Money was a main topic at China select board meeting

by Mary Grow

Money was a main topic at the March 24 China select board meeting in several different ways, from fairly big items (including review of budget committee recommendations related to the June 10 town business meeting warrant and proposed future expenditures) to the price of trash bags for Palermo residents using China’s transfer station.

The latter, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood reported, will increase from $2.60 to $3.00 for a 33-gallon bag, effective April 1.

The China Budget Committee, meeting March 17 (see the March 20 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), disagreed with the select board on four proposed June 10 expenditures.

The major change was a recommendation to increase town employees’ salaries by 2.5 percent next year, instead of the 3.5 percent select board members had recommended.

At the March 24 meeting, Hapgood read a letter from another town employee advocating for the higher increase and added her comments, and a third employee watching the meeting on line chimed in.

After three-quarters of an hour’s debate and several failed votes on different suggested increases, select board members went with a recommendation for a 3.25 percent increase, on a 4-0-1 vote, with Chairman Wayne Chadwick, Blane Casey, Jeanne Marquis and Thomas Rumpf in favor and Edwin Bailey abstaining.

Hapgood said after the meeting that the pay issue will again be on the budget committee’s agenda at their April 2 meeting. If budget committee members do not agree with the select board, she said, the June 10 town meeting warrant will say the budget committee voted not to recommend all expenditure articles that include employee salaries.

Budget committee members on March 17 further advocated cutting from the list of social service organizations a $500 donation to Northern Light Home Care and Hospice, because of the impending closure of Waterville’s Inland Hospital; adding back in the $500 donation to the American Red Cross that the select board had deleted; and increasing the PFAS fund by $1,000 to cover a new pump that Hapgood said is needed soon.

Select board members agreed with the budget committee on all three items. Votes were unanimous, except that Rumpf dissented on donating to the Red Cross.

Their first monetary discussion of the evening was with China Village Volunteer Fire Department Chief Joel Nelson, who repeated and re-explained his request for a new pumper truck, at an estimated cost of $650,000 or more (see the March 13 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

Select board members again postponed a decision, asking for more information, on used trucks – Nelson had found there are not many available – and on possible grants. The delay means the request will not be submitted to voters in June; it could be on a November ballot.

After 20 minutes’ debate over the agreement with Rent.Fun that will provide a rental stand for kayaks and paddleboards, Chadwick made a motion to authorize the town manager to sign the agreement – and was the dissenter on a 4-1 vote to do so.

The kiosk, arranged by Recreation Committee chairman Martha Wentworth, will be at the head of China Lake’s east basin, near the causeway east of China Village. Proceeds from the rentals will be shared between Rent.Fun and the town; the contract spells out finances, maintenance and repairs and sundry other details. Chadwick and other board members were concerned about how long it will take the town to earn enough to recoup its initial investment.

Hapgood had shared with board members Sheldon Goodine’s resignation as chairman of the town building committee. The fireproof vault its members planned is about to be built.

Board members debated whether the committee should be considered a one-time vault committee, or an on-going building committee tasked with recommending future changes to town properties. A majority decided it should continue as an advisory body and be asked to develop a five- or 10-year building plan, and rejected Goodine’s resignation.

Bailey was the lone dissenter; he praised Goodine’s leadership, but held the committee’s work was finished.

Other pre-town-meeting topics included review of proposed revisions to the town’s Budget Committee Ordinance, which the select board unanimously endorsed; and Hapgood’s explanation of an article that would repeal China’s June 2017 ordinance titled “Ordinance Prohibiting Retail Marijuana Establishments and Retail Marijuana Social Clubs in the Town of China.”

The marijuana ordinance, she explained, is no longer needed, because the state has taken over; state regulations now protect the town.

The March 24 select board meeting was preceded by the members meeting as the town board of assessors. In that capacity, they rejected a request from the Branch Pond Association, Inc., to be exempted from paying taxes on the Branch Pond dam.

The request said that the dam has been rebuilt, by the Maine Council of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, with a fishway added. It was valued at $30,800 in 2024; it serves no economic purpose and does not generate income; the 2024 tax bill was $360.36.

The Branch Pond Association claimed an exemption on the ground that it is a charitable organization. Assessor William Van Tuinen had reviewed the exemption letter and concluded the organization is not purely charitable, because its charter also calls for benefits to nearby landowners.

Van Tuinen recommended the exemption be denied, and the select board agreed on a 4-1 vote, with Rumpf opposed.

The next regular China select board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, April 7.