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Town of
Warner – Planning Board Work Session Minutes Monday, June 15, 2009
7:00 PM Warner Town Hall, Lower Level Members
Present:
Barbara Annis, Paul Violette, Hank Duhamel, David Hartman, Rick
Davies, Ed Mical Members Excused:
Dan Watts Members Absent:
None Members Late:
None Alternates Present:
Peter Wyman Alternates Excused:
None Alternates Absent:
Harold French Presiding:
Barbara Annis Recording:
Jean Lightfoot Master Plan Committee: Members Present:
Paul Violette, Hank Duhamel, Jim McLaughlin Members Absent:
Harold French, Ted Young Open Meeting at 7:00 PM Roll Call Ms. Annis opened the meeting at 7:00
p.m. The roll call was
taken. 1. MASTER PLAN Vanessa Bittermann was present from the
Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission (CNHRPC). Mr. Violette said that some information has been distributed
which were proposed sections of the Master Plan. Ms. Bittermann asked if there were any comments about the
Community Vision or the Existing Land Use drafts that had been
distributed. Ms. Annis said
in regard to the Existing Land Use, on page 2, the table identified
right now as XX will be given an actual number in the final draft.
Ms. Bittermann said yes. Ms.
Annis said on page 4, the Charette is mentioned, but the Corridor Study
done in 2005 is not mentioned. Ms.
Bittermann said she was not aware of the Corridor Study and agreed to
get a copy of it and consider it in the report.
Ms. Annis said she had no other comments about the drafts. Mr. Violette commented that it is not too
late to add anything to the draft.
Ms. Bittermann agreed. Mr.
Duhamel said on page 3 of the Existing Land Use, there is a reference
indicating that the number of acres that is in current use and total
acreage is not known. He
said that there is a website that has the current acreage for each town.
There was a short discussion about various websites and Ms.
Bittermann said that the Town Assessor has been requested to get the
information, as well. Mr.
Duhamel continued and said that on page 5, there is a sentence that says
that “the existing 2,000 square foot gross floor area limit may need
to be revisited . . .” He recommended that the word “may” be removed and
change it to read “the floor area limit needs to be revisited in order
to draw new businesses.” He
said that he believes this has been discussed at great length and he
said he believes it should be revisited.
Mr. McLaughlin said on page 2 under
Protected Land, he thinks there may be a need to incorporate some of the
summary information from the Conservation Commission’s Conservation
Plan that is being developed. He
said he thought it should be referred to in some way so there is a
connection to the discussion about how much land is protected.
Mr. Violette said that there will be a reference to it.
Ms. Bittermann said there will be a Natural Resources chapter
which will refer to the Conservation Plan.
Mr. McLaughlin said that there may be something from the Plan
when it is done that would be useful in this Existing Land Use chapter
as well. Mr. Violette asked the members to
consider the other draft about Community Vision and asked if there were
any comments. Ms.
Bittermann said that this chapter will most likely be significantly
revised as the process goes on, so she noted it is really a work in
process. Mr. Duhamel said
he thought that on page 2, the sentence about property taxes should be
changed to read that the concerns include that property taxes “are”
too high – not that they “will get” too high.
Mr. Violette said that this will be something for discussion and
decide exactly how it all fits together.
Mr. Violette said on page 2, with regard
to renewable energy under Environmental Concerns, he thought there
should be a section included regarding environmental concerns as well. He noted that the Planning Board will be meeting with the
Energy Committee and hope to get some input from them. Mr. Duhamel said on page 4, noted that the reference was that
residents see a need for transportation from Warner to Concord.
He asked if the town leadership has ever contacted DOT or the bus
company to see if this kind of thing is possible.
Mr. Hartman said the Selectmen could contact the bus service that
goes by Warner to consider re-establishing a stop in Warner.
There was a discussion about public transportation that used to
go through Warner and other towns in southern and central New Hampshire
but is no longer available. Mr. Davies referred to the middle
paragraph on page 2 and asked if the word “unworried” or the
phrasing around it could be changed to be clearer.
Ms. Bittermann said she would think about it and change it.
Mr. Davies continued and asked about the Business and Commercial
Development section, saying that there was a discussion about what
percentage of the area was zoned to be commercial or business.
He noted it was quite low and asked if that is an appropriate
thing to talk about in this section.
Mr. Violette said he thought it might be a good idea to add that
percentage. Mr. Davies said
it could show we are and where the average town in the area is, to show
the difference. Ms. Annis
said that it’s already shown in the Existing Land Use section on page
3. Mr. Davies said that he
thought that it needs to be noted in the Visioning Section, as well,
saying that we need more. Mr. Violette said that at the end of that
same paragraph on page 3 of the Visioning section, there is a reference
to the town should “introduce” fees on new development.
He said that that is already done through exaction fees. Ms. Bittermann agreed to change the wording to something like
the town should continue the policy of imposing fees on new development.
There was a short discussion about impact fees (which are not
charged by the Planning Board), exaction fees and tie-in fees to the
precinct. Mr. Violette said
that this may be looked at later. There was a short discussion and general
agreement that the two sections read well for the first draft.
Ms. Bittermann said that she believes that this finishes all the
items in Phase I. She said
she thought it was agreed that what has been done would be put in a
package and put out to the public to show what has been done so far for
the Master Plan so people can read it and comment if they wish.
Mr. Violette agreed and said he thought it would be helpful to
put everything from Phase I out to the public.
Mr. Duhamel said on page 3 of the
Community Vision section, there is a sentence that reads that “Most
residents believe that new homes should be restricted along hill tops
and ridgelines, as well as in remote area of town and Class VI roads.”
He said that his recollection is that we wanted to put some
regulations, but he said he thinks that this reads that we want to
prevent people from building. Ms.
Bittermann said it came from a survey question about hill tops and
ridgelines. Mr. Violette
asked what the numbers were on that question.
Ms. Bittermann said that it was question #46 on the survey and
62.5% supported protection of ridgelines and hill tops.
There was a discussion about this survey question, what the
interpretation may have been and different possible ways to regulate
things related to the question. Ms.
Bittermann suggested wording the sentence just as the question was
worded so there would be no question of interpretation.
Mr. Violette agreed that might be a good idea. Scope of Phase II Mr. Violette noted that this is when the
Natural Resources Chapter will be prepared.
Ms. Bittermann said that this scope is based on the original
overview conversation that Sharon Wason had with the Planning Board at
the beginning of the project. She
said it has been modified based on some of the feedback that has been
received from the Board and the Committee about what is desired in terms
of chapters. She asked if the members had any chapters to add, things to
delete or changes to be made. She
noted there are two optional tasks that need to be decided upon:
a build-out analysis and a functional road classification.
Ms. Annis asked what the functional road
classification entails. Ms.
Bittermann said that the entire inventory of roads is gone through and
classify what level of importance they are or what function they serve,
in terms of the town and the whole flow of traffic through the town.
She said, for example, it would identify a collector road or an
arterial, etc. Mr. Violette
said that it puts labels on those roads.
Mr. Mical asked Mr. Hartman if this has not been done partially
by the Road Committee. Mr.
Hartman said that the Road Committee did do a pretty intense study of
each of the roads. Mr. Mical said that they identified the roads as main
arteries, connectors, etc. and classified them, in a way that was
somewhat modified from the Vermont system.
He said it was an ongoing project that is working into the CIP.
Mr. McLaughlin agreed that much of the information may already be
available. Mr. Violette
asked if it could be included in the Master Plan and asked what form it
is and how voluminous it is. Mr.
Mical replied that a lot of it is in an Excel spreadsheet.
Mr. Violette said that this needs to be located and a copy sent
to the CNHRPC office to see if it can be included and possibly reduce
the cost of this option, if it is chosen.
Mr. McLaughlin said it would be nice to have a map of the town
using the road classification from the Road Committee, and that could be
done by the CNHRPC. Mr.
Mical said that he knew that Allan Brown and Richard Cutting are working
on a map to show the classifications of each road in town.
Ms. Annis asked how much is available in
the budget for Phase II. Mr.
Violette said he was quite sure that it was $6500, as shown in the
proposal, without any options. There
was a short discussion about where to get additional money if it were to
be needed. Mr. Violette asked what the scope is of
the buildout analysis. Ms.
Bittermann said that the buildout analysis starts with a base scenario
that looks at what the current Zoning Ordinance allows and then it
breaks down to show what could be developed.
Then, she said, there are one or more scenarios that consider
some kind of proposed change to the Zoning Ordinance and then this will
show how that would affect how much could be built and where in town.
She said it’s a way to look at what is the maximum amount that
your Zoning is going to allow to be built in your town.
She said that it can help guide where you may want to have future
development. Mr. McLaughlin
said that if the town were under a lot of development pressure, he could
see a use for this option. However,
he said, he does not think that Warner is in that situation.
There was a short discussion about building permits and how much
growth is actually anticipated for the town.
Ms. Bittermann said she would send an example of what has been
done for another town. Mr. Mical asked when it is anticipated
that the Master Plan will be completed.
Mr. Violette said that Ms. Wason’s estimate as 12-18 months.
Ms. Bittermann said that today, Ms. Wason thought it could be
completed in 9-12 months. Mr.
Mical asked what the time frame would be to do the buildout analysis. Ms. Bittermann said it could be done in a few months.
Ms. Annis noted this is only task 2 and there are about 6 to do.
Mr. Mical agreed, but he said if it is going to be considered,
could it be postponed to next year and placed in the budget at that
time. Ms. Annis asked if the buildout could go under Housing which
is in Task 3. Ms.
Bittermann said yes, but it also deals with commercial growth, so that
is what it is raised in phase II. Mr. Wyman asked if the building permits
represent all new houses or if they represent some replacement houses. There was a short discussion about this and it was agreed
that if there are “replacement” houses in the listing, they should
be removed from the count since they do not represent actual additional
population numbers. Ms. Annis said that we are definitely
looking at the $6500 for Phase II.
She asked if the $2000 from DOT is guaranteed for the
Transportation Section. Ms.
Bittermann said yes, it is paid directly to CNHRPC.
It was agreed that that item should not be listed as an option
and should be in the first column, but not added to the $6500.
Ms. Annis asked if someone would get the road classification
information from Allan Brown and possibly reduce that option to $1000
and we could find $1000 somewhere to pay for that.
Mr. Violette said the information will be sent to CNHRPC and they
will make an assessment about how much they would charge to incorporate
it into the Master Plan. Mr.
Violette noted that he would get that from the Selectmen’s Office and
send it to Ms. Wason. Ms. Bittermann asked if there is a
priority or order in which the Board would like the different tasks
accomplished in Phase II. Mr.
Violette said the order that is shown looks all right to him.
Ms. Bittermann said that the Natural Resources Chapter will be
held until the Conservation Plan is complete.
Mr. McLaughlin said that October is their target date to complete
it. Mr. Violette suggested switching the order to move the
Natural Resources Chapter down further to after the Housing and
Population and Economic Development chapters.
Mr. Mical said that the Housing and Population would be good to
work on early because the CIP Committee is hoping to include in their
report some more information about population trends.
He said that, especially, when considering workforce housing, the
population information would be good to have as part of the CIP.
He said their target is the end of August to have that done.
Ms. Annis asked when the meeting with the
Energy Committee is going to be. It
was agreed that it was going to be at the Work Session on July 20. Ms. Bittermann said it would be good to talk with the Energy
Committee and the Planning Board about what is wanted in the Energy
section of the Natural Resource chapter.
Mr. Violette said the meeting in July will help to give both
committees some direction. Mr.
McLaughlin said that it was his understanding that the Office of Energy
and Planning is working on population projections that might be
available soon for the Population chapter.
He said it was his understanding that they were going to try to
finish it by the end of the year. Mr.
Violette said that would be very helpful and would feed right into the
chapter on Population. Mr. Violette asked if there were any
further questions on the tasks and what is trying to be accomplished in
Phase II. Mr. Hartman asked
if we are not intending to do the buildout analysis.
Ms. Bittermann said that she would send out some examples for the
Board and Committee members to give a clear idea of what it would be and
then a decision would be made. Mr.
Violette agreed that it has not totally been written off yet.
Ms. Annis said she thought that the contract for the second phase
has not been signed yet. She
asked if we could do a contract for the $6500 and then do an addendum
for the other options. She
asked Mr. Hartman if he, as one member of the Board of Selectmen, would
agree to this plan. Mr. Hartman said yes. Ms.
Bittermann said she would ask Ms. Wason if the plan would work for her.
Mr. Hartman asked if the graphic
presentations could use a lighter color than the dark green background
since the blue dots on it do not show up well.
Ms. Bittermann said she would try to correct that.
Mr. Hartman asked Mr. Wyman for clarification on what his
question was on the building permits.
Mr. Wyman said it was a question as to whether the count included
only building permits for newly constructed buildings or if they also
included permits for buildings that were replacing other buildings that
had been in place previously. He
said that to count building permits that were to replace houses that had
been torn down or burnt down might not show what they wish to show with
the chart – that is, the implication that the number of buildings in
town had increased by those numbers.
Mr. Hartman said that it may well be, but there are not too many
that would fall into that category and would skew the numbers.
Ms. Bittermann handed out some flyers
about the National Park Service program to assist municipalities or
non-profit organizations with trails, preservation and river corridor
development for recreation. She
said it is an in-kind grant where they provide staff time and technical
assistance. She said there
is no cash involved, but if there are trails projects that are planned,
this may be a possibility for the town if there is a concrete plan that
it wants to complete. She
said the application deadline for this year is August 1, 2009.
There was a discussion about possible groups and committees in
town who might be interested in receiving it and it was agreed to pass
the flyers along to them. Mr. McLaughlin asked where recreation as
a topic fits into the Master Plan.
Ms. Bittermann said she thinks there was a recreation section
planned and Ms. Wason had the impression that it wasn’t a big priority
for the Committee, so it was left out.
Mr. Violette said he thought there was one in the last one.
Ms. Bittermann said that perhaps it could be wrapped into the
Natural Resources section. Mr.
Violette agreed that it is not included right now as a separate section,
but it is most likely in a chapter as a sub-section. Ms. Annis asked if the Safe Routes to
Schools might be included in the National Park Service program since
part of the plan is to access the ball field.
She said there is an old bridge that is now owned by Walker Power
that might be possible to be included in the plan.
Ms. Bittermann said that that bridge had been discussed as a
possible candidate for transportation enhancement for pedestrians and
bicycles. Ms. Annis said it
would be up to the Selectmen to pursue that.
Mr. Hartman said that he knows that Allan Brown has had that
bridge as a demolition project in the last few years, but it has not
been pursued. He said it was more a matter of dealing with it as a
liability than it was as an obvious link from one side of the river to
the other. He said that the
fact that the bridge is private property right now is a complication but
he said he knows that Mr. Brown has discussed some way to do more with
the bridge. He said that he knows that the Safe Routes to Schools
includes extending the sidewalk down at the base of Middle Street and
doing painting across the bridge to try to create a safe route to a play
area from the school. He
said that has been approved for construction.
He said that he does not know if the alternate of using that
bridge is in the works yet or not.
He said that it would be a fair thing to put in a Master Plan as
part of a recreation chapter that would state that using old bridge
works might be a solution to getting the downtown connected with
Riverside Park. A
discussion continued about some other possibilities for the National
Park Service program and what might qualify.
Mr. McLaughlin said that it sounds like the project would have to
be pretty specific as to the plans to qualify for the program.
Mr. Violette agreed. Mr. Violette asked if there were any more
questions for Ms. Bittermann. Mr.
Duhamel asked if she had an idea of specifically what she would need for
the road specifications. Ms.
Bittermann replied that a map and a spreadsheet that has the road
segments, the classifications and a definition of the classifications
would be the most helpful. Mr.
Violette said he would try to get the map and spreadsheet.
Mr. Davies asked if the $2000 would include maps similar to the
other maps. Ms. Bittermann
said that if the maps already exist, then maybe the amount could be
reduced. Ms. Bittermann
thanked the Board and departed. 2. COMMUNICATIONS AND
MISCELLANEOUS A discussion was begun about the proposed
time frame schedule that Mr. Davies had prepared for the Planning Board
projects. Mr. Wyman
suggested running the timeline horizontally and then different colors
would not be required. Mr.
Davies said that the theory was that there would be gaps in when the
Planning Board as a whole would be considering each item.
He agreed that it would still be worked on in between, but he
said his thought was to put together what the Planning Board would be
considering at which meeting. Mr.
Duhamel suggested that it would help to project a plan from beginning to
end, including interim dates and where one hopes to be at each date.
He suggested that the plan be in blue, and the actuality be in
another color. He said that
looking horizontally would be much easier to follow.
Mr. Davies said that he was trying to keep it simple and more of
a tickler, rather than so much detail that it is overwhelming.
Ms. Annis said it was very helpful to have the initials beside
each topic and then find on the chart when her particular items had to
be completed or prepared for presentation to the Board.
Mr. Davies said that was the plan.
He said that a horizontal line could be done, too, that shows
where each project is, but he said his thought was to highlight for the
members that on a certain date they were due to report something to the
Board on their particular topic. Mr.
Wyman said that a horizontal line would show that on, say, July 20, a
discussion would take place and then on August 17, the final draft is
due and the time line goes in between.
He said that it is still necessary to prioritize what has to get
done in the amount of meetings we have.
Mr. Davies said that perhaps the starting point is that some of
the lines get removed and some added.
Ms. Annis said that Driveways was not included and that was the
only thing she found that was missing.
Mr. Davies said the dates across the top are meeting dates, but
they could be milestones, too, showing what date something must be done.
Mr. Wyman said the good thing about milestones is that you know
that that is the true “drop-dead’ date for completing something.
The discussion continued about the form of the chart. Ms. Annis asked the Board to consider
whether to concentrate on ordinances because there is a deadline of
December for public hearings or whether they wish to put some of the
ordinances off to another year. She
added that some of the topics can be combined.
She asked what Performance Ordinance is.
Mr. Davies said it was something that involved incentives to try
to encourage certain activities. Ms. Annis said that the plan is to meet
with the Energy Committee on July 20th, so that will stay in
place on the schedule. She
said that she believes that height, area and B-1 shops regulations
should be combined. She
asked Mr. Violette is the Davisville Commercial consideration will be
next year. Mr. Violette
said the plan would be to bring things in to discuss them.
He said that the initial concept would be in July.
Mr. Davies noted that there are really only 4 more work session
before public hearings must be held for the ordinance changes.
He said he attempted to stagger the topics and had no reason for
putting any before the others on the proposed schedule.
Mr. Violette said some names could be added to each topic.
Mr. Davies agreed. Mr. Violette asked if the town is in line with the State as
far as ordinances in regard to wetlands are concerned. Mr. Davies said one of the general ordinance items has a
small piece about wetlands and setbacks that conflicts, but, he said he
did not think it was a large difference.
He added that the State is quite clear on its wetlands
regulations, and it does override any local regulations.
Ms. Annis asked Mr. Hartman to do the
sign regulations because Laura Buono really wants to get something done
on sign regulations this year. Mr.
Hartman said he will work on the sign regulations.
There was a discussion about how other
towns are dealing with the workforce housing regulations and how other
towns set up their ballot with the Zoning questions.
Mr. Davies noted that the ballots he saw were very broad in how
the questions were printed. He
said the town must have posted somewhere what the actual details and
wording are. He asked if it
were necessary to be as precise as we have been on our ballots.
Mr. McLaughlin commented that he thought that we do have to be
that precise, especially for the Zoning items.
Mr. Violette agreed but wondered if adding a rationale would help
to explain what is being attempted.
Mr. Mical said that, although something appears to be quite
general on the ballot, the details are posted elsewhere explaining what
each amendment is. Mr.
Davies suggested that the town counsel be asked for his advice before
the ballot is changed to be as brief as some of the ballot items from
the other towns. Ms. Annis said that the proposed plan for
July 20 is to meet with the Energy Committee and asked if other topics
could be scheduled. She
said that Mr. Violette and Mr. Duhamel could do the B-1 shops, area and
height regulations on July 20 and they agreed.
Ms. Annis said it would be just a synopsis, but nothing that will
be coming before the Board worked out as an ordinance.
Mr. Violette agreed. Mr.
Davies said his thought was that there be some suggestions made and then
get input from the Board as to whether they are heading in the direction
that the Board would like. Mr.
Violette agreed and said that if the Board has no interest in the
direction they suggest, then they would work on something else.
Mr. Davies suggested allotting a certain amount of time for each
planned item in a meeting to keep things moving along, and put off until
another meeting to continue. He
said the next meeting could have more time allotted if need be.
There was a discussion about how to deal
with items for which the State has regulations.
Mr. Davies suggested that in that case, the town let the State
regulations run as they are and “tweak” a few things locally, rather
than re-writing the whole regulation that is already in place at the
State level. There was a
short discussion about wind power and various types of wind machines.
Ms. Annis said that some of the
discussions could take place at regular meetings if there are few or no
applications to consider. She
asked if there were other suggestions or if anyone thought there were
things on the list that should be postponed.
Mr. Davies asked about roads.
Ms. Annis said she thought that the request was to not put in an
ordinance, but add the suggested specifications to the building permit.
There continued another discussion about driveways.
Mr. Mical said he would research what was decided and report back
by August 17th. Mr.
Violette said he will consider the Master Plan timing and add those
items. There was no other comment from the Board members about the
topics and proposed timing. It was agreed that each person would keep track of their own
calendar and it would be updated in a few months. Mr. Davies said he would e-mail a color copy to all the Board
members. CIP Committee Ms. Annis recognized Mr. Mical. Mr. Mical said he is looking for a clarification from the
Board in regard to the CIP Committee.
He said it concerned the committee make-up for the CIP Committee.
He said there are representatives from the Planning Board, a
representative from the Budget Committee, a representative from the
Selectmen, and a member of the public. He said the other participant is the Town Administrator and
he said he wanted clarification on whether all of those people should be
voting members or not. Mr.
Violette asked what had been done in the past.
Mr. Mical said that usually all participants were voting members.
Mr. McLaughlin asked if the Water District was included.
Mr. Mical said no, they receive a request for input.
Mr. Davies asked what the RSA says about it.
Mr. Mical said it is part of the Planning Board’s duties to
establish a CIP Committee and report back to the Planning Board who has
the public hearing. Ms.
Annis said that the information from the departments comes directly to
the CIP Committee and does not go through the Selectmen’s Office to
get to the CIP Committee. She
said that Ms. Buono is an employee, but is not a resident of the town.
She said that everyone else is a resident of the town.
Mr. Duhamel asked if it is the Planning Board that has the final
approval of it. Mr. Mical
said yes, and that is by statute. He
said that he is referring to the make-up of the CIP subcommittee. Ms. Annis said that Ms. Buono is needed on the committee, but
she is not a resident of Warner. Mr.
Violette asked if it made any difference.
Mr. Duhamel said if she is not the chairperson, what difference
it makes. Ms. Annis said
that so long as it does not pass through the Selectmen’s Office first
and does not get filtered, then that would be all right with her. She said that she thinks that the CIP Committee should
receive the raw data directly. Mr.
Mical said that is why each committee member is going out to the
specific department heads to review the information.
Mr. Violette asked what kinds of votes the committee would be
taking. Mr. Mical said the
committee reviews the inputs from the departments and may change the
dates or the ranking before it is presented to the Planning Board. He
said that one of the questions that has arisen is that there has been a
request to change the form that had been used for the last few years and
change it to a two-page form which is more of an essay type with
questions rather than a straight fill-in-the-blank one-page form.
He said that he thinks it will discourage people from compiling
the required information. He
said the form that has been used for about the last 3 years is a single
page one which has a block for each planned project and the ranking
questions are simply answered by checking the boxes.
Finally, there are blocks for justification, operating expenses
and the estimated cost for the project.
Mr. Duhamel asked if the committee will be debating the issue.
Mr. Mical said yes, they will talk about it on Thursday night.
Mr. Duhamel said he thought that they are the ones to decide
since they are the closest to it. Mr.
Mical said that he thinks the question is are all the people on the
committee voting members. Mr.
Violette asked why they wouldn’t be.
Mr. McLaughlin said that if someone is giving the time required
for that committee, it would be hoped that they would all be vested in
it. Mr. Violette said that
the Town Administrator is part of that committee and she doesn’t have
to be – she could be ex-officio with no voting privileges.
Mr. Mical said that one of the Selectmen is serving on the
committee. Mr. Davies said
that in the RSAs, there are a few different ways to set up a CIP
Committee. Mr. Duhamel MOVED to say that all the CIP
Committee members who are putting in the time and effort are voting
members. There was no
second. Mr. Davies said
that the RSA authorizes the Planning Board to prepare and amend.
Mr. Mical said that was done by a Town Meeting some time ago.
Mr. Davies said that the Planning Board is the final vote for
recommendation to the Selectmen. Mr. Mical said the problem is the makeup of the CIP
Committee. Mr. Davies said
that if the CIP Committee prepares it and votes on it and presents it to
the Planning Board who votes to approve it, then that is the final
authorization. Ms. Annis said there is a problem because
Ms. Buono is the Town Administrator who works for the Town.
She said that this is subcommittee of the Planning Board and a
nonresident may not be on the Planning Board.
Mr. Violette suggested that she just be made an ex-officio,
non-voting member or be a resource person only and not a member. Mr. Mical said he was only trying to get clarification prior
to the meeting on Thursday. Ms.
Annis said that she agrees that it is a subcommittee of the Planning
Board. Mr. Duhamel said it
is not binding the town to anything and it is just what they present and
how they gather the data. Mr.
Mical said that one of the issues is that when a subcommittee is put
together, its membership should go before the Planning Board for it to
say that these are the members of this committee.
He said it has been considered in discussions about our rules and
regulations in the past. Ms.
Annis said that the subcommittee has to take minutes; it has to post the
meetings, etc. Mr. Mical agreed and he thought that the Planning Board
should list the committee members and make a formal declaration that
these are the members who are serving on the committee.
He said he thinks this should be done for any committee. Ms. Annis said that Ms. Buono’s
presence for the information that she has is necessary with the CIP
Committee. Mr. Mical
agreed. Ms. Annis agreed that it could be questioned.
Mr. Wyman asked if Ms. Buono votes on any of the other committees
that she is on. Mr. Mical
said she is on the Employer-Employee Safety Committee.
Mr. Duhamel said that she puts together reports for the Fire
Department, Highway Director and the Transfer Station, so she is quite
involved in the process. Mr.
Wyman said he thought the question is not whether Ms. Buono deserves to
vote – he said he thought the question is whether it is legally
binding for her to vote. Mr.
Duhamel said that if the RSAs say she can’t vote if she is not a
resident, then she can’t. Computers in Meetings Mr. Davies said that Mr. Watts has
brought in a small computer on occasion which has been a great resource,
but he said he thought there should be some rule or regulation that
addressed these computers. He
said he would like to have an understanding of what can be done and when
it can be used. For
example, he said, perhaps you could not receive e-mails and communicate
back and forth, but it could be used as a resource to get information
that can be shared with the whole Board.
He said he had thought that perhaps something could be put in the
Bylaws to address this issue. He
reiterated that he thinks it is a great resource.
He said he could think of a couple of negatives – one, that if
you’re on the computer, perhaps you’re not focusing on something
else in the meeting; two, if someone is looking up something, then other
members aren’t able to see what is being looked up.
He said in the course of a Board meeting he could see it as
problematic, but not so much during a work session.
He said that perhaps it could be requested that during a Board
meeting, the computer be left idle or else the information shared with
everyone. Ms. Annis said that the Board’s rules
and regulations have not been updated for over a year.
Mr. Violette asked if Mr. Davies thought that computers should
not be used. Mr. Davies
said no, he was thinking that some guidelines could be prepared for
their use in a meeting. CIP Committee Ms. Annis asked if there was any other
discussion on anything. Mr.
Hartman said that he was thinking about whether Ms. Buono should
participate as a voting member of the subcommittee which is preparing
the CIP. He said his
understanding is that there is some question as to whether she should be
on the committee in the first place. He said that he, as a Selectman, thinks that she should be on
the committee because she is the coordinator of all the department input
and activity in the Town of Warner.
He said that she has taken on the role of being the point person,
as she was hired to do. He
said that she knows that she is not a resident of Warner.
He said that she knows that her role is to supply information to
all the boards that request it. He
asked if something has developed that she is perhaps not providing good
information. He said that if you do not have her coordinating it, then it
makes you go to each separate department head yourself.
He said that he thought that her role was to help in coordinating
all of the information. He
said as a matter of voting or not, that subcommittee by statute does not
have any existence. He said
the Planning Board has an existence and it adopts a CIP based on
recommendation of the CIP committee.
He said that the committee is acknowledged as being an advisory
committee on developing the CIP, but it is still the Planning Board’s
CIP. He said that he did
not understand the reluctance to use Ms. Buono.
Mr. Mical said there is not one.
He said the intent was to clarify whether or not she is a voting
member. He said that in the
past there has been a vote by the members of that committee with a
recommendation to go forward to the Planning Board with whatever is in
the CIP. He said that the
Planning Board has generally agreed with whatever the CIP Committee
recommends. Mr. Hartman
said that the Selectmen’s representative has a vote on the committee
because they will have participated in the development of the CIP.
He said that the Budget Committee representative and the member
of the public will have a vote to forward it to the Planning Board.
Mr. Mical said yes. Mr.
Hartman said that the Town Administrator, having worked with the
committee on developing it, should be part of that resolution to pass it
on the Planning Board. He
said she is working in our name, whether or not she is a resident.
Mr. Wyman said that so long as it does not matter legally, he
thinks that she deserves a vote. He
said that it is not a matter of deserving; it is a matter of whether
legally she may vote. He
said if she may vote, then she should, after all the work that she does. Ms. Annis asked Ms. Lightfoot to call the
Local Government Center to see if a non-resident may be a voting member.
Ms. Lightfoot suggested that it should be non-resident
Administrator because that is the real question.
Mr. Wyman and Mr. Mical agreed that it should be whether a
non-resident Administrator could serve as a voting member.
Ms. Annis said that the question is may a non-resident be a
member of a subcommittee of a board in the town.
Mr. Violette added that it should be noted that the person is the
Town Administrator. Mr. Wyman said that he would think that the answer would be
no unless the person is the Town Administrator.
Mr. Hartman said that because it is not simply a subcommittee of
only Planning Board members. He
said if that were the case, it would be different.
He said this is a CIP Committee that is not a subcommittee of the
Planning Board. He said it
is an ad hoc committee appointed by the Planning Board.
Mr. Hartman suggested that the Board do it the way it’s always
been done. Mr. Violette
said he agreed. Ms. Annis
asked Ms. Lightfoot to try to get an answer as to whether a Town
Administrator who is a non-resident may vote on any of the town
committees. Ms. Lightfoot
said she would call the LGC with that question.
There was no other business. Mr. Mical MOVED to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Violette seconded. The
motion was PASSED unanimously. The
meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
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