Minutes of the Meeting
Held at the Town Hall upstairs Tuesday July 11, 2006
Regular members attending: Chairman Fred Emerson, Vice Chairman Steve Young, Claude Reed and Les Hilton.
Alternate members attending:Aurore Hood, Joe Hoey and John Brooks.
Absent: Ann Dubreuil and David Rexford
Excused: Leon Rideout
Others attending: Town Manager Edward Samson, Jr. , Town Administrative Services Manager Becky Newton and Selectmen’s Representative to the Planning Board Leo Enos, Sr. Also attending was Edith Tucker – Reporter.
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by Chairman Fred Emerson. He welcomed all to the meeting.
Roll Call was taken.
Initial Business:
To review and approve the minutes of the June 13, 2006 meeting. A motion was called for to approve.
A motion was made by John Brooks and seconded by Claude Reed to accept the minutes as written. Steve Young said that there was a correction to be made. (The first motion to accept the minutes said “mad” instead of “made”. The correction was so noted and a motion was called to accept the minutes with the necessary correction. A vote was taken and the motion carried with the correction.
NOTE: There were no public hearings scheduled for this months meeting.
Other Business:
It was noted that the Building Permit for Steven Streeter (New England Cattle Co. on Main St.) his permit has expired and needs to be renewed. There was discussion as to the shape of the building and that it was an eye sore as you come into town. There needs to be a letter sent to him to advise him that he needs to re-apply for his permit. Aurore Hood asked when did it expire. Edward Samson said that it expires 12 months from the date it is issued. Looking at the permit, it had been issued on May 9, 2005. It was suggested that a letter be sent to him and Fred Emerson will sign it as Board Chairman.
A motion was then made by Steve Young and seconded by John Brooks that a letter to Mr. Streeter by typed up on Town letterhead and Chairman Fred Emerson will sign it to be mailed. A vote was taken and the motion carried.
Site Plan Review Requirements: Becky Newton said that she thought the Board should consider having the Site Plan Plats recorded at the Registry. There are things that go on that the public doesn’t always know and this way if they are looking for something they would be able to see it there. There would be some expense as it would need to be a mylar. It was suggested that maybe only those with buildings over 4,000 square feet need to be recorded. Aurore Hood suggested that a document could be recorded to refer to smaller plans at the Town Office. This was only a consideration discussion. Becky Newton said that she would bring it up again in the fall for a vote.
Correspondence: This packet of information was handed out to the Board members at the meeting. It is mainly FYI material.
1. Gorham Zoning Board of Adjustment – re: SBA towers.
2. Letter for DES – re: Private Well Testing – Upcoming Seminar
3. Letter
from DOT – re: Aviation Issues in
4. e-mail from NHLoGIN – re: Telecom & Broadband Summit on Sept. 8
5. Letter from OEP – re: Index of Selected Land Use Regulation & Energy Status
6. Letter
to George Sansoucy – re: things that he will need for Public Hearing on project
on
Becky Newton also brought up the she would like to send a letter to Henry Dryer regarding some issues on the plan that was submitted on his subdivision. The surveyor put a note on the plan regarding Parcel B. There was no Parcel B on the plan. She said that the letter was only telling them that there were some deficiencies and that later on there could be some issues if sold. The Dryers could choose to do nothing as the 30 day appeal period has expired. Aurore Hood asked if we should also send a copy to the surveyor. The answer was no as it would be up the Dryers to contact him if they wanted the plan corrected.
A ;motion was made by Joe Hoey and seconded by Claude Reed for Becky to send letter regarding same. A vote was called for and the motion carried.
Joe Hoey had brought in a notice that had been published at
the Library stating that there was to be a Planning Board meeting on July 12th
at 1 P.M. at the Old Court House. The agenda was to be discussion of the
This started quite a discussion:
Chairman Fred Emerson said that the Planning Board meetings were to be held at the Town Hall and that was where all business would take place. It was also brought up what if members had made other plans for the day. (This notice was posted on Monday July 10th)
Ed Samson said that the meeting was to be with Peter Riviere, the land owners where the tower was to be built and Mr. McConnahy of the Historical Preservation Society. (Who had been asked to be at our July 11th meeting but couldn’t come.)
Fred Emerson said that if there were more than 3 members at the meeting it would be illegal. Becky Newton asked him why it was illegal.
Ed Samson said that if the Board did show up in mass and had not been posted then it would be illegal. He is going to be there as they are to discuss the height of the tower. He said that he would tell them what the Planning Board voted on and it was the l89 feet. If they are going to change the height of the tower they will have to submit a new application. He would like to negotiate space of l70 feet. U.S. Cellular needs approval by Aug. 1st or they are going to pull out.
Les Hilton asked if they could make the decision on the 12th. The answer was no. Ed Samson said that the Weeks Trust is not opposed to the l70 feet. He hoped that he would be able to express our concerns and hope that they will see our view on the project.
Aurore Hood said that they need to know how we feel about them changing things.
Les Hilton expressed concern for other towns that are waiting for us to put up our tower so they can move ahead with theirs.
Joe Hoey said that he thought it was a plot against us.
John Brooks asked what would happen if the landowner said no-way to the l55 foot tower. Ed Samson said that to keep US Cellular interested they might agree to the l55 feet if they agree to additional height also.
Becky Newton said that as a member of the public-at-large, she would like to have her concerns as to why the Historical Preservation Society has let a National gas station be 20 feet from a historical covered bridge in Groveton.
Steve Young asked if there wasn’t some newer technology that could be used for the height of the tower decreasing necessary space between providers.
Les Hilton wondered if the l9-20 feet would make that much difference.
Fred Emerson said that he knows what historical means and if that area is historical then why isn’t it on the Register.
Steve Young asked if we could use technology as a bargaining chip to help the other land owners.
Ed Samson said that the landowner will be the one who make some of the decisions regarding this.
Leo Enos asked why didn’t they check before they came to us for the l89 feet, if was said that they did but didn’t know of any.
Joe Hoey showed the maps that were given to the Board when they came to discuss the tower originally, showing where the best reception would be and areas where it would not be. Joe says these maps show l89 feet best for town.
Les Hilton said that he would be in favor of the l70 feet if the signal would bounce back from Groveton and the reception was satisfactory.
Ed Samson said that it may not get approved for l55 feet by Aug. 1st. If Weeks Trust would agree to l70 feet then they could move forward. Other towns in the southern part of the state are in litigation on some towers regarding Historical Preservation too.
Joe Hoey said that he is sticking with his vote of l89 feet, we need to take care of our town.
Steve Young suggested that they go for l75 feet.
There continued to be a lot of discussion regarding the footage of the tower it became redundant.
A motion was made by John Brooks and seconded by Les Hilton to negotiate for a tower of l70 feet; (Note – that this is only an advisory vote)
Les Hilton said that we should let Ed Samson go to the meeting and get a feel for what everyone wants.
Edith Tucker – Reporter – said that she was told by Peter Riviere that the meeting was gong to be a Tele-Conference call.
Ed Samson said that the technical necessity that was presented before the Board could justify change as new technology requires less space between providers.
Fred Emerson said that he was not aware of the meeting and Becky Newton said that she thought that Peter Riviere was in close contact with Fred Emerson.
At this time John Brooks withdrew his previous motion on the l70 feet for the tower.
After much more discussion Becky Newton asked for a straw poll of the Board.
This was to be with Ed expressing to them – that if the tower could be built less than l89 feet but greater than l55 feet would they accept it.
A vote was taken and there were 5 for and 2 against. Les Hilton, Fred Emerson and Joe Hoey said that they thought that they would be at the meeting.
7. Traffic Study Proposals: They had been in the last months packet. All agreed that they were to difficult for anyone to understand. Ed Samson said that there had been a lot of progress in mediation and suggested that it be tabled until the next meeting.
A motion was made by Les Hilton and seconded by John Brooks to table the Traffic Study until the next meeting. A vote was called for and the motion carried.
Noting that there was no further business to come before the meeting a motion was called for to adjourn.
A motion was made by Les Hilton and seconded by John Brooks to adjourn. A vote was called for and the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 P.M.
Respectfully submitted.