Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

May 3, 2022

0.0 Assembly: 6:30PM, on 2^nd floor of Town Hall and by Zoom

0.1 Members present: Hatch, Revane, Crandall and Schwartz at Town Hall, Kluk on Zoom

0.2 Alternates present: Kapteyn on Zoom

0.3 Members and Alternates Absent: Terani and Chidester

0.4 Visitors: None

Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30PM. Schwartz shared an RSA that clarified that those members attending on zoom could vote as long as there is a quorum present in person (RSA 91-A:2 P3III).

1.0 Minutes: April 5^th Meeting – Hatch asked if any changes were needed and none were mentioned. Crandall made a motion to approve as written, Hatch seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

2.0 New Business:

2.1 Georgann Casey – Schwartz said we received the subdivision survey plan and application from Casey, which she presented to the board. Casey is putting the lots back as they were originally. Higginson Land Services did the survey plan and Tim Ferwerda did the wetlands mapping for him. We went through the checklist and noted that they weren’t asking for any waivers. Revane said that a perc test was done recently, which he witnessed. He said that it will be shown on the building permit so it doesn’t need to be on the survey. Kluk asked about covenants. Schwartz said that Casey’s original deed referenced a covenant document. She will find the document at the registry. Kluk said that the deed for the new property needs to also reference this document. Schwartz said she will also get a copy of the merger to add to the file. Crandall made a motion to accept the application as complete, Revane seconded and all voted in favor. We set the public hearing for June 7^th at 6:30pm with our regular meeting to follow.

2.2 Business permit issues – Schwartz said that she sent Bruce Putnam a letter and the Business Permit application last month but hadn’t received anything back as yet. Revane said that he spoke with Putnam and he is working on the application and will return it soon. Revane reported that the RV at Sargent’s is now empty. He also reported that Bob Bachand has removed all his excavation equipment from Sargent’s property and is no longer running his business from Washington although he still has his business and is available and working at sites in town. Thayer has a written document with the BoS that allows him to tap trees and sugar on Town Property.

2.3 Borey property – Hatch said he had a conversation with the BoS and they reported they had a productive site visit to the property. There has been a lot of clean up so far and they are getting a scrapper to come in and look at what he will take. Everyone is working together well to clean up the property. Revane said the BoS want to allow Joyce to sell a lot to get money to help with the cleanup without having to put in the required cistern. He said that the town attorney advised the Selectmen that they could let her do that although the current subdivision conditions require cistern installation before the sale of certain lots in the subdivision. Schwartz asked if they would continue, beyond that one lot, to let her sell lots without meeting the condition. Revane said they would and they have spoken to the Fire Chief about whether the cistern is needed due to the location of other cisterns and water availability in the area. Kluk asked if the Fire Chief is willing to write up a statement saying the cistern is not needed and what the distances are to other available water. Hatch asked about the previous visit to the PB by the Borey’s when they asked if the water collecting next to their driveway could substitute for the required cistern. He wanted to know if there had been any material change since then that would warrant a different decision. Kluk agreed and wants to see the data and change of circumstances before a decision is made. Schwartz will research the minutes of our previous meeting(s) with the Boreys. Kaptyen is concerned about the water that runs through the property into Island Pond. He wants the wetlands protected and cleaned up. Hatch wants the BoS to continue working with them and get the trailers moved and emptied.

3.0 Old Business:

3.1 Racquel Nembhard – Schwartz said that Nembhard hasn’t returned the application for an exemption to a site plan review yet. She will send her an email and remind her to get it returned to us for next month’s meeting.

3.2 Class VI Road Waiver Document – Crandall asked why we are looking at this document because we shouldn’t be encouraging people to build on Class 6 roads. We need to be on the same page as all the town boards. Revane said they had an inquiry about building on the Class 5 summer maintenance only section of King Street. Schwartz said that Class 5 summer maintenance only roads are maintained by the town and are different than Class 6 roads, which are not maintained except as fire lanes. She said that the town requires bonding for use of these roads for logging, why isn’t that done for other purposes. Revane said they want to be ahead of the curve. Crandall said there are around 1500 lots in town that haven’t been built. Kluk asked about whether the BoS has had a conversation with the Town Attorney about this. Revane said they hadn’t. Schwartz shared with Revane the documents from several towns pertaining to how they deal with this issue. Some towns involve the PB in the decision making process. Revane will keep us in the loop on further discussions on Class 6 and Class 5 summer maintenance only road issues.

3.3 Merger Application form – Schwartz shared the revised merger document with the sign off sheet for the Tax Collector. Revane will run it by the BoS. There may be issues with the legality of requiring this so they will run it by the Town Attorney.

3.4 Town Center Vision project – Crandall said there is no news on this. He said the digital movie projector is being installed soon. He would like to see the first movie shown to be the documentary made about the Town Hall. Schwartz suggested he could get the Historical Society to sponsor that instead of Parks & Rec.

3.5 Old School House project – Revane said the drywall is in and the plumbing is being done. They will begin painting soon and the vinyl flooring will be installed. Hatch mentioned the audit on CML is done and he is getting quotes for weatherization, sealing the building and other projects to be done there. He said the town’s ARPA money will be used for this building. He is going to speak with the School Board next week about projects to be done on that building. He wants them to prioritize their projects.

3.6 Master Plan – This is a placeholder.

3.7 ZBA Report – Hatch said that the ZBA met on 3 cases last month and approved all 3. They are discussing the issue of people getting multiple costly permits before they come before the ZBA where they can be denied. Hatch will be meeting with the BoS on this issue and hopes to work with them on a better way to do things. Schwartz said that the wetlands setback case was a good example of a better way of doing things because the applicant and her surveyor came to the Conservation Commission prior to putting in their building permit because they knew there would be an issue. The CC gave them many suggestions for mitigation that they incorporated into their plan. The CC is always happy to consult on these kinds of issues. Hatch said they are trying again to take care of cases in a one-month time line if they aren’t complicated.

3.8 UVLSRPC – Hatch said that they haven’t had a meeting but will have their annual meeting on June 7^th.

4.0 Unresolved Business

4.1 Kathryn & Steve Becker and Jane Shamaly – We are waiting on the survey and application for their Annexation/ Lot Line Adjustment.

5.0 Driveway Permits:

5.1 Erik Maseng, Valley Road, TM 24-120, looking for a permanent driveway for a home. Ed looked at it and signed off on it with no recommendation for a culvert. Hatch looked at it and signed the permit. Schwartz will send him a copy of the signed permit.

5.2 Hugh & Jennifer Clark, Faxon Hill Road, TM 15-41, looking to put in 2 permanent driveways for logging. Ed looked at it and recommended culverts in the ditch line at both locations. Hatch looked at it and signed off on the permits. Schwartz will send copies of the signed permits to the Clarks.

6.0 Mergers: None

Discussion: We discussed the issue with setbacks on the small camp lots and maybe looking at an overlay zone for these lots with lesser setbacks. We will continue to discuss this issue.

7.0 Communications:

7.1 Intent-to-cut for TM 15-70, Faxon Hill Road

8.0 Date for next Planning Board meeting – June 7, 2022 at 6:30pm on 2^nd floor at Town Hall - Public Hearing first then the meeting will follow.

9.0 Adjournment: Time: 8:41 PM

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz