DUNBARTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MINUTES OF MEETING
TOWN OFFICES –
The regular scheduled weekly meeting of the Dunbarton
Board of Selectmen was held at the above time, date and place with Chairman J.
R. Swindlehurst presiding. It was noted
that the meeting was called to order at
J. R. Swindlehurst, Chairman
Charles (Chuck) Graybill
Mert Mann
Janice VandeBogart, Town
Administrator
Items
for Attention:
1.
Janice VandeBogart stated that the sign posting for the election has
been taken care of.
2. Granting
of extension for Gerald Gelinas/Donald Perkins
Proposed Subdivision.
MOTION:
A
motion was made by Chuck Graybill that the Dunbarton Board of Selectmen grant
the request from the Dunbarton Planning Board for a 90 day extension for the
Gerald Gelinas/Donald Perkins Proposed Subdivision as requested. The motion was seconded by Mert Mann. The motion passed unanimously.
3.
Filling of Clerical Position within the Building Department
MOTION:
A
motion was made by Mert Mann that Line Comeau be brought from part-time to
full-time status with the additional responsibilities of the filling of the
budgeted clerical position in the Building Department with no change in salary. The motion was seconded by J. R.
Swindlehurst.
Discussion:
Chuck
Graybill asked if the position had been advertised.
It
was noted the position had not been advertised because there was no need
because of promoting within.
Mert
Mann noted that Line Comeau had been interviewed by Kenneth Swayze, Building Department, and this was in accordance with
the Personnel Policy of Promoting from within and advertising of the position
is not necessary.
The
motion passed unanimously.
Letters
Signed by Selectmen:
1. Letter to Chester Bradeen requesting that he not park his vehicle on the road because of snow plowing, etc.
2.
Letter to David/Denise Kremidas stating that the Town would not be
responsible for damage from snowplowing to a fence he has put up within the
Town right of way.
Fred
Mullen, Town Moderator:
Fred Mullen appeared before the Board and stated he
had attended a State Moderator’s Meeting.
1.
He stated that according to State Law, one or more of the Selectmen of
the Town must attend the Election Day for all day. There has to be a Selectmen present from
start to finish of the election (
2.
Stated that this election will be monitored carefully by lawyers,
etc. All towns must have sufficient
voting booths for the public. The public
should not wait more than twenty minutes.
If there is a backup, the Town should provide portable laminated card
board voting booths such as can be
obtained at Staples for $7.00 each.
Janice VandeBogart will look into purchasing four of
these at Staples.
3.
Regarding handicapped parking spaces, the Town can put up orange cones
for additional handicapped spaces if necessary.
4.
The State is in the process of designing handicapped voting
booths. In addition, there are new
handicapped accessible laws. The Town of
Dunbarton is in compliance at this point.
5.
Re political signs – Political signs on private property can only be
removed by the owner of the property.
Political signs cannot be placed on Town Property and anyone can remove
political signs from Town Property.
Elected officials cannot be holding a political sign according to
law.
6.
Suggestions were made at the conference as to having a raffle to get
more people to vote.
7.
Mert Mann notified Fred Mullen, Moderator, that the Historical Society
would be having a Table at the Election Day Voting, etc. In addition, he noted that the Historical
Awareness Committee would be having a table.
8.
F. Mullen indicated that according to State Law, voters should not be
stopped to buy tickets for raffles, etc.
They need a “clear path” for approaching the voting booths and also for
exiting the booths according to State Law.
Gorham
Pond Residents:
A group of Gorham Pond Residents appeared before the
Board consisting of Lou Costa, Tony Migneault, Peter Pacik, Janet Lynn, Mark
Desmarais and others.
1.
Tony Migneault stated that they appreciated the Selectmen releasing the
Legal Opinion of the Town Attorney with regard to zoning and the covenants for
Gorham Pond Residents. He stated that
they felt this was only an opinion, and they would possibly hire legal counsel
to argue the opinion. He stated they did
not accept this as written. He stated
they wanted all Boards to accept the Gorham Pond covenants instead of the Town
setbacks, etc.
2.
T. Migneault stated they wanted to know who or what Board made the
final decision to require Certified Plot Plans.
He stated they could not get any surveyor to come down to Gorham Pond to
do a survey and in addition, it was very expensive. Stated that they could not even replace a set
of steps without having a Certified Plot Plan.
Alison Vallieres explained the situation and stated
the Zoning Board of Adjustment had problems in the past with inaccurate
boundary lines, especially at Gorham Pond.
In the past, mistakes were made, and the Board of Adjustment had granted
Variances for inaccurate distances, etc.
They had been challenged and it was determined after the fact that the
boundaries as presented by applicants were not correct. Based on this, the Zoning Board of Adjustment
determined that in order to grant Variances, etc., they would have to require a
Certified Plot Plan.
There appeared to be a misunderstanding of the
requirements for a Certified Plot Plan.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment requires Certified Plot Plans for
Variances and Special Exceptions. In
order to get a Building Permit for example the replacement of a roof, etc.
(which does not go beyond the existing footprint of the building) does not
require a Certified Plot Plan. In
addition, you can get a Building Permit for replacement of steps, etc. You cannot expand the use or footprint of the
existing building without a Variance.
The Variance requires a Certified Plot Plan.
Peter Pacik stated that unfortunately he was not at
the last meeting so don’t know some of the things that transpired. The biggest problem at Gorham Pond is that we
are all stuck with small lots that are non-conforming lots and anything we want
to do becomes very difficult because we have to comply with the Town Zoning rules. The lot we have is 90’ x 100’. It is not true that we want to build large
structures like Desmarais. There is no
one who is interested in building a four story house. We all need a little “wiggle room” to improve
our properties. By the time we were
through with the Town, etc., it cost us $6,000 for us to go “through the
hoops”. We met with many
individuals. Ultimately, we did comply
with the Certified Plot Plan. We are
just hoping to enlist the support of the Town Fathers to put something on the
Town Ballot where it would say that we could come to some kind of agreement
supported by the Town Fathers, etc. If
we need to repair a set of stairs, we have to get a Certified Plot Plan. People are doing things on their own down
there without a permit because of this issue.
It has been very time consuming for everyone down there, and we are all
pushing for the same thing. We have
been bounced around and we have gone from Board to Board. We have just been “chasing our tail”.
At this point, Alison Vallieres stated that one way
it could be accomplished is through a Petition Article from the residents of
Gorham Pond.
At this point, Kenneth Swayze stated that at the
last Planning Board meeting which the Gorham Pond Residents had attended, it
had been suggested by him that Central New Hampshire Regional Planning
Commission be contacted for technical assistance. He stated at the present time, they were very
busy but that he would call them again tomorrow morning for assistance. He stated that the Planning Board is the only
Board that can act on and/or institute changes to the Zoning Ordinance. He would not suggest they pursue a Petition
Article.
The Gorham Pond Residents would rather not pursue a
Petition Article. They would like the
Town Fathers to work on this problem and also back up any proposed zoning
change for Gorham Pond, etc.
Janet Lynn stated there are other communities
similar to Gorham Pond which must have specific ordinances i.e. Locke Lake in
Barnstead, Pillsbury Lake in Hillsboro and Emerald Lake. What about them? What kind of ordinances do they have?
Mark Desmarais stated that Emerald Lake has no
setbacks. It is grandfathered. What Dunbarton is doing is like a “taking” by
the Town because people had rights before zoning was passed. Zoning wiped those rights out and that is a
government taking.
Other Members of the Gorham Pond Residents Group:
A resident indicated that they would propose to go as a non-adversary group. Whatever we could do easily and without a lawyer. There is a level of mistrust for the Town Fathers. We feel we are being shuffled around from one Board to another. We would like to work with the Planning Board and have Kenneth Swayze help us to have a non-petition article so we can have a little bit of leeway because we can’t move the way it is now.
Another resident stated that property values of
non-conforming lots down at Gorham Pond should be reduced because of the fact
they are non-conforming, etc. We could
seek relief from property values because of this, etc. You guys might want to take this into
consideration.
A resident stated that the Town should do away with
zoning all together. Zoning is no longer
the way to go. Stated zoning is bigotry,
etc. When zoning is passed, you are consenting
to live by majority rule. The only way
is to just vote against zoning. Get rid
of zoning.
Peter Pacik stated that Kenneth Swayze is suggesting
an attorney, and it will be an expense that we have to go through. It is expensive to hire an attorney.
Other Business:
1.
Janice VandeBogart stated that the Town had received a letter from Mr.
Gosslen regarding his desire to have Ordway Road paved. The Selectmen indicated they would need to
have neighbors submit letters in writing requesting the paving of the road,
etc.
NON-PUBLIC
SESSION:
MOTION:
Mert
Mann made a motion that the Dunbarton Board of Selectmen go into Non-Public
Session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 in
order to discuss legal and welfare issues.
The motion was seconded by Chuck Graybill. The motion passed unanimously with the
following roll vote:
Mann – Yes
Graybill – Yes
Swindlehurst – Yes
No
motions or decisions were made during the non-public session.
MOTION:
Mert
Mann made a motion that the Dunbarton Board of Selectmen adjourn the Non-Public
Session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3.
The motion was second by Chuck Graybill.
The motion passed unanimously with the following roll vote:
Mann – Yes
Graybill – Yes
Swindlehurst – Yes
There
being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Alison
R. Vallieres
Recording
Secretary
________________________________________
John R. Swindlehurst, III, Chairman
________________________________________
Charles Graybill
________________________________________
Merton Mann
Dunbarton Board of Selectmen