November 5, 2009 Minutes

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

DATE: Thursday, NOVEMBER 5, 2009

ITEM 1. Call to Order at 7:00 P.M. by Rich Hunsberger, Chairman.

ITEM 2. Roll Call

Members Present:

Rich Hunsberger (RH), Chairman, Bill Miskoe (BM), Vice Chairman, Larry Konopka (LK), Selectman Ex Officio, Jim Pritchard (JP), Dan Schroth (DS), Clayton Wood (CW), Alternate, and Hank Fitzgerald (HF), Alternate and Recorder.

Members Absent:

Daniel Greene (DG) and Ted Mitchell (TM).

(LK) Can we officially seat Clayton Wood, Alternate and Hank Fitzgerald, Alternate? (RH) Clayton Wood and Hank Fitzgerald can be seated on the Board, and they have already been included in the roll call.

ITEM 3. Approval of Minutes of July 2, 2009 and October 1, 2009

(BM) Motion to approve Minutes of July 2, 2009. (LK) Second.

(JP) These Minutes have already been approved. (BM) Withdraw Motion and (LK) withdraw Second.

(BM) Motion to approve Minutes of October 1, 2009 as submitted.
(LK) Second. Carried 7-0.

ITEM 4. New Business

1. Master Plan Update

(RH) The Master Plan is not yet ready for review. (DS) I think it will be ready on the 19th.

2. CNHRPC – Pittsfield Zoning Ordinance Re-Write

(LK) Over the last year or so, one of the things I see is the Planning Board struggling to re-write the Zoning Ordinances. Even though I am not going to be here on the Board next year, I think the Zoning Ordinances need to be worked on. Every year this Board has tried and spent a lot of countless hour and we just haven’t gotten it together to get it through. I think getting some professional help, and I am saying this as one Board member, it would be a great benefit as a tool this Board can use next year to work on the Zoning Ordinances. In following the Master Plan coming out and with the Economic Development Committee plans we have in place right now, they are spending numerous hours promoting and trying to get businesses to move into Town. With all these Boards working together, now is the time to get professional help in here. Without this Board’s approval, we will not go forward on this. I know it is a lot of money, but it is money well spent and very much needed. So, I went and got a proposal from Matt Monahan, CNHRPC, to get an idea of the costs as I had no idea what the costs would be.

He has given us a proposed scope of the work and costs. The BOS has looked at it quickly and decided they would like to get the approval of this Board first, and then look at it from that point and I think that is what we are doing here tonight.

(BM) Question: If, in fact, the Planning Board votes to engage CNHRPC to do the rewrite, will the Selectmen come up with the money? (LK) We are going to work on that to the best of our ability as possible to try and get the money. Right now, the BOS is not even considering it until PB approves it. My job is to go back and present it to them. (BM) This Board does not really have enough money in its budget to authorize spending this amount of money. We have never gotten anywhere with this and I think we do need some guidance.

(LK) EDC is getting strong out there and they are spending more money and if we do not having zoning working with them… (BM) right, it is going to fall on its face. Rich, is it up to us to Motion for this? (RH) As I read this proposal, I think it is appropriate for us to come up with something that we would like to see done and send it to the BOS and ask them to see if they can come up with the money. Like you said, Bill, we can’t authorize this on our own. My feeling is as I look at the objectives, that there are some objectives I would like to see that are not in there. (BM) What is the functional way to get this going?

(JP) I would like a little clarification. I think we are about 80% in agreement with Rich, if I understand what he is saying properly, in that the Board needs to come to some kind of consensus as to what direction we want to go in and figure out, at least in broad strokes, what we want to do rather than just say “We are hopeless, you do it.”

(RH) Yes, I would like to give it some direction and I think there are probably a lot of different opinions amongst this Board as to what things we want some emphasis on. Not only do the ordinances need to be cleaned up, but I think they are lacking in a lot of areas that I would like to see some emphasis. Not just cleaning it up, but if you are going to have it professionally done, I would like to see some other areas approached. If we are going to go that way, we should at least come up with a long range direction and then see if the BOS can come up with the money.

(BM) We can have Matt Monahan address this as to how it might proceed.

Matt Monahan related that the scope is fluid and at the end of the day, this is your “game.” I came up with a scope of things I thought we could work on based on various things and in general there are five things I was hoping to accomplish including: cleaning up the Zoning Ordinances as to definitions, making it user friendly; responding to the economic climate, consistency with the Master Plan and the infrastructure issues regarding sewer and water and a wide range of uses, and workforce houses.

Board and Matt Monahan discussed in detail the effects of workforce housing, the need for additional housing and Pittsfield’s fair share, the formula by which this will be determined by State, and how this came about.

Matt Monahan assured Board that this is a draft of the proposed scope and could be modified to insure those items which the Board felt was necessary.

Several drafts of the proposed Motion were offered by (LK) and (BM) seconded. However, these motions were withdrawn by (LK) and Second withdrawn by (BM). The final Motion was proposed.

(LK) Motion to request the Select Board to set aside funds to hire Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commissionn to rewrite the Zoning Ordinances after approval of proposed scope of work in 2010 from the Planning Board. The Select Board will be in charge of these funds.
(BM) Second. After Discussion: Carried 5-2 (JP) and (CW).

Discussion: (BM) I would not like to see us spend a lot of money. (LK) It is a draft. What I am looking for from this Board is approval that this Board wants to hire professional help. The scope of this can be worked out after approval in March.

(RH) There are so many things in our Zoning Ordinances that shouldn’t be there. Matt Monahan related that now we do not know what the Master Plan will give us to do. The Master Plan does this research for us. (JP) My concern is that this money is liable to be wasted. We have not been able to agree in what direction we want to go. I do not see a problem on this Board regarding lack of technical expertise. There are plenty of people here who have the capability but just are not able to agree. I can see a situation where CNHRPC may suffer the same fate as previous comprehensive revisions because we simply cannot agree. My personal feelings are that there is a great danger that this money would be wasted since we do not seem to have solved the problems we had in the past. Mr. Monahan noted that Board is not locked in on the scope of the items. (RH) noted that the Zoning Ordinances for Town have been copied and pasted from those used by other Towns and in a lot of instances is not appropriate for Pittsfield. “We have zoned the country out of country.” We need a clear scope of what we want Pittsfield to look like.

(DS) noted that it would be important to be on the Planning Board next year and attend all the meetings. I would also be interested in this Board responding to the economic situation. If we are going to do it, we should get somebody to help us so I am in favor of this.

Vote was taken.

After the vote was taken, (DS) “What is the reason for opposition?”
(BM) That is not an appropriate question.

3. FEMA – Final Flood Hazard Determination

(RH) suggested just using the language as supplied to us for this determination. Board discussed whether this would have to go to Town Meeting, checked statutes, (which were read into the Minutes by (JP).
(RH) This was sent to us by Town Administrator.

Board ultimately agreed that they would not have to act on this but rather refer it back to the Board of Selectman for decision. (LK) to do.

ITEM 5. Selectman’s Report

(LK) Taxes are down by $.59 which is great. This has a lot to do with Department Heads saving costs. Board is working on budgets and we are tightening up the budget as much as we can. The economy is in tough shape. We have been making cuts and have had to make tough decisions. The Department Heads are not asking for anything more than what they need. There have been a lot of foreclosures, welfare is busy, and people are out of work. I personally have had a lot of sleepless nights. The budget is being presented to the Budget Committee and we need to know what all these numbers are and that is why I presented the proposal tonight. The BOS may decide that they do not have the money to do this.

(BM) I think the Board should be commended that it has been able to drop our tax rate in the light of the economy.

ITEM 6. Building Inspector Report

None.

ITEM 7. Members Concerns

(BM) related that Mr. Vincent, who was recently in with a conceptual for a lot line adjustment, had called him at home regarding several questions he had. I told him to work with the Building Inspector and Matt Monahan. I offered him no guarantee and recommended he hire a land surveyor. He asked for a recommendation, which I offered, personally but not as a Board member.

(LK) I have talked to several Board members regarding following protocol procedures. Would we like to add to it or work on it so all boards have same protocol. (HF) Would that be to clean-up the Rules of Procedures and actually use them? (LK) Are there any volunteers to work on it? Board noted that they had recently revised the Rules of Procedure. (CW) noted that he would like to see something regarding disclosure added to that.

Matt Monahan noted that people like predictability and that he had made a visual diagram with the checklist. (RH) People need to know that there plan is doable. They would want to know that they got it right and know what to expect.

(BM) On a lot of these applications, why can’t the Building Inspector do them? If complicated, then no. Why are we requiring people to spend extra money? (LK) Members of the Boards come and go and this would offer continuity. It was agreed that in some instances, it would be better for the applicant to pay the extra money to assure that his plan would go forward. (RH) Some people need to have “total” handholding and some do not. It would be determined on what you need and the hours involved. Basically, time is money. (BM) So, this Board would send everyone to CNHRPC even if they do not need it. (HF) Correct.

(LK) noted that Board still needs to find someone to do Minutes. Dina is out this week with the flu and will do Minutes for awhile, but Board needs to find someone to do them.

(DS) Larry, the budget is the hardest part of the job (for Board of Selectmen).

When I am asking a Board member why they have not voted for something, they do not have to answer. I would like to know member’s reasoning behind their vote and if I know that, then it is a much better vote. I will be asking this sometimes.

ITEM 8. Public Input

None

ITEM 9. Adjournment

(BM) Motion to Adjourn. (HF) Second. Carried 7-0.

Approved: December 3, 2009

____________________________ _________________________\
Bill Miskoe, Acting Chairman Date

I hereby certify that these Minutes were transcribed by me on November 12, 2009 and publicly posted on November 12, 2009.

___________________________________
Delores A. Fritz, Recording Secretary

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