by Mary Grow

China selectmen made a decision at their Nov. 25 meeting that they think settles the controversy over stipends for volunteer firefighters – at least for this year.

On a 3-0-1 vote, with Donna Mill-Stevens abstaining, board members approved Chairman Ronald Breton’s motion that China’s three fire chiefs (Timothy Theriault, China Village; Richard Morse, South China; and William Van Wickler, Weeks Mills) be invited to pick up their $10,000 stipend checks at the town office as soon as convenient, without signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU, as it’s come to be known during months of debate) that would have spelled out accounting requirements.

Breton’s motion had two other components, which he called “conditions” when he first made it and later an “understanding” appropriate people in each department are responsible for compliance with all state and federal laws and with itemizing expenditures from the stipend money.

Breton prefaced his motion with a summary of earlier discussions and disagreements that he emphasized was his personal view, not the board’s. He said selectmen support the firefighters’ stipends; the conditions in his motion are intended to recognize the board’s duty to oversee expenditures of taxpayers’ money.

After the vote, resident Scott Pierz asked what would happen with next year’s budget. Breton replied that it is too early to begin discussing it.

China Rescue also receives $10,000 for stipends for its members. Town Manager Dennis Heath explained that because Rescue bills are paid through the town, the organization is not involved in the MOU issue.

[See also: Proclamation for David Herard Day in China]

The other important question settled Nov. 25 was when to hold a special election to fill the fifth seat on the Selectboard, vacated Oct. 15 when Jeffrey LaVerdiere resigned during the disagreement over firefighters’ stipends.

Board members voted unanimously to hold the special election Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in conjunction with the state-wide presidential primary. Nomination papers for the Selectboard seat are now available at the town office.

In other business Nov. 25:

• Selectmen unanimously approved two recommendations from the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Committee, appropriating $15,000 from current-year funds to the Broadband Committee for a survey of broadband service in China and recommending 2020 town business meeting voters appropriate $57,500 to the China Lake Association for the LakeSmart program.
• Heath reported that results of the Sept. 6 to Oct. 15 transfer station survey are in a draft report to be reviewed by the Transfer Station Committee at its Nov. 26 meeting and presented to selectmen at their next meeting.
• Referring to privacy concerns raised at the Nov.13 informational meeting on the new RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system at China’s transfer station (see The Town Line, Nov. 13, p. 3), Heath said he believes a United States Supreme Court decision on cellphones as locators could be used to argue that records showing when an individual visited the facility are not public records.

Board member Wayne Chadwick asked whether he would be barred from the transfer station if he left the RFID placard in his other vehicle. Heath said he thought not; transfer station staff should be able to look up his name and find his placard number.

Board member Irene Belanger said Department of Environmental Protection staff are watching China’s RFID system, “because it’s the first one in the state.” The system is funded mostly by a DEP grant.

The next regular China selectmen’s meeting date is Monday, Dec. 9.

by Mary Grow

If the small placard hanging from your rearview mirror records that you were at the China transfer station at, for example, 1:11 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and lists your name, is your privacy invaded?

That was the major debate at the Transfer Station Committee’s Nov. 13 informational meeting on the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that China officials will introduce as the year ends.

The system requires a vehicle coming into the transfer station to have a numbered placard, most conveniently hanging from the rearview mirror. Sample placards passed around at the meeting are three and a half inches square. Town officials intend to have them available by mid-December.

The goal of the current sticker system, or the RFID system, or a more costly and inconvenient manned entrance building, is to make sure only China residents, or others authorized, use China’s facility. The placards come in two colors, orange for China residents and blue for Palermo residents, who share the facility under a two-town agreement.

Transfer station Manager Tim Grotton expects the RFID system to be more useful than stickers. When an RFID tag rides past the sensor, a light flashes. If a vehicle comes in and there is no light, he and his staff are cued to speak with the driver.

Currently China’s RFID system has only one sensor recording entrances and departures. Town officials intend to seek future grants for more sensors to see how often different areas – trash hopper, recycling building, compost pile, brush pile – are visited.

The system records the owner’s name and the date and time the vehicle entered the transfer station. According to the handout at the meeting, “Encryption prevents other RFID readers from accessing owner information.”

Resident Todd Tolhurst, supported by at least one other man among the 10 attendees, argued that recording names is an unnecessary violation of privacy. He urged Transfer Station Committee members to change the system so the placard is not linked to a name.

Although in theory only town employees would have access to RFID reports, Tolhurst believes they would be public records that anyone could request. He suggested an avid environmentalist might use them to shame people who don’t recycle.

Reminded by Sikora and committee member Mark Davis that much more personal information is available on many town and state websites, Tolhurst replied, “I can’t think of any others that track my movements.”

Tolhurst raised the related question of how long information is kept. Committee members said at least a year, for annual reports to the state, and perhaps longer.

The debate ended with committee member Bob Kurik, from Palermo, proposing the committee look into using only the numbers on the tags, instead of either names or license plates. Sikora added the committee will review the encryption system.

Tolhurst also questioned the cost of the RFID system. Sikora said a $10,500 Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant that paid for the tags, software and training was supplemented by a small amount from the transfer station reserve fund. Davis added that hooking up the reader cost nothing: transfer station staffer Kevin Rhoades did the job using a recycled satellite dish.

The handout on RFID distributed at the meeting explained that:

• The DEP helped fund the system because it is intended to provide information to help Maine achieve its 50 percent recycling goal.
• Tracking users will help town officials “adjust staffing, hours of operation, and plan for future physical changes like traffic patterns or capital improvements.”
• Tags are issued from the town office based on proof of residence. One tag is free; there is a $10 fee for a replacement tag if the original is lost, refunded when the tag is returned to the town office (presumably because the resident moved out of town).
• Tags do not need to be renewed annually like the stickers.