ANTRIM ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
MEETING MINUTES
July 5, 2016 Meeting
Public Meeting
Case #2015-01ZBA
Members & Staff Present:
Colleen Giffin (Staff) John Giffin (Chair) Ron Haggett (Co-Chair) Ray Ledger wood (Member)
Shelley Nelkens (Member)
Members & Staff Absent: Frank Scales (Member)
Public Attendees: Jeanne Cahoon, Bob Edwards, Patrick Dunn, Joyce Davis, Stephen MacDonald, Art Kaufman,
Nancy Kaufman, Roger Weymouth, Bev Weymouth, Michael Pon, one unreadable name
7:00PM Public Meeting
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held at 7:00 PM Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at the at the Antrim Town
Hall concerning the June 9, 2016 Superior Court Decision of The Pierce Lake Association vs. Town of Antrim Zoning
Board of Adjustments on the decision to consider whether the project of the proposed cell tower submitted by Industrial Tower and Wireless, LLC (ITW) is of regional impact under RSA 36:54-58 or not.
Chair Giffin opened the public meeting at 7:00 pm.
Chair Giffin explain how the meeting would be run. He explained that this was a public meeting,
that no new evidence shall be presented by anyone, and that no one in the audience is allowed to
speak unless given permission to do so by the Chair or by the Board.
He stated that this meeting was a special meeting requested by the court to determine whether the proposed
Industrial Tower and Wireless cell tower project is of regional impact under RSA 36:54-58.
It is unclear to the Court if the Board ever discussed a regional impact study. Any written documentation
such as meeting minutes about a regional impact study are incomplete.
The question presented to the Board is two-fold;
first, did the Board ever request a regional impact study,
second, did the Board want to send letters out to the two Regional Commissions to ask them
if they would like to come and speak about the regional impact of the cell tower.
He stated that as a Board they could decide that they did not want the advice of the two commissions
and decide not to send the letters out. The Town Counsel would then take that answer back to the court.
Chair Giffin put the two questions to Ms. Nelkens. The letters will be asking the two commissions if they
would like to review the cell tower application and if they do want to review it, would they like to come to a public meeting to
provide information about regional impact.
Ms. Nelkens answered that she remembered the discussion the Board had when John Kendall was Chairman
that a regional impact study should be done and she agreed with him. She said the letters should be sent out.
Mr. Ledger wood needed further clarification about what the court wanted. Chair Giffin explained these letters
were just a request to the two commissions to decide if they wanted to read the application and give an opinion
about a regional impact study or decline.
Mr. Haggett questioned how the Board would structure a motion on sending letters to the commissions while
using the advice of the town attorney of not making any decision about the regional impact study themselves?
Chair Giffin explained that at this time, the only thing the Board is responsible for is sending the letters to the
commissions asking them if they would like to voice their opinion about a regional impact study.
Discussion ensued.
Motion: Mr. Haggett moved to send appropriate letters to the Regional Commissions from Central New Hampshire
in Concord and Southwest Planning in Keene asking if they wish to respond to a regional impact, Ms. Nelkens seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Chair Giffin asked Ms. Giffin to prepare the letters to the regional commissions and include a copy of the draft notes from tonight’s meeting.
Questions from the audience the Chair allowed:
Mr. Haggett had read an excerpt from a letter from Town Counsel, question was if the letter was available to the public or not.
No, this letter is covered under attorney-client privilege.
Why are the letters being sent out to the Commissions when it seems that the court is asking the Board to make the decision about the regional impact study?
This was a choice Town Counsel suggested and this was how the Board interrupted the courts requested.
Even though the Board had discussed and decided against having a regional impact study done at the first meeting with Industrial Tower and Wireless, the discussion never made it into the minutes.
Why not just make a decision now? The court has tasked us with not looking at any new evidence or re-hashing any old evidence. We were only given the choice of sending out letters or not sending out letters.
In your first meeting you decided not to do a regional impact study and now you have decided to do one, it is
not because you have changed your minds, but because it this was suggested by Town Counsel. Correct.
The meeting minutes from that first meeting were not complete and the court has decided this is how they want the Board to handle this situation.
Business Meeting:
Approve Minutes of October 27, 2016
Mr. Haggett moved to accept the minutes as presented. Mr. Ledgerwood seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Motion: Mr. Ledgerwood moved to adjourn; Mr. Haggett seconded the motion.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Meeting adjourned 7:30 pm
Respectfully submitted, Colleen Giffin, Land Use Board Assistant
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