ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD
Regular Meeting
September 20th, 2018 MINUTES
Members & Planning Staff Present:
Janet McEwen (Chair), William Bryk (Member), John Robertson (Ex-Officio), Chris Condon (Vice Chair), Mary Allen (Member), Carol Ogilvie (Planning Consultant); and Ashley Brudnick-Destromp (Assistant to Land Use Boards)
Members Absent: Steve MacDonald (Alternate), Lynne Rosansky (Member), Bob Holmes (Member), Jeanne Cahoon (Alternate)
Others Present:
CTO: Chair McEwen called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
I. Minutes
Minutes from September 6th, 2018
- Motion: Mr. Condon motioned to review the minutes, Chair McEwen second the motion.
Discussion: There were several errors on the minutes from September 6th that needed to be corrected:
- Mr. Condon and Mr. Robertson did not 2nd the motion to call the meeting to order, as it is not required.
- Throughout the body of the minutes, anywhere that it states “put in motion,” is to be changed to “made a motion,” as Ms. Brudnick-Destromp was informed that this is the proper way when recording minutes.
- Mr. Condon was the one who made a motion to review the minutes, not Chair McEwen, and the motion was seconded by Mr. Robertson. The July 19th, 2018 minutes were approved unanimously with all in favor.
- The subcommittee that is reviewing and editing the land use chapters is Mr. Condon, Mr. Robertson, and Ms. Allen. Mr. Bryk is not on the subcommittee.
- Throughout the body of the minutes, “land and use” is to be changed to just “land use,” as there is no “and.”
- There is no mention of Bob Edwards discussion with the board in regards to the Master Plan, and him requesting a copy of the vision statement. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp will add that to the notes. The board also requested the reading material that Mr. Edwards gave them be mentioned in as well. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp will add each individual title and author.
- Where Mr. Holmes gives his update on the CIP Committee, it needs to be added that the committee was determined to come in on October 4th to give their presentation.
- Mr. Bryk has no “e” at the end of his name, and it is to be corrected on the last page.
Motion: Mr. Bryk motioned to approve minutes as amended, Mr. Condon seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, the September 6th, 2018 minutes were approved as amended.
II. Planning and Zoning Budget for 2019
Chair McEwen started the conversation of the budget by reviewing the budget for 2018. The board discussed the 2018 budget numbers for salaries, legal expenses, supplies, postage, contracted services, consultants, registry of deeds, plan dues/workshops/publications, plan advertising, and miscellaneous. The board reviewed what has been spent so far this year, and concluded the planning department was well below the budget for 2018.
The board discussed that they would like to leave the budget as is for next year. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp is a new hire, and she has been using Ms. Ogilvie throughout her training as a consultant, therefore there is no need to cut the budget for salary for either. Because she is new, she will be attending workshops and lectures more frequently as well to get more knowledge base, so they would like to leave that as is.
The board discussed possibly cutting the legal budget down, but decided to leave it as is just in case. It was decided amongst the board that you just never know what could come across that might require a lawyer to review.
If there was any need to make a cut, the board considered cutting the miscellaneous budget from $500 to $250, but they would like to have the same budget for 2019 as 2018 if possible without any changes.
Chair McEwen plans on attending the October 22nd meeting with Ms. Brudnick-Destromp to present the proposed budget to the Selectman, but other members are willing to go if need be so that Ms. Brudnick-Destromp will not attend alone.
Mr. Bryk made a motion to approve the budget for 2019, Ms. Allen seconded the motion. By a voice vote, all agreed.
III. Master Plan Samples & Discussion
Chair McEwen mentioned she wanted to use samples from other towns to guide in the condensing of Antrim’s Master Plan. She informed the board that she has requested Ms. Brudnick-Destromp to keep a folder for the board to reference that contains master plans from other nearby towns. Chair McEwen referenced Manchester’s, and Ms. Ogilivie provided a copy of Manchester’s Master Plan in Color.
Ms. Allen asked Ms. Ogilvie what other towns that are comparable to the size of Antrim are doing for their Master Plan. Ms. Ogilvie said that most towns our size are still doing word format, and that it is interesting to see how other towns move away from the word format, making pamphlets with color and photos for their Master Plan. There is just so much information that it is hard for people to not use a lot of words, and to get away from doing a word format.
Chair McEwen went into a discussion on how we would like to make a more friendly version of the Master Plan. Mr. Condon suggested even putting some of the information in another resource, and referencing to it within the Master Plan to help condense the length. Chair McEwen suggested that we look at Master Plans on other towns websites as a useful tool to see how other towns approach it.
Ms. Ogilvie brought in samples of her rendition of Antrim’s Master Plan, with colored photos and in pamphlet form to show the board. She showed them the same information as well in the format Manchester had used. Chair McEwen asked for clarification of the Visioning Process that Ms. Ogilvie’s pamphlet had. Ms. Ogilvie went on to explain that it was a condensed version of the vision.
Chair McEwen asked Ms. Ogilvie for her professional input in reviewing the Master Plan. Ms. Ogilvie went into detail how having it in a color format and much smaller makes it more user friendly, and condensing it would be the right direction to move in.
Chair McEwen stated that she believes we prematurely voted to re do the Master Plan chapter by chapter. That she would prefer to use the Vision statement as more of a summary statement, and that her goal is that every meeting we devote 15-20 minutes to discuss the Master Plan. Looking at the pamphlet Carol provided, she likes the pictures, updating some of the information to that format, might be the way to handle it.
Ms. Ogilvie said that if we compare the statements that came out of the profile, and the vision statement, we might find that all of these still apply, and then we do not need a new vision statement. We could still do an overall statement that puts it in context.
Mr. Condon recalled a vision statement that also had a set of bullet points bellow it, that mirrored what was in Antrim 20/20, and somewhere along the line the bullet list disappeared. Ms. McEwen explained we do have a bullet list, but did not locate it but we do have it. She will work on getting a copy to Ms. Brudnick-Destromp so it can be on file.
Mr. Condon stated he liked the vision statement that we had, and that we are on the right track. Need to look at bullets from 20/20 and add them on, but otherwise it seems good. Chair McEwen agreed.
Ms. McEwen asked Ms. Ogilvie if the RSA required that we have a vision statement. Ms. Ogilvie replied yes, the statutes require two sections- a vision statement and land use.
IV. CIP Update
Ms. Brudnick-Destromp informed the board that the CIP Committee was supposed to meet with the Highway Department this morning, but had to cancel because only 1 member was able to attend. She is communicating with Jim Plourde directly to try and reschedule for next week.
The Committee was supposed to be presenting on October 4th to the Planning Board, but where they haven’t met with highway yet, and the Rec Department won’t have availability until the week of October 22nd, they will have to push it back.
The Committee is considering splitting their presentation into 2 meetings, the 1st on October 18th and the 2nd on November 1st. They might decide to do the whole presentation on November 1st, but would like to get this finished sooner rather than later.
The board agreed that it would be fine to do a split presentation on October 18th and November 1st.
V. Discussion of Potential Zoning Amendments
Chair McEwen mentioned that last meeting it was decided there were none critical for this year, but Mr. Condon pointed out to her that we needed to address Excavation.
Ms. Ogilivie stated that amendments to the Excavation Regulations do not go to Town vote, but the board would have to have a public meeting. She will be discussing with Dario.
VI. Excavation Reports/Jones
Ms. Ogilvie informed the board that the records were found and verified for Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones excavation permit is good until August 29th, 2019, at which time he will have to apply for a 5 year permit. The regulation was changed in 2015 after Mr. Jones had already received his 6 year permit, and it was amended to 5 years. This is what caused the confusion. It will be 5 years unless otherwise changed. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp called Mr. Jones personally and informed him of this information.
VII. Registration for the Law Lecture Series Deadline
Ms. Brudnick-Destromp relayed that only 2 members had signed up for the Law Lecture Series, and that only one other has responded to say they are unable to attend. Deadline for registration was given last week by email, and clarification of the lecture topics was given in the same email as well. Each member should send a response, even if it is to say they are not attending any of the lectures.
Mr. Bryk and Ms. Ogilvie both stated they were interested in attending the day lecture on October 20th, but that Mr. Bryk would confirm with Ms. Brudnick-Destromp prior to registration.
VIII. Planning Assistant Report
Ms. Brudnick-Destromp stated Ms. Nelkens approached her about possibly filing a variance for a conversion apartment for her son to live in. A file was started for when Ms. Nelkens is ready to proceed, and she was informed of who her abutters are in person.
Ms. Brudnick-Destromp also was communicating with Ms. Nelkens son by email, Mr. Kurz, whom had asked if the apartment needed to be connected to water and sewer. It was determined by a conversation in person with Ms. Nelkens, that the intention is to have a compost toilette in the conversion apartment, but that the conversion apartment is actually a self-standing structure to be built in the back of the property, and not within the house.
Because there is no mention of compost toilette’s within zoning, this matter would have to go before the selectman. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp emailed Mr. Kurz this information. Dario Carrara, the building inspector, also informed Ms. Brudnick-Destromp that if Mr. Kurz plans to have pressurized water in the unit, then he would also need to be on sewer. Mr. Kurz does not plan to have pressurized water or sewer.
Ms. Brudnick-Destromp will be following up with Dario Carrara, as well as Ms. Nelkens and Mr. Kurz to make sure everyone is on the right page in moving forward, and the steps that need to be taken.
A women name Michelle and her boyfriend, John Cilley, had contacted Dario Carrara in regards to purchasing 15 North Main Street, and having a conversion apartment as well. This is the property directly next to Ms. Nelkens. Mr. Carrara reached out to Ms. Brudnick-Destromp in regards to what they would need. After Ms. Brudnick-Destromp consulted with Ms. Ogilvie, it was determined that they would have to file a variance as well as a special exemption. Michelle stated she did not have a phone number to be reached on, and provided an email address to Ms. Brudnick-Destromp for future correspondence. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp verified the email with Michelle twice, but any information sent to her has bounced back. Ms. Brudnick-Destromp obtained a phone number for Mr. Cilley from Mr. Carrara, and called him today to explain in more
detail the process, and the fee’s involved for the application.
Chair McEwen stated that she believes the home is already under agreement from a different party, and if they contact the office again to follow up to verify if they are actually the ones purchasing it as she believes someone else has already made an offer and it was accepted this week.
IV. Website Update/Business Inventory
Chair McEwen suggested a homework assignment. Each member is to go on another town’s website, review it, and report back with the things they liked about it. Chair McEwen will look at Hancock and Stoddard, Ms. Allen will review Dublin and Peterborough, Mr. Condon will review Bennington, Mr. Robertson will review Hillsborough, and Mr. Bryk will review Franklin. The Chair asked Ms. Brudnick-Destromp to email the missing members to inform them of the homework assignment due next meeting, Thursday October 4th.
Chair McEwen and Mr. Condon discussed the possibility of having John Anderson of Ragdoll Animation studios assist with website development. They will be reaching out to him personally to discuss. Both were impressed by his graphic design print that he did for the Antrim Historical Society for Antrim Home and Harvest Festival. Mr. Robertson also mentioned his opinion that the design Mr. Anderson did was to his liking, and he agreed with reaching out regarding the website.
Meeting Adjourned: ~ Mr. Robertson moved to adjourn at 8:07pm, Mr. Bryk second that motion.
By a voice vote, all were in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ashley Brudnick-Destromp
Assistant to Land Use Boards
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