Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

November 5, 2018

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Town Hall

0.1       Members present: Crandall, Hatch, Dulac, Krygeris and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: Kluk and Terani

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: None

0.4       Visitors: None

Crandall opened the meeting at 6:30 PM.

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

2.0       New Business:

2.1       Budget – Schwartz said that DeFosse requested budget numbers for 2019 and she had some preliminary numbers to look at. Crandall asked if we should put in something for the Town Center Visioning (TCV) subcommittee, for a charrette, mailings or other needs. Hatch thinks that at the next subcommittee meeting we may be able to come up with a cost for what we want to do next year, he feels we need to quantify what we would use any money for. Crandall suggested $10K. Kluk said we were to get grant money to offset any big budget number, we did ask for money last year and we were shot down. Kluk suggested more in the training budget line and suggested $500. Dulac suggested we look at what we are going to do as a board, he thinks the Old Schoolhouse (OSH) is a project to focus on and there is $4K left on the money appropriated for planning for that. He wants to bring a special warrant article to ask the public to say what they want to do with the money. He said the TCV was talking about the OSH but they aren't ready to present something. Crandall commented that he wasn't sure that money in the budget carries over. Schwartz said that budget money doesn't carry over from year to year but CIP money does. Krygeris said that the OSH is something the BoS are talking about and they want to do it piece by piece over years. Kluk said the Architect we spoke with is willing to come in and talk to the BoS and PB jointly. Jed Schwartz brought the cost estimates we got to the BoS and they are intrigued. Crandall suggested $8K for a charrette. Kluk said we are talking about a simpler process. Terani asked about the need for a contingency. Hatch said any amount we ask for would be approved in March and would be for next year, we could put in that amount but we will have a better idea soon what might be a better number. Dulac asked if we are looking at using consultants. Hatch said we will be meeting with Penny Whitman and Jared Reynolds and we should get a good idea of what we might need then. Kluk thinks $8K is a lot. Crandall thinks we can always cut back. Kluk said we have to be able to justify whatever number we come up with. Hatch suggested $5K and made a motion, Crandall seconded the motion but it didn't pass after more consideration. Dulac suggested $2K and feels we should work together with the BoS and start a new era of collaboration. Kluk thinks we should tread carefully and temper what we ask for the TCV. Hatch said we should come up with a number and let TCV justify it, as we can always ratchet down the number. Dulac thinks the TCV is a longer-term committee but if we are trying to deal with the OSH we need money to do that. Hatch said the TCV was started to deal with town center issues and thinks as we sit here today there is no request from them for money, he feels we would need to find grant money if they needed money. He asked if we want to add something specifically for TCV or just up our printing and operations for next year. Kluk mentioned we talked about a legal budget line. Krygeris said the BoS would cover legal needs. Kluk suggested a nominal amount for TCV, $1K. Hatch made a motion to put in $1K for TCV, Dulac seconded the motion and all voted in favor except Krygeris who voted no. Motion passed.

3.0       Old Business:

3.1       Mingary yoga business – Hatch said he and Schwartz met with the BoS and reviewed the letters sent to Cummings and their meeting with him. Their conversation centered around the fact the he feels it was an event and not a business. We felt we should review the LUO and define events in contrast to businesses. He said we could pursue it as a business but the circumstances don't warrant it. The BoS is sending Cummings a letter. Crandall asked if the BoS had another opinion than the one he received from NHMA. Hatch said no, they felt it was not worth pursuing, he wasn't sure how this got so dysfunctional and he would like to ratchet things down. Krygeris said there are other temporary events going on in town; we should look at what else is happening. He thought we should step away from the controversy. All agreed.

3.2       Meeting with Chief Ryan Murdough - Hatch reported that several of us met with the Police Chief about the Noise Ordinance. He has been having issues with shooting in town and is concerned about using our existing ordinance and whether it would hold up in court. He said the town's sound equipment isn't properly calibrated and it can't register gunshots, only sustained sounds. He shared the town of Henniker's Noise Ordinance with us, which doesn't specify decibel levels. Hatch asked whether the PB is in charge of the Noise Ordinance. Krygeris said that it is the BoS first wrote the ordinance so it is probably their purview. Hatch thought that Murdough's suggestion is a good one for the PB to recommend to the BoS to consider the wording in Henniker's ordinance. Krygeris suggested the PB could draft an ordinance and bring it to the BoS. Crandall said it should be done because people are complaining. Schwartz said our recommendation to the BoS is to work on this ordinance. Krygeris said the reason the original was written was because someone in East Washington was going to open a gravel pit and run a rock crusher so they felt it was necessary to have a noise ordinance in place.

3.3 Town Center Vision Committee - Hatch reported that at the last meeting it was suggested to hold a December public meeting and it was decided not to do that so soon. He said we are meeting with Penny Whitman and Jared Reynolds later this month and we will nail down a public meeting afterward. We are going to work on a draft summary of what we have accomplished. Dulac wanted to thank the committee members for coming up with the architect who gave us numbers to work with on the OSH. Kluk requested we have the BoS contact the architect to come out and meet with them and the PB, the ball is in their court.

3.4       Municipal Buildings - Dulac wanted to mention that he doesn't know where the PB stands on using the left over money from the Fire/EMS project. He said if they were interested, how would the timing fit for a special warrant article. Krygeris said that on Thursday the BoS are having a conversation with the attorneys about timing of completion and the return of money. Hatch mentioned that the MH bond still has some money left on it. Kluk thinks that in the future warrant articles should have more explicit wording so there is no question about what will and won't be done.

3.5       LUO suggested changes – Hatch spoke about the proposal to remove the 50 sq. ft. exemption from the LUO and the other open issue of parking requirements. Kluk said we can't regulate the number of units. She said the BoS are ok with the addition of off street parking for any building on a lot. Dulac asked what if someone had a shed in the woods for chainsaws and had to go through someone else's land to get to their property. Schwartz said they could get a special exception. After discussion Schwartz made a motion to accept the changes to 300 and 501.1 as drafted, Hatch seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Kluk mentioned we need to hold a public hearing and Schwartz said she will work on that.

3.6       CIP – Schwartz explained that the CIP is ready to pass on to the BoS if we approve it tonight. Kluk asked about the $50K for the OSH and whether we wanted it in that particular fund because Town Meeting is the agent to expend. Krygeris asked about putting the money in the Town Building Maintenance fund. Dulac suggested $100K for 5 years in a new fund with BoS as agents to expend. Krygeris said we have to do the project piecemeal and the latest suggestion was to do the siding first. Kluk said the BoS needs to first have the conversation with the architect to hear about priorities before a decision is made on where to start. It was suggested that the new fund be called to Old Schoolhouse Restoration fund, with the BoS as agents to expend with $100K a year for 5 years, the amount to be adjusted as needed, all agreed. Kluk mentioned that we need to put in $3K for the MH windows and doors line to fix the 3rd door. Schwartz will make the updates to the CIP and pass off to the BoS for budget and warrant work.

3.7       Master Plan – This is a placeholder.

3.8       ZBA report – Hatch said the ZBA is working with the BoS to update the Building Permit because the language is confusing concerning square footage. He also asked if anyone has an old planning book he would like to have them for the ZBA members. Schwartz said unfortunately she already ordered the new books for next year but we can pass along the ones we have to ZBA when the new ones come in.

4.0 Driveway Permits:

4.1       Robert Sweeney, Valley Road, TM 19-01, Ed checked, fee paid. Hatch said he inspected the site and all was in order. He also spoke with Thayer about procedure and the conditions he set on the application. Schwartz made a motion to approve the application, Hatch seconded and all voted in favor. Crandall signed the permit and Schwartz will return to the BoS to assign a 911 number.

4.2       Scott Snell, Valley Road, TM 15-25, Ed reported a new driveway (not permitted), Schwartz said that Thayer let her know that Snell had 3 permitted driveways but he had closed one off and installed a new one, which he felt needed permitting. Crandall questioned how much frontage he had and we determined it was about 660' and 11.2 acres, so he is able to have multiple driveways. Kluk said we should pull the permit of the one he closed from the property file and mark it closed and get him to fill out an application for the new one. Schwartz will check the property file and write him a letter.

5.0      Mergers: None

6.0 Communications:

6.1       UVLSRPC Letter asking for emergency projects that address an immediate safety concern to add to the 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan.

6.2       DOT- Driveway permit for Marc Longval, South Main Street, TM12-181-4

6.3       Copy of DES application for Wetlands PBN, beach sand replenishment, 283 Ashuelot Dr., MacDougall, TM14-163

6.4       UVLSRPC Planning Book order, done.

6.5       Email from Deb requesting 2019 budget figures (11/30) and annual report (12/9)

7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting, December 4, 2018, at 6:30 PM, at the Town Hall.

8.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 8:35 PM

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz