TOWN OF SUTTON
Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall
93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH
Sutton Mills, NH 03221
Select Board

July 10, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m.

 

 

Dane Headley opened the meeting at 5:04 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Present at the meeting were:  Dane Headley, Chair; Michael McManus, Selectman; Michael Vignale of KV Partners, LLC; Robert DeFelice, Budget Chair; Glenn Pogust, Planning Board Chair; Peter Stanley, Land Use Coordinator; Ira Thomas; and Barbara Hoffman.

 

APPOINTMENTS:

 

At 5:04 pm, and at the request of the Select Board, Michael Vignale of KV Partners, LLC, and engineer and general contractor of the Grist Mill parking lot met with the Board to discuss the continuous drainage issues that have plagued the parking area since spring.  After lengthy discussions of possible causes and solutions, it was ultimately decided that until some test pits under the direction of a wetlands scientist occurred on the site, no concrete or reliable course of action could be undertaken.   Hence Peter Stanley, Sutton’s Land Use Coordinator, agreed to oversee this project with Mr. Stanley, Mr. Vignale, the wetlands scientist, and the town’s highway department all meeting at the site.

 

At 5:30 pm, Glenn Pogust and Peter Stanley met with the Select Board to report on the June 28 court hearing regarding the Town’s injunction lawsuit against Peacock Hill Road, LLC, with respect to zoning violations.  While at court the parties were able to come to an agreement that avoided the necessity for a hearing on a preliminary injunction and that provided the Town with everything it could have requested if the hearing had proceeded without an agreement.  Peacock agreed, among other things, to remove all of the accumulated stumps, branches and debris by July 12, and to stabilize all of the disturbed areas in the house lots, driveway areas and recreation area by August 4.  The Town agreed to visit the site before July 7 to have the third-party engineer identify for Peacock the areas that need to be stabilized.  Peacock must also provide a full construction schedule by July 11.  The agreement was reviewed and adopted by the Judge as an Order of the Court, which means that if there are violations going forward, the Town can immediately apply to the court for contempt.  The order did not address attorney fees or penalties, which will not be considered by the Court until all of the provisions of the order have been complied with.  The question of the remedy relating to the encroachment of the perimeter buffer during logging and other activities has also been deferred until the Town can conduct an inspection of those areas. It was ordered that no construction work can proceed until the stabilization has been completed to the satisfaction of the third-party engineer and until Peacock has provided an acceptable schedule of the construction work.

As agreed in the Court order, the Town conducted a site visit on July 5 by Glenn Pogust, Peter Stanley and the third-party engineer on behalf of the Town.  Present for Peacock were Mr. Fitzgerald, his son, his attorney and the engineer engaged by Peacock.   There was an inspection of the entire site and the third-party engineer explained the suitable means of stabilizing the disturbed areas.  Gravel can be used on the proposed driveways with the remainder of the driveway rights-of-way to be loamed and seeded.  House lots are to be loamed and seeded, although mulch can be used to provide a firm base on the three lots where the well will need to be located behind the foundation. The recreation field needs to be loamed and seeded and mulch can be used in the disturbed cut-throughs between lots where trees will need to be planted.  There was also discussion of the required schedule and the need for it to contain enough detail so that the Town can schedule needed inspections, especially with respect to construction of the road and drainage features.

Mr. Stanley and Mr. Pogust assured the Select Board that they intend to keep a close eye on the project given the past history, and that if there is any indication of a failure to comply with the order or of additional violations, they will not hesitate to take action and ask counsel to apply to the Court for relief.

Mr. Thomas asked about the creation of individual tax lots with metes and bounds descriptions.  It was explained that the recording of the plan creates the subdivision, but that the individual tax lots will not be specified until they are sold.  Each deed will contain the metes and bounds description of that lot.

The Board thanked Mr. Pogust and Mr. Stanley for doing a yeoman’s job in the oversight of this project and thanked them profusely for all their time and effort. Mr. Stanley opined that particular thanks should be given to Mr. Pogust who has been leading the effort.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Selectman McManus moved to approve the minutes from June 26, 2023, as written. Selectman Headley seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

 

MANIFESTS:

The Board reviewed and approved the following manifests:

June 30, 2023

Payroll:                        $18,983.20 + $103.17

Vendor:                       $840,909.52

July 7, 2023

Payroll:                        $15,522.33

Vendor :                       $47,406.51

 

BUILDING PERMITS:

The Board reviewed and approved the following building permits:

Ruth Mulvaney and Curtis Burk, 02-894-183, Old Sutton Road, for roof mounted solar panels.

Laurie Loque, 07-900-354, 11 Davis Court, new footer under existing porch and remove replace woodshed in existing footprint with no change.

 

INTENT TO CUT:

The Board reviewed and approved the following intent to cut:

Craig Courser, Map 05-815-136, Pound Road South, for 25 acres out of 86.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

The Board  reviewed and signed the following deed:

Cemetery Deed, Curtis Family/AmLake Family Trust, Millwood Cemetery, H 18.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

The Board deferred action re: Vacation Accrual/Part-time benefits until the next full-member Board meeting.

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:32 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Dane Headley, Select Board Chair