Becket Planning Board
Approved Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Planning Board Members Present: Gale LaBelle, Ann Krawet (arrives at 8:15), Marty Schlanger, Robert Ronzio, Beth VanNess, Howard Lerner.
Planning Board Members Absent: None
Members of the public present: Scott and Sharon Collins, Pauline Morin, John Amato.
Meeting opens at: 8: 05 pm
Chairperson , Gale LaBelle, opens the meeting and announces that agendas are on the table for anyone who wants them. She advises that the meeting is being held in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A and the by-laws of the Town of Becket. A decision to issue a special permit requires a minimum of four positive votes from a five member board. The board has 90 days to make a decision after the close of a public hearing and 14 days to file paperwork with the Town Clerk once a decision is made. Any Appeals of decisions can be made only to the court and must be made pursuant to Section 17, MGL 40A as amended, and must be filed within 20 days after the date of filing of the decision with the Town Clerk.
Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 1st, 2011- Mr. Marty Schlanger makes a motion to approve meeting minutes from August 10th 2011 , Howard Lerner seconds motion ; Unanimous Approval.
Public Hearing Continuation- Mr. Troy Casey, 679 Main Street, Map 21 Lot 34.
Ms. LaBelle advises that the scheduled public hearing for Mr. Troy Casey will be continued until Wednesday, November 9th at 8:00pm. Ms. LaBelle advises that apparently there had been some confusion as to the date of the re-scheduled hearing and that because of that, Mr. Casey was unable to be in attendance. Ms. LaBelle explains the importance of the site visit and advises that everyone needs to make sure that they view the site at their earliest convenience. Ms. LaBelle makes a motion that all planning board members have been advised that they need to make arrangements with the applicant, Troy Casey, to view the property and the land in question, prior to he reopening of the hearing on November 9th, 2011. Ms. LaBelle further advises that she would like to be sure that they are prepared to
render a decision at the next meeting, again apologizing for Mr. Casesy’s confision. Mr. Ronzio seconds motion; Unanimous Approval.
Foresight Land Services/ Paline Morin- Form A, 209 Main Street.
Ms. Morin approaches the board members present and explains that the reason she would like to present the Form A is so that she may separate the properties and then be able to sell the one with the rental property on it. Ms. Morin begins to present the plans that have been prepared for her by Foresight Engineers. Board members realize that there has been a small error on the plans presented. Board members state that the plans incorrectly show the road in front of the property is marked as “Route 7” instead of “Route 8”.
Board members agree to have Ms. Morin makes the appropriate corrections and then initials and dates the corrections, in case that anyone is to ask for them. Ms. Morin goes on to change all proposed errors to Route 8. After all corrections have been changed, and initialed, Ms. Morin completes here presentation. Ms. LaBelle advises Ms. Hunt that she would like her to contact Foresight as well, to make sure that they are aware of the changes made.
Public Participation- Mr. Scott Collins, from Yankee Septic, approaches board members and advises who he is and that he has a Septic Sales and Service business that he is very interested in moving to Becket. He explains that during this thought process, he had come up with many questions for the planning Board to address. Scott asks that he needs to have some information on the property, that he is currently interested in, to include; how much land will we need? What are some of the restrictions? Mr. Collins advises that they would like to purchase a piece of property that they can use as a residence (with an existing home ) on it , as well as being allowed to also run his septic business from the same piece of land. He goes on to explain that the business is currently in operation in the Town of Lenoxdale. Mr. Collins explains that he is a bit confused about Zoning and would like to be able to get some of his questions answered. Mr. Ronzio advises Mr. Collins that in the Town
of Becket, all properties are zoned residential, however that businesses are allowed y special permit. Mr. Ronzio advises Mr. Collins of the Bylaws and states that he can do some research on his own using the website, he also states that the planning board can give him a hard copy of the bylaws, if that would be better. Ms. Krawet advises that she is reviewing the bylaws and that she does not see anything under “Septic Sales and Services.” Ms. LaBelle advises Mr. Collins to be sure to speak with the Building Inspector regarding this matter. Mr. Collins states that he has been interested in a few different properties and explains that Fran Garrity’s property was one that he was interested in and that the property did have a large barn on it, however, there was not an actual house on it. Ms. LaBelle again advises Scott that he should speak with the Building Inspector/Zoning Enforcer and get some of these questions answered. Mr. Collins
explains that in order for him to be able to get a mortgage , there are quite a few things that have to be in order and that many of these things that need to be out into place are connected, thus making it a confusing project. Member of the public, Mr. John Amato, suggests that he should begin with getting a purchase and sales agreement and then he can apply to for a special permit as the applicant as opposed to the owner. Mr. Ronzio reminds Mr. Collins that he will also have to meet with the Conservation Commission and find out whether or not there are wetlands involved. Mr. Schlanger asks if they are planning on renting porta-potties, and if so, will they be stored on the property? Mr. Collins advises that they will have port-potties on the property. Ms. Krawet asks that the bylaws referencing Heavy Trucks be reviewed, stating that there might be some guidelines that would pertain to this type of a business. Mr. Ronzio reads aloud the “Contractor Yard” bylaws,
stating that sales and septic may fall under that category.
Budget- Read and reviewed. Mr. Ronzio briefly discusses the handling of the postage meter and the “Reserve Account” and how that is handled. Mr. Howard Lerner makes a motion to request a written statement of how the transferred money is reimbursed back into the “Reserve Fund” ; Mr. Ronzio seconds motion, Unanimous Approval.
Correspondence- Read and Reviewed. Mr. Lerner asks how things went with the selectmen and if there was ever a written response back from them, when the planning board informed them that they would not be attending one of their meetings, but instead, inviting the selectman to come to a Planning Meeting instead.
Ms. LaBelle reminds board members that they will need to go and conduct a site visit at William and Madeleine Elovirta’s property, immediately following the adjournment of the meeting. She reminds members they will be there strictly to view the property and that no structured conversations will be allowed to take place.
Mr. Lerner makes a motion to adjourn the meeting , Mr. Ronzio seconds motion: Unanimous approval. Meeting is adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Schedule next meeting for November 9th, 2011
Respectfully submitted,
Heather Hunt
Administrative Assistant
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Gale LaBelle
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Robert Ronzio
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Ann Krawet
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Martin Schlanger
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Beth VanNess
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Howard Lerner
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