APRIL 13, 2005
PUBLIC SESSION
APPROVED BY THE BOARD MAY 4, 2005
PRESENT: ABSENT:
Mr. Dave Smith, Chair Mr. Bill Booth
Ms. Mary Bonser, Selectmen Representative Ms. Sandra Jones
Mr. Peter Gylfphe
Mr. Scott Curry
Mr. Jon Caron (arrived 7:30pm)
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mr. John Teague, Attorney
Mr. Peter Bock, Selectman
Mr. Skip Seaverns
Mr. James Fernald
Ms. Kelly Tivnan, Recording Secretary
The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:10pm.
CISTERNS AND FIRE PROTECTION:
Ms. Bonser asked if the Planning Board had the authority to require cisterns. Mr. Teague said yes. He said that the problem was long term maintenance. Ms. Bonser asked if the Planning Board should require a copy of the bill of sale when people put in cisterns. Mr. Teague said that was an interesting idea. He said that he had never seen a town require that but he said that he did not see why the town could not. Mr. Fernald suggested that the town should have tanker trucks. He said that cisterns were expensive and no one would want to care for them. Mr. Seaverns said that tanker trucks cost about $100,000 each and he said that it would take 2 tanker trucks to hold the same amount of water as one cistern. Ms. Bonser asked if the Planning Board could waive the cistern requirements and require
that sprinklers be installed in homes. Mr. Seaverns noted that sprinklers could only help one home. Mr. Teague said that the Planning Board could waive the cistern requirements and require that sprinklers be installed in homes if they chose. Mr. Curry said that the subdivision regulations said that people needed to install cisterns yet the Planning Board was allowing people to substitute sprinkler systems for cisterns. He said that they were undermining their own regulations. Mr. Gylfphe said that sprinklers saved money for the town. He talked about Laconia and he said that sprinklers saved them the cost of 2 firefighters. He said that it was a good idea to limit the number of firefighters necessary to fight a fire. He said that cisterns would be dry in 10 minutes and he said that 30 minutes of water were needed to put out a fire. Mr. Teague said that the Planning Board, the town and the Fire Department needed to develop a plan
for fire safety. He said that impact fees could be implemented. Mr. Curry said that impact fees should pay for cisterns. Mr Teague said that it would make sense to have impact fees pay for cisterns or tanker trucks. Mr. Seaverns said that trucks moved but cisterns didn't. Mr. Gylfphe said that there was a time problem. He said that some parts of town were 15 minutes from the Central Fire Station and he said that some structures could burn in 7-8 minutes. He said that sprinklers would be the best life and time saver. Ms. Bonser suggested that sprinklers could be used in conjunction with tankers. She said that impact fees could be used for that. Mr. Smith said that it might be a good idea to identify the locations in town where they needed to have cisterns. Ms. Bonser said that they should get the opinion of the Fire Chief. Mr. Seaverns said that the Planning Board should identify the difference between a major
and a minor subdivision. He said that the Fire Chief should look at the location of subdivisions and make recommendations. Mr. Curry said that there should be some agreement between the Fire Chief and the Planning Board. He said that they needed to look at a short term solution to this problem. Mr. Teague said that they needed to have a plan in place and a goal in mind. Mr. Seaverns said that cistern easements did not provide fire protection. Mr. Curry asked why the cistern regulation was originally put into place. Mr. Caron said that originally everything over 8 lots needed to have a fire pond. He said that one pond had broken and several had gone dry. He said that people had wondered why they had used the number 8. He said that it was not necessarily fair because if someone lived near a lake than they did not need fire protection. He said that the Planning Board did force developers to build roads and
infrastructure. Mr. Seaverns said that with easements the cistern might end up being built in the worst spot. Ms. Bonser said that the town was the one using the cisterns. Mr. Caron said he did not disagree that it might be more fair for the town and the developer to share costs of cisterns. Ms. Bonser said that the town should require all documentation on cisterns that were built. Mr. Fernald noted that cisterns cost $80,000 each and they cost money to maintain. He said that cisterns were a waste of money and he suggested that the town could put that money in an escrow account to save for another Fire Station. Mr. Gylfphe noted that the town would need a water source to refill tanker trucks. Mr. Seaverns said that the town would have 6 years by law to use the impact fees. He asked how many trucks they could buy and house. He said that the Fire Department needed to give appropriate direction on this. Ms. Bonser
suggested that the Planning Board ask the Fire Chief about a Saturday morning meeting. She said that it would be good for the Planning Board to meet with the Fire Department and the Building Inspector.
Mr. Caron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:00pm. Mr. Gylfphe seconded that motion. Mr. Caron, Mr. Gylfphe, Ms. Bonser, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Curry voted in favor of the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Tivnan
Planning Board Secretary
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