Newton Planning Board
Work Session
July 25, 2006
1. Call to Order
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:0 PM, declaring a quorum of six regular members and two alternates present. The meeting was posted in four town locations: Rowe’s Market, Newton Post Office, Newton Junction Post Office and Newton Town Hall. There was no challenge to the legality of the meeting.
2. Attendance
The following members were present:
Kim Pettit - Chairman
Ann Miles – Vice-Chairman
Mary Allen
Deborah Finnegan
Kip Kaiser - Alternate
Rich LeClaire
Eugene Tolman - Alternate
Kim Vaillant
3. Manifest
Ms. Pettit said that there were some NPREA issues that needed to be researched and she would try to meet with Ms. Nelson and Ms. Vaillant to discuss doing a master schedule.
4. Correspondence
A request was received from the Board of Appeals for the Building Inspector and the Board to meet with them on July 31, 2006 to discuss procedural issues. Ms. Pettit said that she thought it would be a good idea for as many members as possible to attend to open up the lines of communications between the Boards.
*****ACTION ITEM***** the A.A. will contact the ZBA secretary to confirm the time of the meeting.
The A.A. informed the Board that she had found a discrepancy with the abutter list that had been submitted by Mr. Nichols with regards to his hearing to amend his conditional approval. She said that she had brought this to his attention and he preferred to keep the list as submitted. There was some discussion as to who were considered legal abutters.
Motion made by Ms. Allen with a second by Mr. LeClaire to send a letter to Mr. Nichols informing him that it was being brought to his attention that his abutter list, as submitted, was incorrect and he would have until Friday, July 28, 2006 to submit a corrected list or the public hearing would not be held on August 8, 2006. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board reviewed a letter received from Rob Woodhouse.
There was discussion about minutes’ content. Some members thought that they should be vague and the majority felt that the more detail contained in the minutes was better. The A.A. said that it was very difficult for her to hear at the meeting’s because the microphones only worked for the cable station and not actually in the hall and there was always multiple cross conversations going on throughout the meeting. Mr. Tolman said that he would be willing to look into improving the audio portion of the meeting. Ms. Pettit said that she would speak to the Cable Committee’s representative with regards to receiving the videotape in a timelier manner.
Notice regarding the Municipal Law Lecture Series to be held in October and November was received and copies were distributed to the members.
Ms. Pettit said that because Mr. Hull could not be in attendance at this meeting, the discussion about regulations and ordinances would be moved to the August 22 work session. There was discussion about the adoption of the Floodplain Ordinance for the 2007 Town Warrant. There was some question as to what the Selectmen’s position was on holding the public hearing and the A.A. will check with the Selectmen’s staff. Some members had questions about the FEMA process and they requested that the A.A. research this at the FEMA website. Ms. Pettit will also investigate having a representative from FEMA give a presentation to the Board.
5. Whispering Pines
Mr. Tolman, an abutter to the Whispering Pines campground had requested that this topic be placed on the agenda. Mr. Peterson, who was the spokesperson for the neighbors had not been able to attend this meeting and had asked Mr. Tolman to speak for them. There were several issues involving compliance with the approved site plan including:
Ø No recreation area shown on the plan but there was now a cement basketball court and horseshoe pit in the area depicted as the Boat Ramp on the plan.
Ø Noise in violation of both the noise ordinance and the campground rules.
Ø Permanent residences or trailers with permanent skirting and porches
Ø Residents are admonished by the campground owner with regards to road use.
Mr. Tolman suggested that the Board conduct a site walk, which had been suggested and then delayed several times. It was stated that members of the ZBA, Selectmen and Conservation should be invited to attend this site walk as well as abutters.
Ms. Miles suggested that there be a follow-up site walk in November or December so that the Town would know the activity level at the campground in the off-season.
Motion made by Ms. Vaillant with a second by Ms. Pettit to have the Planning Board conduct a site walk on August 5, 2006 at 9 AM at Whispering Pines with a rain date to be not later than August 15, 2006. All town boards are to be notified and encouraged to attend and the site walk will be posted in town. The purpose of the site walk is because the various town boards would like to view the current site and the area proposed for possible expansion. The motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Vaillant stated that when the Board had received a letter from Mr. Cheney last year, she had promised him that she would bring the letter with her on the site walk and his complaints would be addressed.
6. Compliance Issues
There was discussion that there were several sites that had unresolved compliance issues. These include the Lovecchio Two-lot subdivision (amended plan never submitted), S&R site work and buffering issues and the Fitzgerald Two-lot subdivision on Pond Street (amended plan not submitted).
Motion made by Ms. Vaillant with a second by Mr. LeClaire for the A.A. to send letters to the aforementioned applicants advising them of the outstanding site issues and requiring them to contact the Planning Board within thirty days of receipt of the letter and if no response was received, the Board would begin revocation proceedings. The motion passed unanimously.
Motion made by Ms. Vaillant with a second by Ms. Allen to adjourn at 8:33 PM. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally E. Cockerline
Administrative Assistant
Newton Planning Board
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