December 18, 2014 minutes

These minutes were posted by the Planning.

Pittsfield Planning Board
Town Hall, 85 Main Street
Pittsfield, NH 03263
Minutes of Public Meeting

DATE: Thursday, December 18, 2014

AGENDA ITEM 1: Call to Order

Chair Clayton Wood called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M.

AGENDA ITEM 2: Roll Call

Planning board members present:
Clayton Wood (CW), planning board member and chair;
Pat Heffernan (PH), planning board member and vice-chair;
Jim Pritchard (JP), planning board member and secretary;
Bill Miskoe (BM), planning board member;
Larry Konopka (LK), selectmen’s ex officio planning board member;
Roland Carter (RC), alternate planning board member; and
Gerard LeDuc (GL), alternate for the selectmen’s ex officio planning board member.

Planning board members absent: None.

Members of the public appearing before the planning board: Carole Dodge, Eric Nilsson, Mike Williams, Earle Wingate.

“Members of the public appearing before the planning board” includes only members of the public who spoke to the board. It does not include members of the public who were present but who did not speak to the board.

AGENDA ITEM 3: Agenda Review

CW said that he wanted to focus on the business of the agenda as written.

PH suggested that alternate RC should be seated with the board even though no board member is absent or disqualified.

CW said that RC should not be seated because the board has agreed that the audience should know who the decision-makers are. (Planning board minutes of August 4, 2011, agenda item 5a.)

AGENDA ITEM 4: Approval of the Minutes of the December 4, 2014 Meeting

JP moved to approve the minutes of December 4, 2014, as written in draft.

CW seconded the motion.

Discussion:

JP asked for the following change:

Agenda item 9, page 20: change “Vote to adjourn the planning board meeting of December 4, 2014: carried 5 – 0 – 0” to “Vote to adjourn the planning board meeting of December 4, 2014: carried 4 – 0 – 0.”

LK asked for the following changes:

Agenda item 2, page 1: delete the addresses of members of the public appearing before the planning board.

Agenda item 4, page 3: add “LK said that CW had not allowed the motion.” after “LK said, ‘no one seconded it because we were advised not to.’”

Agenda item 4, page 5: change “LK said that the board should not be doing anything not in the board’s own rules of procedure.” to “LK said that the board should not be doing anything if it is not in the board’s own rules of procedure.”

Agenda item 4, page 7: delete the following passages:
“BM complained about the following passage in the November 6 minutes:
“‘BM is complaining about a wounded ego when the chair was trying to expedite an applicant’s project.’
“JP said that he had said this statement.
“BM said that he had asked about the town’s best interest.”

Agenda item 4, page 7: change “LK said that he had never heard of the planning board having a secretary.” to “LK said that he had never heard of the planning board having a member of the board as a secretary.”

Agenda item 4, page 8: change “LK said that he would redo the minutes.” to “LK said that he would see the minutes to be redone.”

Agenda item 5, page 11: delete the following passages:
“JP said that Mike Williams was ignoring the fact that the Pittsfield Zoning Ordinance is of the permissive variety. JP cited the permissive regulation in the definition of ‘permitted use’:
“‘Uses that are not expressly stated as permitted uses, accessory uses, or special exceptions are prohibited.’”

Agenda item 6, page 17: delete “(See RSA 673:7, I, and RSA 673:6, IV.)” after “LK asked CW whether CW had talked to town administrator Mike Williams about the problem of two planning board members or alternates (LK and GL) serving on the board of selectmen.”

Agenda item 7, page 17: change “LK moved to discontinue JP as the planning board’s recording secretary.” to “LK moved ‘to discontinue having a sitting board member be the secretary and recorder and prepare the minutes of the planning board.’”

Agenda item 7, page 19: change “LK moved to hire another recording secretary.” to “LK moved to hire another recording secretary that is not a sitting board member.”

BM said that he would not vote to approve the draft minutes. BM said that he had interrupted Carole Dodge’s speech during the public-input period and had said, “This is not funny.” BM said that the minutes did not record his interruption.

JP said that he would not support the changes that LK wanted if JP did not have an opportunity to review the audio recording. JP said that people were forgetting that the minutes are not a transcript or a paraphrase of a transcript of what people said. They are a “description of the subject matter discussed.” (RSA 91-A:2, II.) Thus, statutory citations are appropriate because they help to describe the subject matter discussed. JP noted that BM had not been recognized to interrupt Carole Dodge’s speech.

CW referred to Meeting Minutes 101 and said that the minutes should remove emotion.

JP read from Meeting Minutes 101 and stressed that the purpose of the minutes is “to promote openness in government and to inform citizens about what their government is doing. … The focus of the minutes should be to record the important and relevant things that occurred at the meeting, not bickering or insults. Negative sentiments expressed by board members or members of the public need not be avoided entirely, if the comments are relevant; it is the inclusion of the inflammatory words that should be avoided.”

CW moved to approve the minutes of December 4, 2014, with the changes that JP, LK, and BM requested.

LK seconded the motion.

Vote to approve the minutes of December 4, 2014, with the changes that JP, LK, and BM requested: carried 3 – 2 – 0. (Voting “yes”: PH, CW, and LK. Voting “no”: JP and BM. Abstaining: none.)

CW asked board members to be prepared to review the minutes of November 6, 2014, and November 20, 2014, at the board’s next meeting.

BM moved “to amend the rules of procedure so that no member of the board shall be allowed to take meeting minutes.”

CW ruled BM’s motion out of order.

BM appealed CW’s ruling to the full board.

PH seconded BM’s appeal.

CW said that the next item on the agenda is to review the zoning amendments.

PH asked BM to revisit his issue during the members’ concerns period.

BM agreed.

AGENDA ITEM 5: Zoning Ordinance Amendments
1. Citizen Petition – None for 2015
2. Schedule Public Hearing for Planning Board Proposed Amendments

CW said that the town had received no citizen petition under RSA 675:4.

The board discussed processing four zoning amendments as stated on the following draft notice that CW distributed to the board:

Notice of Public Hearing
The Pittsfield Planning Board will hold public hearings pursuant to RSA 675:3, II, on four zoning ordinance amendments (numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4) proposed by the planning board. The time and place of each public hearing is TBD, 7:00 PM, at the Pittsfield Town Hall, 85 Main Street, Pittsfield, NH.

Amendment 1: Vote to approve revising zoning ordinance article 9 say as follows: “Signs of whatever size and material shall be a permitted accessory use in the Commercial and Light Industrial/Commercial districts of the Town and on the premises of businesses or permitted industry in other districts, provided that any such signs do not constitute a nuisance by emitting an unreasonable amount of light or noise and are compatible with the surrounding area.”

Amendment 2: Vote to approve revising the definition of “JUNK YARDS” to say, “A facility as defined in RSA 236:112, I,II, IV and V (c).”

Amendment 3: Vote to revise the introductory sentence of zoning ordinance article 3 to say as follows: “In the interpretation and enforcement of this chapter, all words other than those defined specifically below shall have the meanings implied by their context in this chapter or their ordinarily accepted meanings.”

Amendment 4: Vote to revising zoning ordinance article 2, description of the Suburban District, to say as follows: “Suburban: This district is also primarily residential, but is a transition between the Urban and Rural districts. It may also be used for some professional and commercial uses. The entirety of This district is serviced by municipal sewer and the Pennechuck Aqueduct Company.” (Note: Tabled to December 18, 2014 meeting)

The full text of each amendment proposal is on file for public inspection at the town hall, 85 Main Street, Pittsfield, NH. To inspect the full text of a proposal, please speak to the planning board secretary, Delores Fritz; the town administrator, Mike Williams; the town clerk, Erica Anthony; or the selectmen’s administrative assistant, Cara Marston. Each proposal is also on the planning board’s web site: http://www.mypittsfield.com/planning.htm

The board discussed whether amendment 4 adequately stated the intent to redraw the boundary of the Suburban District. Carole Dodge said that she would have this question resolved by January 8, 2015.

AGENDA ITEM 6: Selectman’s Report – Larry Konopka, Selectman Ex Officio – Gerard LeDuc, Alternate

LK said that the board of selectmen was working on the budget.

AGENDA ITEM 7: Members’ Concerns

BM moved “to amend the rules of procedure so that no member of the board shall be allowed to take minutes.”

PH seconded the motion.

CW ruled BM’s motion out of order. CW said that amending rules of procedure must be done at a regular meeting. CW cited and read RSA 676:1: “Every local land use board shall adopt rules of procedure concerning the method of conducting its business. Rules of procedure shall be adopted at a regular meeting of the board…” CW said that the planning board’s regular meeting is the first Thursday of the month. (Rules of procedure section IV, 1.)

BM withdrew his motion.

PH withdrew his second.

JP asked the people trying to remove JP, also known as the “sitting board member,” from the recording-secretary office to give more thought to what they are doing. JP said that he had contacted the secretary of state’s office and that the secretary of state’s office agrees that the board cannot remove JP from the elected recording-secretary office midterm. (RSA 673:9, I.) If the board votes to remove JP, then the board’s vote will raise the legal question of whether JP has to do the minutes anyway. JP said that his understanding is that the Right-to-Know law (RSA 91-A) will require him to do minutes whether the board votes to remove him or not. The state law is what it is.

PH said “We’re not trying to get you out of an elected position. This board appointed you as the minute taker. That’s what we’re trying to change. And I disagree with your assertion that we can’t remove that.”

CW said that he agreed with JP. CW cited the minutes of April 3, 2014, agenda item 3, Election of Officers. The board elected four officers: chair, vice-chair, secretary, and recording secretary. The board elected JP secretary and recording secretary 4-1-0. CW cited RSA 673:8 (allowing a local land use board to create offices as it deems necessary) and RSA 673:9, I (saying that “the term of every officer and chairperson elected by a local land use board shall be one year”). Even if the board changes the rules of procedure, the board cannot rewrite the state statutes. CW said that he cannot allow an “improper motion.”

The board continued discussing the secretary position and the requirement that rules of procedure be adopted at a regular meeting.

LK asked that someone review the minutes of November 6, 2014, and November 20, 2014, for accuracy against the audio recording.

CW offered to review the minutes if LK would accept CW’s judgment.

LK asked CW to remove material that CW thought should not be in the minutes.

BM discussed an editorial letter that JP had put in the Suncook Valley Sun. BM referred to the following passage:

“Selectman Konopka tried to remove a board officer (me) from the recording-secretary office (thus violating RSA 673:9, I).”

(See planning board minutes of December 4, 2014, agenda item 7, LK’s motion “to discontinue having a sitting board member be the secretary and recorder and prepare the minutes of the planning board” and JP’s objection based on RSA 673:9, I (saying that “the term of every officer and chairperson elected by a local land use board shall be one year”).)

During members concerns, BM questioned JP’s allegation in the Suncook Sun that LK had violated RSA 673:9, I, and asked if JP had brought this alleged violation to the attention of any town official or to the attorney general. When BM asked that question, chairman CW stated that JP did not have to answer that question, and JP did not answer that question.

BM assumed that JP had not raised the issue of JP’s letter in any government-enforcement forum, and BM concluded, on the basis of his assumption, that JP’s letter was unethical. BM noted that he had complained about JP’s ethics before.

JP said that the selectmen’s minutes omitted substantive information on the Shaw Road improvement project. JP said that the selectmen’s minutes had said that everyone on Shaw Road favored the improvement when that was not true. One of the opponents had told the Pittsfield Board of Selectmen that the Barnstead Board of Selectmen will not support widening or improving Shaw Road at the Barnstead end, but the selectmen’s minutes omitted this fact. JP said that LK had told the selectmen that Shaw Road is “supposedly the worst road in the state,” but LK neglected to tell the planning board about how bad Shaw Road supposedly is when the planning board was approving the major subdivision of Keath and Patricia Wood. JP said that the planning board should not be approving major subdivisions on “the worst road in the state.” JP said that LK wants Shaw Road to be paved but did not support safe access via a shared road in the Wood subdivision. JP said that LK’s two views were inconsistent.

JP asked LK why the board of selectmen wants to expand the planning board to seven members.

LK said, “I don’t need to answer that.”

LK said that “the beginning of Shaw Road, the beginning, not Shaw Road, not where the subdivision is” is where Shaw Road is bad.

AGENDA ITEM 8: Public Input

Members of the public and the board discussed the board’s requirement to have regular meetings. See RSA 673:10, II:

“The planning board shall hold at least one regular meeting in each month.”

The board agreed by consensus to have meetings on January 1, 2015, and January 8, 2015.

Selectman Eric Nilsson said that he lived at 5 Elm Street, Apartment C, Pittsfield, NH 03263. Selectman Nilsson asked where JP had been elected planning board secretary.

CW said that JP had been elected at a planning board meeting.

AGENDA ITEM 9: Adjournment

BM moved to adjourn the meeting.

PH seconded the motion.

Vote to adjourn the planning board meeting of December 18, 2014: carried 5 – 0 – 0. (Voting “yes”: JP, PH, CW, BM, and LK. Voting “no”: none. Abstaining: none.) The planning board meeting of December 18, 2014, is adjourned at 8:18 P.M.

Minutes approved: January 8, 2015

______________________________ _____________________
Clayton Wood, Chairman Date

I transcribed these minutes (not verbatim) on December 20, 2014, from notes that I made during the planning board meeting on December 18, 2014, and from a copy that Chairman Clayton Wood made on December 19, 2014, of the town’s digital recording of the meeting.

____________________________________________
Jim Pritchard, planning board recorder and secretary