Harrisville Planning Board
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Meeting Minutes
The Harrisville Planning Board held a regularly scheduled meeting at the Harrisville Town Offices, 705 Chesham Road, and via zoom on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
Members present: Ryan Stone Co-Chair, Lisa Anderson Co Chair, Don Scott, Andrea Hodson Select Board Representative, Courtney Cox, Ned Hulbert, Pete Thayer, Kate Neary
Members absent: Jon Miner, Noel Greiner
Members of the public: Carol Ogilvie
Ryan Stone opened the meeting at 7:00 pm. He noted that the voting members for the evening were himself, Pete Thayer, Ned Hulbert, Andrea Hodson, and Courtney Cox.
Two additional agenda items were requested: The imminent end of the Covid 19 State of Emergency and scenic roads in town.
Minutes of previous meeting 5/12
Members moved and voted unanimously in favor to approve the minutes of May 12. Returning to the discussion of the April 14 meeting minutes, particularly the section on Class VI roads and legal input from the town attorney, Andrea Hodson moved to table approval until the July meeting. Lisa Anderson seconded. Members voting in favor included Andrea Hodson, Courtney Cox, Pete Thayer, Lisa Anderson and Ned Hulbert. Ryan Stone abstained. The vote carried.
Voluntary Merger– Lance Levesque, Wilderness Trail (Map 20 – Lots 81, 82 and 83)
Following a brief discussion, the Planning Board voted that, pending no concerns by the Assessor, the Voluntary Merger of Mr. Levesque’s parcels was approved. Lisa Anderson will draft the Notice of Voluntary Merger for recording at the Registry of Deeds.
Master Planand Master Plan Subcommittee
Carol Ogilvie and Lisa Anderson updated members on additional interest in subcommittee participation. The first meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 14, in the morning, the exact time TBD. Kate Neary, Lisa Anderson and Rex Baker will get started on the synopsis document and will invite residents to participate to get community input. The goal is to create a visual addendum to the existing Master Plan, with the thought that the process should help the PB focus on areas of the MP that require updating as well as identify subject matter experts for these sections. Members then discussed additional ideas for community outreach and engagement. Ryan Stone proposed charging the Master Plan Committee with its defined scope and to report back next month as to how they plan to go about it. The committee agreed.
EAC / Community Power Update
Andrea Hodson updated members that the Community Power plan passed at town meeting, and that the Select Board was required to notify the PUC of this vote and provide the PUC with a copy of the plan. The committee will now await the PUC’s response. If the town hears nothing back from the PUC, the EAC will draft an RFP to send out to energy service and supply vendors.
Eversource also received notification of the town vote, as did the committee’s advocacy agency. As for the legislation being amended at the state level, the committee continues to monitor it, and to attempt to anticipate where it will land. Several other towns are breaking ground on the Community Power initiative.
New Business
The Select Board will discuss State of Emergency protocolsthat will be lifted or changed once the state of emergency ends. Andrea Hodson asked fellow PB members their positions on guidelines. Members agreed they like the meeting access that Zoom affords but acknowledge the RSA 91-A requirement that a quorum of members must be physically present. Members also debated the continued need for a mask mandate in light of increasing vaccinations.
On the matter of scenic roads, Don Scott raised the issue of Planning Board jurisdiction over the town’s scenic roads and whether or not the PB ever reviews changes along them. Members discussed the process for scenic road designation, noting it would be helpful to research the history of scenic road designations in town to ascertain whether specific conditions accompanied any of them. Courtney Cox and Andrea Hodson will look into this and report back at the July meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.