China TIF committee lacks quorum at October 28 meeting

by Mary Grow

Only two members of China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee, chairman Brent Chesley and member Jamie Pitney, attended the Oct. 28 meeting. Though no decisions could be made without a quorum, Chesley and Pitney heard reports from TIF fund recipients.

Martha Wentworth, chairman of the China Recreation Committee, was the only one in the audience hoping for action. She had applied on behalf of the committee for $12,500 in TIF funds to help install a self-service kayak and paddle board rental kiosk near the boat landing at the head of China Lake’s east basin.

Wentworth presented the idea to select board members at their Jan. 29, 2024, meeting. They asked for more information.

The company offering the service is Rent.Fun, based in Northville, Michigan. Its website shows two Maine sites, in Westbrook and Norridgewock.

Wentworth explained that the company would provide four kayaks and four paddle boards, with paddles and lifejackets, in a secure cage. People could rent the equipment. The town would pay an upfront fee; the company would assume some operating costs, including, she said, liability insurance; and she expected the town to recoup its investment within five years.

CRLA executive director steps down

China Region Lakes Alliance head Stephen Greene announced Oct. 28 that CRLA Executive Director Jessie Mae MacDougall has resigned, for personal reasons, after a few months on the job. CRLA will soon be advertising for a new person for the part-time, seasonal job.

Pitney said he will review TIF rules and let Wentworth know if contributing to the kiosk is an allowable use of TIF funds. If it is, she plans to present more information to supplement her application.

Those reporting on use of previously authorized TIF money were Pitney, speaking for the China Broadband Committee; Thomas Rumpf, for the China Four Seasons Club; Jeanette Smith, for the Thurston Park Committee; Stephen Greene, for the China Lake Association and China Region Lakes Alliance; and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood, for the town.

— Pitney said the cooperative effort with Idaho-based Direct Communications and its Unity, Maine, subsidiary, formerly Unitel, to get grant funding for broadband expansion to underserved and unserved parts of China continues. The current path is a federal program called Broadband Equity and Diversity, or BEAD; the State of Maine has completed preliminary steps and is continuing.
— Rumpf said the Four Seasons Club has used TIF funds to bring two more of China’s ATV and snowmobile trails up to new state standards. He is seeking grants for the troublesome Bog Trail, which uses the former narrow-gauge railroad line.
— Smith reported two Thurston Park trails substantially improved and receiving praise from visitors, who are increasingly numerous. Storm damage has been almost all cleaned up; trail markers are scheduled to be put up this fall; picnic tables and benches are on order; and improving handicapped access is a priority.

On Oct. 27, Smith said, the park hosted its first fun runs, a one-mile and a three-mile. More than 20 people took part, she estimated.

— Greene reported the Courtesy Boat Inspection program, intended to keep invasive plants out of area lakes, ran all summer. The Youth Conservation Corps, whose members do shoreline erosion control projects, was less active, for lack of employees. No one had an answer to Pitney’s question: why are fewer high-school students seeking summer jobs?
— Hapgood said China’s TIF-funded summer intern, Gracie Stagnito, “did some great work” and China Community Days, partly TIF-supported, had been successful again.

Chesley and Pitney proposed Monday, Dec. 9, as the TIF Committee’s next meeting date. Chesley will see if the other members are available that evening.