Minutes of Meeting – April 7, 2009
The Hudson Planning Board met at the Town Hall, 78 Main Street, Hudson, Massachusetts.
At 7:30 p.m., Robert D’Amelio called the meeting to order.
Present: Robert D’Amelio, Tom Collins, Dirk Underwood, James Vereault, Teresa Vickery, Clerk and Jennifer Burke, Planning Director
Planner’s Report
Riverside Farm Estates: Waiver Request / Bond Reduction
At its last meeting the Board had considered granting a waiver for the cul-de-sac width on Elaine Circle. The cul-de-sac was constructed with a radius of 50 feet. The original approval granted the applicant a 55 foot cul-de-sac width instead of the regulated 60 foot width. However, Mr. Petkauskos believed that the width was approved at 50 feet. The Board asked the Fire Chief for his professional opinion, regarding whether his fire trucks would be able to navigate a turn angle with this width.
Ms. Burke informed the Board that the fire apparatus were able to navigate the road. She went on to say that Chief Blood purposely performed the tests on a day after a snow storm in order to illustrate how the apparatus would perform with bad road conditions.
Mr. D’Amelio stated that even though he was against granting the waiver at the Board’s last meeting he feels that may be their best recourse. He explained that requiring the developer to fix the road would cause a seam in the cul-de-sac. He said the seam would always be visible on the road if it were widened and could be a problem down the road. If the Board takes no action and the road is left at 50 feet then the road will remain private.
Mr. Underwood does not want to create a precedent; however he agrees that the seam that would be left would look terrible. Mr. Vereault noted that this would cause a disruption for the residents on Elaine Circle.
Tom Collins, seconded by Dirk Underwood, made a motion to waive the radius of the cul-de-sac to 50 feet as constructed.
Vote: 4-0-0, Unanimous
Ms. Burke informed the Board that Mr. Petkauskos was also seeking a bond reduction. The Board had previously postponed acting on the bond reduction until the waiver issue was resolved. She did not have an amount to provide but asked whether the Board would also sign a blank form and allow the DPW to provide the amount once they have reviewed everything. Mr. D’Amelio suggested that the Board wait until its next meeting to reduce the bond for Elaine Circle.
Julian Lane: Residents Questions / Concerns
Tom Collins recused himself.
Present were: Christopher Yates, Atty. at Law
Richard DiPersio, Resident
Mahn Quan Nguyen, Resident
Michael Frias, F&C Construction
Tom Collins, F&C Construction
John Blood, Fire Chief
Atty. Yates explained to the Board that the residents of Julian Lane had some questions/concerns regarding the vote at the last Planning Board meeting. Atty. Yates noted that at its last meeting the Board voted to modify the subdivision approval by removing condition #10 and allow the fire hydrant flow at 550gpm at 57psi with the condition that an early monitoring system be installed by the developer.
Chief Blood stated that 550gpm is equivalent to five hose lines and a normal house fire usually only requires 2 hose lines.
Chief Blood explained to the Board that the original requirement was put in place by the previous Fire Chief. The requirement states that any houses within 100 feet on one another need to have a water flow of 750gpm. The DPW has tested the hydrant at the bottom of the hill and there is not enough water flow to reach the 750gpm requirement.
Chief Blood noted that the houses are located within 97 feet of one another and had the developer simply relocated one of the houses by 4 feet this would be a non-issue. Because of this and the fact that he feels flow tests should have been conducted before construction began at the site, he feels it is the developer’s obligation to remedy the situation.
The residents were issued temporary occupancy permits due to the rate water flow. When the permits were issued it was decided that since there was nothing to be done to remedy the situation in the winter the issue would be revisited in the spring.
Mr. Frias agreed to install the monitoring systems in order to help rectify the situation. Chief Blood stated that while he legally cannot require monitoring systems in a single family home he thinks this is a good idea.
Mr. DiPersio asked if permanent occupancy permits would be issued once the monitoring systems are installed. Ms. Burke told him she would sign off on the permits once she had proof of their installation. Mr. DiPersio and Mr. Nguyen were satisfied with this.
The Board took no action.
Tom Collins returned to the Board.
Peer Review Process
Ms. Burke explained to the Board that concern has been raised regarding the amount of time required by the Board’s peer review process. Ms. Burke wrote an amended peer review process for the Board to review. It was the consensus of the Board that the process be kept as is and no changes to that effect be made.
Minutes
Dirk Underwood, seconded by Tom Collins, moved to approve the minutes of March 17, 2009, as written.
Vote: 4-0-0; Unanimous
Dirk Underwood, seconded by Tom Collins, moved to approve the minutes of March 25, 2009, as written.
Vote: 3-0-1, James Vereault not voting.
Adjournment
Tom Collins, seconded by Dirk Underwood, moved to adjourn at 8:45 PM.
Vote: 4-0-0, Unanimous
Cc: Town Clerk
Department of Public Works
Jeff Wood, Building Commissioner
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