Town of Greenfield
PUBLIC HEARING – RSA 231 – MUZZEY HILL ROAD EXTENSION
Thursday – November 17, 2005 – 6:30 pm
Present: Selectmen - Chairman, George Rainier; Selectman, William Brooks; Selectman, Conrad Dumas; Wyatt “Duffy” Fox, Dir. Of Public Works; Mark & Rhonda Cilley; Mark Moser of Moser Engineering, Henniker, NH; Other residents (see sign-in sheet)
Catherine Shaw taking minutes
The Public Hearing was called to order at 6:35 pm
Chairman Rainier stated, the Sectmen are conducting a Public Hearing per RSA 231 to extend Muzzey Hill Road an additional 1450’, of which 1100’ is proposed by Mark and Rhonda Cilley and 350’ by Kris and Lisa Stewart. Rainier read the meeting notice that was posted in the post office, town office and was printed in the Ledger and Transcript. The abbutter cards are back, except for Lorden’s. The meeting rules were reveiwed. Rainier asked the Cilley’s to speak.
Mark Cilley explained that they want to upgrade about 1000’ (of Muzzey Hill Road and want to subdivide) at the bottom of their lot. They would subdivide a 5 acre lot.
Rainier said, at the preliminary meeting with the Selectmen, they went over regulations and Duffy was going to have a meeting with the engineer to address his concerns.
Fox said, they have gone over the potential problems. They will ditch the entire east side to keep the water in check. Trees will be removed from the right-of-way. The trees on the east side will be left in the wall.
They have plans to look at. Mark Moser, the engineer went over the plans and pointed out the items that Fox requested. Culverts were pointed out. There will be a temporary turnaround. There will be easements to the Town for drainage and slope encroachment.
Fox pointed out the drainage. Quite a bit of water comes down and cuts over the road.
Moser said they will riprap the culverts. It was asked, are wetland people looking at this? Moser stated, Its up to Mark.
Rainier walked it this week with Fox. There was a lot of water.
M. Cilley said, it is always wet coming down the road when it rains. Except for after July, when it dries out some.
Fox said, the under drain goes up to the other driveway. This is temporary until the next person upgrades further up the road.
Moser said, the trunaround will handle a bus and fire truck. The travel width is 20’. With the drainage?
Fox thinks so. The material used will be adequate. Kris (Stewart) is going to haul it up the road from his pit. It meets the Town subdivision specs. Potentially, it will become a Town maintained road. That is their intent. Boulders will be removed.
It was asked, should there be a Wetland’s Engineer on this?
Fox said, it is the same as a Town to replace culverts. It wouldn’t hurt.
They need to have a wetland engineer look at the area and determine what needs to be done.
Steere commented, he is concerned that the existing road is a problem. If you are going to extend the road, you should bring the existing road up to specs. There are parts of the road you can’t pass if you meet a school bus. If someone is going 30 mph they will hit him coming out of his driveway. The railroad crossing is such a mess. There needs to be permenant railroad crossing.
Fox stated, we get complaints all the time on that road and other crossings in Greenfield. Fox said Mr. Steere should write a letter to the DOT.
Steere said, he has talked to the RR operators and they don’t care (about the crossing). They should be upgrading the RR crossing. He explained how the road washes onto his property. Steere said, he’s not complaining and that Duffy takes care of it very quickly. It really should be taken care of especially with trucks going up and down the road. He will write a letter to the DOT and he wishes the Board and the others on the road would do the same.
Discussion about upgrading the existing road followed. Rainier said, Duffy’s budget hasn’t been finalized yet. They will look at it for the next budget year.
Rhonda Cilley agrees with Mike. There are problems on the road.
Rainier thanked them for bringing it to their attention.
Ray Cilley asked the Board, what exactly are they looking for?
Rainier said, it needs to be adequate and that (If there are wetlands that they be designated as such).
Fox said, they go by vegetation and a soil type.
They need basically a report. And a (wetland) stamp on the plan. Fox will decide on the culvert crossing.
Rainier asked, are there any other questions?
Kevin O’Connell asked, if they would use subdivision regulations for that improvement on the road? Does it meet slope and grade?
Moser said, a maximum of less than 12% engineering is acceptable. A road upgrade is not a subdivision road.
O’Connell said, having one section not being used for residential may be leaving the town open for a law suite.
Moser said, 8% is a very restrictive subdivision requirement. Most towns have 10% and up to 12% grades. He measured 17% grade after the RR tracks. There may be problems beyond 12%.
O’Connell said, it is a problem on the Planning Board side. Opening up a new road that is over the grade, and that a person was told by the Planning Board, that they could not subdivide on one. We have a Class V with a 17% grade? There is potentially a subdivision. Who’s to say the other side of the road won’t be developed? He is trying to identify upcoming problems.
Someone asked about Gould Hill. Fox stated, the road was built before we had subdivision reg.’s. It was built in ‘74.
The Board will check with town council and get an opinion. Any other questions? Rainier stated that Duffy had briefly looked at the plans and was asked to go over them in detail. It was asked, will work start this fall?
M. Cilley said, they were looking to do it as soon as it gets approved.
Rainier said, that it depends on the wetlands and Duffy’s review of the plans.
Moser stated, that determination and delineation are the responsibility of the developer.
The Board will wait to hear from them.
Kris and Lisa Stewart joined the hearing…
The Stewart plans were looked at. Mr. Moser is also the Stewart’s engineer. Moser stated, it is a “conceptual” plan.
Kris Stewart said, he would bring it up to Class V specs, so they could possibly… (subdivide) in the corner of his lot. It was asked, what’s the slope?
Moser said, it varies from 10% to 16% grade. He doesn’t have all the survey info yet. Questions came up that the road is in a big gully.
Fox explained how they would fill it in and bring it up to grade. One side of the
hill, will fill in the gully. (There is enough material to take care of that section of the upgrade).
Stewart stated, the landscape is going to change drastically.
Rainier said, they should walk out there and look at it.
Moser said, there would be more plans to come.
Dumas asked, is it a two-step process? The Cilley’s done first and then this, or will it be done all at once? They (The Stewart’s) need to have something like from the Cilley’s. Fox and Rainier had walked it this week. They need stamped drawings. For everyone’s safety it should be done. The Selectmen would like Duffy to make sure big trucks can get down there.
K. Stewart said, it is an upgrade or rebuild. It would change the landscape dramatically to accommodate new construction. It is very obvious when you walk it, what his concerns are.
K. Stewart said, he had another thing to talk about tonight. Can they do a warrantee bond? That if it wasn’t approved by Duffy yet, that at Town meeting in March can it be voted on contingent on Duffy’s approval later? Can they upgrade?
Rainier stated, the road sits for a year and then it goes to town meeting for adoption. That’s what has been done in the past. Another group was told that.
Ray Cilley stated, he didn’t think that was the procedure for Williams. It took less that a year.
Fox said, that was a new road not an upgrade.
R. Cilley asked, did they go through the full year cycle? It had to hold up through a mud season. Was it bonded?
Fox said, they paid for the whole thing, we had the existing road to use until it was completed. We will double-check the records.
R. Cilley stated, it was not the previous policy on that road. He asked, what is the deadline on warrant articles?
Shaw looked it up. The deadline is February 7th on petitioned warrant articles.
Have a site walk on Saturday morning? The Selectmen agreed. Time to be determined. Dumas will let them know what time.
With no further discussion the hearing adjourned at 7:27 pm.
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