Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes - Draft

February 5, 2019

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Town Hall

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Dulac, Krygeris and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: Chidester

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Crandall, Kluk and Terani

0.4       Visitors: None

Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30 PM and asked Chidester to sit in for Crandall.

1.0       Minutes: January 2nd meeting – Hatch asked if there were any comments on the minutes. Krygeris asked Schwartz to remove “chicken tractors” because they are dragged and not on wheels, He also asked her to add “agricultural” to greenhouses as this is how the RSA denotes what is taxed and what is not. Schwartz will make the requested changes. Dulac made a motion to approve with corrections, Krygeris seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

2.0       New Business:

2.1 LUO suggested changes – Schwartz presented a copy of the LUO ballot for Town Meeting and asked for comments. She said she removed the driveway section after conferring with NHMA. Dulac asked about our request to the Selectmen to adopt a no fee, simplified application. Krygeris said it will be a smaller fee but they felt because of administrative time to check sites there should be one. Hatch said that when he gets up at Town Meeting he will make everyone know of our recommendation for no fee or very low fees. Dulac asked if we can put some copies of the ballot out for the public to look at. Schwartz thought it could be posted. Chidester asked about the term “structurally alter” and whether it was defined. Hatch said that it is defined in the LUO and read the definition. It was pointed out that “Please see handout” should be removed from the top sentence, Schwartz will remove and pass the ballot off to Jane Barkie. Hatch made a motion to do so, Dulac seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

3.0       Old Business:

3.1       Town Center Vision Committee – Schwartz sent out a draft copy of the assessment report done with Whitman and Reynolds from UNH Cooperative Extension. Hatch said the committee met and edited the report and this was the result of that edit session. Dulac said he is impressed with the document. Hatch said that attitudes have eased toward the committee’s work since the beginning and Ryan Curran is now willing to have a suggestion box at the store. He said we looked into printing the full color document but the cost is prohibitive so we plan to make a few copies available and have a one-page summary to copy and have on hand at Town Meeting. Dulac said that what jumped out at him was that he thinks people will want to jump on board. Hatch said it shows the good ideas of the committee members and gives context to what they have been doing. Krygeris said the bandstand suggestion could be a big deal to some historians. Schwartz said it was only a suggestion to explore, not an action item. Chidester thinks you could do some beautiful things with that area and Hatch said the road could be reconfigured to make it safer. Krygeris suggested we add a committee report to the Town Report. We will consider that. Dulac commented that people thought the committee was going off in crazy directions but you can see that ideas were moderated.

3.2 Municipal Buildings project update – Krygeris said that the Town Hall elevator is in (but not functioning yet) and much progress is being made upstairs. The annex bathrooms are framed, electricity installed. He said the fire escape is being made off site and will be welded together in place. The Fire Marshall has been in to check the building. Hatch asked about an open house. Schwartz said Kluk is planning one for the donors and one for the public sometime in late May or early June. Dulac asked about the Old Schoolhouse and what was being planned. Krygeris said there is a warrant article for $85K for phase one (foundation) and the architect is working on planning the other phases. Krygeris commented he is trying to get the lighting at Camp Morgan Lodge changed from florescent to LED. When people turn on all the lights at the lodge it causes a power surge which costs the town a lot of money. Schwartz asked about the energy audit that was done. Krygeris said the lights were an issue in the audit but there hasn’t been incentives to change them out. Hatch said that Eversource is now giving incentives but to the contractor who can pass them on to the building owner. Hatch mentioned that he went to the elementary school with Arin Mills and her husband Phil to look at the existing ice dam problem at the school. He took the infrared camera to look for heat loss areas. He just sent Arin some pictures to help the school board in making a good decision about what to do about the ice dams. They found problems in the gym and kitchen areas; with holes letting in cold air and even snow. Hatch is trying to recruit Eversource to work with them. Chidester said that condensation is also a big problem whenever you have warm air hitting cold air in a building. Hatch said that when work was done in the past, insulation was pulled back and left out of place. He said the cold air return is near the ceiling and doesn’t make sense and is wasting heat. Dulac said that you should always hire a clerk of the works who reports directly to you and keeps mistakes from happening.

3.3       Master Plan – Schwartz gave a copy of the Master Plan to Chidester.

3.4       ZBA report – Hatch said the ZBA met in late January and they are up on our LUO changes. They had an application to look at and will meet again in a month.

3.5       Noise Ordinance – Schwartz we will start to do research on this issue.

3.6       UVLSRPC – Dulac said he has become a commissioner on the regional planning commission board and has been in contact with Chris Courtemanche at UVSLRPC. He said his first meeting is February 13th and they meet every 2 months. Krygeris said our energy audits were done through the UVLSRPC. Hatch said he was in touch with planner Megan Butts from UVLSRPC, through his new job and will be in touch with her about energy issues. Krygeris mentioned that many towns are switching their streetlights to LED bulbs and are saving money. Washington removed some of their streetlights a few years back because they were so expensive and some were not needed. Schwartz thinks we should look at wetland buffers this year as the legislature is also taking up the issue. She will do some research on the issue.

Hatch asked about any other issues we need to deal with and said he won’t be able to attend the March 5^th meeting. Dulac said he will also be out of town. Hatch asked Krygeris if he would like to stay on the board as an alternate after he steps down as Selectman, Krygeris thought he would like to. Hatch said Shifflett couldn’t be here tonight but he will attend the next meeting.

Chidester gave the board his Business Permit application. Schwartz will start a file for him and we will consider it at the next meeting.

4.0 Driveway Permits: None

5.0      Mergers: None

6.0 Communications:

            Intent-to-cut, Lynn Cook, TM 23-13, East Washington Road.

7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting - March 5, 2018, at 6:30 PM, at the Town Hall.

8.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 7:45 PM

            Motioned by Dulac, seconded by Krygeris, all voted in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz