Harrisville Planning Board
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Meeting Minutes

Members present: Ryan Stone Co-Chair, Courtney Cox Co-Chair, Don Scott Alternate, Jon Miner Alternate, Pete Thayer, Ned Hulbert Alternate, Andrew Maneval Select Board Representative, and Lisa Anderson
Attendees: Carol Ogilvie, Sherry Sims, Winston Sims, Jon Buschbaum, Andrea Hodson

Attendance, Roles and Voting Members – Co-Chair Ryan Stone noted the voting members for the evening were himself, Courtney Cox, Pete Thayer, Andrew Maneval and Lisa Anderson.

Agenda – Members all voted in favor to approve the agenda with the amendment to clarify that the item on Historic Harrisville’s meeting refers to the Annual Meeting of Incorporators.

Minutes of previous meeting, 3/8 – Members moved, seconded and voted unanimously in favor to approve the minutes of the March meeting.

Boundary Line Adjustment, Sunfish Lane (Map 20 – Lot 10-1) – The PB heard from surveyor Jon Buschbaum, representing applicant Sherry Sims. Mr. Buschbaum and Ms. Sims confirmed with the application reviewers, Courtney Cox and Pete Thayer, that the question about one of the abutting lot numbers on the survey was addressed and that the mylar will indicate the correction to read Map 20 – Lot 21-1.

Ms. Cox stated that, upon review of the application paperwork submitted at last month’s meeting, they found all in order and thus moved that the PB to accept the application as complete.  Pete Thayer seconded the motion. The board voted 5-0 in favor.

The board then requested a description of the proposed lot line adjustment from the applicant. The survey map was exhibited on screen. Ms. Sims explained that the owner of the lot abutting hers is selling her a boomerang-shaped piece of land that lies between them, a parcel that originally was part of Doug Viles’s parcel but is now part of Marcus Poisson and Ellen Hayes’s lot.  Mr. Buschbaum’s survey is a retracement survey, and Mr. Buschbaum explained that the surveyors were able to identify every monument and drill hole.  The proposed lot line adjustment puts the Poisson boundary back to where it had been. There are no structures on or near the parcel to be acquired by Ms. Sims.

Ryan Stone then opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. It was noted that, though the PB is not required to hold a public hearing on Boundary Line Adjustments, the board’s practice is to notice and hold a public hearing on such matters.  The board also noted that private transactions do not fall under PB jurisdiction; the board’s jurisdiction is merely to review the proposed lot configurations and to ensure the subject lots meet planning and zoning regulations.

The applicants and PB confirmed that the Letter of Intent confirms the interest of both parties involved in the transaction. The Co-Chair noted that the Notice of Decision would include language clarifying that PB approval does not in and of itself effectuate a boundary line adjustment; that the conveyance of land and recording of the new deed are the responsibility of the property owners.

With no further questions or discussion, Andrew Maneval moved to approve the application for the Boundary Line Adjustment with additional language in the Notice of Decision as advised by NHMA.  The motion was seconded.  All voted in favor.

Mr. Buschbaum will submit the mylar for signature by the co-chairs and PB secretary.

PB Annual Business
    – Membership roles/terms – Mr. Stone informed members that Kate Neary, Alternate,  resigned her position on the board due to work commitments. Ned Hulbert confirmed that, with the expiration of his term in March 2023 and having served since 2008, he was stepping down. All expressed sincere gratitude for Mr. Hulbert’s leadership and contributions over the years.  Jon Miner expressed interest in staying on as Alternate.

Subsequently, Don Scott moved to nominate Ryan Stone and Courtney Cox as Co-Chairs, and Pete Thayer as Secretary. AM seconded. All voted in favor.

Plat review – The co-chairs encouraged all members to participate in plat reviews, as the same members have handled the responsibility for several years now.  Following discussion, board members agreed that, upon submission of application plats, the board would immediately assign members to review.

Voluntary Merger application form – Members discussed proposed changes to update the application form, with the goal of facilitating the voluntary merger process for applicants and town officials. The board also discussed responsibilities of the property owner, the town assessor and the PB and the requirements for completing the application. Lisa Anderson moved to approve the updated form with the agreed upon edits. All voted in favor.  Ryan Stone will incorporate the edits and distribute to members. 

Master Plan ReView – Lisa Anderson talked through the Master Plan Summary process. The board discussed the output to date and revisited the goal of the summary, whether the work under way remains a synthesis of the 2014 Master Plan or was evolving into an update, because of the difficult challenge of synthesizing the objectives and implementations outlined in that  2014 plan.  All agreed the goal is to draw more townspeople into the Master Plan and its purpose.

The Steering committee is now considering doing away with the summary and focusing on chart preparation as worksheets for updating the Master Plan.  Members then discussed with Carol Ogilvie the formal process required for an update to the Master Plan.  For next steps, members agreed that topic groups make comments in columns on the steering committee chart. The PB will then review the comments.

Separately, Lisa Anderson and Carol Ogilvie noted the tri-fold is ready to go to the graphic artist, who will produce a draft for PB review.  The board reviewed the proposed contract in the amount of $500 for the trifold design, with subsequent or additional services at a cost of $85/hour. PB discussed that $1,000 is set aside in PB budget for the work, and Ryan Stone suggested obtaining a second quote for an anticipated second round of edits.

Andrew Maneval then moved to delegate authority to the steering committee to communicate with Gwarlingo to ascertain the cost for a second round of edits and, if not unreasonable, then delegate the steering committee to execute the contract.  All agreed. Lisa Anderson will move forward.

Historic Harrisville – With the Incorporators Annual Meeting scheduled for Saturday, April 22, the PB moved to reappoint Lisa Anderson as the PB representative to Historic Harrisville. The motion was seconded. All voted in favor.

New business – Members agreed that discussion of Town Meeting should be deferred to next month.

The meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.