ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD MEETING
February 19, 2009 Meeting
Members & Staff Present: Scott Burnside Missy Taylor
Steve Schacht CR Willeke Paul Vasques
Member & Staff Absent: Diane Chauncey Andrew Robblee Joe Koziell Sandy Snow Kathi Wasserloos
Public Attendees: None
Public Meeting: In the absence of the Chair and the Vice-Chair, the members appointed Mr., Burnside as Chair Pro-tem. He convened the public meeting at 7:15 PM and appointed alternate member C.R. Willeke to sit for the absent Mr. Robblee.
Approval of Planning Board Meeting Minutes: Ms. Taylor moved to approve the minutes of the February 5, 2009 meeting as corrected. The motion was seconded by Mr. Schacht and passed on a voice vote.
Business Meeting:
Status of new Town Planner: Mr. Vasques reported that Mr. Cass, Town Administrator, had received eleven applications for the position. Mr. Cass indicated he would provide Mr. Vasques with copies of the application for a preliminary review and comment. Beyond that Mr. Vasques could not say what procedure would be followed since Mr. Cass was handling the hiring process. Mr. Burnside felt that the Planning Board should be part of the review process. Mr. Schacht and Ms. Taylor concurred with Mr. Burnside.
Mr. Schacht stated that he had been giving the matter a lot of thought in view of budget constraints and the current economy, he wondered if the town shouldn’t implement a hiring freeze and not move forward to hire a full time Planner. He noted that there are virtually no subdivisions or site plan review applications being presented to the Board and few would be likely in view of the economy. He wondered if the requirements of the Planning Department could be met with a part time planner and the continued assistance of Ms. Chauncey. Ms. Taylor questioned whether or not the Department required two persons at this time given the level of activity. Mr. Schacht wondered if the position should be vacated and possibly Mr. Vasques could be called in on an as needed basis when an application is submitted. Mr. Vasques felt that this would not
be efficient. He also indicated that there were still ongoing projects such as the complete revision of the Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations and numerous sections of the Zoning Ordinances which needed tweaking. Various other scenarios for staffing were discussed by the members. Mr. Vasques indicated that he is flexible and would work with the Selectmen.
Status of the Building Inspector: Mr. Vasques advised the members that Mr. Parsons, the Building Inspector, has resigned. His position has been filled by Mr. Peter Hopkins who is also the building inspector in a number of other towns. The position of Health Officer which was handled by Mr. Parsons remains unfilled.
In-Ex Homes, LLC File # 2007-10PB: Mr. Vasques indicated that Mr. Jack Belletete who is a principal in the In-Ex Homes application for a major subdivision has asked if approval could be given to the subdivision without the posting of a performance guarantee. Pertinent Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations were reviewed by the Board and it was determined that under the existing regulations, such an approval could not be granted. Mr. Burnside pointed out that the Board is currently revising the Regulations to permit partial improvements in a subdivision if all other conditions are met without the posting of the entire performance guarantee (know as Construction Phase Option B). The members concurred in the opinion that a waiver to the regulations could be granted which would allow partial improvements to be made
without posting the entire performance guaranteed provided that all amounts currently past due were paid, and an escrow account was established and paid into by the applicant to cover construction monitoring and erosion control, prior to the pre-construction meeting and any work being started. Granting of such a waiver would not permit the signing of the Mylars and registration with the registry of deeds; therefore, no lots could be sold. The Mylars would only be signed upon the posting of the entire performance guarantee. Mr. Vasques was instructed to advise Mr. Belletete that if he were interested in seeking this course of action he should submit a request in writing for a waiver to the performance guarantee. At that time he would be scheduled to appear before the Board to present his request.
Master Plan – Chapter Review Session: Ms. Taylor indicated that she had not received any changes from any of the Board members since they were presented with the complete Plan at the February 5th meeting. Mr. Vasques thought it was, but he would look into it. Ms. Taylor provided Mr. Vasques with a list of charts, maps and other information that she requested for the Plan. Mr. Burnside provided Ms. Taylor with a number of changes he felt should be made. The gist of his recommended changes was to shift the current emphasis on conservation to more of a balance between conservation and the opportunity for commercial growth. Other members suggested their changes as the evening progressed. Ms. Taylor indicated that the next step would be for her to have all the changes incorporated into the Plan by the
March 5th meeting. At that time the Plan would be forwarded to Town Counsel for his approval.
Energy Committee (Snow) Willeke’s request – wind tower on town property; Since Mr. Snow was absent, no report was made.
Subdivision Regulation Changes: Mr. Vasques pointed out the status of the changes to the Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations. After some discussion, it was agreed that Mr. Vasques should incorporate all suggested changes into one completely revised version of the manual and presented it to the Board for review. The members felt that once the Master Plan was sent off to Town Counsel the Board should be able to concentrate on updating the regulations.
Correspondence: Members were advised of the Office of Energy & Planning Annual Spring Conference on May 2, 2009. They were also given copies of a recent DES newsletter which contained changes in the Shoreland Protection Rules & explanations of waterfront & natural woodland buffers.
Code Enforcement:
None Reported
New Business from the Floor:
None
Mr. Burnside made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 PM. The motion was seconded by Ms. Taylor and unanimously passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Vasques
Interim Town Planner
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