Minutes of
Meeting
February 20,
2004
9:00 am
John R. Swindlehurst, III
Steve Kennedy
Ken Swayze, Building Inspector and Health
Officer
Meeting was called to order
at 9:00 am by Chuck Graybill, seconded by Steve
Kennedy, motion passed.
The Board meet with Tom
Gleason to discuss his application for a permit to have a home occupation at
his residence at 1066 Clinton Street.
Also present was his brother, Richard Gleason.
Mr. Swayze
gave an outline of events leading to this meeting. He stated that Mr. Gleason had applied for
the certificate of occupancy on February 5, 2004, after a long standing request
to apply for this application for the use of the business (trash pickup). Due to the complexity of this use, the town
has some compliance issues.
The Board gave Mr. Gleason
the list of 10 items outlined in the Zoning Ordinance pertaining to home
businesses which he must comply with in order to conduct his business (see attached
list). They proceeded to go through the
list, item by item as follows:
1. This was not an issue.
2. This was not an issue.
3. This was not an issue.
4. The was not an issue.
5. The town has an issue: Mr. Swayze stated that the Meehans
(who also occupy this lot and are Mr. Gleason’s landlords) have claimed that
garbage was visible. Mr. Swayze stated that where the white truck is parked
presently, he had no objection however, sometimes the truck is parked in other
places and is in violation. Mr. Gleason
was asked what space is relegated to that truck. Mr. Gleason stated that the Meehans had no specs as to
where lot lines are and went on to say that both sides of the mobile
home is his space. Chuck Graybill wanted to know how close in relation to this
parking area is the septic and Mr. Gleason stated that is was a “ways
away”. Ken Swayze
stated that the septic cap is close to where the truck is parked. Mr. Gleanson
claimed it was 10 ft back and 25 ft to the side and he was not parking on the
cap.
Mr. Swayze expressed
that he was having a problem with where the truck is
currently
located and would like to have it parked on the north side. Chuck Graybill
stated that he had no problem with the white truck being parked behind the
mobile home either. Mr. Gleason went on
to say this was not always going to
happen. Mr. Swayze then insisted that he comply with the parking
rule as discussed and that he also needed to
cover the load in the truck especially if it is kept overnight. To this, Mr. Gleason stated that he picks up
and dumps on the same day. He stated
that the only time garbage was left in truck was last year when he had a
problem with Dunbarton and Hopkinton dumping.
Mr. Swayze reinstated that when trash is stored it should be kept
covered. All agree that the truck is to
be parked in back of mobile home, north of this dwelling and when the truck is
parked loaded it should be covered or enclosed at all times.
6. This is not an issue.
7. The town has an issue: Mr. Swayze stated that there have been objections to the
emission of odors and some appearance problems.
Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Swayze observed on the
weekend of July 4, 2003 that the truck was loaded with trash and was emitting
odors. They had received a call and
drove by independently and the truck had not moved. It was noted that the Transfer Station was
closed on that particular weekend. JR Swindlehurst stated that this was one of the reasons the
town is exploring the possibility of expanding the hours this year but stated
that Mr. Gleason still would have to comply with item number 7. Mr. Gleason stated again that he picks up
household trash on the days the transfer station is open but has side jobs
other times. These side jobs involve
items that are not considered household trash and would probably not emit
odor. The Board took the stand that Mr.
Gleason would have to be in compliance with item #7 in order to be treated the
same as any other person in town.
8. Not an issued because he does not have customers come to him.
9. The town has an issue: Should
only have one commercial vehicle. Chuck Graybill stated that the town has had this discussion over
the years with Mr. Gleason and Mr. Gleason
has removed the additional vehicles but currently there is a green truck
there for sale and a wrecker with a snow plow and even though it has been
stated that the green truck is owned by his brother Dick it is a commercial vehicle and is housed on
the property. Mr. Graybill
stated that there should be only one commercial vehicle there and they were not
to flaunt this privilege in the face of the town. Mr. Gleason stated the wrecker is owned by
him and is used for winter clean up and it would be out of there in the summer
months. He also stated that it is useful
to have it there in case he needed it to change a tire on one of the other
trucks. The Board asked Mr. Gleason if
he is taking depreciation on all these vehicles when he files his returns with
the IRS and Mr. Gleason stated that he
was not. He only used it as a plow
truck.
The green
truck, he stated, was for sale and it belonged to Dick Gleason. Chuck Graybill
asked if it was used in a home occupation environment in the past. Mr. Gleason responded that the truck is not
used in connection with the business. To
this the Selectmen disagreed. Mr.
Gleason said there was no way that he would get rid of the truck. Mr. Kennedy specifically asked him if this
was his position on this matter. Mr.
Gleason stated he wanted to sell the truck and then will get rid of it. He has too much money in it to not sell it
and his position is that he would not move it off the property. JR Swindlehurst
asked for clarification as to the ownership of the truck because Tom Gleason said he would get the
money when the vehicle was sold. Tom
stated that he financed the repairs on the truck and that his brother Dick
owned it and would pay him back for his investment when it was sold.
Steven
Kennedy asked if Tom Gleason could
provide the board with an IRS statement showing how many vehicles he had tied
into this business. Tom stated that he
had not filed this years return but could provide documentation. Mr. Kennedy stated he did not care if it was
this year or last year. Mr. Gleason said
he could provide that information.
Mr. Gleanson stated that the green truck was registered in 2002
and was being used for the business and when the white one came on, the green
one went out of use. Mr. Kennedy
cautioned Mr. Gleason that this item was the deal breaker and wanted Tom to
understand this before the vote was taken.
In the history, examined over
time regarding the use of this property,
relative to the landlord’s complaints of
violations, it causes us a
problem and the town has to look for an appropriate remedy. He stated that the board is trying to get
to “yes” not trying to get to “no”. The
town is trying to make it work for Tom Gleason but if this is Mr. Gleason’s
position and he is not moving, then the town cannot get to “yes”. The town wants to find a reasonable way to
solve this and that would be to comply with #7
and #9, therefore Mr. Gleason must remove the vehicles.
Chuck Graybill made the following motion:
With reference
to Tom Gleason’s home occupation
business, under the Dunbarton Zoning
Ordinance 6A-5, the vehicle will be
parked north of his mobile home dwelling and if the truck is parked, it should be covered or enclosed at all
times, if loaded with household trash.
Under item #7, complaints noted in the past and expect compliance. Under item #9, the board would approve only one commercial
vehicle or registered commercial vehicle, and Mr. Gleason has to remove within 30 days the other two
vehicles located on this property.
Other
comments: We would also reserve the
right to have quarterly inspections of
said premises, at the time of our
choice, by the Building Inspector and
the Heath Inspector and it is noted that this permit will be issued for a
period of one year and renewed on a one year basis with fee. Failure to comply would result in the use of
Dunbarton Transfer Station for Commercial use being denied.
The motion was
seconded by JR Swindlehurst.
Discussion:
Mr. Gleason
took exception to the motion. The Board
advised Mr. Gleason that he could take these exceptions to the Zoning Board for
appeal. It was also pointed out that if
the Board of Selectmen approved the permit, the landlords, Mr. & Mrs.
Meehan, would also have the right to appeal to the Zoning Board.
JR Swindlehurst stated
that he thought the motion was reasonable.
Steve Kennedy
stated that based on the discussion, he felt this was a non-permitted use.
Chuck Graybill stated the Mr. Gleason had 30 days to comply and
if he doesn’t comply, he does not get his permit. If he complies sooner, he can get the permit.
Mr. Kennedy
stated that the board needed to caucus.
He so moved that the board table the motion in order to caucus. JR Swindlehurst
seconded the motion and all were in
favor. The original motion was
tabled.
Mr. Kennedy
noted that it was important to remember that this particular instance or
discussion involved not only this business but other businesses of this nature
and the town needs to be consistent.
Richard
Gleason stated that he felt that the automobiles were his and not Tom’s and
that the vehicles were not being used by the business. The plow truck would be gone after winter
was over.
After much
discussion, the original motion was read and the board was ready for a
vote.
Motion being
made and seconded, the vote was taken as follows: Chuck Graybill,
Aye; John R. Swindlehurst, II, Aye; Stephen Kennedy,
Aye. Motion carried.
It was noted
that a copy of the motion will be given to the Building Inspector and to Tom
Gleason.
The meeting
with the Gleasons ended at 10AM.
The Board met
with Margaret Venator, Welfare Director regarding
various Welfare matters. It was decided
that the policy regarding food vouchers would be that they would be an
occasional thing not a permanent thing.
The town would not deny anyone but would rather they apply for food stamps first.
Chuck
Williamson stopped in at 10:30am to respond to a letter he had received from
the board asking that all paperwork be returned to the town office regarding
the transfer station which could have included applications for employment. He stated that as far as he knew he did
review the job applications for the position at the transfer station as a
committee member but never retained them
in his possession and he thought they were in town’s possession. Steve Kennedy said that the board has an
obligation that when people come forward to follow up and ask the questions and
get responses so the board can respond back.
Noted for
record: Ken Alton, who also received the
letter, called JR Swindlehurst to say he did not have papers either.
The board elected
to have J. R. Swindlehurst represent the Board of
Selectmen regarding to up coming
meetings with Central N. H. Regional Planning and department heads of the town
regarding Natural Hazard Mitigation Planning.
Motion to
adjourn at 10:40am was made by Chuck Graybill,
seconded by Steve Kennedy and motion passed.
Meeting was
adjourned at 10:40am.
Meeting was
called to order at 11.07am: The
selectmen met with Al Vaal and Simona
Robinson regarding discussion at the bond hearing the previous night. The meeting took place at the Vaal residence.
Steve Kennedy
made the following statement: The Board
of Selectmen met with the Vaals and proposed that the
property be purchased through a one year option to buy for $20,000 and it was
not acceptable by the Vaals. We also discussed the possibility of having a
tour of the property prior to the town meeting
by the public and were told that liability prohibited them from allowing
the public to walk the property at this time.
The motion was
made to stay with the original plan to purchase the property as stated at the
bond hearing on February 19, 2004. The
motion was seconded by Chuck Graybill, the vote was
in the affirmative. Motion passed.
Motion to
adjourn was made at 11.08am by Chuck, Seconded by JR, all were in favor.
Meeting
adjourned at 11.08am.
______________________________
Chuck
Graybill, Chairman
______________________________
John
R. Swindlehurst, III
______________________________
Stephen
Kennedy
Dunbarton
Board of Selectmen
Recorded
by: Janice VandeBogart,
Town Administrator