TOWN OF RUTLAND
PLANNING BOARD
Minutes 1/9/18
Location: Town Hall Annex 246 Main Street
Opened: 6:30pm
Note: This meeting was recorded for the secretary’s records.
Present: Norm Anderson (Chairman), Marilyn Sidoti, Dick Williams, Shawn Moore, Jeff Bagg (Town Planner), Ron Barron (Town Planner)
Guests: Jeff Lacy, Robert Liptak, Margaret Nartowicz, Michael Sullivan, Jean Trudeau
RDIC Business: Michael Sullivan presented a letter from the Rutland Development and Industrial Commission (RDIC) dated 1/8/18. RDIC has been speaking with the Grantham Group about potentially building an 83 unit affordable assisted living housing complex. The housing would be for residents 62+ and would be situated at the site of the old Rutland Heights Hospital property. RDIC is looking for the support of the Planning Board for this project. A formal vote will be taken at the next meeting and will be posted on the next agenda. Norm anticipates the project will be supported by the board.
Minutes: The board reviewed the minutes from 12/12/17. Dick moved to endorse the minutes with corrections. Marilyn 2nd, all in favor. (Note: Shawn was not present for the vote.) The board reviewed the minutes from the 12/12/17 public hearing. Dick moved to accept the minutes. Marilyn 2nd, all in favor. (Note: Shawn was not present for the vote.) The board reviewed the minutes from the 12/26/17 meeting. Shawn moved to accept the minutes with corrections. Marilyn 2nd, all in favor.
ANRS: None
Gill Report Bear Hill: The board reviewed the Gill Report on Bear Hill dated 12/4/17. Marilyn asked why Gill Engineering was brought in. Gary Kelleher hired Gill to inspect the bridge because Quinn Engineering will not inspect bridges. Norm said there are 5 things that Mass DOT would like to see done on the bridge and he believes that none of them have been addressed. Mass DOT will not inspect the bridge until it becomes town property. One of the items was to put down a waterproof membrane on the grid surface. The basecoat of pavement had already been put down when this was learned. The report says the bridge is structurally sound, but it may not meet safety standards. Blair almost has enough signatures for a special town meeting to vote on the acceptance of Bear Hill. Mike
Sullivan asked if Gill was aware of the recommendations of Mass DOT. Gary submitted the request to Gill. The board does not know the answer to that. Mike said that, as a taxpayer, he does not want to have to pay to fix a bridge that should have been built correctly to begin with. Norm said there was a letter from George Kiritsy saying that Blair will correct the 5 items addressed by Mass DOT (9/23/13). The report from Quinn was from 2013. Dick made a motion to set up a meeting between Blair, Gill Engineering, Gary (DPW Director) and the Planning Board to discuss the bridge. Shawn would like there to be a representative from Mass DOT there as well. Everyone agreed it would be preferable for Mass DOT to attend, but it is unlikely they will come. Jeff stated that all alterations that need to be made on the bridge should be clearly documented so that when it is brought to a town meeting the residents would understand why it should not yet be accepted as a
town road. Margaret Nartowicz (town administrator) stated that if the residents voted to approve the road before the bridge was up to Mass DOT standards the town could impose betterments on the residents of Bear Hill to pay for the deficiencies. Shawn 2nd Dick’s motion for a meeting, all in favor.
Public Hearing– Lussier Self Storage Facility 232 Barre Paxton Road
Opened: 7:08pm
On 1/9/18 the board received an email from Jason Dubois on behalf of Lussier Enterprises requesting a continuance of this hearing. They are working on peer review revisions and are not ready to submit revised plans at this time. Dick made a motion to continue the meeting on January 23rd at 7pm. Marilyn 2nd, all in favor. Recessed: 7:12pm
Gill Report Sedona Circle Brice Lemon: The board reviewed the Gill Report dated 12/18/17. This bridge is classified as a BRI – a mini-bridge. The bridge appears to be structurally sufficient.
New Policy on Illusory Frontage: Norm sent KP law a list of questions. He has not received a response from her yet. He asked Kwesell if she had access to any zoning bylaws to help control the shape of lots. Letters were sent to Blair, Votruba, Soucy, Elbag and Lussier to alert them to the new policy. The notice will also be posted on the town website. The board is looking to make some changes to the bylaw to clarify the allowable lot shapes. Mr. Liptak thinks this is unnecessary as the current laws already prohibit illusory frontage. General discussion ensued about lot shape and bylaws in neighboring towns.
Public Hearing Continuation – Lussier Mixed Use Property in Town Center District 211 Main Street
Opened: 7:49pm
On 1/9/18 the board received an email from Jason Dubois on behalf of Lussier Enterprises requesting a continuance of this hearing. They are working on peer review revisions and are not ready to submit revised plans at this time. Dick made a motion to continue the meeting on January 23rd at 7:30pm. Marilyn 2nd, all in favor. Recessed: 7:51pm
Thurston Hill: General discussion ensued about the new houses going in with the common driveway.
Marijuana Moratorium: Margaret feels a moratorium is the best way to go. General discussion ensued. CMRPC and KP Law will have a workshop at the end of January.
Extension Permits: Dick was asking if we have a list of when all special permits on file expire. We do not have an easy access list. We would need to go to the individual files. Jeff said the burden of checking the special permit status is on the building inspector. Jeff thinks a town planner might be able to help with this once we have a full time planner.
CMRPC: A new scope of services document was written to cover the new agreement until July 31st, 2018. Ron Barron will be working with us in conjunction with Jeff Bagg. Dick made a motion to have Norm sign the agreement. Jeff distributed a Shared Planner Best Practices guide to the board members. Shawn 2nd, all in favor. Norm signed. Jeff will take the document back for Janet to sign and will send a copy back.
Shawn made a motion to close the meeting. Norm 2nd, all in favor.
Closed: 9:07 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Becker, Secretary
Minutes approved on 1/23/18
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