Planning Board Minutes
September 2, 2009
Call to Order: Chairman Bruce Beane called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm
Roll Call:
Members - Bruce Beane, Rosemary Colombi, Roberta Aldrich, Al Gombas (7:10 pm)
Absent - Steve Moscicki
Alternates - Kathy Wohlleb, Daniel Simpson, Lisa Linowes (7:10 pm)
Secretary - Donna Clark
Fill Vacancies:
Chairman Beane asked Kathy Wohlleb to fill Steve Moscicki's seat and Daniel Simpson to fill Al Gombas' seat. When Al arrived at 7:10 pm, Daniel was unseated. Lisa Linowes noted that an absent ex-officio member (Steve) can only be replaced by another Selectman, not by an alternate, so Kathy was never officially seated.
Meeting Minutes:
The minutes for 08/05/09 were reviewed. Roberta Aldrich motioned to approve the minutes as written, 2nd by Rosemary Colombi, all voted in favor.
Correspondence:
Local Government Center's 2009 Municipal Law Lecture Series is holding sessions in Sugar Hill Sept 16th, 23rd and 30th. Bruce Beane may attend one session.
The Office of Energy & Planning's Annual Fall Planning & Zoning Conference is scheduled for Oct 17th at Loon Mountain. Bruce Beane will attend.
NH Dept of Environmental Service's Summer 2009 "The Source" Newsletter was received.
The Planning Board Chairman was invited to North Country Council's Oct 8th Annual Meeting in Bartlett.
The Lyman Hazard Mitigation Committee has meetings tentatively set for Sept 14th & 28th at 4:00pm at the Town Hall. Planning Board members are encouraged to attend.
Seasonal flu shots are available to all Lyman board members and their spouses at a cost of $18 at the Lisbon Town Hall on Oct 27th from 3:00-3:30pm. Donna Clark needs to know a count by Sept 10th.
The Town of Dalton requested a copy of the 2007 Lyman Master Plan. Members did not recall receiving an electronic version from North Country Council at the completion of the project. Donna Clark will contact NCC about this and send Dalton either an electronic or paper copy of the plan at no charge. She will also get a price for color copies of the Master Plan from Staples.
Old Business:
The Board confirmed that the two corrections to the Application for Subdivision requested at the last meeting were made.
The Planning Board scheduled their first meeting with the Selectmen to develop policies for building on Private and Class VI roads on a road-by-road basis for Sept 23rd at 6:00 pm. A list of roads and the new paper maps will be available at that time.
New Business:
New construction building permits approved since the August meeting:
- Garage for Luigi Desimone on Moulton Hill Rd
- Barn for Edward & Jacqueline Daniels on Quebec Rd
Informal review hearings for new parcel maps are scheduled for Sept 11th from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm and Sept 12th from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Lyman Town Hall. Any necessary changes will be made and a set of final maps should be delivered by early Oct. The GIS software will be installed later in the year, after the new map & lot numbers have been merged with the Avitar property assessment program.
The Selectmen's Office received an inquiry from a property owner about placing a cell phone tower on her land. The person approached Verizon Wireless about cell coverage for Lyman and was referred to the Town to determine if zoning would support such a use. The property owner has since put the matter on hold, and the Planning Board believes that the utility company would have approached the Town directly if they were seriously interested. An ordinance may be needed to limit the location of communications towers in Lyman.
Bruce Beane spoke with LGC's Attorney Dave Connell about the proper procedures for seating alternates and shared the following information.
- If an alternate is taking the place of an absent full member and the full member arrives late, is the alternate unseated? Yes, unseat the alternate upon arrival of the regular member. Allow alternates to participate in discussions to keep them engaged and informed. Do not allow extra members to participate in decisions regarding applications or changes in the laws. The Board must be of the proper number of participants in these circumstances. Lisa Linowes added that if an alternate is late and doesn't wish to be seated, they shouldn't be seated.
- Do we install an alternate when no decisions are to be made or do we wait until a discussion takes place that will ultimately involve a decision? Install alternates as needed to fill in the Board at any time.
- If an alternate is participating in a process (like a subdivision) and the discussion involves more than one meeting, does the alternate remain an active part of the discussion and decision making process at subsequent meetings? The regular member replaces the alternate as soon as he or she is available.
- Does the regular member step back in when he or she is available to participate? Yes, and unless the regular member is considered to be inadequately informed regarding the necessary decision to be voted upon, the regular member must be the one to vote. The regular member may be brought up to speed on the subject matter, if necessary, to allow their ability to vote on the matter.
- Do they both stay involved? No.
Chairman Beane stated he wants to keep alternates involved with the hope that they may want to become regular members at some point. Open discussion during regular meetings when there are no members of the public present is acceptable, but alternates should wait to be recognized at all other times. He also plans to continue starting meetings promptly at 7:00 pm and hopes members will be punctual whenever possible to avoid the confusion of having to seat and unseat alternates at every meeting.
Bruce Beane also discussed the ramifications of the new Workforce Housing laws with Attorney Connell and believes Lyman's existing Zoning Regulations allow adequate provisions for low income housing. More information on this topic is available on the Office of Energy & Planning website and from North Country Council.
Donna Clark gave a brief overview of the "Hard Road to Travel" class she attended recently and was asked to find out if the Selectmen can set speed limits on private roads.
Lisa Linowes presented a draft Subdivision Checklist to be used by the Owner or Applicant in preparing a subdivision application and by the Planning Board when accepting a completed application. The document was reviewed line by line. Lisa will add any missing items and delete those that don't pertain to the Lyman Subdivision Regulations. She will present an updated form at the next meeting.
Public Matters: None
Adjourn:
Rosemary Colombi motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 pm, 2nd by Roberta Aldrich, all voted in favor.
Minutes by Donna Clark
