The Walpolean

The Town Hall will be closed starting on the 26th, not the 24th.

SCHOOL UPDATE – REMOTE LEARNING BEGINS NOVEMBER 30 by Ray Boas

At its meeting the evening of November 18, the Fall Mountain Regional School District School Board discussed the rise of COVID-19 in NH, and discussed the best alternative for all concerned. It was decided the district “will be moving to a remote model of instruction beginning Monday, November 30 and returning to schools Tuesday, January 19 [2021].” More information may be found at the district website – https://www.sau60.org/

Wear Your Mask – Socially Distance – Wash Your Hands
Stay Safe – and enjoy your holidays
RAY BOAS, Publisher

WALPOLE TOWN HALL CLOSED by Ray Boas

You may have heard that today, November 19, New Hampshire Governor Sununu enacted a mask mandate for the State of New Hampshire effective Friday, November 20. At this evening’s Walpole Select Board meeting, the following was decided: “The Town Hall will close November 24 until further notice.  The Selectboard will return to Zoom meetings, starting December 3.  No committee or public groups will meet in Town Hall. Appointments will still be accepted for individuals needing to make payments, register vehicles, get building permits etc.”

Any updates will be posted here. Encourage your friends to sign-up for CLARION posts, or to “like” the Walpole Clarion Facebook page to receive notices.

Wear your mask, and please stay safe. Your life (and mine) will depend upon that, thank you – RAY BOAS, Publisher

It is with sadness that the library announces the retirement of Fran Moses after 27 years of friendly and dedicated service.  An avid reader and crafter, Fran loves helping patrons find new books and particularly enjoys talking with the children who visit the library with their families.  Many of these young patrons are now parents who come in with their own children.  She is always willing to help with projects and anything else that is needed.  The staff will greatly miss her warmth, smile and terrific sense of humor. We expect to see Fran regularly as she and Bill will need to keep stocked up with reading material.  The library staff and trustees wish her the very best of luck and much happiness in her well-deserved retirement.  Fran’s last day will be November 27 so be sure to stop by and wish her well.  

Wanted to share the email I received from Tom Goins as a reminder to all that we have some tough times ahead. It’s important that we do our best to support our local businesses because they are our friends and neighbors. “Spread Kindness”. – Lil P.S. In this case you can also stay out of the kitchen.

Hi Lil,
Just wanted to let you know that today The Restaurant at Burdick’s upgraded our To-Go Menu.  We have added many new selections that typically can only be enjoyed when dining with us indoors.  Since we are no longer offering outdoor dining under our tent (but still have outdoor dining under the porch), we decided to enhance our To-Go Menu.  I think many of our loyal To-Go Menu customers will be pleased with these new selections.
Many thanks!

If the COVID numbers weren’t bad enough, here is more good news from Sandy Smith! :-) – Lil

Tax Rates:

Walpole – $26.95 per thousand

North Walpole – $29.22 per thousand

Tax bills have mailed today, 11/16/2020 and will be due on 12/17/2020. Early payments are encouraged and appreciated.

Present: Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Jeff Colley, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Absent: Joanna Andros.

Recording: Marilou Blaine. These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the December 2020 meeting for corrections, additions and/or omissions. 

Roll Call: Mr. Miller opened the meeting at 7 pm. There was a quorum for the meeting.

Minutes: Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:

Public Hearing:

Lot Line Adjustment: Jeddediah and Lila Pellerin, 116 Brewery Road, Tax Map 14, Lots 11 and 11-1, Residential B. Transfer .2 acres from Lot 11 to Lot 11-1. Lot 11 is owned by James F. Mort and Marilyn D. Dooley, 100 Brewery Road.

Surveyor Joe DiBernardo represented the Pellerins. He explained the lot line adjustment was a simple transfer of property so the septic system and well that was on the Mort property would now be on the Pellerin property and there wouldn’t be any problem if the Pellerins wanted to sell. He said it is pretty straightforward. 

Mr. Miller asked if there were any questions. There being none, he closed the Public Hearing. Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the Lot Line Adjustment as presented. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Subdivision: 

Request for a Public Hearing for December: Mr. DiBernardo represented Jay Landry of Tilton, NH, who wants to subdivide two lots into four lots on land that is between Old Keene Road and Wentworth Road – Tax Map 17, Lots 5 and 5-1 in Residential A. Mr. DiBernardo said that all the lots conformed to the lot standards for that zoning district – at least 40,000 square feet with 200 feet of road frontage. The new lots would be:

​ Lot 5.1 – 2.19 acres with 200 feet road frontage on Wentworth Road; 

​ Lot 5-2 – 1.67 acres with 200 feet road frontage on Wentworth Road; 

​ Lot 5-3 – 1.15 acres with 200 feet road frontage on Wentworth Road;

​ and 5-4 – 6.22 acres with 203.61 feet road frontage on Old Keene Road and ​​48.5 feet road frontage on Wentworth Road.

Mr. DiBernardo passed out four plats and the Board looked at them while Mr. DiBernardo discussed the lot size and road frontage. Mr. Landry purchased the property is September. 

Mr. Marcom made a motion to hold a Public Hearing in December for the subdivision. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

​

New Business:

ZBA Request for a Public Hearing – short-term rentals:

The Zoning Board of Adjustment wants to include short-term rentals in the current Bed and Breakfast ordinance. Ms. Jan-Galloway Leclerc, chair of the ZBA, was there to explain the rationale for that request. The board members received copies of the proposed new ordinance and current ordinance for bed and breakfasts.

Ms. Leclerc said that the ZBA had a question about an Airbnb and whether that required special attention. Ms. Leclerc checked with Walpole’s town counsel, Jeremy Hockensmith, and asked if the bed and breakfast ordinance covered short-term rentals and he said no. He advised that Walpole should put something on the books as soon as possible that would address short-term rentals. Apparently, short-term rentals in New Hampshire towns are getting to be quite popular. So the ZBA Board decided to modify the bed and breakfast ordinance so a short-term rental would require site plan approval too.

Mr. Dalessio asked if there was at one time a question about the number of rooms. Ms. Leclerc said that the state says a bed and breakfast has four or more rooms. Our ordinance says up to four rooms.

What is the difference between a short-term rental, more commonly known as Airbnb, and a bed and breakfast?  Walpole’s bed and breakfast ordinance requires serving breakfast and the establishment is owner-occupied. With short-term rentals the owner could be from out of state and breakfast is not served. What if the owner were on the premises, does that make it a bed and breakfast. Ms. Leclerc said yes if they are serving breakfast.

The next question was “what if they are just renting rooms?” Apparently this is a gray area, Ms. Leclerc said. The NH Municipal Association said our bed and breakfast ordinance might cover short-term rentals, but Mr. Hockensmith said no. So as it stands right now there is no oversight on short-term rentals. Some are whole houses and others are just a room, but there is very little regulation. 

What’s the difference between someone renting part of a house or the whole house? Mr. Miller asked. Ms. Leclerc said it’s a question of time.  

What difference does it make if it’s one week, one month or a three years? Mr. Miller asked. Someone has the right to rent their whole house. Ms. Leclerc said the behavior is different for someone renting a house for a week or weekend, when someone may be attending a wedding, than a person renting that house for three years? Mr. Miller said it’s just an agreement between the landlord and the tenant. 

Mr. Perron said some towns are having issues with short-term rentals so they’ve come up as an ordinance. Mr. Dalessio said Airbnb is a company, therefore it’s commercial.

Ms. Leclerc said that the ZBA is not trying to limit short-term rentals or prevent them. The ZBA just thinks they need site plan approval so people aren’t parking on their neighbor’s lawn or doing anything that might cause a complaint.

“If it were I,” Ms. Leclerc said, “I’d like to know if we could have totally different strangers every week as neighbors.” If you’re asking the owner of a bed and breakfast, who lives there, to have site plan approval then at least it seems reasonable to ask the owner of a home being used for short-term rentals to have site plan approval.

Mr. Perron said that’s the difference. The owner of a bed and breakfast has an investment in the community. An owner with a short-term rental could have bachelor parties there every week and not even be aware of what’s going on. 

Ms. Leclerc said that the Board looked at several different short-term rental ordinances from other towns. She continued that it’s important to get something on the books before this gets out of hand. Mr. Miller said, “I still go back the resident. You have a right to rent to anyone the owner wants to.”

Mr. Dalessio said he was not opposed to an ordinance, but short-term rentals needs a definition. Ms. Leclerc said there was one and the secretary would send it to the Board.

Mr. Miller said he would contact Southwest Region Planning Commission. He also thought that short-term rentals probably need a Special Exception not a site plan review.

Ms. Leclerc said from the beginning, when ordinances were adopted, site plans were needed to have a bed and breakfast. Short-term rentals fall under that category of having guests for a remuneration.

Mr. Miller said the rationale at the time the bed and breakfast ordinance was adopted was that the town had a lot of big white buildings owned by older residents and it gave them an economic incentive to open up their homes to accommodate guests.

Short-term rentals are an economic enterprise. They are subject to a room and meals tax. Mr. Miller said if a room and meals tax is applied then he could see that an ordinance is needed. Mr. Dalessio said Airbnb is a trade name and a commercial enterprise and they would pay the rooms and meals tax. But what about someone local? How does the state even know there was a home being used for short-term rentals?

Ms. Leclerc mentioned that Cheryl Mayberry told her about her hometown that is being ruined by having so many short-term rental establishments. She said it had completely changed the town and now the cost of housing is so expensive that the local property owners can’t afford to live there.

A Board member asked, “How many days defines a short-term rental? Is it 30 days, 14 days, three months?”

Mr. Miller said that the Board has some questions. Perhaps, in the meantime, in order to accommodate the zoning schedule, the WPB can start the process. There are two more months that the ZBA can hold a Public Hearing to place an article on the warrant. If short-term rentals were an ordinance that required a public hearing it would give neighbors a chance to comment and put the abutters in the know about what is happening next door. The public would also have some standing if a problem at a short-term rental occurred. 

Mr. Perron made a motion to have a public hearing next month regarding short-term rentals. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

It was left that the secretary would forward Mr. Hockensmith’s letter to the WPB and that the secretary would send the WPB copies of other ordinances from New Hampshire towns and a definition of short-term rental. Mr. Miller will contact Lisa Murphy at SWRPC about the matter.

​

Master Plan discussion: The Board decided that they preferred to have a discussion of the final drafts of the three updated sections of the Master Plan when someone from Southwest Regional Planning Commission could attend a meeting.

Sidewalk grant: Mr. Miller talked with J. B. Mack, who is in charge of transportation at SWRPC. Mr. Mack said at this time federal funds are not available and are “on hold.” Things might change in the spring and Mr. Mack would be in touch.

Adjournment: Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

It’s not good but we need to know. – Lil

COVID by the Numbers—November 14 edition

Buckle up folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

In the first week of November, there were 35 new cases of COVID-19 in Cheshire County.  In the second week of November, the number of new cases more than doubled, to 78 new cases.  I would give you the numbers and locations of the current cases, but the DHHS web site that gives these numbers is down for maintenance until at least Monday.  The 7 day moving average of cases per 100,000 in Cheshire County as of November 12 was 10.5, up from 3.0 less than two weeks ago on November 1.  Cheshire County has lost its place as having the lowest 7 day average in the state; it is now third lowest, behind Carroll and Grafton.

Statewide last week the total number of new confirmed cases was 2088, for an average of 298 new cases a day.  Friday the 13^th lived up to its reputation by delivering 462 new confirmed cases.  Hospitalizations, which were at 38 at the beginning of the month, are now at 68.  10 more of our citizens died this week.  Three of those departed were from our neighboring Sullivan County. The statewide 7 day moving average of cases per 100,000 is at 23.9 as of November 14.  That is up from 4.5 on November 1.  New Hampshire has gone from having the 3^rd or even 2^nd lowest rate per 100,000 in the United States to being 41^st out of 51, higher than not only Vermont(8.0) and Maine(12.6), but also higher than New York, Washington, Oregon, California, The District of Columbia, Georgia, Virginia and Hawaii.

Nationally, the 7 day moving average of cases per 100,000 has risen from 24 to 44 since November 1.

Wear your mask.  And if you breathe with that nose, wear your mask over your nose.

Keep your distance—a full six feet.

Wash your hands. 

Be incredibly careful if you meet with friends and loved ones who are not members of your household.

And keep well.

~ Representative Lucy Weber lwmcv@comcast.net 603-499-0282.