China select board discusses land use in town

by Mary Grow

China select board members’ Dec. 4 meeting included two discussions related, in different ways, to land use in town, with a lot of unanimous votes on other topics in between.

Board members again considered proposed changes to the town’s Planning Board Ordinance, with planning board co-chairman Toni Wall joining from the audience. Select board members unanimously approved three provisions, two of them changes.

— They want planning board members to be appointed, not elected.
— They want to abolish the four planning board districts and have all five regular members and one alternate member appointed from anywhere in town.
— They want to continue having planning board members serve two-year terms (with re-appointment always possible).

Other ordinance revisions were also suggested, and might be discussed at the planning board’s Dec. 12 meeting.

A revised ordinance will need voter approval in 2024. Select board members will decide whether to add a local ballot on March 5 with the state presidential primary, or to include a vote on the ordinance at the June 11 town business meeting.

Select board member Janet Preston raised the second issue near the end of the meeting. She had done research on conserved land in Maine towns that are comparable to China in various ways and found that, on average, these towns have 12 or 13 percent of their land conserved, often for public recreation, compared to less than one percent in China.

Fellow board members asked for a more specific study, for example looking at only town-owned public land, so that state parks would not skew the figures. Preston said she will continue to work with the idea.

In other business Dec. 4:

— Select board members reviewed four bids for summer mowing and unanimously awarded the contract to Bruce Danforth, of Embden, low bidder at $25,000.
— They unanimously approved renewing the agreement giving Albion residents limited use of China’s transfer station, to supplement Albion’s curbside pick-up program for 2024.
— Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood presented eight town policies, some for renewal and some for re-approval with minor changes. Board members unanimously approved all policies as presented. (Town policies are on the China website, china.govoffice.com.)
— Hapgood presented a tentative timeline for development of the 2024-25 municipal budget and related actions in preparation for voter decisions.

The next China select board meeting will be Monday evening, Dec. 18. The first two meetings in January 2024 will be Tuesday, Jan. 2, and Tuesday, Jan. 16, since those weeks begin with Monday holidays.