Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes - Draft

September 3, 2019

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Town Hall

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Crandall, Revane and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: Kluk

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Dulac, Terani, Shifflett and Chidester

0.4       Visitors: None

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

1.0       Minutes: July 2^nd meeting – Hatch asked if there were any comments on the minutes, there being none, Crandall made a motion to approve as written, Kluk seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

2.0       New Business:

2.1       NHMA & OSI Fall 2019 Land Use Law Conference – Schwartz brought up the Land Use Law conference scheduled for Saturday, October 5^th, at the Holiday Inn, in Concord. She said there is money in our budget for members to attend. Hatch said that the agenda is similar to their spring conference but it has a land law focus. He said that Matt Serge is one of the presenters. Hatch has signed up and Kluk felt she would want to attend and will sign up online.

2.2       Driveway Permit issue – Hatch had a discussion with Ed Thayer and they talked about Driveway Permits and he asked Ed what he looks for. Ed said he drew up the access policy for driveways with criteria for siting of driveways, he wondered if it could be a mechanism of speeding up the process. He said the RSAs don’t require a formal vote of the PB and the chair could just sign off if he approves. Kluk said that our LUO section #307 says that you need to get a permit from the PB and Ed is looking for a quicker approval. Hatch said we don’t want to obstruct but we should look at the process. Schwartz asked how often it is a problem. Hatch said he would be willing to look at the proposed driveways and if he doesn’t see a problem he would be willing to OK it without a vote. He said he usually doesn’t see a problem. Crandall thought it might be fine. Schwartz thought we still need some oversight. We will continue to think about it. Kluk asked about an MOU with DOT. Revane said that the BoS/DPW is going to enter into one with DOT, and then they will consider our application and LUO in their decisions. He said there would also be some input from the PB in decisions. Hatch said that if we get the MOU in place then we can put new wording in the LUO. Revane said completion oversight is still an issue, we should be inspecting after construction. Hatch said if changes are made to the design after we approve it should come back to us for notification. He said the permit is in place to give people pause to do things properly. Kluk said we should have Thayer contact us if changes are made so we can get the permit updated. All agreed. Hatch said we will continue the conversation. He said he will speak again with Thayer.

3.0       Old Business:

3.1       Crandall/Collins Lot Line Adjustment – Crandall had his new site plan for the lot line adjustment. The new lots will be 5.01 acres for Collins and 6.60 for Crandall. He provided the deeds for both properties and an abutter list. Hatch went through the application and checked off the required items. Crandall said that Dombrowski will provide the mylars for the hearing. We asked that he add the square footage for both lots. The well location was not noted on the plan but Crandall said it is near the house.  Kluk made a motion to accept the application as complete, Revane seconded the motion and 4 voted in favor with Crandall recusing himself. Schwartz said we will schedule the hearing for our next meeting, October 1^st at 6:30PM. She will notice the abutters and will put a notice in the paper.

3.2 RV suggested change for LUO – Hatch noted that he received an email from Garvin requesting the white paper from last meeting. Schwartz will send it to him.

3.3       LUO list priorities – Hatch read through Article III and took comments as we went. Several of the sections were recently updated. On section 303 Crandall asked about gray water. Kluk asked about privies and state approved septic systems. Revane said that someone was inquiring about being totally off-grid without running water, with a composting toilet. He said that a source of water is required. Hatch said we will have more conversation on this section. Kluk wants to add the language about the Health Officer overseeing test pits and perc tests either here or in #201. We read through section 305 and will begin with 306 next months.

3.4       Town Center Vision project – Crandall said that the subcommittee met last week. He said that Provencher’s architect was a big boon to the Schoolhouse project. He said the DPW is cleaning out the Town Pound next week because the Tremarco’s wanted to be there when the work is being done. On walkways, Provencher is ok with the walkway being placed on his property a little further from the road and traffic using stepping-stones of some sort. Jager met with Noah Chidester about the area surrounding the Town buildings concerning the parking and landscaping. The subcommittee wants to retain Noah to do some ideas and drawings of what could be done with a goal of having a plan for Town Meeting. Schwartz said there is $500 in the budget for TCV that could be used for this purpose. Schwartz thinks we should put this future project into the CIP to save money for it. Kluk asked about structure or ideas for Noah to work within. Crandall said we are just starting to work with him. Revane said we would need to talk to Fire and DPW about access during emergencies. He said the BoS has had a conversation with them about this.

Schwartz said that she and Gilbert have been working on a few things and have a design for signs for both ends of town center. She said the boxes are being put out next week (for suggestions) and they are beginning work on the historic walking tour. Schwartz asked Kluk if she would share her ideas and notes on this and she said she would. The next committee meeting is September 24^th at either 6:30PM or 9AM (TBD).

3.5       Municipal Buildings project update – Revane said the Old School House is down on its foundation and DPW is filling around the perimeter.

3.6       Master Plan – this is a placeholder.

3.7       ZBA Report – Revane asked if the ZBA looked at and approved the new building permit. Hatch said they approved of it and Schwartz said she will put it up on the website. Hatch said the ZBA met last month with Welkes. Hatch would like to have a clear set of criteria (dos and don’ts) to give to people seeking a variance; he believes it would make the process much easier. Kluk wants to take the question of whether or not the ZBA hears any appeal of an LUO section to the Land Use Law conference.

3.8       UVLSRPC – Dulac was not in attendance. Kluk said they are holding a conference on pedestrians and bicycles and Hatch said he would be able to attend.

3.9       Noise Ordinance – Schwartz said she passed the finished Noise Ordinance to the BoS and we will need to hold a public hearing before the end of the year.

3.10     CIP – Schwartz said she passed out the 2020 CIP request sheets to department heads. She would like to add Landscaping and Access to Town Buildings as a project. Everyone agreed.

4.0       Driveway Permits:

4.1       Marc Longval, Valley Road, TM 12-181-2, Longval decided to relocate this driveway after we approved it. Ed checked the new site and said that no culvert is required; Hatch looked at the site and concurred. Crandall made a motion to approve the permit, Kluk seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

4.2 Marc Longval, Valley Road, TM 12-181-3, Ed checked the site and said a culvert is required. Hatch said this is a better location with less grade and it is away from the wetlands. Crandall made a motion to approve the permit with the condition, Kluk seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

4.3 Frederick Crombie, Valley Road, TM 25-69, driveway for parking and possible garage, this will be a circular driveway with a culvert needed. Ed checked and required a culvert, Hatch checked and saw no problems with it. Crandall made a motion to approve the driveway permit, Kluk seconded and all voted in favor.

5.0 Mergers: None

6.0 Communications:

6.1 Copies of 3 driveway permits on Rte. 31 approved by DOT, 2 temporary for logging and 1 for a residence.

7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – October 1, 2019, at 6:30 PM, Public Hearing to start the then regular meeting will follow at the Town Hall.

8.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 8:20PM

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz