PLANNING BOARD
Work Session Tuesday October 28. 2008,
7:00pm Town Hall Basement
Minutes
Present:
Jeff Miller, Bob Miller, Ben
Daviss, Don Lounsbury, Dave DeCoste, Mel Schupack,
Dennis Marcom
Recording: Pamela
Aslinger, Secretary
These minutes are unapproved and will be
reviewed at the November 11, 2008 meeting for corrections.
Meeting
Opened at 7:00pm
Purpose
of the meeting was to review status of SW Regional Planning
dues and discuss the beginning of an economic development chapter for the
Master Plan
Dues - Sec. Aslinger reported she had sent a memo on the 27th
to the selectboard requesting they pay the remainder of the dues from the
current year planning budget account #01-4191.10-390 PLN SWRPC Master Plan
Project. The memo asked that they notify
the board of payment when it occurs. She
had not yet received notification as of this meeting.
Vision statement/Goals and Objectives - Ch. Miller asked Mr. Daviss to contact SWRPC and ask
them to review the recently finalized documents and create an updated land use
section by blending the existing section with the newly created drafts. He asked if the initial review could be
included as part of the dues and what the cost would be to create the new land
use section including updating the technical data. He asked for Mr. Daviss to report back to the
board at the next meeting if possible.
Ch. Miller suggested members interested should plan to attend a meeting
with the selectboard and Tim Murphy in the future to discuss SWRPC’s membership
importance to the entire Town.
Economic Development Section - Mr. Daviss asked for the committee to consider
dedicating the next year’s work sessions to creating an economic development
section to the Master Plan. He stated
that the Office of Energy and Planning and SWRPC are making an effort to have
all towns incorporate an economic section to address potential court issues
that may arise. He said models are
available with Jaffrey’s being the one most touted. Mr. Schupack suggested the business people in
town be tapped for their input from the onset.
Mr. Daviss and others agreed with creating a forum where all factions
could air discussions on issues prior to an application being before the
planning board. Attendees asked if a
spectrum of models could be gathered in hopes to encourage a variety of
developments for cosideration. Mr. Schupack suggested creating an economic
development advisory committee for the town.
Ch. Miller asked Mr. Daviss to gather the various models for the board
and others to consider prior to the next meeting if possible. He suggested the work sessions beginning in
January 2009 be devoted to the new section for the Master Plan. Mr. DeCoste suggested that models include at
least one very specific and one very general.
Zoning/Regulations Amendments for 2008/9 - Sec. Aslinger reported she would gather any
potential previously discussed changes while preparing the “Master List” for
2008, a required document listing all of the Board’s meeting actions for the
entire year and have it prepared for discussion at the November 11, 2008
meeting. Attendees made no other
suggested changes.
Budget -
Sec. Aslinger reminded the
budget needed to be filled out by Nov 3rd and asked Ch. Miller and members if
an amount for the updating the master plan needed to be included. Members agreed to $1500.00 for the year. Members discussed meeting with the selectboard
regarding the importance of the SWRPC membership and stress that it benefits
the entire town and various agencies. It
was agreed that the dues should not be a line item in the planning board budget
nor should the planning board solely be burdened with proving its necessity to
the Town. Ch. Miller reminded while the
board files a budget each year based on prior year’s expenditures the
selectboard must make allowances for overruns due to the unknown potential activity
of the board in a given year. He suggested
they cannot limit the boards work by such actions as freezing it’s spending.
Handout - SWRPC - Innovative Land Use Planning Saturday Nov.
8, 2008 9-noon workshop in
Meeting
closed 7:30pm
Cc: PB, ZBA,
MP, BOS, Town Offices Posted: Town Hall, Lobby, Burdick’s Mkt.
www.thewalpolean.com