Planning Board
Preliminary Meeting Minutes –
Recorded by Sharon Rossi
November 28, 2011
Members present: RMarshall, JFletcher, PRenaud, KO’Connell, MSteere, MBorden, RWimpory
7:07pm BMarshall called the meeting to order.
7:08 pm MSteere began reading the November 14, 2011 meeting minutes. Several spelling, punctuation and replacement of words were done with one substantive change.
Line 105: inserted the following: The reason Infinigy gave for disregarding the woods road in Item #1 in the letter dated 10/27/11 did not match the reason expressed in motion that the Board voted on. (see line 23 of these minutes – 11/14/11)
Line 106: removed a sentence
Lind 107 and 108: deleted the last sentence of the paragraph.
MSteere commented that he has looked at the plats and would like the Planning Board, when we meeting again on 12/12, to discuss having a professional engineer review the three plats submitted to the Board, namely 7/2/117, 9/28/11 and 10/26/11. He has questions about some changes or deletions on the plats. He also said that ATT will have to pay the engineer to look at this. BMarshall said that Board will consider the issue as it will be part of the deliberative process and then ATT will be aware of this process and action.
BMarshall stated that our monthly schedule has 12/26 slated as a work meeting, and asked if members would like to change the work meeting to 12/19 because of the Christmas holiday? All members agreed. A notice will be put on website and post office and town hall bulletin board.
7:41pm 911 Emergency numbers
LWhite said several emergency calls have been dispatched to wrong residences with improper numbers or no numbers being displayed and it is becoming an increasing problem. He presented a model of a 911 Street Numbering Addressing and Naming Ordinance that he had found. The proposed ordinance clearly defines what the residents would have to do to alleviate this issue. If a resident doesn’t comply with the ordinance, the fire department would install the numbers and be reimbursed from a petty cash fund. This fund would come from the penalties levied against landowner who is in non-compliance.
BMarshall asked if this should be brought to the public by the Planning Board or Fire Department through the Selectmen. KO’Connell commented that an ordinance does need to be brought the Planning Board, but if it is a regulation, the Selectmen would be the appropriate body. He asked if the State has a 911 regulation in force. MBorden said he believes the state does. MSteere said he feels this should come from Fire Department to the Selectmen and not the Planning Board. KO’Connell felt that the trump card is that it is a health and safety issue which falls under the Fire Department and Selectmen’s purview. MBorden asked where the number should be? LWhite said the number could be on a mailbox, but it could be placed on a tree or post, clearly visible from the road.
RWimpory said that at his cottage in Jefferson, the town placed numbers on a steel post which is something the town could consider. MBorden said that petty cash fund could be rolled into the permit and building fees that the town charges.
MSteere asked, “If the Selectmen do this, then it won’t have to wait for a town vote. If Planning Board does it, then it has to go to vote.” He favored going the Selectmen’s route. BMarshall will draft a letter in support of this ordinance and will send it to Selectmen.
LWhite said, “Given the way this model ordinance is worded, and with the Planning Board’s support, I believe this could be put into effective very soon.”
MSteere said he’d also like to see a fine structure for false alarms after three calls to the same location. LWhite said he will draft the regulation for the fines and penalty ordinance as well. He noted that alarm systems are the biggest offender.
BMarshall said at least one public hearing should be held for public safety ordinances. PHopkins, Code Enforcement Officer, said that at the private school in Wilton that had several false alarms, once the $50 per alarm fines started being charged, it warranted a change with the alarm systems and problems were reduced.
8:08 pm Saw Mill Road Industrial Zone
MBorden noticed while driving by New England Forest Products a new building under construction and mentioned to BMarshall that he didn’t recall NE Forest Products coming before the Board for a site plan review. PHopkins, Code Enforcement Officer, spoke about the new building being erected. PHopkins said that NE Forest Products has built a saw dust shed, a kiln, and now they are building a second warehouse space. He commented that a site plan review was done on the retail business, but not for the kilns. They have constructed a small 12X12 high building with a cyclone on top and then another pole structure which is 30’ from brook, and 50’ from side lot setback. BMarshall asked, “Are you comfortable with the distance from the brook?” PHopkins said, “Yes, the setback is sufficient. They can’t go any closer.” MSteere asked, “Do they have a building permit?” PHopkins said, “Yes.”
MSteere asked, “What, in your view, triggers a site plan review in a commercial zone?” PHopkins said, “I would perceive that any major change from its normal operation should trigger a Site Plan Review. If it is a normal expansion of a facility, manufacturing, storage for manufacturing, and doesn’t change traffic flow, then that would not.”
MSteere asked, “Do you know the internal distance between buildings?” PHopkins said, “10’ or 20’ and NE Forest Products meets those measurements. The two sheds are pole sheds with side of rolling doors. The product is taken from the kiln and put in the pole shed as it must be protected from weather after it has been dried.”
PHopkins said, “We may want to rethink what I am doing.” MBorden read Section III Scope of Review paragraph from the Site Plan Review Regulation. He then asked, “When he put up the retail store did we have a site review?” No Planning Board member could recall if one was done or not. PHopkins said, “From what you read, I can see that I probably should have come in to the Planning Board, or at least have suggested to NE Forest Products to have him come in. In, hindsight, I should have contacted DBuxton and had him come in and review with the Board what he has done and his future plans.” MBorden asked, “What are his plans for growth?” BMarshall said, “Peter(Hopkins) you have been very supportive of NE Forest Products. With his growth, what is impact on the area
there? With American Steel and McGrath’s Lumber company, the traffic is quite heavy at times in that area including heavy trucking. As the Planning Board prepares to update the Master Plan, traffic congestion is one area that we have to address.”
KO’Connell suggested that all three business owners be invited to come in at the same time and discuss their impressions of traffic, congestion and growth plans. PHopkins commented, “If all three came in, it would eliminate any one being singled out. BMarshall said, “Traffic in that area could be a real concern. We need to think about how growth there impacts public safety.”
KO’Connell said. “On the retail facility, I’m not sure if there was a site plan review on it.” He then asked, “Is there any delineation between retail and mill area?”
BMarshall will draft a letter inviting the major players at American Steel, McGrath Lumber and New England Forest Products to come in and discuss traffic patterns, congestion, and growth plans for the forseeable future. This will be valuable input for our Master Plan work this coming year. He will have it ready for editing at the 12/19 work session. If we need to contact DOT for in-put, the first available date for this meeting is 2/27
PHopkins then updated the Board on the KVincent court finding. At this time, the legal bill for the Town is about $3,000 – $4,000K.
8:50 pm Commercial Open Space Proposal
MSteere said the Planning Board has final say in allowing the development of the open space/residential.
PHopkins, Code Enforcement Officer was asked how he felt about the use of an Open Space/ Commercial Development Ordinance. He felt that he wouldn’t like to see residential areas taken for commercial space. He felt that we already had a large area of industrial/commercial overlay space and there might be better locations for expansion of industrial/commercial space. MSteere said “Realizing what we see on the town maps and with the locations stipulated in the ordinance, I feel we should go with this ordinance.” BMarshall commented, “The ordinance was created to preserve the open spaces we have, and now we are trying to expand the industrial base with it. I would rather see us allow this open space ordinance to stay as it was originally intended, with incentives for builders to preserve open space, wildlife
corridors etc. I do agree we still need to do something for commercial and industrial areas. MSteere will re-draft the ordinance for an Industrial zone and will try to use the density wording that is in the open space proposal.
9:25 pm Commercial Wind Energy Proposal
PRenaud commented that North Pack is the most feasible for large scale wind towers. He Recently went to Temple Planning Board’s open forum on wind energy. This forum was geared for town input. It appears that 8 towers might be going in, 2 in temple, and 6 in New Ipswich using the PSNH easement for the power lines, an important resource for the development of Wind Generators. I’ve looked at all the land in town, and we don’t have any PSNH easements in Greenfield. I don’t see is any place in town where these towers can go in. I did find 3 towns in Massachusetts where a single tower is supplying power to the town only. I’ve concluded that there is really no need to go forward with this ordinance and I am withdrawing it.” BMarshall said, “Perhaps next year we
should address it again.” PRenaud said that Pioneer Green is waiting for Temple to get their wind ordinance in place in March 2012 before they go forward.
BMarshall said, “Perhaps in the Master Plan, we could propose zones for building commercial wind power sites.” JFletcher talked with some residents in Greenfield and they had said no to wind towers. He also said that the State of Maine has a great template for wind proposal ordinance and the Antrim wind ordinance was really crafted to prevent towers there.
9:45 pm Master Plan
BMarshall sent LMurphy via e-mail about our concerns and questions and hasn’t received a response from her.
9:48 pm General Discussion
BMarshall commented on the changes discussed this evening. The 12/26 work session moved to 12/19. He will draft letter for the 3 business on Route 31 regarding growth plans, traffic congestion and patterns, seeking input for our Master Plan development. MSteere will re-draft an industrial/commercial ordinance. PRenaud will draft language to require a special exception to have a cell tower in residential district. KO’Connell asked that specific criteria be listed in the special exception for the cell tower. PRenaud asked KO’Connell to assist him in listing the criteria.
MBorden wants to bring up a discussion about the potential for blasting on cell tower site. “If in fact, they have to blast ledge, to get a road in, what kind of impact will that have on the aquifer, wetlands, homes, foundations and the shallow wells on the abutter’s properties? How do we protect the abutters when/if the blasting ruins the wells?” MSteere said, “We can have the applicants for the cell tower do pre-blast and post blast evaluation on foundations, wells, and aquifers for several years after completion of the project.” BMarshall will forward questions about the blasting and other concerns to MSerge.
MBorden also asked where we could fit the blasting into a driveway regulation. MSteere said, “Put it in the site plan review application checklist. Also he said put test boring or pre-boring as is needed on site plan review application checklist as well. He felt blasting should be under general regulations for this year.” MBorden will draft regulations on blasting for next meeting to go in zoning ordinance and general regulations.
MBorden said the Planning Board should approach the Select Board about the light out back in the public parking lot behind Greenfield Meeting Place which is on a design by Underwood dated 2/4/04.
10:00 pm Mail Received:
- Planning Board YTD Budget Report
- Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes 10/31/11
- NH Town & City Magazine
10:05 pm MSteere motioned to adjourn. PRenaud seconded the motion. Vote carried in favor.
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