Chichester Board of Selectmen
SELECTMEN’S MINUTES
June 17, 2008
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman DeBold, Selectman MacCleery, Selectman Jordan and Administrator Lisa Stevens.
GENERAL PUBLIC: Chris Weir, Jamie Pike, Fred Chagnon and Tom Jameson
Chairman DeBold opened the meeting at 7:00pm. Chris Weir announced he would be videotaping the meeting.
Mark Drew was scheduled for a 7:00pm appointment and has yet to arrive at the meeting. The Board worked on general business.
GENERAL BUSINESS/BOARD DISCUSSION:
Selectman MacCleery initiated discussion regarding correspondence received from town counsel relative to an appeal filed to the Board of Adjustment on the conditional approval granted for the Chucksters expansion project. Points discussed were- is appeal valid prior to final approval; how/when public has knowledge of approvals.
Chairman DeBold questioned the discussion stating this is a Planning Board and Board of Adjustment issue.
Mr. Drew arrived at this time.
SUBJECT: Planning Board Complaint
PRESENT: Mark Drew
Mr. Drew stated he did not go to the Planning Board as directed to by the letter from the Selectmen because he has a burr under his saddle about the whole thing. He is not sure what the Selectmen want from him.
Chairman DeBold stated the issue is that Mr. Drew appears to be using his property on Horse Corner Road as a commercial venture without the proper permitting from the Planning Board.
Mr. Drew stated he would agree to go to the Planning Board if he is treated differently than in the past, he was not treated fairly. Mr. Drew is of the opinion that a conflict of interest exists and further that the Planning Board secretary pulled something by filing a zoning complaint against him.
The complaint was filed by Mr. Pike as a resident, not an employee. Chairman DeBold stated that employee’s don’t give up their civil rights when they come to work for the town.
Mr. Drew asked how the complaint was handled. Chairman DeBold explained the process; a letter is written and sent to the applicant. In this case, Selectman Jordan personally delivered the letter to Mr. Drew. Chairman DeBold asked Mr. Drew if Jeff had given him a letter from the Selectmen. Mr. Drew responded that he did not think he did. Selectman Jordan countered that he did. Again Mr. Drew stated he had every intention of going to the Planning Board meeting until he heard that the PB secretary was running his mouth. Mr. Drew did not like that and was not going to start on that foundation.
Chairman DeBold explained the Board has a new letter for Mr. Drew this evening outlining the alleged violation and how it needs to be handled and served it in hand to Mr. Drew. The Board encouraged Mr. Drew to get on the agenda and meet with the Planning Board to discuss his project. The Planning Board members are town residents too and they are just trying to do the best they can. Mr. Drew again
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commented to treat everybody fairly with their rights, property owners have rights too, everybody should be treated the same. Chairman DeBold finished by stating the town has zoning regulations and the Planning Board has to follow them.
Mr. Pike scheduled Mr. Drew for the July 10th Planning Board meeting. Mr. Drew indicated he would be there.
Mr. Weir asked the Board if they were going to treat complaints this way across the board. The Selectmen have decided to revise the way in which they handle zoning complaints when they are first presented to the Board, more of a small town approach, one member will investigate the validity of the complaint and advise the others of a recommended course of action. This process began with the handling of the complaint of Mr. Drew’s property. Selectman Jordan stated the same procedure was followed with the signage complaints against Hess and Z-1 Express; he went up and talked to them.
The discussion went back to the appeal filed against Chucksters. Chris asked the question; can’t you appeal any administrative decision to the BOA? The Selectmen were divided in their answer. Chris rephrased the question; do you agree anyone can appeal a zoning decision. Selectman MacCleery responded yes. Tom Jameson added, the aggrieved party does have to feel we (PB) have made an error ( in our interpretation of the ordinance or regulation).
GENERAL BUSINESS/BOARD DISCUSSION:
Selectman MacCleery suggested timesheets should be uniform across all departments. He would like to see time in/out along with a brief summary of tasks performed and the time in which it takes to accomplish those duties. The analogy given was PB tasks versus BOS tasks. Chairman DeBold wondered what the driving factor was for this request. Selectman MacCleery explained the highway department’s timesheets do not show start and stop times, just hours worked. The Board directed Lisa to create a uniform timesheets to be adopted and used by all departments.
Mr. Jameson inquired if the town had a sidewalk policy. Mr. Jameson stated the sidewalks on Route 4 need to be swept. Mr. Jameson reminded the Board that the town signed an agreement with the State which states the town will maintain the sidewalks. It was not clear at this time if that included summer and or winter maintenance. The town has not budgeted for this maintenance nor has any equipment to perform sidewalk sweeping and snow removal. Chairman DeBold will look into what the town has on record for this matter. Mr. Jameson suggested the town could solicit the business owners along Route 4 to the adopt a sidewalk program, thus they would be responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalk in from of their businesses.
Planning Board - Selectman Jordan asked Mr. Jameson, who is the Chairman of the Planning Board, if it is proper procedure for an applicant (Chucksters) to give information to the PB prior to a meeting. Mr. Jameson responded by stating, shouldn’t we prepare? Selectman Jordan answered no, not if you are going to get a jump on the abutters. Mark Drew just talked about fairness for all. Mr. Jameson stated the timeline from when the CLD review came back to the PB and when members received that information and when it was discussed at the PB meeting which begins at 6:30pm. A lengthy discussion took place relative to when information becomes public and who has access to that information. Whenever documents are submitted to any town office, unless they are part of personnel records or
litigation, they are public documents and available to the public upon request but not later than five days after the request unless archival research is necessary. The Planning Board is working more efficiently now and information that is received over the course of the month is disseminated to the members immediately to assist them in preparing for the monthly meeting. All that information pertaining to applications is public information. The PB does not send nor are they required to forward copies of all incoming documentation to all the abutters. That is the responsibility of the abutter or the general public to stay informed of any developments. Mr. Jameson stated, you are keying in on only one point in the report. No one asked about the drainage question or any other issues addressed by CLD.
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Chris Weir asked if it would have made a difference if the abutters knew prior to the meeting that Chucksters was going to propose electric go-karts instead of gas powered. The consensus was no.
Chris asked, are you asking the PB to send all information out to abutters? Are you implying the PB had information no one else did? This is a no win situation. The PB is bound by what is in the ordinance and the subdivision, site plan regulations. If it fits, it fits. Tom Jameson asked, shouldn’t we be prepared?
Selectman Jordan responded, as long as everyone is privy to the same information. Again it was re-iterated, they are, the information is public as soon as it hits the town offices. Chairman DeBold stated there are always changes during the process.
Fred Chagnon asked as an abutter to a case how would I know of these changes? It is the obligation of the abutter to ask for information. Chairman DeBold stated the planning office is now available to the public to access; it never was before with hours at 10:00 at night.
Mr. Chagnon stated it has been a great thing adding Jamie out front.
Mr. Jameson asked if the lighting issue for Chucksters was addressed. That appears to be the other big concern of the Steven’s with the expansion project. This concern was brought to the Selectmen’s attention at a meeting held with a number of Bailey Road residence and correspondence was sent to the owners of Chucksters, notifying them of the problem. Owners, Mr. Blasko and Mr. Breton met with the Selectmen and informed them of their plan of action to address the alleged light trespass. Selectman Jordan has since been informed by the Steven’s that the issue had been addressed. Now it appears once again to be a problem. Once a new complaint is received, the Board will address it.
Mr. Jameson also discussed the opinion of town counsel relative to the PB authority to revoke an approval that has not met its conditions by the ninety (90) day deadline. The Giuda & Merrill subdivision approvals are now on day 146 and the conditions have not been met. It is within the PB rights to revoke the approval and require the applicants to start over. This would mean the applicants would have to abide by the current zoning which has changed this year. Town Counsel recommends first notifying the owner of the situation and allowing them the opportunity to request an extension from the PB. Mr. Weir was not in favor of this option. Mr. Weir asked, is it up to the PB to chase every conditional approval and write a letter asking all applicants to request an extension? Mr.
Jameson asked what the Board of Selectmen thought about the matter, is it up to us to write a letter or the Selectmen? Chairman DeBold responded this is a PB matter not the Selectmen, it should be discussed at the July 10th PB meeting. Mr. Weir stated everyone needs to be held to the same standards. Selectman Jordan’s opinion was the applicant should have the opportunity to request an extension.
Mr. Jameson asked how recruitment was going for the two vacant alternate positions. The Selectmen have posted the need for these positions and other vacancies on town boards with no response to date.
Moving on to other business, Selectman MacCleery moved to approve the permit to sell raffle tickets by the Chichester Fire Association. Selectman Jordan seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion passes.
Chairman DeBold inquired if the Road Agent had spoken to Mr. Luksza or issued him a driveway permit. Mr. Kenneally has looked at the property and as yet, Mr. Luksza has not broken through the stone wall and is not off his own property. Mr. Kenneally will report on this matter at next weeks meeting with the department heads.
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Chairman DeBold asked if there was a driveway permit on file for the Moses lot on Horse Corner Road. It appears the driveway has no line of site and the grade is too steep. Lisa was asked to follow-up on this issue with the Road Agent.
The Board discussed the email from John Martell indicating his interest in joining the Road Advisory Committee. Selectman MacCleery and Jordan were not in favor of this because of Mr. Martel’s closeness to the Road Agent. Chairman DeBold made a motion to appoint Mr. Martel to the RAC. The motion failed to receive a second, no vote was taken.
Lisa discussed questions from Ted Bailey relative to upgrading a portion of Short Falls Road where it fronts his property. The Board directed Lisa to schedule Mr. Bailey for an appointment with the Board.
Lisa informed the Board of her research into the wetland permits for the Ferman and Plunkett properties relative to mention or requirement of fire suppression ponds for the town. Lisa was directed to send letters to the homeowners inquiring the status of both situations and or schedule the property owners for appointments with the Board.
Chairman DeBold brought to the other member’s attention the status of the fuel lines within the budget. Selectman Jordan indicated a plan of action was needed to prevent overspending the bottom line of the budget. Selectman MacCleery stated the departments would have to cut other lines within their budget to make up for the shortfall. For some departments that won’t be possible. Lisa was directed to send a memo to the department heads alerting them to this matter.
Selectman MacCleery brought up the matter of the videotapes of the meetings being linked to the town’s website. Mr. Weir has taken it upon himself to tape these meetings. The Board have authority over the website and has not discussed or given approval for these tapes to become linked to the website.
Selectman MacCleery questioned Mr. Weir’s intent and stated he has heard from a source willing to put it in writing that Mr. Weir is taping the meetings solely to disgrace the Board of Selectman. Mr. Weir responded, “If I have a problem with you I’ll come and tell you.” Mr. Weir stated it is not his intention to link them to the town’s website. For the record he has established a Chichester taxpayer’s website to inform the public of all that is going on and what it takes to run the town. The town is in need of more volunteers and his goal is to inform the public. Further, Mr. Weir has heard that the Fire Chief has stated Mr. Weir needs his permission to record these meetings. Pursuant to RSA 91-A:3, the Right To Know Law, Mr. Weir or anyone, has the right to
record a public meeting so long as the body is made aware it is being done. Eventually Mr. Weir’s website will have a question/answer forum for residents not able to attend meetings or intimidated by sitting here at the meeting, to bring forward their questions. This lead to discussion that anonymous questions would not be handled by the Board, it has been their practice to deal with signed correspondence only. Mr. Weir stated in that case, he would take the questions to the Board on the residents behalf and stated again, this is all for the public to get involved. Selectman MacCleery then questioned the use of the town’s electricity. Mr. Weir asked if the Board wanted to measure the amount used and charge him for it.
Lisa informed the Board they needed to choose a siding color for the community building. The choice was narrowed down to snow or linen. The Board requested larger samples of each prior to making a decision. Lisa informed the Board that the doorway had been framed in by Mr. Reinhardt and that the highway department stated they did not have the right equipment to remove the fire escape. Scott Tepper and Diamond Signs were offered the work; neither was interested at this time. Lisa has hired Chris Weir to remove the fire escape; it will be taken down this week.
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All mail and correspondence was reviewed. Accounts payable and payroll were signed.
The minutes of June 10, 2008, were approved as written.
The Board signed a Land Use Change Tax Levy for Smith, map 4, lot 58-G, in the amount of $8,000.
The Board signed a Jeopardy Assessment Tax Levy for the mobile home on 84 Suncook Valley Road, in the amount of $412.48.
Being no further business, Selectman MacCleery moved to adjourn, seconded by Selectman Jordan at 9:30pm. All were in favor. Motion carries.
Respectfully submitted,
Approved As Written
6/24/2008
Lisa Stevens
Administrator
_________________________ _________________________ ___________________
Richard DeBold, Chairman Stephen MacCleery Jeffrey Jordan
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