BERLIN PLANNING BOARD MEETING
SEPTEMBER 11, 2008
Members Present: Chair Fran Cusson, Lucien Langlois, Greg Estrella, Laura Jamison, Jennifer Boucher, Ernie Allain, Councilor Tom McCue, Aline Boucher
Members Excused: David Morin, Richard Cassidy, Sue Tremblay
Members Absent: Ralph Collins, Julie Cooney, Richard Merrill
Others Present: Pam Laflamme, City Planner; Barbara Tetreault, Berlin Daily Sun; Burke York, York Land Services; Phil Bedard, Madeleine & Paul Levesque, Sally Manikian, Berlin Reporter
Chair Fran Cusson appointed Greg Estrella, Laura Jamison, and Jennifer Boucher as voting members for this evening.
Chair Cusson announced that we will add a lot merger after the second subdivision.
August Minutes: Lucien Langlois moved, seconded by Greg Estrella, to accept the August minutes. Motion carried.
Public Comments: None
Minor Subdivision - Highland Acres LLC Map 126 Lot 1
Chair Cusson asked if the application was complete, Ms. Laflamme stated it was, and Mr. Langlois made a motion to accept the application as complete and Ms. Jamison seconded the motion. The board approved the motion.
Burke York of York Land Services, made a presentation on behalf of Phil Bedard and Doug Johnson (Highland Acres, LLC) to subdivide a small parcel of land on Highland Park Avenue serviced by water and sewer. The newly created lot would have frontage on Highland Park. This frontage is on both paved and non-paved street, but both portions are City maintained. Once this lot is developed, there is no more frontage on Highland Park Avenue unless the roadway is built to the City's standards and at that time they would need to come back in front of Board for any future development.
Chair Cusson opened the Public Hearing. Paul and Madeleine Levesque attended and stated they have already been explained everything and had no problem, with the requested proposed minor subdivision. Chair Cusson closed the Public Hearing.
It was noted by Mr. Langlois that a water main runs through this area and that there must be an easement from Berlin Water Works to retain crossing rights. Mr. York stated there is a note on the plan stating same. Ms. Laflamme stated all questions have been taken care of. Pins will be set on the property to denote right-of-way and edge of street. Currently there is a gate there to keep truck traffic down. Berlin Water Works has the code for the gate as well as local emergency responders.
Motion - Lucien Langlois moved, seconded by Laura Jamison, to accept subdivision of one parcel of approximately 12,000 square feet as presented by Highland Acres LLC at Tax Map 126 Lot 1. Motion carried.
Motion - Lucien Langlois moved, seconded by Laura Jamison, authorizing Chair Cusson to sign subdivision on behalf of the Board. Motion Carried.
Minor Subdivision - City of Berlin - Map 121 Lot 13 (Berlin High School) Application filed with the City Planner is complete.
Motion - Councilor Tom McCue moved, seconded by Greg Estrella, to accept application as presented. Motion carried.
The City maintains a current lease for 1.9 acres of land with Isaacson Structural Steel Inc., (ISSI) which they have had for over ten years. ISSI asked the City to buy the property. The City Council agreed to sell the land for $8,000.00 but after a few conversations the project didn't move forward very quickly. This has resurfaced this summer. One of the items that was needed is an agreement between the railroad and ISSI, which they received in 2007 for legal crossing rights. Ms. Laflamme had no issues with the project and only recommended one condition that the parcels cannot be sold separately.
Chair Cusson opened the Public Hearing. There were no comments. Public Hearing was closed.
Motion - Lucien Langlois moved, seconded by Laura Jamison, to accept the minor subdivision Map 121 Lot 13 (with condition) as noted by City Planner and checking into the easements for location of water and sewer lines. The newly created parcel cannot be sold separately from Map 108 Lot 12. Motion carried.
Motion - Motion by Councilor Tom McCue, seconded by Laura Jamison, authorizing Chair Cusson to sign on behalf of the Board. Motion carried.
Lot Merger - Andrea Tupick, 65 Norway Street - Ms. Tupick has two back to front 50' lots and she is requesting to build a garage on the back lot. The frontage of the newly merged lot will remain on 65 Norway Street.
Motion - Motion made by Laura Jamison, seconded by Lucien Langlois, to approve requested lot merger at Tax Map 127 Lot 192 and 177 with the frontage remaining on Norway Street. Motion carried.
Landmark Signage Discussion & Amendment - Androscoggin Valley Hospital - Ms. Laflamme stated that three years ago the Planning Board approved the signage for the new sign at the entrance to Page Hill Road. Ms. Laflamme mentioned that at that time she wasn't on the AVH Board but wanted to note she is currently on the Board of Directors. When the Planning Board was reviewing AVH's request for the sign at the Page Hill Road entrance it was Dave Morin, who at that time, reviewed the zoning ordinance, and came across the section about landmark signs as read by the Planner. The hospital is currently rebranding their image and creating a new logo, and redoing their sign at the bottom of Page Hill Road and installing new banners.
AVH is asking the Planning Board to consider their request to increase the size of the current wall sign as they remove it from the building and put a new sign on the building with the new logo. They feel it is time to create a new sign on the building reflecting a bigger and better scale to the size of the building. The City Manager went through the ordinance and he suggested the landmark section of our ordinances is applicable to the entire property and that would allow the board to deal with all of the signage issues on the AVH campus. The wall sign on the building will be approximately one and one-half times bigger in size to the current sign. The new sign will be 356 inches long whereas the existing sign is 258 inches long.
Mr. Langlois moved, seconded by Ms. Jamison, to allow AVH, as per the ordinance relating to landmarks, to increase the size of its current sign on the AVH Building per their request and to replace all current signs at AVH with new signs reflecting their new logo. Motion carried.
Master Plan Discussion & Update - Ms. Laflamme reminded members of the next Master Plan meeting on September 24 at 6 PM at the Hospital. There will be a presentation from the Sustainable Economy Initiative committee from the Northern Forest Center regarding the economy of the area. They will discuss how the Master Plan relates to the work they are doing.
Also, the steering committee will discuss the Coos County Branding Project and work on two chapters of the plan regarding space needs, consolidations, etc., and the energy chapter reflecting diversified needs of energy in the North Country. A group called Clean Air-Cool Planet is applying for a grant related to energy efficiency and if they get the grant, Berlin will be one of their pilot communities for their efficiency project at the municipal level.
Ms. Laflamme has reviewed the chapters done so far and feels there are too many non-specific recommendations not tailored for Berlin's needs. We originally requested a personalized product. She shared that some of the feedback received recommends that the Master Plan should be summarized in approximately three to five pages so people can easily refer to a compact document and go to the main document for further information and documentation. Ms. Laflamme feels we should ask the company for an executive summary report that will state the City's vision and the action steps the City will take to let everyone know where we are going. She will reiterate this to Jeff and his group. We all want a unique product created for the City of Berlin.
Public Comments - None.
Member Comments - Councilor McCue discussed the community impact survey of Route 110 follow up and his feelings about the fact that we need to spend all this money. He asked people to send letters to Congressman Hodes and Senator Sununu about the wastefulness of the project. It is a shame we need to go through all of this. Consequently, this will cost us $70,000.00.
Councilor McCue also brought up the matter of the State Bureau of Trails and the ATV Park. There needs to be a plan to link the east and west trails in the City. He does not feel State is equipped to handle this and the City has to step up and get actively involved with clubs, organizations, and the State to get this moving.
Planner's Comments - Conferences - Ms. Laflamme mentioned there are several upcoming conferences for the Planning Board. She listed the conferences which are the Law Lecture in Lincoln in late September and early October. There is a NHDES workshop on shoreland, wetlands, and sewage disposal systems, etc. in Lancaster. There will be a Conservation workshop Saturday, September 20 in Concord. The Annual Planning and Zoning workshop will be at Loon Mountain on Saturday, October 25. There will be conference on Housing, Tuesday, October 15 in Manchester. There will also be a workshop on Subdivision Housing on November 21 in Manchester with very knowledgeable speakers.
Ms. Laflamme stated the Fire Department has reviewed the driveway access on Carl Mercier's land and has no issues; it is as per code.
The GeoInsight report is back and the plans have been reviewed and they conclude there will be no additional risks involved. Report dated September 03, 2008 will be attached to the minutes.
Ms. Laflamme said that there needs to be a Community Impact Assessment which NHDOT feels is needed to support the legal sufficiency argument for Alternative 4E for the Phase II Route 110 project. There is disagreement about the size of the project area and the potential consultant (federal) does not agree and Ms. Laflamme has sent a letter about the City's position. DOT has received about thirty comment letters - they would need about sixty letters for them to feel we do not need another study. Phase I is complete.
Ms. Laflamme has a submitted an application to the NH Preservation Alliance. The City was asked to assist the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church to obtain a designation that would spotlight the church as a building in need of preservation. The Congregation is diminishing in numbers and membership is low and they have limited income with high expenses. The Pastor cannot live in the rectory due to capital items that need to be completed and taken care of. The Church is also submitting an application for a grant. A possible community fund raiser to assist in such a project was discussed
A meeting on the Coos County Branding Project will be held on October 14, 2008 at the White Mountain Regional High School. The speaker, Roger Brooks will talk about the County's brand direction. An assessment of the North Country was completed last summer and work is being done to brand the county. Mr. Brooks is coming in October to get feedback from the public and to state the direction they are going in. Findings will be announced in December - where we are and where we should be.
Motion - Lucien Langlois moved, seconded by Laura Jamison, to adjourn meeting.
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