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.