DRB Hearing 8/9/16

Peacham Development Review Board

PEACHAM, VT 05862

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

July 25, 2016

TO: Development Review Board Members, Applicant, Adjoining land owners, Zoning Administrator, Peacham Planning Commission and Interested Parties:

A Public Hearing before the Development Review Board will

be held at the Peacham Town Clerk’s Office on Tuesday August 9

at 7:00 p.m. to consider the following:

Jeannie Peabody, Accessory Dwelling Application 14-16,

2494 Slack St

The above application is available for inspection at the Town Clerk’s

Office. Persons wishing to give testimony may do so in person or be

represented by agent or attorney at the Hearing. Communication about

the above Hearing may be filed in writing to: DRB PO Box 244,

Peacham, VT 05862 or presented at the Hearing.

Participation in this Hearing is a prerequisite to the right to take any subsequent appeal.

Nicholas Comerci, Chair

Mathew Kempton

Raymond Young

Greg Schoolcraft

Morris McCain

Selectboard Hearing and Site Visit 9/7/16

Town of Peacham / PO Box 244 / Peacham, VT 05862

NOTICE OF HEARING and SITE VISIT

July 26, 2016

To all Persons owning land or interested in lands along Mill Terrace (TH#82)

and the Peacham Planning Commission, and the Public:

At a regular meeting on 7/20/16 the Peacham Selectboard initiated the 19 V.S.A. §708 process to:

Reclassify all or a portion of Mill Terrace (TH-82) (also referred to as Mill Trace) to either a Legal Trail or Class 4 Road; and possibly subject the bridge on TH-82 near the Peacham-Barnet Road to gates and bars.

Wed., September 7, 2016: 6:00 PM: site visit and hearing to examine Mill Terrace (TH#82) at or near the bridge at the intersection with the Peacham-Barnet Road; 6:15 PM (or directly following the site visit): reconvene the aforesaid hearing at the Peacham Town Hall meeting room.

Written testimony may also be submitted to the Selectboard, Peacham Town Clerk’s Office, PO Box 244, Peacham, VT, 05862 (or delivered by hand to the Town Office at 79 Church Street) which must be received no later than 6:30 pm September 7, 2016 to be considered.

Selectboard Meeting 7/20/16 Unapproved Minutes

TOWN OF PEACHAM

SELECTBOARD MEETING MINUTES

Town Hall Meeting Room

Wednesday June 20, 2016 6:30PM

Present:

Selectboard: Annette Lorraine, Tim Scott, and David Jacobs

Clerk to the Selectboard: Melissa Laurita Kohl

Public: Road Foreman Jeremy Withers, Town Clerk Tom Galinat, Mike Bruton, Marty Cavanaugh, Ed Vilandre

The meeting was called to order by Annette Lorraine at 6:36PM.

1. Additions to Agenda
1. Town Website Update

2. Review and Approve Minutes
1. David moves to approve the minutes of 6/1/16 as amended. Annette seconds. All in favor. So moved.
2. Tim moves to approve the minutes from 6/15/16 as amended. Annette seconds. All in favor. So moved.
3. David moves to approve the minutes of the 7/6/16 hearing with one amendment. Tim seconds. All in favor. So moved.

3. Town Clerk Update
1. Quarterly Status Report
1. Tom reviewed highlights from the quarterly status report for the budget. Highlights included:
2. The town has not had to borrow any money yet.
3. Tax bills will go out next week.
4. Sheriff’s department are listening to the wishes of the town and have issued 11 speeding tickets.
5. Financially, the transfer station is way down.
6. Elections line item is going to go over budget this year as there are three elections this year.
7. The Selectboard took the quarterly status report home to read thoroughly.
8. Tom gave the Selectboard the suggested municipal tax rate based - Annette moves to accept the town municipal tax rate of 0.3674. Tim seconds. All in favor. So moved.

4. Town website update
1. Melissa reviewed options concerning website based searches so that all PDF documents of minutes and agendas could be searched. The Selectboard chose to pay the additional $49 a year to use a product that allowed PDFs on the website to be searched but did not allow web based search engines to access the information.

5. Updates on projects: Roller barn and electrical service
1. The additional wiring outside of town hall will be completed before PAMFest.
2. The Roller Barn was finished before July 4th. Dick Hovey looked happy. Jeremy did the staymat up there for the ramp.
3. Grant about cellular and internet connectivity was denied. In September the grant providers will meet with Annette to show her where the town has room for improvement. This will be useful if the town wants to apply again next year. Annette thinks the town may be able to find grant money for a similar project elsewhere.

6. Village Pathway
1. Tim has a conflict of interest so he recused himself. That leaves Annette and David who do not agree on what to do. Without a decision nothing is happening with the path, but Annette would like a couple of alterations they could agree on to be looked into. David will look into the following:
1. Pruning or moving the shrub in the middle of the path. David will work with the landowners.
2. David had suggested signage to make it clear that it’s a path. He will come up with a plan for signage.
3. David is going to look at the path and see if it is possible to relocate the crosswalk, as it is not in the best location due to the grade of the hill leading down to it. Annette will look into what it takes to move it from a legal perspective.

7. Vilandre-Cavanaugh donation discussion
1. The Selectboard and the Vilandre-Cavanaughs discussed the donation agreement.
2. David wanted to include traffic calming in that area. He wants the site plan to include it as he heard a lot of comments about safety at the hearing. The town would be responsible for any traffic calming measures in the road. Annette added a line to reflect this in the “Pledge Agreement”.
3. Ed Vilandre and Marty Cavanaugh initialed and signed the “Pledge Agreement” and Annette notarized it.

8. Orders reclassifying Taylor Road TH18 and Legal Trail 1
1. Annette reviewed the “Notice and Order: Discontinuing Legal Trail #1” with David and Tim. The Selectboard already voted on this so the Selectboard signed it.
2. The Selectboard signed the “Notice and Order: Discontinuing T.H. 18 Taylor Road”

9. Discuss Mill Terrace classification and maintenance
1. The Selectboard discussed their findings and discussed a letter by the owner of the house requesting that the bridge be maintained as a Class 3 road but the driveway section of the road be reclassified. This keeps the bridge available for FEMA grants and keeps the most level access open. The town does not need to maintain it in the winter as it is not used.
2. The Selectboard will have a hearing and site visit to discuss the matter on 9/7/16 at 6pm at the Mill Terrace bridge.

10. Highway Department update including Better Roads grants
1. Jeremy said road crew is busy with the storms and has the grader out non-stop repairing roads.
2. Peacham received the better roads grant. The coordinator stopped at the garage yesterday and they went out and looked at washed out roads. Cemetery road right from the library down to the fields is a problem area. Jeremy wanted to apply for a grant to resolve it. The coordinator said that it’s impossible as he looked into it before. Due to water and telephone lines you can’t get deep enough to make it effective. There is also ledge there. Jeremy thinks that maybe the town should pave from the library down to field so no material going down there just water, but impervious surfaces increase water velocity and might cause trouble down below. Tomorrow the road crew is trying a different material there - something smaller that can be packed into it. They will see how that holds up.
3. The East Peacham Rd project may happen in the second week in August.
4. Mowing is happening right now.
5. Peacham got Category A and B better back road grants. Green Bay loop will be done in fall.
6. Annette said that when Peacham had tropical storm Irene and another in 2011, the way the town recovered so fast is because Selectboard member Andy Cochran called everyone at 3am and locked them in at low prices. They were there the next day and not available for Danville, etc. She thinks the Selectboard should give Jeremy authority to do that. The Selectboard authorized Jeremy to do that if the storm looks really bad - for example, even if there are more trees down than the road crew can handle.
7. Jeremy requested an Executive Session to discuss private and confidential information concerning personnel.
1. Annette moves to go into executive session at 8:04pm. Tim seconds. All in favor. So moved.
2. David moves to come out of executive session at 8:25pm. Tim seconds. All in favor. So moved.
3. No action taken.

11. David and the Selectboard discussed upcoming schedules - David will be gone from December through March but will be available by email and will skype into meetings. In October, Annette will be absent one meeting. Melissa will not be here at the next meeting. The town clerk will record the first weekend in August so Melissa can listen to it and take the minutes..
12. Review and approve bills
1. The Selectboard reviewed and approved bills.

13. Review correspondence
1. The Selectboard reviewed and approved correspondence.

David moves to adjourn at 8:35pm. Annette seconds. All in favor. So moved.

Selectboard Meeting 7/20/15 Agen

TOWN OF PEACHAM

SELECTBOARD

MEETING AGENDA

Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 6:30pm

1. Call to order
2. Additions to the Agenda for any additional business this meeting
3. Review and approve minutes of June 1, June 15, and July 6, 2016
4. Updates on past projects: Roller barn and electrical service
5. Village Pathway
6. Vilandrie-Cavanaugh donation discussion
7. Orders reclassifying Taylor Road TH18 and Legal Trail 1
8. Discuss Mill Terrace classification and maintenance
9. Highway Department update including Better Roads grants
10. Town Clerk Update
    1. Quarterly Status Report
11. Review and approve bills
12. Review correspondence
13. Adjourn

Selectboard Site Visits and Hearings 7/6/16 Unapproved Minutes

Minutes available at the Town Clerk's Office or at Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/SBHearingsSiteVisits7.6.16

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOWNLOADING DOCUMENTS FROM ARCHIVE.ORG:
Follow the provided link.

There is a "Download Options" box on the right hand side of the page. Within that box, there is a "PDF" or "DOC" link. Click on the link to download the file.
 
If you have any questions, please email Melissa at: peachamkohl@gmail.com

Planning Commission Bylaws Hearing 6/30/16 Unapproved Minutes

TOWN OF PEACHAM

PLANNING COMMISSION

BYLAWS HEARING

Thursday June 30, 2016

Minutes

UNAPPROVED

Present:

Planning Commission: Melissa Laurita Kohl, Geoff Sewake, Rene Jolly, Marilyn Magnus

Clerk to the Board: Melissa Laurita Kohl

Public: Alison Low from NVDA, Mike Bruton, John Reiss, Joel Wright, Rick Scholes, Annette Lorraine, Tim McKay

The meeting was called to order by Chair of the Board Geoff Sewake at 7:01PM.

1. Geoff reviewed the “Major Changes” document prepared by the Planning Commission detailing the significant suggested changes to the bylaws.
2. Geoff told the public that each person had five minutes to speak and he encouraged each person present to give input.
3. Rick presented an edited copy of the bylaws, edited for punctuation, tense, and content. He highlighted his major concerns:
   1. The definition is farming is very inclusive and farming is protected by the State. Rick is concerned by the fact that people would be able to take advantage of and abuse this language.
   2. Accessory Dwelling Units are listed in both the permited and conditional uses.
   3. Allowable Uses are not defined and listed.
   4. The combined definitions from flood hazard regulations and the bylaws are clumsy and need some work.
   5. The Planning Commission suggested that sheds under 100 square feet not be subject to a permit. Rick said that currently structures 24 square feet or larger affect the appraisals of properties and permits are the only way that the listers find out about these properties.
   6. Different words are used to describe the same thing or same role and should be changed to one word for consistency (examples include “Zoning Administrator” and “Zoning Regulations”).
   7. There are too many definitions – not all of the words are used in the document.
4. John Reiss said:
   1. that under RD and VD schools are listed as permitted uses but he would like to see them moved back to conditional uses as they can really effect the character of a neighborhood.
   2. Subdivision should not require a formal survey for a conditional use review as it is a financial hardship and a permit is not guaranteed.
   3. John is wondering if the 30 feet maximum height is too restrictive. He suggested up to 60 feet, but as a compromise, maybe 40 feet.
5. Joel Wright:
   1. Lives in VD and is concerned about the reduction of lot size requirements from 1 acre to ½ acre. He does not want the character of the historic village to change as that is why he moved to Peacham. Alison said that most of the village is also in the Agricultural Overlay, which has a 2 acre minimum that supercedes the VD zone guidelines.
6. Annette Lorraine
   1. Annette wanted to know how Shoreland 1 and 2 were determined. She is concerned because despite the State Shoreland Act and the restrictions in the bylaws, multiple neighbors are disregarding the bylaws and the State Shoreland Act. There is no significant enforcement and other residents on the pond are upset to see it happen.
7. Bob Hansen would like to see a penalty clause for building before getting a permanent as this is something that happens somewhat regularly. He thinks a higher fee for the permit would be appropriate.

Marilyn moves to adjourn at 8:10PM. Rene seconds. So moved.

Planning Commission Meeting 7/5/16 Agenda

TOWN OF PEACHAM

PLANNING COMMISSION

SPECIAL MEETING

Town Hall Meeting Room

AGENDA

Tuesday July 5, 2016, 7:00P.M.

1.            Call to Order

2.            Additions

3.            Discuss Bylaws Hearing and Suggestions from Public

4.            Discuss Town Plan

5.            Review Correspondence

6.            Adjourn