The Walpolean

Role Call: Board members present: Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Trevor MacLachlan. Alternates: Travis Adams and Bill Carmody. Absent: Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio and board member Joanna Andros.

Also at the meeting were applicant Sam Talmadge and Ranger Curran, owner, and Bert Inman, associate from Re/Max Realty in Keene.

Call to Order: Mr Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm.

Minutes: Review minutes of the regular August meeting and the August workshop meeting. Mr. Marcom made one correction. The date of the workshop was August not September. Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the regular minutes and the amended workshop minutes. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Old Business:

Public Hearing:

Subdivision: Sam McNeill Talmadge and Eloise Carriere propose to divide one lot at 211 North Road into two lots in the Rural/ Agricultural District. Lot 1 Tax Map 10 24-2 will be 13.40 acres with 517.03 feet of road frontage. Lot 2 Tax Map 10 24-2-2 will be 6.39 acres with 250.96 feet of road frontage.

Surveyor Joe DiBernardo presented the subdivision proposal. He stated that the intention was to divide Tax Max 10 Lot 24-2 at 211 North Road into two lots. Lot 1 with the house on it will be 13.40 acres with 517.03 feet of road frontage. Lot 2 Tax Map 10 24-2-2 will be 6.39 acres with 250.96 feet of road frontage. He added that there is a no build zone on Lot No 2 and it is indicated by the area dotted on the plat. Mr. MacLachlan asked what that meant. Mr. Miller said it had nothing to do with the proposed subdivision but it was recorded in deed.

Mr. Miller asked the public if there were any questions. There being none he closed the public hearing. Mr. Miller asked the board if there were any questions. There being none Mr. Perron made a motion to accept the proposed subdivision as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Draft Zoning Amendment

At the August workshop a draft amendment for formula businesses in the Village to be placed on the warrant was discussed. At the end of the meeting it was decided that Mr. Harrington would draft a zoning amendment from what was discussed and present it at the September regular meeting. The board approved of Mr. Harrington’s draft and it will be presented to Todd Horner and Carol Ogilvie for their input about the verbiage at the board’s joint meeting later this month. The draft will be presented to the public when there is public hearing.

The commercial zone in the village is described in the zoning ordinances Article VI, Section E-6.

More work has to be done on specifically identifying the buildings in the village commercial district.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. It was 7:28 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed in October for corrections.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine, Secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean

Posted: Inside the Town Offices, on bulletin board outside Post Office, http://www.walpolenh.us

Workshop: Tuesday, September 24 at 7 pm. Joint meeting of Planning Board, Zoning Board and SWRPC.                                                                       

Present: Planning board members Jeff Miller, Dennis Marcom, Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio, Travis Adams and ZBA board member Tom Winmill.

Mr. Marcom called the meeting to order at 7 pm.

Topic of Discussion: Draft a zoning amendment expected to go on the 2025 warrant regarding formula restaurant and retail businesses in the commercial district of the Village.

A productive conversation resulted in the following decisions:

Include Mr. Winmill’s wording “to preserve the unique and distinctive appeal of the Walpole Village character and commercial development” in the final draft.

Mr. Harrington will rewrite the draft based on the discussion at the meeting and present it to the Planning Board members at its September 10^th regular meeting. The board should have a final draft to present at the next joint hearing and will plan for a public hearing on the document in October.

Mr. Miller will describe the location and boundaries of section 6 of the commercial district in the Village. 

Present the draft to the group at the next joint meeting. 

The next joint meeting with the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Southwest Region Planning Commission is the 4^th Tuesday in September or September 24^th , at 7 pm the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

Roll Call: Present Board Members: Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio and alternates Bill Carmody and Travis Adams.

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. A full board was present so no alternates were needed to fill in.

Review of Minutes of May 2024: Mr. Dalessio made two corrections. He said on page one, paragraph seven about his call to Fire Chief Mark Houghton about the propane tank should be deleted because it wasn’t part of the meeting. Mr. Dalessio said the call was made before Mr. Marcom called the meeting to order. He also said Stevens Lane is a private road not a Class VI road. However, both private and Class VI roads need a recommendation from the Planning Board for a waiver in order to build on either of these types of roads. Mr. Harrington said his name was misspelled on page one, paragraph three. Mr. Miller asked for a motion to approve the amended minutes. Mr. Marcom made the motion. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. 

Topic for this evening was the Master Plan: Mr. Miller said that it’s time to have public hearings for the sections of the Master Plan that have been completed. So he suggested that in July the Board have a public hearing for Land Analysis and Population and Housing Analysis sections. The Board members will get hard copies of these sections and several copies of these two sections will be available at the Town Offices for the public to peruse the public hearing on July 9 meeting. 

An article about restricting formula businesses in the Village District was passed out to the Board members. Mr. Miller said the language came from a Town of Jaffrey ordinance. In a month or two the Board will have a hearing about placing it on the warrant.

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The time was 7:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: inside Town Offices, on bulletin board outside Post Office, www.walpolenh.us

Roll Call: Present Board Members: Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio and alternate Bill Carmody. Absent: Alternate Travis Adams and Chair Jeff Miller.

Call to Order: Mr. Marcom called the meeting to order at 7 pm. 

Minutes of April 9, 2024 and Joint Meeting with the Planning and Zoning Boards on April 25, 2024: Mr. Harrison made a motion to approved both minutes as written. Mr. MacLachlan seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Appoint Alternate Travis Adams to continue on board for another three years: Mr. Marcom said Mr. Travis expressed a desire to remain on the Planning Board as an alternate for another three years. Mr. Perron made a motion to have Alternate Travis Adams stay on the Planning Board as an Alternate for another three-year term.. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:

Public Hearing for Tractor Supply LLC, 8 Red Barn Lane, addition of 1,600 square-foot space outside – a covered canopy structure for a garden center. Tax Map 12, Lot 13-2, commercial district. Dwight MacKenny, project manager for Tractor Supply. Approval by Walpole Fire Chief Mark Houghton of new propane connection. Name of company for signage.

Mr. MacKenny said he was back for the public hearing for approval of the 1,600 square-foot space for the garden center. He said everything remained the same as presented at the last meeting. The garden center will be put on the north side of the building. It will be surrounded by fencing and has a cloth canopy in place as a roof. However, when asked about the propane tank Mr. MacKenny said that the company has a propane specialist who should have contacted Mr. Houghton. When asked about signage, Mr. MacKenny said Tractor Supply had chosen a sign company more than a month ago. The Secretary said her contact person was Beth Dorminey of OnPoint Commercial Designs and she said in an email that as soon as we have an update on the information, she “will send it over.” The secretary had not received the information on either topic as of the meeting. The Planning Board does not approved the signage. That is under the purview of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. But a sign MUST be approved for any building in the commercial district.

Mr.  Dalessio called Mr. Houghton on his cell phone and asked if he had approved the propane tank. Mr. Houghton didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. After explaining to him about the project at Tractor Supply, he was notified that it didn’t have a roof. It was a cloth canopy that covered the site of the garden center. He asked to see the plans and the secretary dropped them off at the Town Offices that same night. 

Mr. Marcom closed the public hearing. Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the project as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

                                         ​

New Business:

Stacey McGreer Allen, Tim Allen are proposing to build a home on Stevens Lane, Class VI road. Stevens Lane is off of Watkins Hill Road. Here’s the procedure.

1. Go to Planning Board for a Recommendation. If recommended then step 2.

2. Go to Registry of Deeds in Keene on West St. to include waiver of town responsibility for maintaining road and access.

3. Get an application from Town Offices. Fill it out. 

4. Once updated step 3, ask to be put on Select Board agenda for a Building Permit.

That afternoon the secretary received two documents regarding this property at 76 Steven Lane: one was a copy of a driveway permit dated 2019 who approved it by then road agent Mike Rau and an email from Lindsey Guyette of Walpole’s current Highway Department who had sent the copy of the permit to Mr. Miller and the secretary. She copied both documents and each person on the board had copies of these two documents.

Tim and Stacey Allen came to the meeting and were a little puzzled that they had to anything more than get a building permit. Stacey Allen said they purchased the property in 1979 from Jack and Barbara Fraunfelder and had a letter saying everything was all set. The entrance to the property would have to be from Watkins Hill not Taggard Road. The entry from Taggard Road, which is part Class V and part Class VI has a portion that is not passable with a car because of ledge. There are already of couple of homes on that road called Stevens Lane, entering from Watkins Hill. However, the road is now designated as a Class VI. The Allens need to get a waiver to build on that road and it must be recorded in the deed. That’s the reason for going to the Registry of Deeds.

Mr. Marcom asked if they had a conforming lot. It is 16 acres so it’s conforming in size.

Mr. Marcom asked about conforming to building setbacks – 65 feet from the center of the road and the required distance from their boundary lines. They replied yes.

And according to Mr. Perron, who had a picture of the property on his cell phone, the frontage is about 300 feet. 

Mr. Marcom asked if they were familiar with conditions of the waiver and they both said yes.

Mr. Perron made a motion to recommend that Stacey and Tim Allen be approved for the waiver. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Update on Dunkin

Tom Berube, Civil Engineer for TF Moran, Dunkin’s contracting company,  sent information that he was doing the water line easement that week. That was one of two conditions of approval for the project. The second was the driveway permit from NHDOT. Jason Hill emailed the secretary that that was close to being approved and as soon as it was a done deal, he would let the Board know.

Adjournment:

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:20 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the June 11, 2024 meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine, WPB Secretary

Roll Call: Present Board Members Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternates Travis Adams and Bill Carmody. 

Call to order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 6:58 pm. A full board was presented so he didn’t need an alternate to fill in.

Election of Officers: Mr. Harrington made a motion to appoint Jeff Miller as chair, Dennis Marcom as vice-chair and Jason Perron as clerk. Mr. Dalessio seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Minutes of March 2023: Mr. Harrington made a motion to approved the minutes of the March as written. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business:

Site Plan for Tractor Supply LLC, 8 Red Barn Lane, addition of 1600 square-foot space outside – a covered canopy structure for a garden center. Tax Map 12, Lot 13-2, commercial district. Request for a public hearing. Dwight MacKenny, project manager for Tractor Supply, was the presenter.

It was explained to Mr. MacKenny that the reason he was here tonight was because the structure for the garden center would cost more than $10,000 and site plan regulations mandate that any structure costing that amount or over has to have a site plan.

Mr. MacKenny introduced himself. He said the outdoor project is on the north side of the Tractor Supply building and the gable architecture of the building will be facing toward the west where the parking lot is. It’s a gazebo look-alike and instead of being made of wood the building will be made of steel. It is 1600 square feet and there will be hookups for hoses to water plants. He was requesting a public hearing in May. 

Mr. Dalessio noticed that there was a propane tank in the area of construction and it was going to be moved from the area where the new structure is going to be built to some place else around the building. He told Mr. MacKenny that the new hookup had to be approved by Walpole’s fire chief, Mark Houghton, and Mr. Houghton had to write a letter to the Planning Board saying it had been approved. Mr. MacKenny said he would get in touch with him. The secretary will supply her Tractor Supply contact with Mr. Houghton’s email. The application, list of abutter and support documents, as well as the fees, has already been filed at the Town Offices.

Mr. Perron made a motion to hold a public hearing for the addition of a garden center to Tractor Supply. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed. 

Mr. Dalessio reminded Mr. MacKenny that the signage needs to be approved by the ZBA. Mr. MacKenny said that  the secretary’s contact, Beth Dorminey of OnPoint, would get the name of the company creating the sign. That would be a separate meeting with the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Workshop: Joint Planning and Zoning Boards workshop April 23.

Mr. Miller and current ZBA Chair David Edkins visited with Southwest Region Planning Commission’s executive director Todd Horner earlier in the month to discuss the updating/recodifying of the Walpole Ordinances this year. Mr. Homer sent Mr. Miller an outline and contract of their proposal. The proposal is for “a high-level audit of the Walpole, NH Zoning Ordinance” and the first item out of 8 items is “Recommend strategies for improving the organization and structure of the zoning ordinance so that it it better understood by Town Officials who are responsible for administering it and can be more intuitively navigated by the general public.” Both Mr. Homer and planner Carol Ogilvie will be at the first joint workshop of the Planning and Zoning Boards on the fourth Tuesday, April 23, in the main meeting room of the Town Hall.

Mr. Marcom asked if it has to then go to the town attorney. Mr. Miller said they’re (Southwest planners) not lawyers but they are the experts on this type of thing. We’ll let them do their thing and once we’ve had discussions about their outcome, we’ll make a decision on whether or not it needs to go to the town attorney.

Mr. Dalessio reminded the board that the Master Plan still has to be finalized. It’s basically all done except for one small item that needs confirmation from the Conservation Commission. It will need a public hearing.

Handout 

Planning board members received a copy of a four-color zoning map originally created by students of Peter Palmiotto’s at Antioch-New England. It was updated with Mr. Palmiotto and some zoning board members a year or two ago. Everyone was impressed with the color, its readability and information on the map.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at about 7:30 pm. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed. The next meeting is May 14, 2024.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the March 12, 2024 regular meeting for corrections.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Recording Secretary

Roll Call: Present Board Members Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternates Travis Adams and Bill Carmody. Absent Board Member Trevor MacLachlan. 

Call to order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. He asked Mr. Adams if he would sit in for Mr. MacLachlan. He agreed.

Minutes of February 2024 and Minutes of Joint Workshop meeting with Zoning Board of Adjustment: Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes and the workshop minutes as printed. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business:

Solar Array on 20 acres at 239 Old Keene Road and mostly 240 Wentworth Road, Tax Map 5 in rural/agricultural district. Property owned by Sheldon Sawyer. Samantha Valone, representing Lodestar Energy based in Avon, CT and Manhattan, NY, will present a basic concepts description of the project.  

A map of the surrounding area with a blue lake-like feature that was where the solar array was to go was distributed prior to the start of the meeting. 

Ms. Valone said this was just a preliminary meeting to an eventual final request for a 5 mega watt solar installation at peak times. She is a solar development associate for Lodestar Energy. She said Lodestar has installed similar solar arrays in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York State and a few in New Hampshire communities. She mentioned Chichester as one town in New Hampshire. Currently the company is filling out the applications it needs for the project and doing surveys of storm water and the property. The surveys will provide information on what kinds of equipment Lodestar will need for this project and how to go about building this installation. Equipment will be ordered and delivered to the site. Ms. Valone said it usually takes four (4) to five (5) months to build an installation of this size. A seven-foot chain link fence would surround the installation. She thinks the company should be ready to submit a site-plan application by July. 

Work on the project will start on property on Old Keene Road where six poles will be installed. These will be for overhead interconnection lines that would eventually go underground from the poles on Old Keene Road to the solar installation. Mill Road is a connector road that goes west to east from Old Keene Road to Wentworth Road and somewhere on that road is entrance to a 15-foot wide gravel vehicle maintenance road that goes to the installation site. After the installation is up and running the only maintenance needed is mowing under the panels. Some one asked about snow on the panels and the answer was it just slides off like it would on a metal roof. Mr. Miller said you will not be able to see the installation from Old Keene Road. 

Installations usually last for 20 years or more and then are decommissioned. Lodestar will​ follow the requirements for decommissioning it, Ms. Valone said. The installation and decommissioning requirements are all spelled out in Section VIII of the Walpole Site Plan Regulations. Walpole has its own Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire organization through which townspeople can get electric power at a community rate. Its chair, Paul Looney, was at Tuesday’s meeting and said that folks in Walpole get their power from Liberty Utilities and Liberty buys from a broker. He asked Ms. Valone if she had contacted Liberty yet. She said “no” but it was one of her things on the list of things she had to do. Ms. Valone said that this project can offer the Town energy credit of any town-owned Liberty electric accounts.

This was the first meeting about the process of building the solar array on Wentworth Road. For more information on the project, look for notices of upcoming meetings beginning in June.

Old Business

Public Hearing for site plan continued from February. Alyson’s Orchard: Adam Naeck site-plan application for a post-and-beam addition to the farm store. Tax Map 4, Lot 44, 57 Alyson’s  Lane, Commercial/Industrial District.

Mr. Naeck had a picture of the exterior of the current 400 square-foot farm store. It is attached to a roughly 1,400 square-foot apartment. The store is the main operation for Alyson’s farming retail space. Regularly there is one register inside and about a half dozen shelves display homemade products such as jellies, jams and chutneys and a couple of coolers have frozen chicken pot pies and dessert pies for sale. Currently there is no space inside the store for any of the fruits and vegetables the farm grows on a yearly basis. All are displayed outside. This is not ideal, Mr. Naeck said, because it make them subject to the weather, pests and potential theft. During its peak season, two outdoor registers are used outdoors.

The proposed farm store addition is 40 feet wide and 56 feet long. It is a two-story timber frame building and will be assembled by Ward Timber in Alstead. The addition will directly abut the current farm store. The 2250 square foot layout will be mainly used for indoor sales of our crops and farm retail space. There is also a 1000 foot loft which will be used for storage, more retail space if needed and customer seating. The timeline for constructing this building will be either this summer or next summer. 

There will be two main entrances, one directly from the current store into the new store  and an outdoor main entrance facing east towards the main event center. Parking will remain as it is. There will be an emergency exit only door on the west wall as well as an emergency exit from the loft upstairs to a staircase leading out, which is already found on the current store building. Current lighting will also be used as well as entry way lights found at each entrance.

In the future the old store may be used as a bakery where items like their popular cinnamon donuts will be made as well as other baked goods.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the site plan. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Workshop

Mr. Miller said he called Southwest Region Planning Commission and talked to senior planner Todd Horner who agreed to meet with the joint boards in the next couple of months. However, since the initial telephone conversation was made, Mr. Horner is now going to become the executive director of the organization so he pushed the workshop meeting until June. 

Mr. Miller was also optimistic that the Conservation Commission was almost finished going over a list of conservation property in the Natural Features section of the Master Plan. So that project could be wrapped up soon. 

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. It was 7:45 pm.

​

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the March 12, 2024 regular meeting for corrections, omission and additions.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Recording Secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: Inside the Town Offices, on the bulletin board outside the Post Office, http://www.walpolenh.us