Historic alewife restoration initiative hits another milestone

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The China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative team, from left to right, Landis Hudson, executive director of Maine Rivers; Ray Breton, owner of the Olde Mill property; Nate Gray of Maine Department of Marine Resources; and Matt Streeter, project manager for Maine Rivers and the China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

by Eric W. Austin
Six dams in six years — that was the goal, says Matt Streeter, project manager for the China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative, and it’s a goal they are likely to meet — and maybe even surpass.

The team invited me down to Box Mill Dam, behind the Olde Mill, in Vassalboro, to view their progress on the new fishway currently under construction. Once complete, it will be another milestone on the way to opening up migratory fish passage into China Lake for the first time in nearly two centuries.

It’s been a long haul for the project team, which is headed up by the nonprofit Maine Rivers, working in collaboration with the towns of China and Vassalboro, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Kennebec Water District, the Sabasticook Regional Land Trust and the China Region Lakes Alliance.

“It takes a lot of work,” says Landis Hudson, executive director for Maine Rivers. “We have created a big, solid team to work on this project, and we have been in communication for six years to get this far, but it’s taken a strong team and a clear vision of the future. We’re not done yet, but we can see the finish line.”

Originally, there were six dams along Outlet Stream blocking fish passage into China Lake. Depending on what was appropriate for the location, the group has either dismantled the dam or built a fishway to allow migratory fish a means around the obstacle. Last year, they completed a fishway at Ladd Dam, in Vassalboro. In the years prior, they dismantled Lombard and Masse dams. This year they are building a fishway at Box Mill Dam, which leaves just Morneau Dam and the dam at the head of Outlet Stream (behind the Vassalboro Historical Society) to finish.

Although alewives have been annually stocked in China Lake for years, the team’s work will dramatically increase the lake’s migratory fish population.

“The population is going to go up significantly,” explains Nate Gray, of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Gray has been responsible for stocking alewives in China Lake since the beginning, starting in 1997. “We stock about 25,0000 [adult alewives] a year,” he says, “[but] we know China Lake is good for about a million fish.”

Construction of a fishway continues at the Box Mill Dam, in North Vassalboro. (photo by Eric W. Austin)

Maine Rivers executive director, Landis Hudson, elaborates: “It’s great that DMR has been jump-starting the system by putting those fish in,” she says, “but the idea is to let the system do its own thing — [to] have a self-sustaining population that can make their way, essentially, from the ocean up to China Lake on their own volition.

“What we’re doing is bringing a big burst of native species back in that will – obviously – be good for the stream,” continues Hudson, “but it will also have an echo effect throughout this system and then further out into the Gulf of Maine. So, it will strengthen the food web for fish, birds, and other animals.”

Some people have questioned why these dams have not been repurposed to generate electrical power, but Hudson says that idea isn’t practical. “Sometimes people have this idea that every single dam in the state could be producing hydropower,” she says, “[but] none of the dams along Outlet Stream are particularly viable now. They were used for gristmills; they were used for saw mills — old-fashioned power. Those times are gone. So, we’ve been basically working with what’s here, trying to fix the stream and make it less ‘broken’ — bringing back the fish — but the idea of some imaginary hydropower project is not viable anymore.”

The Alewife Restoration Initiative has worked with local landowners to accomplish their goals. Ray Breton, owner of the Olde Mill property, has collaborated closely with the team to ensure the current fishway at Box Mill – and last year’s Ladd Dam fishway – were built without sacrificing the natural beauty of the environment.

“It’s been great,” says Breton. “I had some recommendations, in order to add to the park, so this all blends in and looks like Mother Nature. They were good to work with. They could have said, ‘No,’ but they didn’t. Everything I’ve asked for they put in.”

Hudson agrees. “People come here for weddings, or to have their high school pictures taken,” she says, referring to the current project at Box Mill, “so we’ve tried to make plans which integrate that into it, and [keep] the aesthetics of the waterfall. It’s not just fish passage. It’s fish passage and a park.”

Project manager Matt Streeter adds, “This is going to be the place where we are going to encourage people to come look at the fish run in the stream. There’s going to be a nice brick walkway all the way around it, and safety railings, so people will have a good view of the fishway.”

The team is aiming to complete construction at Box Mill by October. Next year, they will tackle Morneau Dam or Outlet Dam — or maybe both. It all depends on the funding.

“There is no simple way to do it, and there is no cheap way to do it,” says Hudson. “If there was a simpler or cheaper way to do it, we would have done it already.”

Contact the author at ericwaustin@gmail.com.

PHOTO: Soccer underway

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China and Vassalboro Rec kicked off their youth soccer season in September. China players Silas Parlin and Tucker Hussey, in blue, and Vassalboro players Mia Mclean and Baylee Fuchswanz chase the ball down field. (photo by Mark Huard, Central Maine Photography)

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: China voters asked to amend transfer station ordinances

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by Larry Sikora
China Transfer Station Committee

The November ballot will have two questions for China voters on amending the ordinances that describe the operation of the China Transfer Station. The changes are mainly in terminology.

Earlier this year the Transfer Station switched from stickers on vehicles to identifying China and Palermo residents to an electronic tag called RFID or radio frequency identification. The change was brought about with a grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and allows for identification by both sight and an alarm and calculates accurately the traffic into the Transfer Station.

The ordinances as currently written use the terms “sticker” and “decal” which are incorrect. These terms are replaced in the amended versions by the generic term “access permit” that describes properly the new RFID and any other identification marker that may be used in the future. The ordinances will now contain a definition of ‘access permit’.

Another change in the ordinances removes details on the hours of operation of the Transfer Station and substitutes the “Facility shall be open as determined by the Town Manager in conjunction with the Select Board.” The hours and any changes to them or closings of the Transfer Station will appear on the Town of China website and displayed on the Town’s electronic sign.

There are also some minor editorial changes for clarity.

The ordinances with the changes discussed can be found under the Elections tab on the Town of China
web site, https://china.govoffice.com . Please review them prior to voting.

Thank you for being a proponent of the Transfer Station. Your support is appreciated as our facility continues to be a model which other towns use.

China planners decide to prepare separate solar ordinance

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by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members decided at their Sept. 22 meeting they should prepare a separate ordinance to set requirements for solar developments, instead of trying to amend the existing land use ordinance.

Attorney Thomas Federle, of Federle Law, in Portland, has been representing SunRaise Investments as the company got approval for two solar projects near Route 3. He found that China’s lot coverage requirement, under which solar panels are counted as structures, limits the size of a solar array.

China ordinances say that structures cannot cover more than 20 percent of a lot in the rural district or 15 percent in shoreland, resource protection and stream protection districts. The purpose is to maintain natural ground that absorbs rainwater and thereby to limit run-off that could carry unwanted nutrients into water bodies.

At the planning board’s Aug. 25 meeting, Federle and board members discussed amending the current ordinance to add a definition of solar array and a provision that solar panels would not count in lot coverage calculations.

Federle’s main point was the ground under solar panels is maintained as a meadow. The grass will absorb water dripping from the panels.

Board members and Codes Officer Bill Butler were sympathetic to his view. But by Sept. 22, they were seeing complications and possible unintended consequences from suggested amendments.

One issue is whether a proposed change, in whatever form, should apply everywhere in town. Butler suggested shoreland, stream protection and resource protection areas need more protection than rural areas.

After board members decided they would prefer a separate ordinance, Federle offered to collect samples from other Maine towns for their guidance.

Any new ordinance would need approval by China voters before becoming effective.

The Sept. 22 meeting was entirely virtual. The motion to adjourn included a provision that the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13, will be in-person in the town office.

China selectmen are also scheduled to meet Oct. 13, because their usual Monday meeting, which would have been Oct. 12, falls on the Columbus Day holiday, when the town office will be closed.

‘Swap shop’ temporarily closed at China transfer station

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Empty shelves in the “Swap Shop” at the China Transfer Station (photo by Karen Hatch)

by Mary Grow

China selectmen agreed to two temporary closings at their Sept. 28 meeting, one their own doing and one not.

At the transfer station, the free for the taking building, sometimes called the swap shop, will be closed indefinitely, effective immediately. Reopening will depend on state guidelines concerning Covid-19 safety measures. Selectmen were concerned about the possibility of people leaving items carrying the virus and about the number of people in the building at the same time, even though it is well ventilated.

At the head of China Lake’s east basin, Causeway Street will be closed between the China Baptist Church parking lot and the boat landing, beginning the week of Oct. 12 and lasting for eight to 10 weeks. During the closure, McGee Construction will install protective shoreline barriers and a walkway along the north shore of the lake.

Another selectboard decision was to give the old roto phase at the transfer station to the Town of Vassalboro, with Vassalboro employees to come and get it. Town Manager Becky Hapgood said the roto phase is 25 to 30 years old, no longer needed in China and valued at a maximum of $200.

Asked what a roto phase is, Hapgood replied, “It’s something that does something with the power.”

Selectman Wayne Chadwick provided a more technical explanation. A roto phase converts incoming electricity from single phase to the three-phase power transfer station machinery now uses. Months ago, China officials arranged with Central Maine Power Company to provide the station with three-phase power directly, without needing a converter.

Selectmen made two appointments. James Lane will become China’s second Animal Control Officer, so an ACO will be available when Kim Bolduc-Bartlett takes time off. Lane served in the past as China’s police officer.

Town Clerk Angela Nelson will be China’s agent for the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, meaning she will handle vehicle registrations.

Hapgood announced that Codes Officer Bill Butler is retiring, effective Dec. 1. She planned to start advertising for a successor within days.

The Sept. 28 meeting was preceded by two public hearings. The first was the annual state-required hearing on state-recommended amendments to the appendices to the town’s General Assistance Ordinance. The second was on the two local ordinance amendments to be on the Nov. 3 ballot – they are posted under Elections on the China website, Hapgood said.

Neither hearing drew any public comments or questions. During the meeting selectmen unanimously approved the general assistance amendments.

The evening’s longest discussion was over Hapgood’s request for an early performance review, before Nov. 3 local elections bring in one or more new selectmen who have not worked with her. Appointed to succeed Dennis Heath in mid-July, Hapgood is on six-months’ probationary status, scheduled for review in January 2021.

“I want to know if I’m meeting the needs of the community, if I’m serving you well and taking care of what needs to be done,” Hapgood said.

After talking about the time between mid-July and the election, and the time between the election and mid-January, and when the following review would be due (Hapgood said normally employees’ reviews are done shortly before the June 30 end of the fiscal year), board members decided to wait until January.

Chairman Ronald Breton said any new selectman who thought he or she did not know Hapgood’s work well enough by January could decline to participate in the review. And meanwhile, he told Hapgood, any board member not satisfied with her job performance could tell her so individually.

China voters will elect three selectmen from a field of five on Nov. 3. Breton and Janet Preston seek re-election; three newcomers on the ballot are Blane Casey, Brent Chesley and Jeanne Marquis. Donna Mills-Stevens is not running for another term; Irene Belanger’s and Wayne Chadwick’s terms end in 2021.

The next China selectmen’s meeting should be Monday, Oct. 12, but was rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 13, to avoid the Columbus Day holiday. The next regular planning board meeting is scheduled the same evening. Breton said he and Planning Board Chairman Tom Miragliuolo will resolve the conflict.

Trying to make sense out of absentee ballot applications

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by Roland D. Hallee

With the push by municipal officials encouraging voters to cast their ballots early, and the aggressive campaigns taken by political candidates to get-out-the-vote, much confusion has surfaced as to the process of voting absentee.

At the head of the confusion is the fact that many households are receiving multiple unsolicited applications in the mail.

According to area election officials, individual voters are receiving multiple absentee ballot applications.

Michelle Flewelling, Fairfield town manager, stated, “There are two registered voters at my address, we have received eight absentee ballot requests in the mail so far.”

China Town Clerk Angela Nelson pointed out, “We have received multiple absentee ballot applications from individuals. When this happens, we write ‘Duplicate Submission’ on the additional requests and staple them to the first processed application. If residents are receiving these additional applications in the mail they can simply destroy them.”

Vassalboro Town Clerk Cathy Coyne stressed, “Once you have applied for an absentee ballot, toss all other requests. You can only apply for one absentee ballot.”

Patti Dubois, Waterville city clerk, informed the public that if a voter receives multiple applications, “Do not call your municipal clerk, since these mailings are coming from outside civic/political groups. If a voter has already submitted an absentee ballot request form, disregard any additional ones received in the mail.” According to Dubois, to check on the status of an absentee ballot, go to https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/ballotstatus.pl.

Flewelling added, “If you should happen to fill [out a second ballot] and mail it to your town office, the second application will be denied. Since you are only allowed to receive one set of ballots per election, and all absentee requests are processed through the state of Maine, Secretary of State computer system, it will be obvious to the election clerks that more than one request has been submitted.”

In most towns, absentee ballot applications can be found on the community’s website. If you have not applied for an absentee ballot, and receive one in the mail, it may be filled out and returned to your municipal office.

Once a person receives their ballots, which will be mailed on or about October 3, there are multiple ways to cast the ballot. They can be mailed back to their respective town offices; they can be hand carried to the municipal offices, or, in some communities, placed in the convenient ballot collection boxes located outside their town offices. They should not be brought to the polls on election day.

In Waterville, the drop box is located outside the main entrance to city hall. In the town of Fairfield, the ballot collection box is located at the town office near the handicap accessible ramp. In China, the drop box, once it arrives, according to Nelson, will be located outside, in front of the town office.

According to Flewelling, should voters who have applied for absentee ballots not receive them in the mail by October 15, they should contact their respective town office.

But the COVID-19 pandemic will cause other election day problems. Since many people will insist on in-person voting at the polls, state CDC guidelines will be observed.

According to Dubois, “In Waterville, anyone who waits to vote on election day should plan for long lines. Due to social distancing requirements and gathering limits that are capped at 50, including staff and voters, there will only be approximately 25 voters within the voting area at one time.”

Voters should also be aware that eligible voters must be allowed to vote on election day whether they choose to wear a mask or not.

All the town officials stressed that voters are asked to have patience with the election workers who are all doing the best they can under the challenging conditions.

The polling places are: In China, in the portable building at 571 Lakeview Dr., behind the town office, from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.;

In Vassalboro, according to Coyne, at the Vassalboro Community School, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. In Fairfield, at the Fairfield Community Center, 61 Water St., from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; in Waterville, Waterville Junior High School, 100 West River Rd., 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Absentee voting notice

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Note to residents of China:

Various organizations are sending absentee ballot request forms to residents of the town, with a return address of the Town Clerk’s Office. These notices were not sent out by the Town of China. If you have already submitted an absentee ballot request, you may disregard these forms. For any concerns please call us at 445-2014.

CHINA: Program at ACB Memorial Library

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Albert Church Brown Memorial Library in China Village.

by Mary Grow

“Maine Memories,” the second post-coronavirus outdoor program at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library in China Village, brought an interested audience to the library’s south lawn Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20.

Librarian Carla Olson Gade opened the program by reading a poem by Maine author and Vassalboro native Holman Day, and closed it by reading summer resident Richard Dillenbeck’s contemporary reminiscence of the China Village grammar school, which stood on the lot across Main Street from the library.

Marjeanne (Banks) Vacco said she, too attended the village school, four years behind Dillenbeck. Both transferred in the spring of 1949 to the new consolidated elementary school on Lakeview Drive, now China Middle School.

Vacco said her grandmother was her teacher. The building had two teachers, Dillenbeck wrote, one for the four younger grades on the lower floor, the other for the four upper grades on the second floor.

In the 1940s, China Village’s business district was at the south end of Main Street, around the intersection with Neck Road and Causeway Street, Vacco said. Because she lived just down the hill in the house at the corner of Peking and Causeway streets, she could stop at the grocery and spend a nickel for an ice cream cone on her way home from school.

Mention of Peking Street reminded former China resident Isabelle Wiand of a story told her by the late Louise Tracey, who lived at the intersection of Canton Street and Neck Road: Tracey once received her pension check months late, because it came via China in Asia. Several other people remembered similarly delayed mail, some in envelopes with markings in Chinese.

Neck Road resident Louisa Barnhart talked about her house, built around 1827, one of several on Neck Road built with bricks from a kiln in the area of Fire Road 9. When she and husband Michael Klein needed to repoint the brickwork, they found sand from a Fire Road 9 pit created an exact match for the original work.

On the back of the house is a 17-foot-square room that used to be a separate building. It was made from recycled timbers, with saplings for a roof, so Barnhart believes its woodwork is even older than the main house.

The house has been owned by three families in almost two centuries, Barnhart said. It was in the Ward family for many years and owned for about 10 years by Bill Rollins before Klein and Barnhart bought it.

Vacco, whose family was connected with the Wards two generations back, added that the former schoolhouse in front of the brick house was moved to Vermont. Lilacs mark the site of the former school privy, Barnhart said.

The afternoon’s other main speaker was Tom Parent, President of the China Library Association and an Eagle Lake native who will have lived in China for 37 years next month. Growing up in The County, he said, every fall schools would close for potato-picking month and his entire family would move to the potato fields around Fort Fairfield.

There they would live in what he called a shack and pick potatoes from sun-up to sun-down. Parent compared their situation to being a migrant worker today, except that the whole family took part.

Pickers had two choices, he said: most picked on their knees, and often developed knee trouble later in life, while those who chose to stay on their feet & bend down were likely to have back trouble. Many pickers wore braces on their swollen wrists.

When the weather was uncooperative Parent said poker was the indoor fall-back. “I earned more money playing poker than I did picking potatoes,” he claimed.

Pickers earned 12 cents a barrel when he first went into the fields, Parent said. The price had more than doubled, to 25 cents a barrel, by the time he was in his early teens. Each barrel held about 200 pounds of potatoes.

A good picker could do more than 100 barrels a day, Parent said. One of his brothers filled 165 barrels one day.

Money from the work paid the debt at the local grocery and provided school clothes and supplies. And, Parent said, children brought up in the potato-picking culture developed a good work ethic that lasted a lifetime.

He also mentioned that while towns like Eagle Lake were mostly deserted during potato-picking season, no one locked doors, and families would find their possessions untouched when they came home.

The next public event planned at the Albert Church Brown Memorial Library is the annual candidates’ forum to introduce candidates in contested local elections to voters. This year, five people seek three seats on the Board of Selectmen: incumbents Ronald Breton and Janet Preston and Blane Casey, Brent Chesley and Jeanne Marquis.

The forum date is not yet set. In past years, it has been in late October in advance of local elections, which will be Nov. 3 this year. Plans are to have the forum available to the public over Zoom, Gade said. Notices will appear on the library website, www.chinalibrary.org, and elsewhere.

The library reopened Sept. 8 with coronavirus precautions and slightly changed hours. New hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

China resident recognized with prestigious Sages award

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Jodi Blackinton, right, with fellow volunteer John Thunder, at the China Community Food Pantry. (contributed photo)

by Eric W. Austin

Jodi Blackinton, a resident of China, is a recipient of the 2020 Sages of Clinical Services award by her employer Optum, UnitedHealthcare and United Group Clinicians. The award is given out to employees that have demonstrated their commitment to the values of Integrity, Compassion, building trust in Relationships, Innovation, and Performance. This year, out of 49,000 clinicians, there were 1,280 nominations and 130 total winners. This is Blackinton’s second nomination.

“I work with a great team and this award is truly for my entire team,” said Blackinton. “Optum, UHC has been a wonderful employer and I am proud to be part of this organization.”

Blackinton was recognized not only for her work with UnitedHealthcare, but also for the way she gives back to the community in her off-hours. She is a part of the management team at the China Community Food Pantry, where she works each Saturday, and serves on the China for a Lifetime committee, a local group that encourages and supports community volunteering in China.

“I have been a nurse for 28 years,” Blackinton said. “I love people and I have always loved caring for the sick and promoting wellness.”

“Not only is Jodi a critical part of the pantry team,” said China Community Food Pantry director, Ann Austin, “whenever one of our patrons has a medical question, she’s the one we call. Her advice and experience have been indispensable in this time of COVID.”

Blackinton said she is happy she works for a company that encourages employees to give back to their communities. “I am grateful that UHC offers a giving opportunity to their employees all year and has matching of donations as well,” she said. “UHC has allowed me to give back to the food pantry since arriving here in Maine almost five years ago.”

Blackinton moved to China from Rhode Island with her husband, Barry, in 2015. They have one son, one daughter-in-law and one “fat and happy dachshund.”

Causeway work to begin in October

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Construction on Phase One of the project in 2019. (Photo courtesy of the China Lake Association)

Submitted by China Town Manager Becky Hapgood.

China Residents & Causeway Road users,

The work on the China Lake Causeway Improvements project will be starting soon. We are very excited to finally be getting this work going and ready for a great season in 2021. The following is a tentative schedule for the work:

The contractor will mobilize to the site during the first week of October. Once the project gets started, the Causeway Road will be closed to the public. There will be signs and a detour set up for motorists that use the Causeway Road.

Part of the upgrades is to replace the existing boat launch with all new components including a much-needed new ramp. We will try to accommodate people by keeping the boat launch open during the first few weeks of the work. The launch will be completely closed after the second week of October to start the renovations to the ramp.

If you are planning to use the boat launch this fall to take your boat out, we recommend that you make plans to do this as soon as you are able. The boat launch in East Vassalboro will remain open as usual.

To accommodate phases of the work, we will be drawing the lake level down earlier than usual this year. The lake level has already started to drop this year due to the lack of precipitation and run off. We have coordinated with multiple agencies with an interest in the lake levels and have worked out a plan to minimize impact to everyone.

The actual drawdown will start soon at a reduced rate of flow to start the process. The drawdown order from the Maine DEP says that the drawdown is to take place between October 1st and October 31st. We will start dropping the lake level at the ordered rate at that time.

If you have any questions, call the Town Office at (207) 445-2014 or email info@chinamaine.org. We do not have firm dates at this time but will reach out again when we do.