SEL20090512

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

May 12, 2009

APPROVED &#= 8211; June 2, 2009

CALL TO ORDER – 6:48pm

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr.= William McDevitt, Mr. Harold Lynde (arrived after the meeting commenced), Mr. Edm= und Gleason, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Police Chief Joseph Roa= rk, Fire Chief James Midgley, Highway Road Agent Don Foss, Planning Director Jeff Gowan, members of the press and general public.

Mr. Douglas Viger

PUBLIC HEARING<= /p>

Notice is hereby given in accordan= ce with NH RSA 231:133a, that the Pelham Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing to discuss the renumbering of all residences currently addressed on= Hobbs Road,= Mammoth Road, Sherburne Road, and Windham Road= to resolve existing inconsistencies that Pose a threat to public safety. The public hearing will convene on= Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 6:45pm at Pelham Town Hall (Sherburne Hall), 6 Vi= llage Green, Pelham, NH 03076 to provide for public input and discussion.

Planning Director Jeff Gowan came forward and introduced representatives from the New Hampshire E911 Bureau Kenny-Lynn Dempsey, Data Control Clerk III and Stacey Zalenski, Supervisor E-911 Mapping Department.= and the members of the E911 Committee. He stated that there had been an ongoing project being done for some time to address deficiencies identified in the Town’s addressing syst= em by the E911 Bureau back in 2002/2003. He said at that time decisions were made regarding roads that stood = out as being the most confusing in terms of their names. Public hearing were held and the c= hanges were made effective last year. He informed that there remained a list of roads that the E911 Committee had recommended changing during this year’s phase based on their having t= he most addressing problems. Tho= se roads are Hobbs Road, Mammoth Road= , Sherburne Road and Windham Road. Mr. Gowan explained that E911 was emergency response and the project was important so when emergency responde= rs were dispatched they would know where to go the first time. His understanding was that the roa= ds would be renumbered in 50-foot increments and if the Selectmen made the decision to do the renumbering, E911 would redo the Town’s maps and provide such to the Town. The= Post Office would review the maps to ensure that the new numbers worked. A joint mailing would then be done between the Town and the Post Office to the addresses being impacted provid= ing information of what the owners needed to do to change their address.

Mr. McDevitt asked for an explanation regarding some of the problems surrounding address inconsistencies. Poli= ce Chief Roark discussed the importance of emergency response occurring immediately. He stated if the address numbers were inconsistent on the higher volume/incident roads there could be a delay in response time; the delay in response could make the difference between life and death. He stated the ultimate goal was to get to homes as quickly and effectively as possible. He recognized there was an element of inconvenience to the residents (at first) when changing their numbers, but stressed the importance of having effective emergency response.

Mr. Gleason asked that it be explained why the particular roads were chosen. Chief Roark knew that Sherburne Road had address inconsistencies that caused delays in response. He said Hobbs Road had duplexes and multi-f= amily homes that were numbered inconsistently that also would lead to problems wh= en responding. He said there was= a multitude of standards that E911 reviewed.= Mr. Gowan discussed the problems on the roads being discussed: 1) nu= merous residences with non-sequential numbering; 2) structures with duplicate addresses; 3) unnamed streets with three or more dwellings; 4) multi-unit buildings with the same address; 5) duplexes with separate addresses; and 6) number of instances where the house is facing one road, but the access is on another road; 7) non-sequential / odd numbering. He said numerous complaints had be= en received to fix the numbers and explained that there wasn’t a way to = do the corrections in certain segments; the best way to do it was to renumber = the whole road in 50-foot increments. Having the numbers changed would add in enough extra numbers to accommodate changes in the future. <= /span>He said the 50-foot increment should suffice for a number of years.

Mr. Gleason asked when the project was expected to be completed. Mr. Gowan understood that the Sele= ctmen wanted the renumbering resolved no later than September 1, 2009, they hoped to have the ‘go live’ date occur in mid-August. He said every residence along the = road will received a package containing step-by-step directions and noted that t= he Post Office would continue forwarding mail for a two-year period giving residents plenty of time to make the change.

PUBLIC INPUT

Mr. Paul McDonough, 7 Mammoth = Road agreed that something should be done to enhance the safety of the residents. He had no issue wi= th the address changes and didn’t feel there any reason not to trust those w= ho look out for the Town’s safety. He said it may be an inconvenience, but felt it was an important process.

Mr. William Alarie, 90 Mammoth= Road was not in favor of having his address changed. He was concerned with having his m= ail mixed up. He wanted to know w= hy the addresses had to be changed. = Fire Chief Midgley stated that after many months a plan was developed ranking the streets in the Town. He said = the focus was on the streets with the highest ranked problems with highest call volumes for fire, medical police etc. and by correcting the four streets it would take a big chunk out of the issues as far as call volume. Mr. Alarie asked if the houses tha= t had been there the longest would keep their numbers. Chief Midgley said when the renumb= ering process was started it couldn’t be done in segments. He reiterated that they were worki= ng with the Post Office and commented if everyone followed the steps outlined = in the information packet there wouldn’t be any issues. Mr. Alarie wanted to know if the r= enumbering was being done because of an outside system not being able to work. Chief Midgley said the project is = driven by the Town and the Town was following the state guidelines so there’s consistency in the Town and the state.&nbs= p; He noted that at times surrounding towns may be responding to reside= nts and they may not be familiar with the intricacies of finding residences. Mr. Alarie asked if the residents = would be able to put the issue to a vote. Mr. Haverty stated that the decision was the Selectmen’s responsibility. Mr. Alarie wa= nted to know if the citizens could have a vote.= Mr. Haverty answered no. He commented that this was phase 2; during phase one the affected addresses had their streets renamed and renumbered (he was one of the addresses affected). Mr. Alarie wanted = to know if the street would be renumbered again or if this would be the last t= ime. Mr. Lynde said this would be the l= ast time. He said it was being do= ne to benefit the residents and to facilitate someone being able to get to their house. Mr. Alarie said he wou= ld be happy if his number could remain the same.= Mr. Lynde said the residents are being asked to consider the people = who are possibly put in danger and go along with the project.

Mr. Bill Grinley, 214 Mammoth = Road said most residents understood the importance of E911. He stated there were greater expen= ses to consider for the business owners on the street and the impacts to them. He questioned if any consideration= had been made for those expenses. Mr. Haverty said he considered the expenses, but had to weigh it against the li= fe safety issues noted by the E911 Board.&nbs= p; He believed the change was the right thing to do. Mr. Grinley asked again if any consideration had been made for people having businesses that have to make = the changes. He wanted to know if= there was money in the proposal to offset the costs that would be incurred by the businesses to make all the changes. Mr. McDevitt answered no. He said they were sympathetic and wished that the Town or state had the resour= ces to write a check for the expenses, but they didn’t. Mr. Grinley asked if consideration= would be made for the houses that were out of sequence to possibly be given an A = or B after the number or if the renumbering would begin at the beginning of the road. Mr. Gowan stated that t= he numbering would be the entire length of the roads; everyone’s number would change. Mr. Grinley sai= d the comment was made that the numbers wouldn’t change again and questione= d if the lots were not subdividable. Mr. Lynde said zoning would have to change drastically for something like that = to happen because currently the frontage requirement was 200ft. and the numbers would be done in 50ft. increments. <= /span>He said with the fact that the Post Office was providing two years it would gi= ve residents time to cycle through the address change.

Mr. Sean Hobbs, 30 Windham Roa= d wanted to know how many other roads in Town were already at 50ft increments= and how many more needed to be done. Mr. Gowan stated that the changes made during phase 1 were changed to the 50ft. increment. He said = the design was done to accommodate every foreseeable change in the future. Mr. Hobbs asked if every road in P= elham would be at 50ft increments when the project was done. Mr. Haverty said a vast majority w= ould be. Mr. Gowan said originally= the E911 committee recommended having all the numbers changed but it was a large project to undertake the entire Town. He said there were some streets that were built out to the point tha= t it would be very unlikely for them to have problems. He said they were trying to take t= he streets with the biggest issues and highest probabilities of something bad happening and work through that list. He said there would be another twenty-five to thirty roads that woul= d be revisited and handled in a manageable fashion.

Chief Roark confirmed that any new streets coming forward would have to be on a f= ifty foot grid before having Town approval.&nbs= p; Mr. Gowan stated that was correct.&= nbsp;

Mr. Hobbs asked if there would come a time that 50ft. road frontage was all that would be needed. Mr. Haverty = said there would be a lot of factors that would come into play for that to happen (i.e. well radiuses, septic clearance, and availability of public utilities). Mr. McDevitt stat= ed that the requirement of 200ft. frontage was voted in by Town Meeting and To= wn Meeting could vote to change it. Mr. Gowan didn’t believe it was something that would happen in the near future. Mr. Hobbs questioned = why they would use the 50ft. increments. Mr. Gowan said the 50ft. increments were being done so if there were= any back lots developed in the future their impacts on the street would be anticipated.

Ms. Lisa O’Rourke, 132 M= ammoth Road said her front door was on Mammoth Road, but the access to her= home was on Burns Road. She said when calling 911 they had problems locating the house due to the driveway being on Burns Road. She said she had come to the Town = to request that her home be renumbered and was told no. She asked what her street number w= ould be if the project were to go forward. One of the E911 representatives stated that they could help make the right choice for the address. Ms. O’Rourke noted that her neighbor across from her was on the even side= of the street, but had an odd number. The E911 representative stated those instances would be fixed.

Ms. Brenda Hobbs, 28 Windham R= oad wanted to know which of the four numbers assigned to her parcel would be the one received as her address. = Mr. Haverty believed the number closest to the driveway would be assigned. Mr. Gowan said another question wo= uld be what number was assigned to two driveways.= He believed the number would be assigned to the first driveway.

Ms. Harriet St. Onge, 114 Mamm= oth Road said she noticed that the numbers all seemed to be in order, but some numbe= rs skipped. She questioned if it= would cause an issue if a house were built behind another one. Mr. Haverty said they would be renumbering on a 50ft. grid so each lot with 200ft. frontage would be assig= ned four numbers. If the lot was = ever split and a lot put in back, the numbering scheme would allow for the back lot. Ms. St. Onge wanted to k= now if everyone’s number would change. Mr. Haverty said every number would change, unless someone got lucky= at the beginning of the street. = Ms. St. Onge said she had legal documents that would have to be changed. Mr. Lynde said most legal documents referred to a map and lot number and wouldn’t need to be changed. Ms. St. Onge was concerned with id= entity theft occurring through this process by someone getting her mail and being dishonest.

Mr. David Silva, 120 Sherburne= Road showed a map of a portion of Sherburne Road. The map showed the street address numbers and the problems with them= not being sequential. Mr. Silva s= aid there was a major problem on his street and discussed the problems that had occurred with emergency response to his home due to the numbering problem.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said because he lives on the Hudson line he wou= ld have Hudson Police and Fire respond to his home before he would have Pelham resp= ond. He reiterated that the numbering w= as a major issue and wanted to show the numbering so people would understand.

Mr. Jeff Hitchcock, 222 Mammoth said he attended the meeting because he didn’t understand the project, but now understood and felt it was a g= ood project. He asked if there co= uld be some training, discussions with the Post Office to help with the project. Mr. Haverty said this was the seco= nd phase and the first phase was much more encompassing because the roads were renamed and renumbered. He sa= id the Post Master was involved with the project.= Mr. Gaydos said he would speak to the Post Master about the concern.

Mr. Gowan stated it was important for recipients of the information package to = pay attention to the recommendations made by the Post Office. He said it was important to have mailboxes and houses properly numbered.&nb= sp;

Mr. McDevitt thanked the residents for attending the meeting and asking questions.

There was a brief discussion regarding how to proceed. Mr. Gaydos recommended leaving the comment period open for a period of time.&= nbsp; Comments would be accepted for one week. The Selectmen will make a decision= at their next meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(McDevitt/Lynd= e) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:43pm.

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Respectfully submitted,

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Charity A. L. Willis

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Recording Secretary