September 14, 2021 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD Draft Meeting Minutes for Tuesday September 14, 2021 er 14, 2021 at 7:00 p.m Chair Wells called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and took roll. ROLL: Roger Wells (Chair), Chuck Bolduc, Glenn Pogust, Christine Fletcher, Dane Headley, David Hill ABSENT: Peter Blakeman OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Stanley (Land Use Coordinator), Dane D’Arcangelo (Eversource), Kristy Heath (Recording Secretary) Continued Public Hearing: Eversource Scenic Road Tree Cutting Request David Hill moved to re-open the public hearing for tree-cutting from the August 10, 2021 Planning Board meeting. Glenn Pogust seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Chair Wells explained that the Planning Board members had wanted some additional time to look at the trees that were on the list to be cut by Eversource along a scenic road. Glenn said he looked at all the trees in question. He had an issue with two trees on the list. One is on Keyser Street (tree #18) and one is on Penacook Road (tree #34). The tree on Penacook Road is healthy and is on the list because the construction crew put it so a wire was rubbing against it. The tree on Keyser Street is a 28” white pine and he couldn’t see any damage to it; it looked like some limbs needed trimming but didn’t see any real threat. He had no other objections to the rest of the trees on the list. Glenn asked if Eversource could remove the logs that result following the cuttings, unless the owners ask to keep them. Some of the spots there are suggested to have 10 or 15 trees coming down. Having the logs there will not look good. He hoped Eversource would agree to remove the logs. Dane D’Arcangelo said #18 and #34 can be taken off the list. With regards to the log removal, they have to pick and choose how they use their resources. High customer-count areas are where logs are removed. Their normal contractors won’t remove the logs. If the homeowner want the logs removed, Eversource won’t cut the tree down. Mr. D’Arcangelo said that the trees are dead and his company is willing to absorb the cost of cutting them down. They can’t also afford to remove the logs. Several members of the Planning Board didn’t think this made any sense. Glenn argued that these trees to be cut are on designated scenic roads. There are 57 trees on the road to come down and Eversource is suggesting that they simply leave all the logs there along the road? He didn’t think that this would look good at all. Dane said that in the past the larger trees they would cut them into about 6’ long pieces and stacked by the stump. Within a week or so, the wood was gone. Some board members noted that people are happy to take the hard wood; it’s the soft wood that is generally not picked up. Chair Wells asked Mr. D’Arcangelo who was responsible for a tree that has come down in a storm if they don’t take the trees down now. Dane said it would be the responsibility of the landowner. If the tree(s) land in the road, the town is responsible to take care of them. Mr. D’Arcangelo said every one of these trees is one that a property owner would have to cut themselves. Mr. D’Arcangelo explained that of the trees to be cut, there were 15 pines and 8 hemlocks that were soft wood. The rest are hardwood. The pieces wouldn’t be any longer than 8’ but they could be longer depending on the tree and the safest way to cut it. Mr. D’Arcangelo said the trees will be cut down to the ground as close as they can. He encouraged the town to allow Eversource to cut the trees down. Dane Headley asked if he has a tree rooted on his property but growing into the road right of way above a wire, can he contact Eversource and ask them to cut it down? And would he need to get permission from the Planning Board. Dane D’Arcangelo said that they would come take a look at the tree and determine if it was needed to be cut. If it is on his property, he doesn’t need permission from the Planning Board. It was moved (Glenn Pogust) and seconded (David Hill) to close the hearing. The motion was approved unanimously. Glenn asked what the sense of the Planning Board was on the tree removal issue. There didn’t seem to be any additional issues. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by David Hill to approve the removal of the trees identified in the June 14, letter to town of Sutton from Eversource with exception to #18 on Keyser Street and #34 on Penacook Road. Chuck Bolduc amended the motion to added that the Town would like to encourage Eversource to leave the logs in a manner that is respectful to their scenic roads or cut them as small as possible. Peter Stanley amended the motion further to request that the logs be left out of the ditch-line to impede the flow of storm water runoff. The motion was approved unanimously. Review of Minutes Minutes of July 13, 2021 It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Roger Wells to approve the minutes of the July 13, 2021 Planning Board meeting, as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously. Minutes of August 10, 2021 It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Roget Wells to approve the Planning Board minutes of August 10, 2021, as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously. Master Plan Discussion Katie from the Regional Planning Commission said she took into account the comments provided by Roger and Glenn and incorporated them into the text. The changes were mostly wording and grammar. She added that Chapter 1 was divided into two chapters; she wasn’t sure if the board had read through that yet. The 4th appendix was for Community Facilities, the information for which she reached out to Elly and Peter. Elly and Peter tried to get information from the departments, but it seemed to be a struggle. She asked if they should continue with this effort. Chair Wells said the Word formatting was not good in the version the board received. The changes were lost. Katie said she did make the changes. Chair Wells said he suggested she go through page by page and see what changes are/are not made. Glenn suggested circulating the text as a PDF so the board can see what it would really look like. Chair Wells didn’t think that all the changes they had asked for had been made. Katie said she would go back and look at the text to make sure all the changes were made. Glenn said they make a lot of references to the 2010 census. Should they be updating that to the 2020 census? This may provide for some substantial changes in what they are doing. Katie said as long as the census is available at the town level they could do this. David Hill said some of the text seemed repetitive. He said he would identify those areas and provide it to Peter. Glenn agreed that there was some repetition but some areas need repeating. Chair Wells agreed. David would send a note to Peter, who would provide it to Glenn and Roger to update the draft. Dane asked what the final year they are looking at in the plan is. Chair Wells thought it was 2020. Any special notes can be added as a footnote if there is a piece of information about 2021 that might be important. David Hill asked about current use and the amount that was referenced; was it accurate? It was only about 14 acres. Peter said that it sounded accurate to him. He agreed to check with Elly to make sure it was a correct number. David Hill had some issue with some of the colors in the tables. He would specify which tables and forward that information to Peter. Christine asked what the term “nurture rural atmosphere” really meant? Chair Wells said those were his words. It means that they are nurturing the idea of sustainability and rural-ness. She felt that “to nurture” suggested it should be left alone. Roger said there is a difference between rural and wild. He thought maybe they could use the word “protect” instead of “nurture.” Christine said “nurture” is active and sounds like they will take care of the rural atmosphere. Chair Wells said he wasn’t sure how the survey monkey is used in Chapter 6. He didn’t think that the chapter was really even necessary. They have already made their recommendations throughout the document. Katie said they always like to include an implementation table as they feel it summarizes all the recommendations in one place. It also helps with a time-frame so the members of other boards or the public can use it to see all the recommendations at once. Glenn said they had this chapter in the last plan. If they were a town with tons of resources and the Planning Board had a list of priorities that would be done in that order, it would make sense. They are suggesting things that they are hopeful will happen. What is included is where they think they can expediently make progress. He wasn’t sure if their list of 25 priorities will move the ball any quicker. They are just trying to put ideas in front of people. Chuck said the board is intimate with these discussions because they have been working on it. If someone else were to pick up the plan, it may be helpful for them to see all the priorities summarized on one page. It might help with ease of use. Glenn said just looking at the priorities isn’t going to explain the rationale behind them; the chapters make and illustrate clear recommendations. He didn’t think it was needed at the end. But he was fine with keeping it if others thought it should stay. Chair Wells said that Katie could take a stab at the chapter and if they don’t end up liking or wanting it, they could remove it. Katie said she would put the chapter together; it is their plan and they can include only the things they want in it. Chair Wells suggested that the board members should get a hard copy of the draft to get a better idea of how it goes together. Others agreed. Peter said it isn’t uncommon for this kind of document to include an executive summary. If it is a major recommendation it would be included and the summary wouldn’t be more than two pages in length. Chair Wells said their comments should be given to Peter who would then give them to Katie. Then either peter or Katie will print copies for all of them and they will decide if they need an executive summary or Chapter 6. David said he agrees that Chapter 6 is telling the reader what they have already been told earlier in the document. An executive summary should highlight the highest priorities. Chair Wells asked for this next draft as quickly as possible so people have a couple of weeks to review it before their next meeting. Katie agreed to this. Peter said next month’s meeting will be very busy and would likely not involve a review of the Master Plan materials. Chair Wells said he would still like the next draft ASAP to be able to review it. 3rd Party Engineering Services Peter said Chair Wells sent an email to Doug Sweet, who made recommendations for a wetlands person and an engineering firm. Peter has had experience with the engineering firm and knows it is first rate. The firm will send a proposal to the Town to review for the engineering costs. He thinks it will take from 1-2 days at several hundred dollars an hour. Peter said he has had extensive experience with a wetlands scientist out of Alton, NH called Stoney Ridge Environmental. He opined that they have probably the most talented scientist available. This person will also prepare a proposal for the October meeting. It was noted that the attorney said they need a check in a timely way to get approval in a timely way. An escrow account will be created and they will let the applicant know right away how much it will be. There is a 65-day clock to abide by once the application is voted on as complete. Glenn asked if the board first needs to determine if application is complete. They won’t then have to move to an approval. Peter agreed. Their consultant needs to review the plan and that won’t happen until the money is put into the account. The hearings will be continued. Glenn asked if they need to deliberate in a public hearing that they would be sending the plan out for an engineering review. Peter said he would suggest doing this at the October meeting. The application is due the following day and Peter said that it is essentially complete. There are no significant pieces missing that he can see. He has been going back and forth with the applicant to get all the missing pieces. Once the application is complete, they will declare that the scientist and review will be used. Chair Wells said that the selection of the people chosen should be discussed in non-public session. Any deliberation on the application, however, must be done in public session. Glenn said any questions anyone has can be directed to Peter. Peter can either answer the questions or consult with town counsel. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by David Hill to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:14pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton