my fellow residents to vote for Tod Detre and Tom Rumpf for selectboard on election day.

Jeanne Marquis
China Selectboard member

China committee continues talks on records storage vault

by Mary Grow

China Municipal Building Committee member Edwin Bailey discussed his concerns about recent changes in the plan for a records storage vault at the town office building at an Oct. 24 committee meeting. He, Scott Pierz and chairman Sheldon Goodine did most of the talking, with occasional comments from Terry DeMerchant and Angela Nelson.

Committee members voted to continue the discussion with select board members, at that board’s Nov. 4 meeting if there is time on the agenda.

Discussions of the project began more than three years ago, Goodine said. Engineer Keith Whitaker, of Presque Isle-based B. R. Smith Associates (BRSA) has assisted committee members through the years.

The basic concern is the paper records that the state requires a town to keep forever, and that needs climate-controlled, fireproof storage space. Currently they are in a room off the meeting room. The new structure planned to house them came to be called a storage vault.

In 2022, the select board authorized money for BRSA to make an engineered plan for a storage vault plus a concept plan for a larger addition.

Since then, the focus has been on versions of the storage vault, with occasional mention of a bigger addition. On April 25, 2023, the China Planning Board issued a permit for an addition housing a concrete storage vault, connected to the south side of the town office by a corridor.

At the June 2023 town meeting, voters approved up to $43,000 from undesignated fund balance (formerly called surplus) for “the municipal records fireproof vault storage project.”

When select board members sought bids on the work that summer, they received none. In the spring of 2024, however, they awarded a bid to an out-of-town firm – for more than $267,000. No contract was signed, according to Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood.

Discussion quickly turned to another alternative: create safe storage for ordinary records in the former barn north of the town office and build the special vault in the east end of the main building. The idea of using the barn has not been rejected; Goodine said there has not been time to develop details.

The main objection is the inconvenience to town office staff of having documents they might need in a separate building.

At the June 2024 annual town business meeting, voters appropriated up to $155,489 from federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for “Municipal records fireproof vault storage.”

At their Oct 7 meeting this fall, select board members approved a revised, less expensive concept plan (see the Oct. 10 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), with an engineered plan to be developed promptly.

This plan locates a 26-by-28-foot vault in a new room off the south side of the town office near the east end, with some interior redesign. The town would be general contractor, contracting with local contractors.

Goodine notified the other committee members of the select board action on Oct. 8, and offered to schedule a meeting on request. Bailey emailed questions, and Goodine scheduled the Oct. 24 meeting.

Goodine explained:

He, select board member and builder Blane Casey and Whitaker developed the plan. Goodine received the final version the day of the select board meeting at which it was approved, so he had no time to share it with committee members.
The contractors would be whoever is available, as local as possible, and when possible people who had worked for the town before. China’s public works crew could do the groundwork, if schedules allow.
The budget estimates for each piece of the project, totaling $187,655, came mostly from Casey. Goodine summarized possible decreases and increases, depending on many factors.

Bailey and Pierz asked whether a new plan needed re-approval by voters. After reviewing the wording of the town meeting warrant article, they decided probably not.

Codes Officer Nicholas French told planning board members at their Oct. 22 meeting the new plan would need a new permit, because the 2023 permit has expired and the plan has been changed.

Another question was whether the state Fire Marshal’s re-approval was needed. Goodine said the engineered plan will have it.

Federal requirements say ARPA money has to be “needed” by Dec. 31, Nelson said. There was confusion over what “needed” means, and consensus that the ARPA money does not need to be spent by that deadline.

Committee members discussed inconclusively whether work can or should start this fall. Cold-weather work, like pouring concrete, costs more, Bailey said; but he and Pierz doubted bid prices would hold until the 2025 construction season.

Codes officer recommends cluster developments to planning board

by Mary Grow

China planning board members continued review of the town’s subdivision ordinance at their Oct. 22 meeting, focused on clarifying a change Codes Officer Nicholas French is recommending: allowing cluster developments, also known as open space subdivisions.

The current ordinance has one sentence about cluster developments. Section 11.7 says, “Cluster developments are prohibited.”

This language was adopted in 1993, board chairman Toni Wall pointed out. There is no reason board members, or voters, should have the same opinion more than 30 years later.

French explained that in a cluster development, the owner of a parcel of land is allowed to group an appropriate number of houses on a small part of it, often around one-third. Each individual house lot is smaller than the current minimum 40,000 square feet (a figure that varies with location and other factors).

The rest of the parcel is common space, usually left as is – woods or former field, for example – and open for all the home-owners to use. The developer might own it, or he or she might sell it to the lot-owners.

A cluster development would be likely to have some shared septic systems and perhaps some shared wells, French said. Access roads – fewer and shorter than in a conventional subdivision, because the houses are closer together – would be maintained by a road association consisting of lot-owners.

French favors cluster developments, primarily, he said, because they would allow China to help alleviate the current housing shortage without sacrificing its rural character.

Board members intend to continue discussing the subdivision ordinance at their next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12.

By then, Wall said, her term as a planning board member will have ended.

The amended Planning Board Ordinance voters approved in June says: “As individual terms expire, the Select Board shall appoint new members on an at-large basis to two-year terms. Such terms may be extended at the discretion of the Select Board.”

Wall said she is applying to the select board for reappointment.

China TIF committee lacks quorum at October 28 meeting

by Mary Grow

Only two members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee, chairman Brent Chesley and member Jamie Pitney, attended the Oct. 28 meeting. Though no decisions could be made without a quorum, Chesley and Pitney heard reports from TIF fund recipients.

Martha Wentworth, chairman of the China Recreation Committee, was the only one in the audience hoping for action. She had applied on behalf of the committee for $12,500 in TIF funds to help install a self-service kayak and paddle board rental kiosk near the boat landing at the head of China Lake’s east basin.

Wentworth presented the idea to select board members at their Jan. 29, 2024, meeting. They asked for more information.

The company offering the service is Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan. Its website shows two Maine sites, in Westbrook and Norridgewock.

Wentworth explained that the company would provide four kayaks and four paddle boards, with paddles and lifejackets, in a secure cage. People could rent the equipment. The town would pay an upfront fee; the company would assume some operating costs, including, she said, liability insurance; and she expected the town to recoup its investment within five years.

CRLA executive director steps down

China Region Lakes Alliance head Stephen Greene announced Oct. 28 that CRLA Executive Director Jessie Mae MacDougall has resigned, for personal reasons, after a few months on the job. CRLA will soon be advertising for a new person for the part-time, seasonal job.

Pitney said he will review TIF rules and let Wentworth know if contributing to the kiosk is an allowable use of TIF funds. If it is, she plans to present more information to supplement her application.

Those reporting on use of previously authorized TIF money were Pitney, speaking for the China Broadband Committee; Thomas Rumpf, for the China Four Seasons Club; Jeanette Smith, for the Thurston Park Committee; Stephen Greene, for the China Lake Association and China Region Lakes Alliance; and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood, for the town.

Pitney said the cooperative effort with Idaho-based Direct Communications and its Unity, Maine, subsidiary, formerly Unitel, to get grant funding for broadband expansion to underserved and unserved parts of China continues. The current path is a federal program called Broadband Equity and Diversity, or BEAD; the State of Maine has completed preliminary steps and is continuing.
Rumpf said the Four Seasons Club has used TIF funds to bring two more of China’s ATV and snowmobile trails up to new state standards. He is seeking grants for the troublesome Bog Trail, which uses the former narrow-gauge railroad line.
Smith reported two Thurston Park trails substantially improved and receiving praise from visitors, who are increasingly numerous. Storm damage has been almost all cleaned up; trail markers are scheduled to be put up this fall; picnic tables and benches are on order; and improving handicapped access is a priority.

On Oct. 27, Smith said, the park hosted its first fun runs, a one-mile and a three-mile. More than 20 people took part, she estimated.

Greene reported the Courtesy Boat Inspection program, intended to keep invasive plants out of area lakes, ran all summer. The Youth Conservation Corps, whose members do shoreline erosion control projects, was less active, for lack of employees. No one had an answer to Pitney’s question: why are fewer high-school students seeking summer jobs?
Hapgood said China’s TIF-funded summer intern, Gracie Stagnito, “did some great work” and China Community Days, partly TIF-supported, had been successful again.

Chesley and Pitney proposed Monday, Dec. 9, as the TIF Committee’s next meeting date. Chesley will see if the other members are available that evening.

Five referendum questions on China ballot (2024)

by Mary Grow

China voters have a two-sided local ballot on Nov. 5, local elections on one side and five referendum questions on the other.

For elections, there is one contest on the ballot: five men are running for three seats on the select board, incumbents Blane Casey and Brent Chesley and Edwin Bailey, Tod Detre and Thomas Rumpf. For more information, see the recording of the Oct. 9 candidates’ forum, available on Youtube; or the summary in the Oct. 17 issue of The Town Line, p. 2.

There is one other name on the ballot, Timothy Basham for re-election to the budget committee, unopposed.

There are three declared write-in candidates for China local offices, as of Oct. 21. Melissa Cowing and John Soifer are write ins for the Regional School Unit #18 board of directors, and Jo Orlando is a write-in candidate for one of three budget committee vacancies.

The referendum questions are as follows:

The first question asks if voters want to amend the town’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing District) Ordinance. Proposed changes would eliminate some originally-listed uses for TIF money that have been appropriated once or never; add funding for an extension of the causeway work at the head of China Lake’s east basin, the first local TIF project to be finished; and rearrange other allocations.

The second question proposes amendments to China’s Budget Committee Ordinance. The main substantive change would eliminate the districts from which four of the seven committee members are now elected, and eliminate elections in favor of appointment by the select board.

The third question asks voters to add a Development District map to the land use map. Wording describing the district is in Appendix A of the Land Development Code; if voters approve, the map will be added.

The fourth question asks approval of amendments to sections of the Land Development Code prepared primarily by planning board members. A copy of the ordinance, with changes in red, is on the town website, chinamaine.org, under Planning Board, under Officials, Boards and Committees.

Board chairman Toni Wall and codes officer Nicholas French have described almost all the changes as non-substantive, aimed at updating and clarifying the ordinance language, including incorporating revised state requirements.

One change shortens the ordinance, by eliminating a section on regulating timber harvesting in shoreland, resource protection and stream protection districts. With voter approval, regulatory authority will be transferred from town officials to the Maine Forest Service.

The final question, presented by citizens’ petition, asks approval of a 180-day moratorium on any new power lines through China. A response to the proposed north-south line to bring power from Aroostook County windmills to this area, the moratorium is intended to give local officials time to develop appropriate ordinances to regulate such development.

China’s Nov. 5 voting will be in the former portable building behind the town office, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vehicle access will be from Alder Park Road, south of the town office complex; the driveway off Lakeview Drive will be closed for the day.

The China town office will be closed all day Nov. 5.