BERLIN CITY PLANNING BOARD
TUESDAY MAY 6, 2008
Members Present: Chair, Fran Cusson, Members, Lucien Langlois, Ralph Collins, David Morin, Aline Boucher, Ernie Allain, Richard Cassidy, Sue Tremblay, and Julie Cooney
Members Excused: Dick Merrill, Councilor McCue, Andre Duchesne
Others Present: Chris Dwinal, Wright-Pierce; Pam Laflamme, City Planner; Harold Nelson, Art York
Chair Cusson called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and appointed Ernie Allain as a voting member for this meeting
April Minutes
Mr. Langlois moved to accept the minutes with a correction to change the reference to M; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried.
City of Berlin Pump Station - Chris Dwinal Wright Pierce Engineers of Topsham ME. Mr. Dwinal explained that Wright Pierce has been contracted to design the upgrades to the Waste Water Treatment Facility system to accommodate the new Federal prison. On March 12, he presented plans for the construction of a pump station to the Planning Board and there were several concerns that have been addressed in revised plans.
Concerns included: the location of the pump station on the property where the Brown Farm wellhead is located; electrical failure and failure of a backup generator; and proximity to a primary aquifer.
Since the last meeting, Mr. Dwinal noted that several locations were reviewed to see if any would be more promising and the site presented is still the most viable. Therefore the Planning Board's concerns will be addressed by adding several safeguards.
To guard against electrical and generator failures the pump station floor has been raised by 8 feet. There may be a need to do a temporary sewer for the prison and that would then be the overflow back up once the main sewer is connected.
Drainage from the site of the pump station would go to the wetland. There will be a need to construct a culvert for which there will be a permit. The drain will not be any closer than 500 feet from the well. The building will be within the 25 foot setback.
Mr. Langlois asked if the conservation easements for Woodstone would have an impact on what is being proposed here. Ms. Laflamme indicated that the easements are more about not allowing structures than overflow or drainage. Natural drainage goes into the wetlands and that is not changing. Mr. Langlois asked if GeoInsight was going to give another opinion, adding that he would like to have another engineer look at the proposal. Mr. Dwinal stated that time is of the essence and he is hoping for a conditional approval pending the review by GeoInsight. Mr. Collins asked how long it will take to construct the building and Mr. Dwinal responded that it will take approximately a year or so to build the pump station.
Mr. Langlois confirmed that the armory pump station will be pushed to its capacity in the interim, until the main system is on line.
Chair Cusson opened the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. There being no comments, she closed the public hearing.
Mr. Langlois moved to accept the location of the pump station with condition that GeoInsight does a review; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried.
Lot line Adjustment
Kelley/Nelson. Chair Cusson confirmed that the application is complete. Ms. Cooney moved to accept the application; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried. Ms. Laflamme explained that the City had a piece of property that was taken by tax deed and it was sold to Barry Kelley. Mr. Kelley also owns a larger piece (Hickey Heights) and will merge the lot with his larger piece. Both lots will be conforming to zoning and have the appropriate frontage. The only condition is that lot 375 needs to be merged with the larger parcel.
Chair Cusson opened the public hearing at 7:06 p.m. There being no comments, she closed the public hearing.
Mr. Allain moved that lot 375 be merged with 121-59 with the condition that the paperwork is properly signed; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Langlois moved to have Chair Cusson sign the plans on behalf of the board; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried.
Chalet Loop on East Milan Road
Shea. The lot being proposed is non-conforming as it does not have road frontage. The occupants have to go over land that belongs to someone else to get to the property. Art York relayed that this is Lot 6 which was part of a subdivision done in the 60's. It was received by the city as a merger before formal mergers were done. The entire parcel is now owned by the same person; however the owner would like to separate and sell the portion that was old lot 6. Mr. Allain asked if an easement could be created from existing frontage to obtain access. Since the same person owns the entire property, the access could be created. Mr. Morin stressed that there has to be access to back lot. Mr. York confirmed that there could be a right of way onto the property but the owner did not want to go
through the expense if the lot line would not be considered. Ms. Laflamme stressed that, if this is allowed, a legal document that would run with the land, allowing access needs to be in place prior to recording the lot line adjustment.
Needing more time to explore the options, Mr. Morin moved to table the request until the next meeting; Mr. Collins seconded and the motion carried. Ms. Laflamme noted that this serves as notice of the public hearing at next month's meeting.
Lot Mergers
Cindy and Bart Berkowitz. Ms. Laflamme reported that they own Lots 412, 413, 414. At this time they want to merge 413 and 414 to be in compliance with zoning. Mrs. Langlois moved to join lots 413 and 414; Mr. Collins seconded and the motion carried.
Barry Kelley. This follows the request for the lot line adjustment which requires Mr. Kelley to merge with 121-59 with the 120-375. The only condition is that he signs the merger form. Ms. Cooney moved to approve the merger on condition that the proper signatures are obtained; Mrs. Boucher seconded and the motion carried.
Other Business
Ms. Laflamme informed the board that Nicole DeCosta resigned from the board.
She also reported that the Mayor reviewed the attendance records of members and wanted to run an ad for alternate members to give people an opportunity to serve.
Public comments
None
Member comments
Mr. Collins commented that the OEP conference was well attended. He said that the Legislature is entertaining the idea of having energy production chapters in master plans.
Planner comments
Ms. Laflamme stated that there will be a master plan meeting next Wednesday night. She will send out the Transportation chapter for final review.
The Housing chapter will be put off until the end to give Andre Caron additional time to participate.
Next month there will be a lot line adjustment for a large plan involving Dillon land;
There will be a minor subdivision of Donald Ball where he is requesting splitting a parcel into two residential and one commercial lot; Site Plan Review for Jericho Motor Sports; Site Plan for a wind project on Jericho Mountain and there may be a fifth application.
The Loranger wind project was considered a test case for the city and we have no rules or formal regulations for wind projects. They would like to construct 10 to 34 mills with the highest one being 85 feet tall. The planning board has been able to work with developers so far that have been willing to work within telecommunication framework.
Route 110 Phase II goes to Governor and Council tomorrow for the second phase of the historical study. In the ten year state transportation plan the project has been put off two years to 2011.
EDA Emergency Hazard Plan money has been distributed. Additional information can be found at www.nccouncil.org
There will be further public meetings with regard to the Mahoosucs. There are 20,000 acres of Dillon property under exclusive rights of the conservation fund. There is not a lot of land to develop and this conservation effort will need to be followed by the community and the board.
There being no further business to come before the Planning Board, Mr. Morin moved to adjourn; Mr. Collins seconded and the motion carried. The meeting ended at 8:12 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
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