Washington Planning Board

Public Hearing Minutes

September 8, 2015

0.0 Assembly: 6:30PM

0.1 Members present: Crandall and Schwartz

0.2 Alternates present: Kluk and Terani

0.3 Members and Alternates Absent: Marshall, Dagesse, Cook, Dulac, Russell, Hatch

0.4 Visitors: Lolly Gilbert, Carolyn Bullock, Pete Martin, Diana Hanssen, Steve Hanssen, Frank Musmanno, Ron Jager, Michael Kluk, Al Krygeris, Jed Schwartz

1.0 Crandall called the Public Hearing to order at 6:30PM.

He welcomed the public and explained that this is a public hearing on the last five Master Plan Update chapters that will finish the document. He mentioned that the Community Survey and Community Workshop gave us input from the community and we used this information when we were drafting the document.

He turned the presentation over to Jean Kluk to run through the final draft chapters.

Kluk then went through the chapters, one at a time, starting with the Services and Facilities chapter and read through the goals and explained some of the recommendations under each goal. The areas covered were the Town Hall/Town Administration, Safety Services, Traffic/Roads, Solid Waste, School, Library and Town Website. She said that communication was a big issue to the community and the new event sign being installed at the transfer station is aimed at addressing this issue. A question was asked about senior services and Kluk pointed out a relevant recommendation.

There being no other questions, she then moved on to the Hazards and Emergency Planning chapter. She said that the chapter is based on 2 existing documents; the Town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan and the Emergency Operations Plan. The chapter contains excerpts from both documents and recommends updating these documents every few years. No questions were asked so she moved on to the Energy Chapter. She said that the Energy Chapter was written by the Town’s Energy Committee and it focuses on conservation, education, grant opportunities, weatherization and other energy issues. Al Krygeris, a member of the Energy Committee, spoke about the goals and commented that the Town requires adherence to the state energy code but the problem is there is no one to enforce it. He talked about the Energy Committee’s project to promote home weatherization and get volunteers to help community members do projects on their homes. He said the Energy Committee has written a grant seeking money to buy an infrared camera. One goal is to encourage energy independence and Krygeris spoke about a movement of community solar projects, putting up fields of solar panels that community members can buy into. Ron Jager said it is important for the future and it doesn’t take much to imagine a solar field behind the Town Hall. He thinks it is a perfect setting and wants to encourage us thinking about it. He feels the town should investigate the possibilities now. Diana Hanssen asked about Goal A and how to get information out. Krygeris said that you bring in speakers to talk about new technologies and new devices that are coming out for homeowners and other simple to do projects. You can hold workshops where people can learn.

Kluk then moved on to the Utilities Chapter and said these are lofty goals but worthy of our efforts. The chapter goals covered expanding cell coverage, using tax incentives and regional collaboration to improve service to our underserved community; insuring that we have emergency power backup at the Town’s critical facilities; proper sewage disposal and hazardous waste disposal. Jager commented that one thing missing from Goal C is the fact that emergency services haven’t reminded people that they need to change or recharge their fire extinguishers, he feels a public meeting should happen so people know what to do because they are part of everyone’s emergency preparations. Jed Schwartz said that it was a great comment and he will talk to the Fire Chief about it. He said they have always sold fire extinguishers at cost to the public. Krygeris commented that certain fire extinguishers are used for different kinds of fire. D. Hanssen suggested a flyer that educates about fire extinguishers and remind people when to call the Fire Department.

Steve Hanssen said that this is the meaty part of the Master Plan, who will take on what and what will get done. Kluk said that we have talked about various chapters and the goals involve many Town committees to get them done. She said Crandall wants to call an “all boards” meeting where different boards and committees can take responsibility for working on certain goals and recommendations.

Last Kluk covered the Housing Chapter, which talks about home conversion, the effects on infrastructure and how reserve funds can be used for planning. She talked about “innovative land use planning” techniques and ordinances that can be adopted to support these ideas. She talked about “form-based” codes and the flexibility it gives to help preserve the look of a town. There were no comments made.

Crandall asked for thoughts on the Master Plan Update process. D. Hanssen said that she felt kudos were in order for those that worked so hard to write the document. Kluk and Crandall spoke about the next steps including an “all boards” meeting and periodic progress reports on what is being accomplished. D. Hanssen said she thinks it is a good idea if all the department/board/committee members read through the document before they meet together. Kluk said that would be our hope. Gilbert said that we should establish timelines on what can be accomplished and when. Jager asked if there will be a new draft and will we add home fire extinguishers. Carolyn Bullock said it could be added under general home safety. Kluk said there were minimal changes made from the June hearing and we may make a little change reflecting comments from tonight.

Kluk said a final thank you to all the Master Plan Update Committee members and mentioned the list of past Planning Board members and community members that worked on the original Master Plan and all the updates done through the years. D. Hanssen said that even though the goals are lofty the document gives a framework for the town to move forward and she thinks a lot of work went into it. Kluk commented that people go online to look at other town’s Master Plans and it is a public document that shows what is important to us as a community.

Crandall thanked the public for coming and closed the public hearing at 7:10PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz