MONTEREY SELECT BOARD
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DECEMBER 13, 2004
The regular weekly meeting of the Monterey Select Board was opened at 8:30 a.m. with members Jonathan Sylbert (Chair), Michèle Miller, and Michael Storch all present.
· The Board met with Chief Gareth Backhaus to review Police Department items.
· The Board met with Director of Operations Maynard Forbes to review Highway Department items, as follows:
o Holiday decorations
o Crane accident on Mount Hunger Road
o Installation of shelving at Town Offices
o New salt and sand shed (2006)
o Delivery of new Oshkosh
o Fairview Road
· The Board met with Town Accountant Barbara Gauthier to discuss the proposed Building Commissioner salary of $30 per hour (15 hours a week @ $30 per hour = $23,400 per annum). The request for additional funding for the Building Commissioner Account to be considered at the December 16 Special Town Meeting would add $16,500 to the 2004-05 budget of $7200. There was discussion of amending the article on the floor of the Special Town Meeting to reduce the proposed hourly rate.
· The Board approved an application for an Earth Removal Permit for Tryon Construction, submitted by Leigh Tryon. The permit allows for the removal of 10,000 to 12,000 cu. yd. of gravel from a site at Gould Farm.
· At 10 a.m. the Board conducted a joint public hearing with the Planning Board to consider deletion from the Zoning Bylaws of Section VIII B: “Exceptions which do not require a building permit.” Said deletion will be considered under Article 6 at the Special Town Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 16, at 7 p.m. at the Monterey Firehouse. Present for the hearing: Planning Board members Maggie Leonard and Gerry Shapiro, Town Clerk Barbara Swann, Building Commissioner Don Torrico, Martin Cherneff, Dick Tryon, Bob and Muriel Lazzarini, Ray Coddington, Jim and Maxine Goetschius, Dean and Fran Amidon, Larry Klein, Jack Ryder, Fred
Chapman, Roger Tryon, Leroy Thorpe, Fred Vorck, and Debra Mielke.
Jon Sylbert: Since the publication of the public hearing notice, it was discovered that additional parts of Section VIII were also found to be incorrect, not just Section VIII.B. Additionally, the Town’s zoning bylaws cannot supercede the State Building Code, so there are many parts of the Section VIII zoning bylaw that are incorrect.
SELECT BOARD MINUTES - 2 - DECEMBER 13, 2004
Building Commissioner Don Torrico: There are several differences between the State Building Code and the Town’s bylaws.
Planning Board chair Maggie Leonard: Will people be allowed to make “ordinary repairs” without a building permit?
Sylbert: Yes, as long as the repair is in conformity with the State Building Code.
Fred Chapman: The relevant sections of the State Building Code should be attached to the Town’s Zoning Bylaws.
Dean Amidon: The entire issue should be tabled and returned to the Planning Board.
Dick Tryon: There is no legal posting by the Planning Board for this public hearing.
Town Clerk Barbara Swann: This is a joint public hearing with the Planning Board, and it has been properly posted.
Leonard: The Planning Board voted at its December 9 meeting to hold this joint hearing with the Select Board [see following].
Roger Tryon: Townspeople want the Building Inspector to be fair and lenient, representing townspeople and not the State.
Martin Cherneff: The Town’s zoning bylaws should reference the State Building Code but list the exceptions.
Dick Tryon: The provision for a 100-sq.-ft. exemption needs to be changed.
Roger Tryon: Amending the zoning bylaws should be done at the Annual Town Meeting, not at a Special Town Meeting.
Sylbert: There are immediate, pressing items that could not wait until May 2005. The Town has so much business that perhaps there should be two Town Meetings a year.
Bob Lazzarini: Town Meetings should be held when summer residents can attend, so perhaps two summer meetings should be held.
Jim Goetschius: Why does the Town have a 100-sq.-ft. restriction, which is stricter than the State Building Code’s 120-sq.-ft. restriction?
Dick Tryon: How will we resolve the “ordinary repairs” issue?
Sylbert: The wording of the Article can be changed at the Special Town Meeting. The definition of “ordinary repair” and “accessory building” can be addressed and changed.
Leroy Thorpe: The article should be tabled at the Special Town Meeting, and the Planning Board should rewrite the article.
Michael Storch: There has been no public input on these issues at the regular Select Board weekly meetings.
Roger Tryon: None of this information has appeared on the Town’s website.
Sylbert: The Board has been working on improving the information available on the website.
Dick Tryon: The Select Board meetings should be in the evenings.
Michele Miller: The Select Board conducts a monthly evening meeting, and no one attends.
The joint public hearing concluded at 11:30 a.m.
SELECT BOARD MINUTES - 3 - DECEMBER 13, 2004
· The Planning Board submitted the following statement with regard to the above-noted joint public hearing:
“Please let the record reflect that at the December 9, 2004, meeting of the Planning Board, the board voted in favor of holding a joint hearing with the Select Board. This is intended to facilitate a timely and open discussion of the proposed changes to Section VIII.B. Permits, and the ramifications of those proposed changes. This should not construe any support for or against the proposed changes by the Planning Board. The vote to hold a joint public hearing was four in favor and one opposed.”
· The Board met with David Hellman, an attorney representing clients who wish to purchase Blue Heron’s landing on Route 57, a 22-unit apartment complex formerly known as Leeside Lodge. The property consists of several non-conforming lots. The applicant is seeking a permit to repair the various buildings and wants confirmation that the properties are grandfathered. Also present was Building Commissioner Don Torrico, who stated that Heller must show by deed and/or affidavit that the lots were in existence before 1974 and that the non-conforming use was established before that date.
· The Board met with Building Commissioner Don Torrico to discuss the proposed increase in the Building Commissioner’s salary.
· Highway and Treasury Warrants were signed.
· The clerk was given instructions regarding correspondence.
· The Minutes of December 6, 2004, were approved as written.
· It was unanimously voted that the meeting be adjourned (12:10 p.m.).
Judith Kales, Clerk
Monterey Select Board
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