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

DATE: Saturday, October 12, 2013

The meeting of the planning board convened at 9:00 A.M. at the Pittsfield Community Center on 74 Main Street in the audience of the meeting of the economic development committee (“EDC”). The meeting of the planning board was part of the EDC’s joint board/committee forum.

EDC chair Ted Mitchell called the meeting to order at 9:17 A.M.

Planning board members present:
Clayton Wood, member and chair of the planning board;
Jim Pritchard, member and secretary of the planning board; and
Bill Miskoe, member of the planning board.

Planning board members absent:
Pat Heffernan, member and vice-chair of the planning board;
Eric Nilsson, selectmen’s ex officio member of the planning board;
Larry Konopka, selectmen’s ex officio alternate member of the planning board; and
Peter Dow, alternate member of the planning board.

Other town officials, employees, or contractors present:
Ted Mitchell, chair EDC;
Lyn Roberts, vice-chair EDC;
Ellen Barbasso, secretary EDC;
Linda Small, EDC/selectman;
Paul Sherwood, EDC/vice-chair zoning board of adjustment;
Ralph Odell, chair master plan committee;
Merrill Vaughan, master plan committee;
Helen Schoppmeyer, master plan committee;
Al Douglas, selectman;
Gerard LeDuc, selectman;
Bill Elkins, chair housing standards;
Helen Schiff, housing standards and Suncook Valley Regional Development Corporation;
Paul Skowon, town administrator;
Jesse Pacheco, building inspector;
John Webber, police officer;
Matt Monahan, Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission;
Stuart Arnett, Arnett Development Group.

Members of the public appearing before the planning board: None.

“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.

EDC chair Ted Mitchell asked attendees to identify themselves and the town board on which they serve.

Guest speaker Stuart Arnett, of Arnett Development Group, discussed the purposes of the joint board/committee forum: to improve cooperation among the town boards in order to remove unnecessary impediments to economic growth.

EDC chair Ted Mitchell discussed recent EDC activities:

A. New England Real Estate Journal: The EDC is advertising its activities.

B. RSA 79-E: High-tech company Kentek, which makes laser-safety devices, has used this tax-relief statute to improve Kentek’s building in Pittsfield.

C. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy: Ted Mitchell was Pittsfield’s representative to the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission’s committee on comprehensive economic development strategy (“CEDS”). The CEDS committee recently analyzed Pittsfield’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) for or to economic growth. Ted Mitchell is also serving on a subcommittee of CEDS.

D. Irving Oil property on Carroll Street: Irving Oil Company is decontaminating this site and is doing more than the pollution laws require. The EDC is talking to Irving about how Irving might dispose of this property.

E. Park and Ride: Pittsfield has withdrawn its support for a Park-And-Ride facility on NH Route 107 off NH Route 28 because the NH Department of Transportation has been unclear about its plans for the property and because a business would like to acquire the property and locate there.

Stuart Arnett and Matt Monahan discussed strategies for economic development:
1. Advocate: Shared vision, recognize achievement, show appreciation.
2. Help: Referrals, loans, downtown marketing.
3. Partner: TIF district, property lease, training.
4. Do it yourself: Business park, direct investment.

Stuart Arnett discussed the sources of economic development:
1. Retention (60%).
2. Expansion (20%).
3. Recruitment (20%).

EDC chair Ted Mitchell said that, in respect to retention and expansion, the EDC had made a crucial difference in keeping businesses Barry Podmore and Kentek in Pittsfield and in helping them to expand.

Clayton Wood said that forgetting existing customers is easy but that they are the customers most important.

Stuart Arnett said that helping businesses does not mean letting them do as they please or removing development-quality standards. It does mean removing unnecessary impediments, such as (1) difficulties in accessing proper officials in the town hall and (2) confusing land-use regulations.

The meeting divided into three groups with a distribution of town-board members at each group. For example, each group had one of the three planning board members present. The three groups discussed the following topics:
A. Improving communication between boards
B. How to make existing rules, regulations, fees and zoning more business friendly
C. Leadership – what makes a leader

The combined results of these discussions are as follows:

Pittsfield All-Boards Meeting Visioning
Oct 12, 2013

I. Meeting saw members from the ZBA, Planning Board, EDC, Building Inspector, BOS, Master Plan Committee, Police Department, Budget Committee, Conservation Commission, SVRDC, Website Committee and Housing Standards – about 16 people all together.

II. Findings of the breakout groups:

A. Improving Communication Between Boards and Committees:

– Leadership and communication is intertwined.
– Members for each board need to review materials before coming to meetings.
– Chairs and department heads need to communicate regularly – weekly meetings?
– Annual training for each board is desirable – in April?
– Clear legacy for future board members; good records and regulations.
– Checklists for each board.
– Flow charts for the process for each board.
– Town-wide communication on the flow charts.
– Every board can make the town better.
– Understand the legal framework that each board operates in, including meeting process and the boundaries of authority.
– Boards should hold frequent joint meetings.
– PB/ZBA overlap on some applications. Applicants need to know the whole picture. There can also be an opportunity to eliminate redundant fees/processes with joint meetings and notifications.
– Review regulations and fees annually to determine, among other things, is it clear? What’s different?
– Use subcommittees made up of membership from multiple boards to solve problems common to the Town as a whole, as well as multiple boards. Subcommittee recommendations can then be passed back to each whole board for adoption by each board individually.

B. Making Rules/Regs and Fees more Business Friendly:

– Rules/regulations and communication are intertwined.
– Clarity and predictability is key.
– Clear regulations can lead to a clear checklist and a clear checklist leads to a clear flowchart.
– Review fees: are the fair and adequate?
– Board should have a good understanding of their own rules and regulations are.
– A “point person” or “ambassador” is needed for the town. This person should be full-time, or at the very least, accessible Monday through Friday during working hours.
– Flow charts for board processes and approvals needs to making the process predictable.
– Eliminate redundant fees and regulations when possible.

C. Leadership:

– Understand expectations before taking a position on a board.
– Understand the level of commitment required to join a board.
– More recruitment needed for membership on boards.
– Know the boundaries of each board and identify the opportunities for collaboration.
– Know the strengths and weaknesses of the people in the organization.
– “Leadership” is made up of multiple factors:
o Need technical know-how of what Board is required to do.
o Strategic vision.
o Ability and willingness to listen to other ideas as well as criticism.
o Have, and take, initiative.
o Know your own limits and strengths, as well as those you work with.

D. Next Steps
a. Meet again in February.
b. Board Chairs and Department Heads to meet weekly between now and February to develop scope and outline from
c. Ted, as chair of EDC, will work to facilitate the organization of the monthly meetings as well as the meeting in February.
d. Flow charts and opportunity for collaboration will be the focus of February’s meeting.

EDC chair Ted Mitchell suggested tentatively scheduling another joint board/committee meeting for February 7, 2014.

The meeting adjourned at 11:40 A.M.

Minutes approved: November 7, 2013

______________________________ _____________________
Clayton Wood, Chairman Date

I transcribed these minutes (not verbatim) on October 20, 2013, from notes and memory.

____________________________________________
Jim Pritchard, planning board recorder and secretary