CHINA -- Selectmen were persuaded their plan to try to sell town property is premature.

As a result, voters at the March 29 town business meeting will not be asked to authorize selling Bradley Island, in the west basin of China Lake, and Thurston Park, the undeveloped recreation area in the northeast corner of town.

At Tuesday morning's selectmen's meeting, Comprehensive Planning Committee Chairman Jamie Pitney urged postponing a request for town action until the comprehensive plan is revised.

Land use, including open space, is an important part of the draft plan, he said. The 1991 plan that is the starting point for the current draft calls for improving Thurston Park. Bradley Island is not even listed as town property.

Selectmen proposed using the sales to promote acquisition of lake access, either by swapping Bradley Island for shoreline property owned by Kennebec Water District or by using proceeds from sales to buy a shore lot.

Also, they are concerned about possible liability if there were an accident on one of the properties -- a concern Pitney said is covered by the Maine Tort Claims Act.

Town Manager Daniel L'Heureux added that he is interested in informing residents. Since selectmen started talking about Thurston Park, people have asked him what and where it is, he said.

Irene Belanger's motion to take the two articles off the 2008 meeting warrant included a proviso that selectmen will discuss both properties again before the 2009 business meeting, with the intent of asking for appropriate town action next year.

For this year, it was agreed that Pitney's report for the Comprehensive Planning Committee -- one of the first items March 29 -- will cover Thurston Park and Bradley Island.

The three selectmen present Tuesday morning made one other change in the warrant: They agreed unanimously to increase the recommended police budget by $2,500, to be taken from undesignated fund balance, so that speed patrols will not be cut. Their recommendation now matches the Budget Committee's -- $31,588 for 2008-09 police services.

Selectmen unanimously rejected the Budget Committee's proposed alternative article on buying land adjoining the Town Office.

The Budget Committee recommended a maximum price of $60,000 and authorization to negotiate with all abutting landowners.

The selectmen's article asks voters to authorize expending up to $81,500 to buy the lot at the intersection of Lakeview Drive and Alder Park Road, directly south of the Town Office lot.

Budget Committee members unanimously recommended voters reject that article. They consider the price too high and the options too limited.

Two other items were discussed without decisions at Tuesday's unexpectedly long 8 a.m. meeting:

n Mike Smith from the Somerset County E-911 dispatch center told selectmen radio communications between his headquarters in Skowhegan and China appear to be fine.

If China's E-911 calls are answered in Somerset County instead of Kennebec County, Smith said this year's cost per resident will be $1.75 lower -- $8.25 for his center vs. $10 for Kennebec County.

n L'Heureux said a resident thinks the intersection of Main and Causeway streets and Neck Road at the south end of China Village is dangerous and should be studied. L'Heureux said, as far as he knows, there have been no fatalities and few accidents at the site.