PLANNING BOARD

Walpole, NH  03608

Work Session Tuesday October 28. 2008, 7:00pm Town Hall Basement

Minutes

Present:  Jeff Miller, Bob Miller, Ben Daviss, Don Lounsbury, Dave DeCoste, Mel Schupack,

Dennis Marcom

Recording:  Pamela Aslinger, Secretary

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the November 11, 2008 meeting for corrections.

Meeting Opened at 7:00pm

                Purpose of the meeting was to review status of SW Regional Planning dues and discuss the beginning of an economic development chapter for the Master Plan

Dues - Sec. Aslinger reported she had sent a memo on the 27th to the selectboard requesting they pay the remainder of the dues from the current year planning budget account #01-4191.10-390 PLN SWRPC Master Plan Project.  The memo asked that they notify the board of payment when it occurs.  She had not yet received notification as of this meeting. 

Vision statement/Goals and Objectives - Ch. Miller asked Mr. Daviss to contact SWRPC and ask them to review the recently finalized documents and create an updated land use section by blending the existing section with the newly created drafts.  He asked if the initial review could be included as part of the dues and what the cost would be to create the new land use section including updating the technical data.  He asked for Mr. Daviss to report back to the board at the next meeting if possible.  Ch. Miller suggested members interested should plan to attend a meeting with the selectboard and Tim Murphy in the future to discuss SWRPC’s membership importance to the entire Town.

Economic Development Section - Mr. Daviss asked for the committee to consider dedicating the next year’s work sessions to creating an economic development section to the Master Plan.  He stated that the Office of Energy and Planning and SWRPC are making an effort to have all towns incorporate an economic section to address potential court issues that may arise.  He said models are available with Jaffrey’s being the one most touted.  Mr. Schupack suggested the business people in town be tapped for their input from the onset.  Mr. Daviss and others agreed with creating a forum where all factions could air discussions on issues prior to an application being before the planning board.  Attendees asked if a spectrum of models could be gathered in hopes to encourage a variety of developments for cosideration. Mr. Schupack suggested creating an economic development advisory committee for the town.  Ch. Miller asked Mr. Daviss to gather the various models for the board and others to consider prior to the next meeting if possible.  He suggested the work sessions beginning in January 2009 be devoted to the new section for the Master Plan.  Mr. DeCoste suggested that models include at least one very specific and one very general.

Zoning/Regulations Amendments for 2008/9 - Sec. Aslinger reported she would gather any potential previously discussed changes while preparing the “Master List” for 2008, a required document listing all of the Board’s meeting actions for the entire year and have it prepared for discussion at the November 11, 2008 meeting.  Attendees made no other suggested changes.

Budget -  Sec. Aslinger reminded the budget needed to be filled out by Nov 3rd and asked Ch. Miller and members if an amount for the updating the master plan needed to be included.  Members agreed to $1500.00 for the year.  Members discussed meeting with the selectboard regarding the importance of the SWRPC membership and stress that it benefits the entire town and various agencies.  It was agreed that the dues should not be a line item in the planning board budget nor should the planning board solely be burdened with proving its necessity to the Town.  Ch. Miller reminded while the board files a budget each year based on prior year’s expenditures the selectboard must make allowances for overruns due to the unknown potential activity of the board in a given year.  He suggested they cannot limit the boards work by such actions as freezing it’s spending.

Handout - SWRPC - Innovative Land Use Planning Saturday Nov. 8, 2008 9-noon workshop in Hancock, NH at the Harris center.

Meeting closed 7:30pm