Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
April 14, 2008
PRESENT: Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Selectman Absent
Christine Quirk Selectman
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
A. CALL TO ORDER: A meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by Gordon Carlstrom at 7:00PM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
A public hearing was noticed in the paper to review gravel permits for the Hemlock Hills Realty, Wheeler Construction, Twin Bridge Land Management, and Thibeault Sand and Gravel. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to issue gravel permits for the pits mentioned in the notice and to solicit comments from the pit owners and abutters.
The first permit to be reviewed was Hemlock Hills Realty. Mail has been sent to Robert Jenkins but was returned. His current address is unknown; his last known address is a PO Box in Goffstown. He has not filed for a gravel permit since 2007. Bond renewal has not been received and taxes are owed on the land. Reclamation by the owner or the town will have to start after 2 years of inactivity. There was a problem getting dumage from him in 2006 and the bond lapsed in 2007. The Selectmen recommend placing a mechanics lien on the property. A lien might be going on this property for outstanding taxes as well. Kim Burkhamer will contact Acadia Insurance to see if the surety bond has lapsed and call Mary Pinkham-Langer at NH DES for suggestions. The police will be contacted if
necessary to serve him his papers now.
The second permit reviewed was for Wheeler Construction. Ed Ranger was present representing the pit. Given the area open, an alteration of terrain permit is needed. Earl Sandford is working on plans for the permit with DES and should be done in a couple weeks. Once they are done a copy will be given to Kim to make sure they include everything needed for the 155e permit. The DES website will be watched after 45 days for status of the pit. Ed said the pit is active; they have only been making a couple runs per month and plan to continue that activity and the reclamation. The Selectmen decided to issue a temporary extension of the permit to June 1, 2008 to correspond with the current bond. Once the final paperwork is done and the bond renewal is received the permit will be extended for the
full year. The temporary permit will be ready in a couple days.
The third permit reviewed was for Twin Bridge Land Management. Representatives from Tris Construction were present. Tris presented the Selectmen with site specific plans they had done last year. The wetlands have been marked as they were asked to do. The plan incorrectly mentions the towns of Brookline and Mason and Tris will have the survey company correct this. Kim and Assessor George Hildum went out and GPS’d the area where they should be allowed to dig but Tris doesn’t agree with the area as it came out to only 7 acres not 10.83 acres and went into Weare. Kim said the GPS mapping software is old and that could have caused the discrepancy but when they went to the area to GPS it they went to the tree lines and there was less than 10 acres open. Tris said Clifton graveled all
over the pit and they should be allowed to as well. The Selectmen explained that should have been worked out before the pit ownership was transferred, the pit has new owners which makes it a new pit even though it was an existing pit. Tris explained that they do plan to excavate in a larger area in the future but for now they are going to continue digging in an area where Cliff Wilson was been digging for years. A bond is needed at this time and Tris will provide cash or a bond within a couple days. The Selectmen explained to them that an extension to the existing permit will be given to them to allow them to continue in the existing area confined to 10 acres and when they do plan to expand the digging area they will need to go through the site plan review and public hearing process which is a joint effort with the Planning Board and Selectmen. Jay Marden said an additional area has already been clearcut and worked and the Building Inspector will be
asked to look at that before the permit is issued. Active digging was going on without permission in an adjacent lot last year but has been completely closed down as requested. Gravel from the pit is being used for their subdivision as per the subdivision agreement. They will not dig within 25 feet of the wetlands. A memo from Burton to the Selectmen dated June 27, 2007 was reviewed and they mentioned they met with the Selectmen July 2 and July 16, 2007. They still want to know where the 10 acres they are allowed to dig in are. They are still using the same haul road that was transferred with the property. Donna Monbouquette of 42 West Lull Place asked if the original 10-acre graveling area contained the area where the houses are now and the Selectmen said that is possible but unknown at this time. Chris Hebert of 199 Twin Bridge Road asked to confirm the hours of operation as they begin work around 6am and was told the hours limiting
trucking but not cutting trees are 7am-5pm. She also expressed concern about the amount of dust the generated by transportation of gravel and that the gravel business would be expanded. Dust control will be addressed in the permit. Matt Conway of 189 Twin Bridge Road asked if the abutters should hire attorneys for the site plan review process and were told a land use lawyer might be a good one to consult. The Selectmen will get back to Tris on the specific process for gaining approval to use gravel outside the original 10-acre area.
The fourth group of permits reviewed were for Thibeault Sand and Gravel. The South pit on Parker Road was discussed. The plans have been done and they are bringing them to DES tomorrow to start the 45-day cycle. The plans show the berm 20 feet high in the buffer zone so the pit cannot be seen from the road. This will be a permanent no cut no disturb area. The active pit is 20 acres covered by a bond. Michael Thibeault has been working on reclamation and said phase 1 will be almost completed this year. The drainage goes back into the pit and Kim said that is ok. They said the permit language from last year can be used again this year. Jay Marden said he and Ken Lombard representing the Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee were concerned about the existing south slope ridge
staying the same. They will tell Kim when it is flagged and then it will be verified by a sitewalk.
The North pit on Parker Road was discussed. They plan to mine 20-30,000 yards as permitted for. Reclamation is planned for the entrance. Everything else will stay the same as last year’s permit.
The River Road/Byam Road pit was discussed. They proposed to blend the peak back into the slope. The Selectmen agreed. Kim will ask the Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee if they agree to this plan. If so, Thibeault will have engineering plans showing a fully treed slope toward the river done up within a couple months. This pit is almost done with graveling; the material is mostly good for reclamation. They hope to use the area for commercial use eventually. Chris Wisniewski purchased the old conservation piece near the pit and was concerned about further digging but was told they will no longer dig in that area. They asked for minimal removal this year. The Selectmen said Thibeault meets 155e for the Parker Road pits and will be given a 3-month temporary permit for the
River Road/Byam Road pit.
The public hearing was closed at 8:49 PM.
K. ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:49 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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