The Walpolean

Come ready for fun and great food when you join Rev. Craig and his family at Friendly Friday. We’ll learn about Easter (hint: there’s more to it than chocolate bunnies!) and create some art together that will decorate the church during Easter Week. Bring a side or main dish to share. Church provides drinks and dessert. For more information, “like” Friendly Fridays on FaceBook or contact the church: 756-4075, walpolechurch@yahoo.com.

Walpole Town Hall
January 12, 2016 Minutes

Presiding: Jeffrey Miller (Chair), Robert Miller (Vice-Chair), James Aldrich, (Secretary),Steve Dalessio (Selectboard Representative), Dennis Marcom, Jason Perron.
Alternates: Ed Potter and Jeff White.
Absent: Kelley Hicks

Recording: Marilou Blaine.

Meeting Opened: Mr. J. Miller, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7 pm.

Roll Call: One board members was absent so Mr. Miller asked Alternate Jeff White to sit in her place.

Minutes: Mr. Marcom made a revision to the December minutes. The revision was insserted after the paragraph that begins with “Mr. Ed Potter agreed.” the paragraph before that was eliminated.

Mr. Marcom said “that approvals of the site plans are based on the assumption that the applicant will adhere to the terms of that approval. That assumption of trust is critical. In this case, Mr. Ruggiero was granted a special exception by the Zoning Board in 2011. Conditions, as stated in a letter from that Board, included that the operation could not be changed or expanded without returning to the ZBA for approval. When Mr. Ruggiero added a 2,000 square-foot building, he not only violated the town’s rules on building permits, but also broke at least one of the conditions of the Special Exception.

“Beyond that, this company, as was made evident in a letter sent to them by DES, operated for approximately 2 ½ years without the knowledge of DES, among other violations of state regulations.” For these reasons, Mr. Marcom felt that this company could not be ensured to keep their agreements and therefore approval should not be granted to them.

Another correction was the date of the Silverstein subdivision. Mr. Dalessio pointed out that it could not be 2019.

Mr. R. Miller corrected the spelling of the name of the man he contacted at the New Hampshire Municipal Offices. It should be Cordell Johnston. He also said said Ms. Pauline Barnes statement that the vote to seek counsel was 6 to 0 because the Chair was absent. Actually, the vote was 7 to 0 as an alternate had replaced the chair as a voting member.

Mr. Perron made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Mr. R. Miller seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Old Business:
Public Hearing for Subdivision of one lot into two lots. William and Elisabeth Silverstein, 70 Reservoir Road, Map 10, Lot 33, Rural/Agricultural District. Lot 33 will be 1.43 acres, Lot 33-3 will be 1.53 acres and road frontage is 320 feet and 277.57 feet on Reservoir Road respectively.

Mr. Silverstein said that he and his wife were here a month ago and submitted an application for a subdivision and the Board voted unanimously to hold a Public Hearing. He said the subdivision was pretty straightforward. The lots were divided before and there is plenty of road frontage.
Mr. J. Miller asked the audience and Board if there were any questions. There being none, Mr. J. Miller closed the Public Hearing.

Old Dominion Lighting – The previous problem of light from Old Dominion shining into a bedroom of the Tabitha and Frank Anderson home abutting Old Dominion, seem tp be solved. Mr. Dalessio asked Mrs. Anderson if she was happy with the response from Old Dominion. Mrs. Anderson said she was. “They were very good about it,” she said.

However, those were the old lights. Mrs. Anderson said that it looks like from the paper work that there are 11 more lights to be installed. These lights are to be installed in late January. Mrs. Anderson will notify the secretary if there are any problems after the new lighting is installed. Mr. Marc Mercier, project manager for Old Dominion, is keeping in touch with the Board.

Mr. Perron asked about the other condition from the Walpole Fire Department. Mark Houghton of the Walpole Fire Department said that the Knox boxes had been installed and tested and that Old Dominion had fulfilled that condition of the Site Plan.

Bensonwood – Mr. Tom Hancock of Bensonwood submitted a copy of a letter from the Department of Environmental Services granting an Alteration of Terrain Permit. The permit was needed to fulfill the condition placed on Bensonwood for final approval of the Site Plan.

Potato Barn – Matt Blanc received a letter from Herb Hurlburt, Captain Fire Inspector of the Walpole Fire/Ems Department, stating that the fire department will not sign off on any usage of the Potato Barn at this time. Mr. Hurlburt said that at the original meeting he”was assured the complete building would be sprinkled and alarmed before ANY usage” Mr. J. Miller asked that the letter be part of the Potato Barn file.

New Business:
Mr. Ed Potter and Mr. Bruce Potter are seeking a Lot Line Adjustment of their property on Old Keene Road, Map 7, Lots 21 and 22-1 and Lot in the Rural/agricultural Zone. Take .23 acres from Lot 21 and add it to Lot 22-1, thus changing the western boundary line. Mr. Ed Potter requested a Public Hearing.

Mr. Potter said about a year ago he bought a lot from Steve Brode that was 1.17 acres and the lot had enough road frontage to be developed. There is a line between the two properties that has a kind of “jag” in it, he said. Because he owns the field next to it he said he wanted to have better access to that property and also wanted to straighten the line. The adjustment would take .23 acres from Lot 21 and add it to 22-1. Mr. Potter also planted some arborvitae bushes on the new property line.

Mr. Dalessio asked who owned the property – where the property was coming from. Mr. Potter said it was his sister’s property and it is now owned by his brother and himself.

Mr. J. Miller made a motion to have a Public Hearing next month. The motion was seconded and it passed unanimously.

Explanation of a petition to be placed on the March 2016 warrant and a request for a Public Hearing. This petition will amend the current Zoning Ordinance as follows :

Mr. J. Miller said this is basically a brief for that article and set a hearing for February 26 at 7:00 pm.
The petition is:
.
To see if the Town of Walpole will vote in favor of amending the current Zoning Ordinance as follows:

Add under Article IV General Provisions Section N Recycling and Transfer Stations:

a. In addition to the current Town recycling center at 207 Whitcomb Road, Route 123, Walpole, New Hampshire, recycling centers and/or transfer stations shall be permitted uses in the Industrial Zone subject to meeting the Town’s site plan review regulations and shall be submitted to the Planning Board for site plan review provided such facilities are owned or operated by the Town for the transfer and/or recycling of solid waste generated in the Town and provided further that the recycling center or transfer station is owned and operated by the Town or by a Regional Solid Waste District whose ownership or operation thereof is governed by and agreement entered into pursuant to RSA 149-M124.

Ms. Pauline Barnes is the person who wrote and circulated the petition. She asked to correct one typo, the RSA No. to RSA 129-M24. Mr. J. Miller said she could change the typo but not the intent of the petition. He asked her to explain the petition.

Barnes said that Walpole already had an award-winning recycling center run by an award-winning director and the facility is fully capable to handle the solid waste of our town. Because of the nature of solid waste it is important that the facility be operated only under town ownership and town control.

Mr. Aldrich asked Ms. Barnes to clarify the typo and asked if we should strike the 1 from the RSA number. Ms. Barnes agreed.

Mr. R. Miller made a motion to have a Public Hearing on January 26, 2016, Mr. Aldrich seconded the motion and the motion unanimously passed.

Mr. Dalessio encouraged everyone to come out not only for the petition hearing but the budget hearing and all the other meetings that will be going on in the next couple of weeks.

Mr. J. Miller asked Ms. Barnes if she understood the process. Mr. Miller said the vote on the petition will be on the second Tuesday in March, when citizens vote on selectmen, school board, etc. The function of the Board is not to vote to accept or reject the petition, but vote to recommend or not recommend the petition to the townspeople. The Board decision would appear at the bottom of the article. In all cases, the petition will be placed on the ballot.

At the Public Hearing, it will be up to the petitioner to explain the petition, just like you did tonight, Mr. J. Miller said. And answer questions from the public, Mr. Perron added.

Mr. Dick O’Brien asked if the Board voted on the article. Mr. Miller answered it is just a recommendation.

Mr. Adrian Basora asked if the petitioner needed a lawyer and if there were going to be lawyers on the other side. Mr. Miller said there will be no vote. The public will vote on the petition in March.

Mr. J. Miller repeated his explanation saying this has nothing to do with a Board vote. And you don’t have to have a show of hands from the public.

A motion was made, seconded and passed by the Board to adjourn the meeting and then realized it had not made a decision on the Silverstein subdivision. Mr. Marcom made a motion to reopen the meeting, it was seconded and it passed unanimously.

Mr. Aldrich made a motion to accept the Silverstein subdivision as presented. Mr. R. Miller seconded the motion and the Board vote unanimously to do so.

The meeting was adorned at 7: 25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Marilou Blaine

Minutes posted inside the Town Hall, on the outside bulletin board at Walpole Grocery.
Cc: WPB, The Walpolean, Town Web site http://www.walpolenh.us

Next meeting January 26, 2016 to hear the Public Hearing on the petition.
Next regular meeting February 9, 2016.

The Walpole Unitarian Church welcomes our Minister Emerita, the  Rev. Sandra J. Whippie this Sunday, Valentine’s Day!  Her topic is, What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Here is the list of the generous people who are willing to offer their time in community service.  Win or lose, we should be grateful for them all. – Lil

RUNNING FOR TOWN OFFICE

SELECTMAN – Three Year Term – Vote for One

Joseph Aldrich

John Pratt

Jamie Teague

MODERATOR – Two Year Term – Vote for One

Ernest D. Vose

TREASURER – One Year Term – Vote for One

Thomas Goins

TRUSTEE OF THE TRUST FUNDS – Three Year Term – Vote for One

Karen Galloway

PLANNING BOARD – Three Year Term – Vote for Two

Joanna Andros

Dennis Marcom

Robert Miller

Jeffrey White

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT – Three Year Term – Vote for Two

Jan Galloway-LeClerc

Myra Mansouri

CEMETERY TRUSTEE – Three Year Term – Vote for One

John L. Sheldon

SUPERVISOR OF CHECKLISTS – Six Year Term – Vote for One

Joanne H. Hurlburt

SUPERVISOR OF CHECKLISTS – Two Year Term – Vote for One

Gary T. McCormick

LIBRARY TRUSTEE – Three Year Term – Vote for Three

Jean Kobeski

Frederick V. Ernst

Gail LaHaise

Christie Winmill

Just got an email from Ray Boas, who had heard from Gwen Yardley, that Candidate Night has been changed to March 2 at 7:00 at the Town Hall.  Thanks Ray. – Lil

Thank you, Lyn Cooke for finding out that the Candidate Night sponsored by the Walpole Grange will be held this year on February 17th at 7:00 PM at the Town Hall.  All candidates for town offices are invited to attend and tell voters a little about themselves and why they are running for office.  Voters who attend are able to hear from candidates before they cast their ballots.  All this and you don’t have to complete a survey or answer the phone!  By they way, I can’t say for sure but I have never known the Grange to be involved in something where there wasn’t some darn good refreshments. – Lil

Several members of the Saxtons River Art Guild recently changed their fall and winter paintings to spring at the Greater Falls Health Center in Bellows Falls VT.

The next change for the on going group exhibit will be on May 5th. Donna Bascom Lund of Alstead NH is exhibiting watercolors on the opposite wall at the Health Center until the end of February followed by oil landscapes by Shane Harris of Bellows Falls VT until the end of April.

There have also been recent exhibit changes at other local exhibit venues. Molly Martin of Brattleboro VT is the featured artist at the Mascoma Bank in Walpole NH. and Ray McClary of Keene NH is the featured artist at People United Bank in Chester Vt.

The Art Guild also has an on going group exhibit at Ramuntos in Brattleboro, VT. That exhibit is scheduled to be changed on Febuary 9th. The Saxtons River Art Guild is a non-profit group dedicated to the advancement and encouragement of the fine art membership throughout the Conn. River Valley.

For information about membership please call Nancy DiMauro at 802-257-4489.

Yes, time goes too fast, and once one issue goes “to bed” work begins on the next. The closing date for the March issue of the CLARION is Friday, February 19th. A short month, but also we have been on a good schedule to have the CLARION in the mail by, or on the first of each month.

The March issue will be a packed “election issue.” There are 11 candidates running for 3 town positions, and we offer them the opportunity to tell our readers why they should get the vote. Also, information will be provided about the town budget, and warrant articles that will be voted upon on Town Meeting Day, Saturday, March 12.

And, many articles of interest are already in, or in the works. The Conservation Easement on the Hooper property closed, Meeting Waters YMCA is announcing their summer programs, update on the Vilas Bridge (never to happen); and hopefully an update on some businesses in town.

So, remember, get your input to me now, or very soon, thank you, RAY
( rayboas@comcast.net )