Planning Board Minutes

Minutes of 12/7/2023

December 18th, 2023

Town of Carroll Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
December 7, 2023
5:00PM
“These minutes of the Town of Carroll Planning Board have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct, they are subject to additions, deletions, and corrections by the Planning Board at its next meeting when the Board votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2.”
Planning Board Members Present: Chairperson Alex Foti, Vice Chair Austin Alvarez, Rena Vecchio, Don Jones, Select Board Rep-Jules Marquis, Alternate-Paula Murphy
Public Present-Cathy Conway (Horizons Engineering), John Greer, Fire Chief Jeff Duncan, Joan Karpf (arrived 5:30p, left 6:00pm)
Minutes Taken By: Corinne Ripa
Item 1: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Foti at 5:00 PM
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
Item 3: Attendance taken; Quorum met
Paula Murphy (PB alternate) was asked by Alex Foti to join the Board at the table. She accepts and takes a seat.
Item 4: Approval of November 2, 2023 Minutes
John Greer makes an announcement that he is here as a private citizen, not as a member of the Select Board. Austin makes a motion to approve the minutes as is. Jules seconds the motion. All say aye…motion is passed, minutes approved.

Item 5: Application Echo Lake Phase ll (continued every meeting since May 5th)
Cathy Conway is here to facilitate the process of assigning E911 #’s to the existing homes. In conversations with the Fire Chief, the best way to do this is to request a name change to the streets in Phase l (from Solar Spring Way and Geodessy Way) now, rather than later. The proposal is to have one large loop, named Solar Spring Circle, incorporating both Phase l and Phase ll into one road. The numbering flow will come in off of Route 3 and proceed around the circle to the right. Phase l was approved with Solar Spring Way and Geodessy Way on the plans, so approval from the board is needed to make this change to Phase l. This will allow the town to be able to go forward with assigning E911 numbers appropriately.
Austin Alvarez makes a motion to approve the road name change to Phase l. Jules Marquis seconds the motion. All members vote aye in favor of the name change.
Cathy takes a few minutes to update where the project is at (Phase ll) and hopes to have all information and responses ready for the January meeting so Echo Lake can move forward on Phase ll.
Jules makes a comment to Cathy Conway that Tom and Kara Rozek (the excavation company working at Echo Lake) came to the Select Board meeting this past Tuesday inquiring about CO’s. (Please refer to the Select Board meeting minutes from 12/5/23). They were referred to speak with the Planning Board tonight at the meeting, as the PB set conditions last month that needed to be met prior to any CO’s being issued. However, Tom and Kara Rozek were not in attendance this evening. There was a brief discussion between the board, Cathy Conway and the fire chief regarding the road being finished, CO’s being issued (with the 5 conditions set forth by the PB last month) and new gravel samples Kevin Leonard has been waiting on. These items will continue to the January meeting.
Item 6: Review of Conservation Committee Zoning Ordinance Amendment to 606.3
The Conservation Committee submitted a Warrant Article that needs to be reviewed by the Planning Board. Alex Foti asks all members to read the WA so a discussion can be started.
Alex opens the conversation by stating that he is struggling with the wording and is having a difficult time trying to figure out what the actual intent is. Rena offers some background on the reasoning behind the proposed WA. There was a property owner over on King Pond who took all the trees down all the way to the water. The Conservation Committee has researched information that proves that the trees and vegetation help prevent flooding during extremely wet periods. The intent is to have regulations in place in the Zoning Ordinances that restrict the distance one can disturb to “wetland areas” fitting the criteria. Essentially, it gives greater protection to those “wetland areas” as defined in the Warrant Article.
The way the WA is written poses some questions and discussion. It is decided to revise the structure of the WA so the intent is clearer. Joan will revise the WA and send it back to Corinne to distribute to the PB via email. The Planning Board will vote on the revised structure of the Warrant Article at the Jan 4th meeting. The desired outcome is to have it on the agenda for Jan 10th’s public hearing of all the Warrant Articles.
Item 7: Follow Ups/Updates-pick a date for a public hearing and an alternate date
Corinne has a printed email from Kelly Trammell for the Planning Board to read. They all take a moment to read it. The email is in reference to the 5 Warrant Articles the PB wants to have on the ballot. It explains that out of the 5, the towns legal counsel (Meredith) has several questions about 2 of them before she can attempt to revise. She is extremely busy but can devote some time for a non-public phone meeting on Monday 12/18 at 5pm. There needs to be a commitment from 4 members as a quorum is needed for the phone meeting. Alex, Austin, Jules and Don state they can make it.
3 of the WA submitted have been altered by legal the way they need to be presented. The intent has not changed, just the way it is written with a few changed/added words. PB is comfortable with the wording legal uses. The other 2 (Short Term Rental Registration and Rehab Facility Requirements) are the 2 WA that need further discussion with legal so she can better understand the intent and how to properly word them. The phone meeting will be scheduled with Meredith for 5pm on Monday 12/18/23. A discussion ensues about the 2 WA that need more clarification, so the members are more prepared for that phone meeting. There is also a final discussion about where each proposed Warrant Article would be placed in the Zoning Ordinance.
Next up for discussion are picking dates for the public hearing regarding these Warrant Articles. There is a lot of back and forth about availability, deadlines, noticing, etc. Two dates must be chosen and noticed for the public incase there is a problem with the 1st date (snow storm, power outage, etc.) The 2nd date chosen will only be utilized should the 1st date have an issue that requires rescheduling. Both dates will be advertised with one notice in the Democrat, posted in 2 public places and posted on the town website.
After several dates are thrown around and discussed, a date is chosen for both. The 1st public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday 1/10/24 at 5pm. The alternate/2nd date is set for Thursday 1/18/24 at 5pm.
It is suggested that the regular monthly meeting for PB on Thursday January 4 will just be held on Wednesday January 10th after the public hearing (This is later changed-there WILL be the regular meeting on January 4 at 5pm AND the public hearing on January 10th at 5pm)
Once all the dates are settled and chosen, Austin states he would like to discuss the Master Plan. Alex had sent a MP proposal to Corinne via email on 12/6/23 from North Country Council. It was then emailed to all the PB members by Corinne.
Everyone is very impressed with the proposal from North Country Council. It needs to go before the Select Board to secure funding. Alex asks Rena if she would be willing to present it to the SB on Tuesday. The PB wants the SB to encumber any left-over funds from the 2023 Planning Board budget to the Planning Board’s Master Plan budget. The pricing of the MP assistance from NCC is different for a non-member vs member. It is decided that it makes sense to join NCC as a member for the year as a discount to work on the MP is offered to members (which basically covers the cost versus non-member.) Rena will ask the SB on Tuesday for the funding for Phase 1 and the membership fees.
Austin makes a motion to adjourn at 6:53pm. Don seconds the motion. All members vote aye unanimously. The meeting is adjourned.