Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
July 2,2007
PRESENT:
Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Selectman
Christine Quirk Selectman
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
A. CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by
Christine Quirk at 7:OOPM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
R PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comments were made at this time.
C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES;
1. Minutes of June 18,2007 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. David moved that they be accepted as amended. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
D. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
• Christine reported that she is impressed with the Planning Board's future planning sessions where they have discussed the following:
o A suggestion was made to combine the R-1 and R-A districts to make one district.
o A suggestion was made to allow in-law apartments in a detached building on a property such as a barn instead of requiring they be attached to the primary residence Planning Board member Don Duhaime is against this idea. The person in the in-law apartment should be restricted to a blood relative or someone related through marriage. The apartment would be restricted to 600 square feet or less.
o A suggestion was made to give a boost to developers building affordable housing by allowing 4 unit buildings on 5-acre backlots but not on the frontlot.
• Nonresidential site plan review for a cordwood processing and sales operation on Joe English Road. The applicant won't have much trucking going in and out. 1 set of abutters is not in favor. A suggestion was made to put up treed buffers between abutters. There was a question of limiting chainsaw use on Sundays. This would be the applicant's second job and he plans to work on it nights and weekends. He plans to use a wood splitter. He has a shared driveway with Cliff Plourde. Dave remembers a similar application on Parker Road that was approved about 3 years ago
• Minor subdivision lot line adjustment Raymond Barss, Joe English Road submission of application. The driveways are not signed off yet. Adding a clause of no further subdivision allowed on this property. The application was accepted as complete and approved.
• Application for review of dog grooming business on Parker Road. Customers must be allowed to turn around in the driveway and not back out of it.
• New Boston Fire Department wrote to the Planning Board asking to send complicated applications out to a fire engineer at the expense of the applicant. The Planning Board expressed reservations. The fire department has the use of the state fire marshal in this situation. Planning Coordinator Nic Strong's response to the fire department is in the read folder for the Selectmen's review.
E. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:15PM BobTodd Town Common
Bob Todd and Nonah Poole were present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss their ideas for sprucing up the plants on the town common.
• Asked for a new person to mow as the current person is mowing into the gardens
• They plan to get rid of the juniper and Lyn Lombard has already started removing it with a machine. They will replace the juniper with tall grasses and move around some of the other plants currently on the town common. The hostas will be split and spread around. The magnolias will stay. The new design will be low maintenance. The Garden Club has $900 in he town budget. They don't expect to exhaust that total even with this project They will provide a sketch of the new design to the Selectmen for future reference
• The trees need to be pruned. Gordon volunteered to prune the dogwood trees. CandyWoodbury will be contacted for the name of a person she knows that prunes trees as the maple trees need pruning and the large maple needs to be cabled
• The brick walk needs to be edged because the grass is growing in. Nonah will call Lee Ann Allen for a price.
• Bob got an estimate of $6-8,000 to move the large white fir to another spot on the property, the school grounds or the cemetery. The tree will be guaranteed for 2 years Bob appraised the tree at $2800. It will continue growing to 80-90 feet tall, which is too tall tor the town common area. It could be replaced with a dwarf fir tree
• The town has contracted to have the broken gazebo railing repaired.
2. 7:45 PM Tris Construction Wilson Gravel Pit
Tris Construction was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss what was necessary to reinstate their permit that was revoked because of an unclear lot line and to discuss that they do plan to excavate in a larger area in about 5 - 6 years but for now they are going to continue digging in a 1/4 acre area where they claim there has been digging for the past 16-18 years. Area of concern is at entrance to pit area for septic sand. The lot line excavation area and back digging areas have been reclaimed and they have been removing stockpiled material from the back- The Selectmen explained to them that when they do plan to expand the digging area they will need to go through the public hearing process and if the area is over 2.3 acres a site specific from DES will be needed. The Selectmen are ok with them removing the
stockpiled material and continuing to dig in the same area as long as it is verified. Burton will verify what the old permit allowed and meet with Tris Construction tomorrow afternoon. Tris said they will want a permit in the future to use on-site material in their subdivision for septics and such. Weare has limited their trucking route. They now average 1 truck per day. The Selectmen said that if there are concerns about deterioration of the road because of trucking they will work this out with Tris Construction in the future.
F. OLD BUSINESS:
2. Cell Tower-Highway Shed Location-John Bunting suggested getting a temporary tower erected while waiting for the permanent one to be finalized. The town has to talk to Town Attorney Leslie Nixon about the status of the contract when she returns to work on July 23 The town expects to use the tower for communications for police, fire and highway departments by providing the equipment which Verizon will install. The police station is planned to be the emergency center. The town equipment on the tracking station tower is not high enough to be effective and it is uncertain if this can be remedied.
G. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Fuel Oil Contract-Last year the town paid $2.45 per gallon. This year the proposed contract amount is $2.30 per gallon. The school contracted at $2.12 per gallon The town usually pays 20 cents more per gallon than the school. A cap plan of $150 is available (allows use of regular market price should that be less than contract) which the Selectmen might be interested in.
2. Hazard Mitigation Plan-Police Chief Chris Krajenka, Fire Chief Dan MacDonald Road Agent John Riendeau, Planning Coordinator Nic Strong and Town Administrator Burton Reynolds will review and amend the plan.
3.Town Energy Policy-The town has not attended the Carbon Coalition meetings but the website is a good source of information.
H. OTHER;
1. A compliment to the police department was received from a citizen who was bothered by a car speeding on Beard Road and went to the police department and spoke to the Chief who explained that the department is currently having problems with shift coverage but did provide police presence on the road that night to respond to the citizen's need
2. Christine said she has also had positive dealings with the new officer Joe Fussell during incidents at the campground.
3. Transfer Station Manager Gerry Cornett asked Christine to make sure his issue of a stipend for his maintenance services to the town was brought up at the meeting. The town has agreed to pay him an annual stipend of $2500 for these services and asked that he keep track of what he is doing for each department. The stipend approach and the amount will be reviewed at year-end when the actual service usage data is available
4. A homeowner on Old Coach Road (just down from the campground) is now selling firewood from a trailer on the other side of his stonewall. Building Inspector Ed Hunter will talk to him about it.
5. The town sold some property to the Butlers in the 70's who took the deed but never recorded it and then lost it. The Butlers have now sold it to the Quinneys and the new owners have provided a new deed for the town to sign. The Selectmen will sign it in the presence of a notary.
6. The old generator from the school was sold to John Sizemore. The new generator is at the Highway Shed waiting to be installed.
7. The ‘81 LaFrance fire truck was recently sold to a department in Kansas
8. The Beard Road trial was today. The judge will read the material and rule
9. The due date for paperwork and meeting with FEMA for damage from the April rain event is July 12.
10. The Conservation Commission will invite the Selectmen by letter and e-mail to go to Saunders Pasture for a demonstration of a new logging technique
11. The Selectmen will respond to a letter from the Fire Department requesting the town to purchase land for future buildings.
12. Victor Parrish, deacon of the New Boston Baptist Church, has asked to use the town hall meeting room to host a community men's prayer meeting Wednesday mornings from 7- 8 AM or earlier if necessary. Burton will ask the Local Government Center If a town hall can be used for this purpose.
13. The Selectmen signed a letter in response to Myrna Vashaw's complaint about water runoff to her property and snow pile concerns at the comer of Rte. 13 and Lyndeborough Road
14. The Selectmen signed a letter to Capitol Trash
15. Granite blocks with trap rocks as a barrier now line the road at the corner of Bedford Road and Molly Stark Lane. Road Agent John Riendeau should go look at it to make sure it is ok.
16. John Palmer has called asking the Selectmen to look at his drainage problem at the Heidi Palmer Real Estate office. A letter will be prepared in response.
I PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
J. ADJOURNMENT: Gordon made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:08 PM. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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