SEL20100413

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

April 13, 2010

APPROVED &#= 8211; April 27, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 6:30pm

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Douglas Viger, Mr. = Edmund Gleason, Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr. William McDevitt,

Mr. Harold Lynde, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

ABSENT:

None.

MINUTES REVIEW

March= 30, 2010

MOTION:

(Gleason/Haver= ty) To approve the Ma= rch 30, 2010 meeting minutes as amended.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

OPEN FORUM

Mr. Paul McDonough, Mammoth Road came forward and thanked the Selectmen for hanging the drawing he had done of the Selectmen in the Town Hall lobby. He stated that he appreciated the people that put their time (and volunteerism) into the Town.

APPOINTMENTS

Charlotte Moore: Special Recognition

The Selectmen thanked Ms. Charlotte Moore for her dedication and years of service she had given to the Town. Mr. McDevitt, with the = help of Town Secretary Marie Maruca, composed a Proclamation recognizing Ms. Moore’s many years of dedication and honorable service to the Town and its citizens. Mr. Viger read = aloud the Proclamation. Ms. Moore w= as presented with a plaque and a bouquet of flowers. There was a standing ovation in her honor.

2010 Board Committees Interviews – Possible Appointments

Zoning Board of Adjustment – 1 alternate position with thr= ee year term

Mr. Bill Kearney – Mr. Kearney came forward to discuss his application for re-appointment as an alternate member of the Zoning Board.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Gleason on behalf of himself a= nd the Board, expressed gratitude to Mr. Kearney for his volunteerism. Mr. Haverty questioned if Mr. Kear= ney was seeking an alternate or full-time position. Mr. Kearney stated there was no full-time position available. He noted that he had sat on the Board as an alternate for three years and was seeking re-appointment as an alternate with the goal of becoming a full-time member. Mr. Haverty asked Mr. Kearney’s background and how he would bring them forward for the bene= fit of the board. Mr. Kearney sta= ted for the last twenty-five years he had run the operations for small to mid-s= ize specialty retail companies. H= e said decisions regarding these companies were collective, similar to when the bo= ard made decisions. Mr. Haverty questioned what Mr. Kearney had learned during his time on the Board and wh= at, if anything would he change. = Mr. Kearney noted that the zoning process had changed and commented through the Town’s financial support the board members had the opportunity to participate in learning conferences. He said the conferences were invaluable and hoped the Town would continue to fund such learning opportunities.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Gleas= on) To appoint Mr. Bill Kearney to an alternate position with a three year term to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

Conservation Commission – 2 openings with three year terms=

Ms. Glennie Edwards and Ms. Heidi Ramich – Ms. Edwards and Ms. Ramich came forward to discuss their applications for the open position= s on the Conservation Commission. = The Board expressed their gratitude for their volunteerism. Mr. Lynde was interested in 350.ed= u that Ms. Ramich was involved with. Ms. Ramich said it was a concept that Pelham could consider and went on to expl= ain the initiative behind 350. She noted that she had web expertise and could potentially add value for the Conservation Commission and elsewhere.&nbs= p; Mr. Gleason asked Ms. Edwards if there was something the Selectmen c= ould do to be more supportive/helpful of the commission. Ms. Edwards didn’t feel the Selectmen could do much more than they had for the commission. She discussed the high waters thro= ughout the Town and told the Selectmen that she had been visiting certain areas and speaking with the residents. = She said enjoyed the contact. Mr.= Haverty asked Ms. Ramich the reason why she had come forward seeking appointment. Ms. Ramich said she was looking to become more involved with the Town, and because of her involvement with 350, found the Conservation Commission to be interesting.

MOTION:

(Gleason/Lynde= ) To appoint Ms. Glennie Edwards and Ms. Heidi Ramich to the Conservation Commission for a period of three years.&= nbsp;

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

Forestry Committee – 1 opening for a three year term<= /o:p>

Mr. Paul Gagnon – Mr. Gagnon came forward to discuss his application for re-appointment to the Forestry Committee. The Selectmen commended Mr. Gagnon= for his dedication, commitment and professionalism.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Lynde= ) To appoint Mr. Paul Gagnon to the Forestry Committee for a period of three years.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

2010 Council on Aging Appointments

MOTION:

(Viger/Gleason= ) To accept the 2010 Council on Aging appointments for the following (through April 1, 2011): Donald Brunelle, Edward Richard, Terry Desell, Barbara Wa= rd, Carrellen Brown, Daniel Atwood, Georgia Atwood, Leo Doherty, Rosemary Shawver, Shirley Janocha, Barbara Tracy, Diane Brunelle, Priscilla Pike-Church, Gayle Plouffe

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

Attorney Jeffrey A. Zall – Hawk Ridge Road Subdivision and PVMP Improvements

Attorney Jeffrey A. Zall = came forward to discuss the Hawk Ridge Road Subdivision and Pelham Veteran’= ;s Memorial Park (‘PVMP’) Improvements.

Planning Director Jeff Go= wan also stepped forward.

Attorney Zall stated that= he represented Mr. Gerald Lussier and Douglas Dooley who own an eleven acre pa= rcel of land located on Long Pond at the Dracut, MA town line. The property is land locked from P= elham with the only access being from Clement Road in Dracut, MA. PVMP is located to the north of the property. In May, 2008 a vari= ance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment (‘ZBA’) was obtained (Case #2399) from the ordinance that prohibited subdivisions of property in Pelham unless the residential lots had access for emergency vehicles through a str= eet wholly in Pelham. In July, 20= 09 Planning Board (‘PB’) granted approval for an eight-lot subdivi= sion called Hawk Ridge Road Subdivision. The subdivision consists of eight residential lots with access from = Clement Road with a homeowner’s association to be responsible for maintaining the road so that the Town didn’t have any maintenance requirements for the road.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Both the ZBA and the PB placed a condition on their approvals that the developer is to provide certain benef= its/improvements to PVMP and that the Town accept that those improvements are to be paid for= by the developer. At the time of= the ZBA and PB meetings everyone was under the impression (at the advice of Town Counsel) that the improvements had to go to vote at Town Meeting. After PB approval, Attorney Zall prepared a proposed warrant article that was submitted to the Selectmen for inclusion on the ballot for the 2010 Town Meeting. Prior to the 2010 Town Meeting, To= wn Counsel had a change of mind and after further review of the Town’s requirement, determined it wasn’t the Town voters that vote to accept= the improvements being offered, but rather it is the Selectmen that have the ability grant approval. Attor= ney Zall reviewed the proposed improvements to PVMP which were as follows: 1) construction of a gravel access road (from Hawk Ridge Road to the buildings within the park); 2) installation of emergency access gates to the park; 3) easement to the Town to gain access from Hawk Ridge Road to the gravel road= and to travel along that gravel road within the subdivision; 4) installation of= a water line, hydrant and stub to access the water for future construction. The water will be provided by the = Dracut Water Commission. A homeowner’s association document has been prepared and includes langu= age to have them be responsible for sub-metering the water usage for all eight = lots and sub-metering the water line that goes into PVMP. When/if the Town starts using the = water, the Town will be separately charged by the homeowner’s association, n= ot Dracut Water Commission.

Mr. Haverty questioned if= the homeowner’s association could decide to deny the Town access to the water. Attorney Zall answered= no; it will be created as a permanent easement in a right to easement document.

Mr. Gaydos asked if there= would be fire hydrants within the subdivision.&n= bsp; Mr. Gowan believed there was a proposed hydrant within the subdivisi= on as well as at the proposed access road.&nb= sp;

Mr. Gleason asked if each= house within the subdivision would have a water meter. Attorney Zall answered yes; there = would be sub-meters for each house within the development provided by the develop= er and the homeowner’s association will be responsible for collecting ea= ch lot owner’s share of the water bill. Mr. Gleason asked if the fire hydra= nts would also be on the meters. Attorney Zall said the fire hydrant would be on a separate meter that would be shared equally by the eight lots.= Mr. Gaydos commented that the hydrant meter would be similar to thos= e at the Municipal Building. Mr. Gleason asked if there were any problems with the water crossing state lines. Mr. Gaydos said Dracut Water would= be supplying the water; they wouldn’t be servicing the water. Essentially, the homeowner’s association would have a public water system. Mr. Gleason questioned where the m= eters would be located. Mr. Gaydos believed it made sense to have the meter located by the subdivision’s gate as well as at the gate at the lower end. Mr. Gleason was concerned about the location of the meter due to vandalism that had occurred at PVMP.

Attorney Zall stated that= the subdivision would receive emergency services from Pelham. The school bus would pick up/drop = off children at Mammoth Road (8/10 mile from Hawk Ridge= Road). The proposal had been submitted to= the Highway Safety Committee (‘HSC’) and Park & Recreation, bot= h of which were very much in favor of the plan because of the advantages/safety provided to the park.

Mr. Haverty asked if a presentation of the proposal had been given to the Veterans. Mr. Zall answered no. Mr. Haverty said the Veterans had = some strong feelings about it and encouraged the Board to postpone a decision un= til the Veterans had been notified to solicit their feedback. Mr. McDevitt respectfully disagree= d. He said there was nothing new with= the proposal. He stated that the warrant article passed by the Town was advisory in nature and not legally binding. He feared that the Veterans may feel that the Board would change their decision based on their= input; with respect to the Veterans, he wouldn’t change his decision based on their input because he knew what he would vote on and the reasons for such. Mr. Haverty said the suggestion was not to offer the Veterans part of the decision. He said it would simply be to give= the Veterans the opportunity to voice concerns or questions on the record. Mr. Gleason noted that the meeting= s were posted as public meetings and with respect to the Veterans if they had oppo= sition, it would have been the proper forum to do so. He didn’t feel it would be f= air to the applicant to send them away for an additional two weeks since the propo= sal had been with the Town for quite some time. Mr. Gowan informed that a presenta= tion had been made to the Veterans at the Legion. The design engineer, Matt Hamor an= d Mr. Gowan gave an explanation of the proposal to the Veterans (during the Plann= ing Board review). Mr. Gowan said= the Veterans provided a short time for Mr. Hamor and Mr. Gowan to give a presentation. The Veterans th= en held a meeting and sent a letter to the Planning Board voicing an objection to t= he improvements at PVMP because they felt it changed the park (there were no specific reasons given).

Mr. Lynde asked for clari= fication of the hydrant location. Mr. = Gowan said the hydrants (with regard to the PVMP improvements) were located on the plan where the Fire Chief felt they should be. He said the location along Hawk Ridge Road was not yet identified. He felt i= t was a reasonable expectation that the road (accessing the park) wouldn’t = be plowed during the wintertime given the fact that there was little activity within the park at that time. Mr. Lynde asked if all the lots were within Pelham. Attorney Zall said all the lots we= re located within Pelham; the road starts in Dracut, MA and crosses into Pelham.= There was a brief discussion regar= ding school bus pick up/drop off. = Mr. Gowan said there were no assumptions that there would be school pick up out= side of the Town. He said the Plan= ning Board didn’t want to create an expectation that wouldn’t be fulfilled. The School Board w= ould make the decision. Mr. Lynde = asked if the hydrant location would interfere with the future placement of another structure in the park. Mr. Go= wan said the idea was to provide a hydrant for the buildings that were currently within the park. He said if t= here were plans (or a plan came to be prior to the subdivision being built), the hydrant could be relocated. M= r. Gleason stated that he spoke to the Park & Recreation Director (Brian Johnson) regarding the proposal. He said Mr. Johnson indicated that the proposal was acceptable to him.

Mr. McDevitt commented th= at he intended to support the plan. He explained that the only reason he would vote yes was because it was impress= ed upon him in the event the access road into PVMP was blocked there would be = no way to get emergency vehicles into the park. He believed that to be the only redeeming factor to the plan from the Town’s perspective; there was nothing about the plan that he liked, other than the access to the park.

Mr. Haverty asked that th= e letter submitted by the Veterans be attached to the meeting minutes so their conce= rn would be part of the record. = Mr. Gowan noted that there would be a more detailed plan developed; the improve= ments couldn’t be made with what was shown on the proposal. He said the applicant had been see= king direction from the Board prior to spending anything more. Mr. Viger hoped if the Planning Bo= ard approved the plan, they would do so per the spec that was presented. He said the Selectmen were voting = on what was before them in good faith that the Planning Board would provide due diligence to the remainder of the plan.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Gleas= on) The Selectmen accept the Haw= k Ridge Road subdivision and Pelham Veteran’s Memorial Park improvements as listed out and accepted by the Planning Boa= rd and Zoning Board of Adjustment.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

OTHER BUSINESS

Discussion – UNH Rainfall/Flooding Study

Mr. McDevitt told the Boa= rd that he had read a study that came out of the University of New H= ampshire (Carbon Solutions New England and Clean Air Cool Planet). He said the study tracked trends a= nd extreme precipitation events in the Northeastern Uni= ted States from 1948 to 2007.&nbs= p; The study indicated that the trend of heavy rain events would continue. Mr. McDevitt said t= here were a number of areas in Town that had been brought to the Board’s attention because of flooding issues. He said the state and the community were equipped to deal with snow,= but should discuss how to deal with water.&nbs= p; He suggested putting a small subcommittee together with one or two Selectmen Representatives. Th= ere was a brief discussion regarding the information and agreement by the Selec= tmen that a subcommittee would be a good idea.&= nbsp; Planning Director Jeff Gowan came forward to say he would be happy to serve on a sub-committee and encouraged the Nashua Regional Planning Commis= sion to be included. He said there= was currently a group discussing flooding issues that the Town could tie into a= nd use their resources.

Mr. McDevitt said he woul= d like to speak with Mr. Gaydos, the Highway Road Agent and others to put together= a committee and speak further on the issues.= There was no objection by the Board.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S / SELECTMEN’S RE= PORTS

Mr. Gaydos discu= ssed programs at the Recycling= Center, one being t= he brush pile. He said there was a five inch in diameter limit, which some peo= ple were abusing. He said if the problem continued they may have to limit the times in which brush could be dropped off.

Mr. Haverty had = no report.

Mr. Gleason stat= ed that he had been asked to attend a meeting at the Pelham Senior Center to discuss t= he expansion with the Eagle Tribune. He reported that he spoke with Park & Recreation Director Brian Johnson who told him the county work crew was at Pelham Veteran’s Memorial Park working. He dis= cussed some of the work that was being done and wanted to commend Mr. Johnson for having the crew come in. Mr. Gleason ended by saying that the Budget Committee would be holding their organizational meeting on April 17, 2010.

Mr. McDevitt had= no report. He commented that the Police should consult with the Selectmen prior to installing ATM’s on Town property. He wanted to k= now if there was an expense associated with the ATM or any money being made off of it. Mr. Gaydos said the reaso= n for the ATM being installed was because people had to make bail. He said there was no expense invol= ved, other than a telephone line and after a certain number of transactions the = Town would make a profit. He noted= since the ATM was installed it had been used by people at the library as well as people going to the Tax Collector’s office. Mr. McDevitt agreed it was useful,= but commented that the Selectmen should have known about it prior to the installation.

Mr. Lynde had no report. He told the Board tha= t he would be attending a Municipal Advocacy meeting in <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Concord and would let the Selectmen kno= w what was discussed.

Mr. Viger noted = that even with the recent rains the sports fields were dry and had drained well.

REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION

MOTION:

(Gleason/Haver= ty) Request for a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3,II, a (Personnel)

ROLL CALL:

Mr. Haverty-Ye= s; Mr. Viger-Yes; Mr. McDevitt-Yes; Mr. Lynde-Yes; Mr. Gleason-Yes

It was noted tha= t when the Board returned, after the non-public session, the Board would not take = any other action publicly, except to possibly seal the minutes of the non-public session and to adjourn the meeting. The Board entered into a non-public session at approximately 7:53 pm.

The Board returned to public session at approximately 8:45 pm.

MOTION:

( Haverty/McDe= vitt ) To seal the minutes of the non-public session indefinitely.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Haverty/McDev= itt) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(5 -0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:45 pm.

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

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

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