Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

March 6, 2018

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Town Hall Trailer

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Terani, Williams and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: None

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Crandall, Kluk, Dulac and Russell

0.4       Visitors: None

Hatch called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM and asked Terani to sit in for Dulac.

1.0       Minutes:

February 6^th meeting – Hatch asked if there were any comments on the minutes. There being none Schwartz made a motion to approve as written, Hatch seconded the motion and three voted in favor with Williams abstaining.

2.0       New Business:

2.1       24th Annual Spring Planning and Zoning Conference

Schwartz mentioned the conference will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2018, at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, NH. Hatch said he would like to attend again this year. Schwartz said she hopes more members will be able to attend this year and it is focused on ZBA members, too. You can sign up online.

Information on the conference is available here:

https://www.nh.gov/osi/planning/resources/conferences/spring-2018/index.htm

3.0 Old Business:

3.1 Town Meeting Plan and ballot explanation documents – Terani asked about Keno and how the money is handled. Schwartz said the money goes to the state and they divvy it up and send it back to the towns to support all-day kindergarten.

Schwartz shared the explanation document, which is the LUO language with strike-outs for the existing language being removed, and yellow-highlighted language that we are proposing to add. She said she made 15 copies and they will be available at the ballot clerk’s table.

Hatch said he talked to Crandall and his intention is to be at Town Meeting. Crandall was encouraging Hatch to speak on the LUO ballot before the voting is started (prior to Article 1). He spoke with Barbara at the Budget Hearing and she was OK with him doing that. Williams spoke about the problem with the ballot vote and warrant language. He said they got opinions from the Town Attorney, NHMA and DRA who all said there are issues but the vote should go forward. He said Barbara is still not on board with holding the ballot vote. He said that Barbara will rule that the ballots cannot be voted on and someone will force a vote to overrule her unless she changes her mind. Hatch said there was a hue and cry about this and he wants to understand what happened. Schwartz explained the problem with the wording of Article 1, the BoS left out wording mentioning the ballots that would be voted on during the meeting. Williams said that Article 1 opens the ballot vote. Williams said that the Moderator hasn’t participated in the writing of the warrant in the last few years and they haven’t asked for her input. He doesn’t know when she got a copy of the Warrant, probably when it was posted publicly. He said she emailed them on Thursday to alert them to the problem she saw with it. Hatch asked if it came from her and Williams said yes. Hatch asked if she brought up the problem last year (the warrant had identical language and a ballot vote was held). Williams said he thinks she brought it up last year but allowed the vote to proceed. Schwartz asked if the difference this year was the Keno ballot that was prescribed very specifically as to how it was to happen by the State Legislature. Williams said maybe that is the difference. Hatch said he is prepared to speak but if she decides it won’t be voted on, that is her decision. Schwartz said he still has to speak before Article 1 is brought up because it is the only opportunity to speak before the polls are open. Article 1 is her opportunity to say it won’t happen. Hatch mentioned that Crandall would like to speak on behalf of the PB under Article 3 in support of finishing the Safety Building project. He said we need to take a vote to authorize him to do that. He asked if we had all read the Article and were familiar with it. Schwartz asked Williams if the BoS has a plan if this article doesn’t get a 2/3rds yes vote. Williams said they don’t have a plan. Schwartz asked if the BoS supports the article and Williams said no. He said it would be a paper ballot after discussion and the voting will stay open for an hour. He said it is up to Barbara how she will do it. Hatch asked the board for our position; Terani and Schwartz were in favor. Hatch made a motion to have Crandall speak on behalf of the PB in support of Article 3, Terani seconded his motion and three voted in favor with Williams abstaining.

3.2       Town Center Vision – Hatch said that Crandall also wants to speak about the Town Center Vision project and make reference to the document that is available about the project. Williams said that he would have to talk to Barbara about when to speak, he thinks it would come up under the last article and all other business and let people know there is a document available not make a report. Schwartz said maybe under Article 2 (to hear reports of officers, etc.), but it is up to Barbara. Williams suggested they might move Article 2 and take it up first if there is a challenge to the moderator. Schwartz suggested that Crandall should speak to Barbara prior to the meeting.

Terani asked about the Town Center Vision project and what was happening with it. Schwartz said that we decided in January to kick it off after Town Meeting so we can let the public know about it at the meeting and hopefully get some interested citizens involved.

3.3 Municipal Buildings project update:

            Williams said that the projects are moving along. The Town Hall foundation is tented off and heated so the mason’s can do the brick work. Schwartz asked about the steel beam and whether it has been installed. Williams thinks they went another way on the beam. He said the wiring, sprinkler system, heating system is being done, they are working on the bathrooms and the stairway to the cellar is in place. He said April 1^st is their finish date but he thinks it will move to April 8^th. He said there is good progress but much to be done. On the Safety Building the work being done is wiring, sprinkler system and plumbing. He said they have a contract to do the last existing roof and the exterior of the existing building (door, windows, siding).  Schwartz asked about any interior work and Williams said nothing was contracted for except for the vestibule and closing in the PD bay. Hatch asked about the intention to switch over and start using the Garage. Williams said that it is 4 to 8 weeks out. Schwartz said that the existing station will continue to be used for administration. Williams said the new ambulance will be housed in the new garage after it is delivered on Friday. They will have it for display at Town Meeting without the lettering. The lettering is being done locally and then it needs to be stocked and inspected by the state before it goes into use. The old ambulance is being traded in but we will have both vehicles for a short period.

            Schwartz asked about the Old School House. Williams said they are waiting for Kevin’s Electric to hook up the generator and redo some wiring in the building. He said there were no structural issues uncovered. The old TH generator is being hooked up to the OSH and the utilities are being separated. Only septic and water pump will still be shared.

3.4       Master Plan – this is a placeholder. Hatch said we would start the process of updating the document for 2025 in the next few years.

3.5       Collection of data from ZBA on non-conforming lots and setback information from other towns – Hatch said that the ZBA met and they have a new member, Bruce Carpenter, who came on recently as a full member. Williams said he is also our new Health Officer and is overseeing the construction at the Safety Building. He is a retired contractor with 35 years of experience and he knows buildings. He was anxious to get involved with the town. Schwartz asked if he had experience with public health. Williams said no. Schwartz suggested he go to the Planning and Zoning Conference. Hatch shared a spreadsheet he had done looking back through the BoS minutes to find all the ZBA cases for the last 3 years. He said 2016 had 12 cases with 11 approvals and one denial. 2015 had 4 cases with 4 approvals and no denials. 2017 had 5 cases with 4 approvals and one denial. He said 2016 had two variances in excess of 25 feet. Williams said that 99% of the cases are setback related and sometimes people avoid the ZBA by moving their building. Hatch said he would continue working on the spreadsheet and doing research and spoke with the ZBA members about whether they want more guidance on these issues. They were interested in a joint meeting with PB to discuss things. He asked if the setbacks have ever been changed or have they always been the same in the LUO. He knows they weren’t changed or increased when we made the lot size larger. Schwartz said she would research and find the earliest version of the LUO and see what she can find.

4.0 Driveway Permits: None

5.0 Mergers: None

6.0 Communications: None

7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting, April 3, 2018, at 6:30 PM at the Town Hall Trailer.

8.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 7:40PM

            Motioned by Terani, seconded by Williams, all voted in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz