Berlin Planning Board Meeting
August 5, 2008
Members Present: Fran Cusson, Chair; Julie Cooney, Dave Morin, Councilor McCue, Ralph Collins, Laura Jamison, Greg Estrella, and Lucien Langlois
Members Excused: Susan Tremblay, Jen Boucher, Ernie Allain, Aline Boucher
Others Present: Pam Laflamme, City Planner; Dave Carlisle, Carlisle Surveying Consultants; Pat & Mona Garneau; Councilor Tim Cayer; Dick Eastman, Jim Wagner, Al McLain, Jay Poulin, representing Greenova; Carl Mercier; Chip Haynes and Robert Guerin representing North Woods Mobile Home Park
Chair Cusson appointed Greg Estrella and Laura Jamison as voting members for the evening.
Public Comments: None
July Minutes: Mr. Morin made a motion to approve the July minutes with a second from Mr. Langlois, all voted in favor, motion passed.
Common Driveway Subdivision Application: Carl Mercier, applicant, Pauline Bergeron & Leo Pepin Revocable Trusts - owners:
Mr. Carlisle presented the plan to the board which is similar to the plan they presented in June with a few adjustments. The largest change was to make a right of way that crossed the entire lot giving dedicated access to both lots. The lot lines as previously presented remained the same. Some path ways were corrected to better reflect their locations. The logging road on the end of Walsh Street is not an active logging road - it is really more a logging path. The driveway to what is now Carl Mercier's house is newly added on the extension of undeveloped Pepin Street. Mr. Mercier stated that he thought that the addition of the gravel on the road now makes the elevation higher than it previously was which makes the issues associated with drainage slightly better than they were. It was noted that the
area has had drainage issues for many years and that may not make things better.
Ms. Cusson asked if the application was complete as presented, Ms. Laflamme indicated it was and Mr. Langlois made a motion to accept the application. Ms. Cooney seconded the motion and the board voted in favor of the motion.
Ms. Cusson opened the Public Hearing at 6:39PM.
Pat Garneau, an abutter spoke about his concerns regarding drainage. After some of his concerns were presented, Ms. Laflamme clarified differences between minor and major subdivisions. Mona Garneau spoke about wetlands concerns as there has been discussion about the presence of wetlands in the area; it was again clarified that a major subdivision would need to address these issues if further subdivision was proposed for the property. Bob Guerin, representing North Woods Mobile Home Park asked about the location of roadways as that is one of their concerns, the other is related to drainage. Changes to the landscape affect their property, but they clarified they are not against the development of the property; they only want to be certain that their property is protected. Chip Haynes, also representing North Woods
Mobile Home Park reiterated concern about drainage, but indicated that they have come to an agreement with Mr. Mercier to take care of the drainage.
Public Hearing Closed. 6:46PM
Councilor McCue asked a clarifying question about the lot lines. There was also discussion about the status of undeveloped Pepin Street and reference was made to the notation on the plan and it was agreed that the notation would remain and that the words "Pepin Street" would be removed from the plan and that only the notation would remain. Mr. Morin asked if the fire department had reviewed the turnaround issue. He was told that they had and Mr. Morin then asked for the fire department to send a letter to the board stating they were okay with the turnaround as proposed.
Councilor McCue asked for a notation for the concerns about drainage that would need to be addressed in the future establishing that if there was to be further development this would trigger a major subdivision.
Clarification about how the conditions should be noted, whether the conditions go on the plans or in the minutes. Ms. Laflamme explained that a separate sheet gets recorded with the conditions as well as the plan and that yes they appeared in the minutes.
Mr. Morin made a motion to approve the plan with the following conditions: receipt of a letter from Fire Department regarding the sufficiency of the proposed turnaround, a notation about the concerns around drainage should there be additional development or if a proposed right of way is developed, and the removal of the words "Pepin Street" from the plan. Mr. Langlois seconded the motion and everyone in favor, motion carried.
Mr. Langlois made a motion to amend the previous motion to include receipt of 2 Mylar prints and to allow the chair to sign the plans on behalf of the board. Mr. McCue seconded the motion and the board voted in favor of the motion.
Modified Site Plan Review - Greenova LLC - HEB Jay Poulin presenting/Jim Wagner:
Jim Wagner, newly employed by Greenova gave a brief summary of recent activities and told the board he was here to present modifications to their previously approved plan based on some abutter concerns in the industrial park and lessons "learned" from their other facilities in NY and MI.
Jay Poulin, HEB Engineers, went over the previous layout and the conditions of the previous layout; he told the board that they have received all state and federal permits needed for the project. Some of that permitting process necessitated the revision of the layout of the property. The chipping issue was discussed and based on the situation at their Michigan plant, they are moving the chipping process to the exterior lot, and there will be no more chip piles as chips will now be completely covered and contained. The interior lot will now be utilized for the weigh scale, better traffic patterns and one centralized point of access. They no longer plan on using the northern entrance of the park to access their property and all traffic will come from the southern access point to the park. They will now be phasing in the
construction for 200K tons over three years. Another change is that they will be enclosing both the debarking and chipping areas. A new chip silo will be completely enclosed, and this will be a much improved layout that also addresses some concerns from the previously conditionally accepted layout.
Chipping will now be done 24 hours a day and the location of the equipment will be more remote and completely enclosed. It was stated that all noise levels are at or below the requirements of our noise ordinance. Mr. Poulin indicated that this is a better layout but that it will require amending all permits including state & local. There are no additional impacts and slightly less land will be impacted than before in the wetland areas.
Ms. Cusson asked about road closure and was told that is still the same, although there will be less crossing than before, but that it is still significant enough to keep the public outside the property. Access points remain the same. It was noted that the Fire Department likes the layout better and that the turnarounds will be paved as required by Fire Codes. There was a discussion about the chipper and the noise levels which is required to be no more than 60 decibels at night and 70 decibels during the day. Mr. Estrella asked a question about the dust issues and was assured this was addressed in the air permit. Mr. Langlois asked about the new silo height and was told that they are going back to the ZBA for new special exceptions. The reconfiguration may be better but Mr. Langlois indicated that he had
concerns about the new layout and wants to have GeoInsight review the plan due to the changes.
Councilor McCue asked about the road layout at the northern entrance where there is no longer going to be issues with design layout of the northern entrance and was told that the southern entrance will now be the sole access point. He indicated that there may now be a need to be concerned for the condition of the roadway at the southern entrance. There was a question about traffic waiting to unload, but it was stated that the congestion is relieved by operating 24/7. A board member expressed concern about traffic now operating round the clock. Someone asked about the building detail of the silo storage increase and it was indicated that it will be reviewed by Fire Department in detail when it gets to the building department.
Traffic issues were discussed regarding the amount of traffic. Ms. Laflamme told the board that NHDOT has been involved and is aware of the project.
Al McLain, one of the principals for the project, spoke about the Michigan facility and about learning lessons there. He indicated that yes, they are spending more money but it makes sense to their company to have a better plan. If there are changes, they will come back to the board as they are right now.
Ms. Cusson asked about truck unloading between 6AM and10PM and was told that they might change that from time to time, as there may be occasional times when the hours may be extended, but that the normal times would be 6AM until 10PM.
Chair Cusson opened the Public Hearing at 7:35PM. Ms. Tetreault asked about whether the permitting is in place for the full 200K, and was told that it is but they will be phasing the design over three years. Public Hearing closed 7:36PM
Mr. McCue asked about log storage layouts and the interior storage for longer term storage. Mr. Langlois asked about the diesel storage of fuel and the location of the tank. It was noted that the tank design stays the same, but the location will likely be different.
Mr. Morin made a motion to preserve the conditions from the prior conditional approval. He added new conditions to the approval being that the revised plans shall be reviewed by GeoInsight; that the Planning Department shall receive copies of all updated/revised permits; that Greenova go back to the ZBA for a new special exception; and that the review by GeoInsight will be conducted through the City Planner to control cost for the applicant. Mr. Collins seconded the motion and the board voted in favor of the motion.
Local Government Center Policy Positions for the upcoming legislative session:
Ms. Laflamme explained to the board that the City Council had asked for input from the Planning Board regarding proposed legislation for the upcoming legislative session. She indicated that the Local Government Center was looking for feedback from the local governments about which pieces of legislation needed their support and which proposals they should oppose. . While there were brief discussions about each of the proposals, the following is a synopsis of the discussion:
1. Use & Area Variances - the position of the board is that it supports the proposal as it aims to make it easier to go through the variance process which has become very complex over the past few years.
2. Penalties for Land Use Violations - the planning board supports this legislation.
3. Does not apply to Berlin.
4. Environmental Regulation & Preemption - The board had a mixed reaction to this proposed policy. The issue was whether the idea of preemption over local regulations would result in a less than consistent application of local ordinances depending on the municipality. The board had no clear direction for this policy.
5. Exemption from Land Use Change Tax - The board had a good discussion about this proposed policy and many were concerned about the possibility of this increasing land prices when selling land to the government to avoid penalties to the seller therefore bypassing the intent of this proposal. In the end the board decided to remain neutral on this proposal.
6. OBD Testing - The board supported this proposal.
7. Impact Fees for State Highways - There was a lot of discussion as to the state transportation budget, priorities for different communities/regions of the state and how likely it might be that NHDOT might leave it to the community to take care of any problems directly with the developer rather than involve themselves as they would presently. The board felt it needed more information about the role of the NHDOT and decided to remain neutral on this proposal.
8. Planning Board Appeals - The board supported this proposal as it makes sense to try and resolve appeals before any parties file with the court. This would save everyone time and money and hopefully coming to a better resolution for both the applicant and the community.
9. Affordable Housing - The board supported this proposal.
10. Energy, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation - The board supported this proposal.
11. Open Space Retention/Sprawl Prevention/Housing & Conservation Planning - the Planning Board supported this proposal with an emphasis on support for the continuation of funding for the Housing & Conservation Planning program.
12. Sludge/Biosolids - The Planning Board felt that they were not technically the right entity to speak to this proposal; however a few board members did speak to the issue and in the end asked for there to be input from Pollution Control staff. Specifically it was requested that input be obtained from the former Superintendent, Mickey Therriault. Mr. Therriault reviewed the proposal and agreed fully with the proposals as written. He indicated that any improvement in the quality of biosolids would be good for the community especially if financial assistance was made available.
13. Current Use - The Planning Board fully supported the opposition to any of the proposed modifications of the Current Use regulations, especially to the reduction of minimum acreage standards.
14. Conservation Investment - The Planning Board reviewed this proposal and decided to take a neutral position. There was concern about whether a dedicated funding source actually equaled funding, without knowing the revenue source, the amount to be set aside, etc., the board did not wish to take a position.
Member Comments:
Mr. Collins asked if it would be possible for the Planning Board to tour the prison project. Ms. Laflamme said she would inquire.
Ms. Jamison asked about the noise level of the Greenova project and the board had a brief discussion about the noise ordinance.
Mr. Langlois asked about the status of the talks about Success & Mahoosuc Region, the City Planner gave a quick history of the property, and explained in the past there had been very general talk about annexation. Councilor McCue talked about the Conservation Fund as a catalyst and source of funding, etc. The Conservation Fund will be at the August 18, 2008 City Council meeting to discuss the project for those who are interested.
Mr. Estrella asked about the status of the windmill project. Ms. Laflamme told the board that the land had been sold to a different entity and the plan the board reviewed at the last meeting was no longer active.
Planner Comments:
Ms. Laflamme passed around a handout about small wind mills intended for residential use. She reminded the board about the next master plan meeting and let people know that she has copies of the survey results for those who want to read them. Ms. Laflamme let the board know that NHDOT will be having a public information meeting on August 28, 2008 to discuss the second phase of the project and where the alignment will go.
The September board meeting will be held on September 11, 2008 due to a conflict with the primaries being on September 9, 2008.
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