China select board hears about work to be done at fields

by Mary Grow

China select board members and Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth had two topics to discuss at the Sept. 8 select board meeting. They renewed a July 28 discussion of repairs and maintenance at China’s ballfields on Lakeview Drive (see the July 31 issue of The Town Line, p. 2); and they decided how to handle the near-total failure of the kayak rental program that was supposed to operate at the head of the lake this past summer.

Wentworth said she and committee member Edward Brownell had prepared a prioritized list of work that should be done at the ballfields, making improved safety a main criterion.

By that measure, she said, repairing or replacing the deck at the concession stand tops the list. Fence repairs are also important, and trimming some trees and removing one.

Wentworth had been able to get price quotes on some projects, but not the three quotes on each for which she hoped. The current roughly-estimated costs for the deck, fence and tree work total close to $20,000.

The town has a recreation reserve fund, with the exact amount unknown until the most recent audit is completed.

After a quarter-hour discussion, select board members authorized Wentworth to use the reserve fund to do as much of the work as possible, and to get at least two price quotes – three if possible – on each project and bring them to a future select board meeting.

The Rent.Fun kayak rental station set up near the boat launch at the east end of the causeway was the topic of the Sept. 8 meeting’s final discussion. Earlier in the day, Wentworth and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood had talked with a company representative.

Select board members approved the kiosk in January, on a split vote. In return for an upfront payment of $33,500, the town got the kiosk from which people could rent kayaks and paddleboards, using cellphones and an app. Rent-Fun would pay for repairs, maintenance and liability insurance; income would be divided between the company and the town.

The kiosk was not installed until July 31, Wentworth said; it should have been ready to use by July 4. The next day, the solar panel that powered it failed (China’s was the only one of 300 installations to have this problem).

Subsequent communication problems meant no one could discover the problem and notify the company for three weeks; and then, Hapgood said, service was less prompt than promised (due to a problem with delivery of a replacement solar panel, Wentworth said).

Wentworth has already talked with the company representative about a longer term of service next year. After discussion of this year’s lost income and frustrated would-be customers, select board members asked her to ask Rent.Fun to pay the town $5,000 compensation.

In other business Sept. 8, select board members:

— Appointed Heather Neal to serve the remainder of Dawn Castner’s term on the Regional School Unit #18 board of directors (on the Nov. 4 local ballot, Neal is the only candidate to succeed Castner).
— Appointed Judy Van Norman as Palermo’s new representative on the transfer station committee, succeeding Chris Diesch, who has resigned.
— Accepted low bids for removing two trees at the town office and for crack-sealing on Danforth Road, Causeway Street and perhaps a mile of Neck Road.
— After discussing ways to sell a no-longer-needed town truck, authorized board chairman Wayne Chadwick to explore using an area dealer; and if Chadwick did not think that plan adequate, authorized Hapgood to choose an auction company.
— Learned that the town cannot get the $13,414 50-yard waste container for the transfer station approved at their Aug. 25 meeting (see the Aug. 28 issue of The Town Line, p. 3) and approved a $13,950 substitute recommended by the transfer station manager.
— Approved a liquor license for Lisa’s White Flour Catering for Erskine Academy’s Sept. 26 homecoming celebration.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22.