China select board discusses how other town board members should be chosen

by Mary Grow

China select board members’ main discussion topics at their June 5 meeting were how members of other major town boards should be chosen and how two sections of town road should be repaved.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood raised the first topic as an offshoot of board members’ review of proposed changes to China’s Planning Board Ordinance. She pointed out that currently China select board members are elected from anywhere in town, but four members of the planning board and four members of the budget committee are each elected from one of four districts.

Since all voters vote for all candidates, so that no board member “represents” a specific district, Hapgood questioned the value of districts.

Furthermore, she wondered whether the simpler appointment process would encourage more people to volunteer to serve on these boards. An appointed board member would not go through the signature-gathering process required for election.

Residents invited to fill out community resilience survey

China residents are invited to fill out the community resilience survey that was listed in the June 2 issue of China Connected, with an incorrect link. The correct link, https://forms.office.com/r/fSuy5raffD, is on the town website, china.gov.office.com, almost at the top of the center column.

The QR code on China Connected is correct. Copies of the survey will be available at the polls on June 13. Deadline for returning completed surveys is June 20.

Information on residents’ preferences is part of the town’s application for a community resilience grant through the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments.

The districts, select board members agreed, were initially created to promote varied views by spreading representation throughout the town. But, board chairman Wayne Chadwick said, diversity is personal, not geographic.

No action was intended or taken; the next step is consultation with budget committee and planning board members. Generally, the idea of abolishing the districts was favorably received.

Appointing budget committee and/or planning board members was less popular. Chadwick and resident (and former codes officer) Scott Pierz both said planning board members should be elected, because they have decision-making authority.

The roads discussed for repaving were Branch Mills Road and the part of the Pleasant View Ridge Road not done last year. The issue was whether the process called chip seal should be used.

First used on China’s South Road several years ago, chip seal involves a thin layer of asphalt topped with crushed rock. It is less expensive than a thicker layer of asphalt, but controversial. Motorists, and especially motorcyclists, object to the loose rock left for the first weeks after the work, and some residents have questioned how long chip seal lasts.

At their May 22 meeting, China select board members awarded the bid for summer road paving to the low bidder, Maine-ly Paving Services, LLC, of Canaan. Hapgood explained the two-step process chip sealing requires, and said if Maine-ly Paving did not have time, a second company, All States Construction, Inc., of Richmond, could fill in (at a slightly higher cost, but still less expensive than asphalt paving).

After review of alternatives, board members agreed unanimously to leave the decisions to the town manager.

In other business June 5:

• Hapgood reported for Director of Public Services Shawn Reed that the portable traffic lights for use at road-work sites have arrived; and that an excavator had been used to removed a beaver dam causing flooding near Dutton Road.
• The manager said more volunteers are needed to help plan and lead the annual China Community Days celebration, scheduled for Aug. 4 through 6.
• Codes officer Nicholas French announced his resignation, effective the end of July. He and Hapgood hope a replacement will be chosen by the beginning of July for a month of training on local issues.

The town office will be closed Monday, June 19, for the Juneteenth holiday; will close at noon Friday, June 30, for end-of-year work, with a brief select board meeting that afternoon, mostly to pay final FY 2022-23 bills; and will be closed Tuesday, July 4, for the Independence Day holiday.

The next regular select board meeting will be Tuesday evening, June 20, instead of the usual Monday because of the holiday. Board members tentatively scheduled a Monday, July 3, meeting, and talked about holding it in the afternoon instead of evening.