Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes - Draft

January 5, 2021

 

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, conducted on Zoom

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Kluk, Crandall, Revane and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: None

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Terani and Chidester

0.4       Visitors: None

 

Hatch opened the meeting at 6:31PM.

 

1.0       Minutes: December 1st meeting – Schwartz said she noticed on typo and will correct it, Crandall made a motion to approve as corrected, Kluk seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

 

2.0       New Business:

2.1       Tiny Homes discussion – Hatch said that 2 articles were shared that talked about tiny homes, the issues around them and issues in approving them in NH. He said the state has considered a bill concerning them but that it was tabled last year. Schwartz asked about the bill language. We will look it up and keep an eye on the issue and react if there is an opportunity.

 

3.0       Old Business:

3.1       RV Park plan for East Washington Road – Kluk attended the prior monthÕs Public Hearing concerning the RV Park plan even though they had canceled the hearing because the applicant did not submit some requested information in time. There was still some discussion of the project and the requested information. The Hillsborough PB sent us a copy of the proposed Traffic Study and Kluk drafted a comment letter on it. There is another online hearing scheduled for tomorrow night and Hatch, Kluk and Schwartz will attend along with anyone else who would like to attend. Revane said that the applicant visited the BoS in November and presented his proposal to them. They passed it along to the PB for comments. Schwartz made a motion to submit our comments on the Traffic Study as written to the Hillsborough PB, Revane seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

3.2       Letter from BoS updating the town policy of upkeep/maintenance on roads review – Hatch asked if the letter, as forwarded to him, was sent to the 28 property owners. Revane said it had been. Kluk had questions about the wording noting that we canÕt amend an RSA as the letter stated. Schwartz asked if they had received any comments or feedback on the letter and Revane said they hadnÕt.

3.3       Town Center Vision project – Hatch asked how we got to this point with the driveway and road access plans. Schwartz explained that after her on site discussion with Thayer and Costello she let everyone know that the plan was not going to work as we thought. Belanger from DOT then sent some sketches of the Rte. 31 access that he thought would be better. In reaction to the news and sketch both Crandall/Provencher and Kluk sent out new sketches. We reviewed both sketches and discussed them noting their positive and negative points. Schwartz said we are not trying to rush to pick a plan so it can be included in the warrant this year. She thinks we should do another site walk when the snow is gone to find out what is really possible. Hatch asked if we would be open to talking to a professional and get fresh eyes on the issue, all agreed this would be advantageous. Hatch will also ask at UVLSRPC what services they might offer in this area. Kluk asked about the signs. Schwartz has a design she will send out to members to discuss.

3.4       Old Schoolhouse project update – Revane said the SchoolhousesÕ electric is tied in now and they are tying into the Church next. The heat is installed and will be hooked up in the next week or so. They are budgeting $150K to finish the building this year. Hatch asked about other warrant articles and if anything big was being budgeted for. Revane said there is nothing controversial but DPW has had some large expenses recently that will need to be covered. Kluk asked about the purchase of the Library property and whether the Trustees are fundraising for it. Revane said they are meeting with the BoS soon about it. Revane said they are meeting with a contractor to price heat pumps for the TH upstairs and downstairs. Hatch said there are good incentives from the utility companies for heat pumps right now.

3.5       Master Plan – this is a placeholder.

3.6       ZBA Report – Hatch said the ZBA met on December 30th and heard 2 out of 3 cases on their docket. One was approved, one was continued and the third was not ready to be heard.

3.7       UVLSRPC – Hatch said that he is attending their bi-monthly meetings on Zoom. The next meeting is in February.

 

Kluk asked Revane about plans for Town Meeting in light of COVID-19 precautions. He said they are discussing the issue on Thursday. He said the Legislature is taking up a bill to allow the towns to push out the date of the meeting as far as July. Hatch thinks a multi-modal meeting could work if the date is kept in March. Kluk wants us to have a handout for the Budget Hearing.

 

4.0       Driveway Permits: None

           

5.0       Mergers: None

 

6.0       Communications: None

 

7.0      Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – February 2, 2021, at 6:30 PM, we will probably meet by Zoom.

                                   

8.0       Adjournment:                       Time: 8:11PM

            Motioned by Kluk, Hatch seconded, all voted in favor.

 

Respectfully Submitted,  

Nan Schwartz