Wales Planning Board Meeting

September 11, 2006

Minutes

 

 

In Attendance:  Alice DiPaolo (Chair), Lori Blier (Secretary); Lyndon Spaulding (WPB), Eric Gagnon (WPB)

 

Ø      Alice opened the meeting at 7:10.  Lori distributed the agenda, minutes from August 14, 2006 meeting, and the final Bylaws document, the initial Draft Town of Wales Mining Ordinance, and the modifications drafted by Alice to Article VI of the charter reflecting the changes to the responsibilities of the Planning Board.  The minutes were reviewed by board members and approved as written. 

Ø      The board reviewed the final draft of the amended Bylaws of the Planning Board of the Town of Wales.  All changes agreed to in the August meeting were included and no additional changes were brought to the table.  Lori motioned that the Bylaws of the Planning Board of the Town of Wales be adopted as amended and dated as 9-11-2006.  The motion was seconded by Eric and the Bylaws were adopted as amended and dated 9-11-2006 by a unanimous vote of the members present.

Ø      Discussion was opened on the draft recommended modification to Article VI of the charter for presentation to the selectmen for a change and vote at the next Town Meeting.  Members reviewed the changes and unanimously agreed to present the recommended changes as written to the selectmen for action.  Lori will draft a letter to the Board of Selectmen outlining the recommendation and our reasons for making the recommendation to accompany the modified segment of Article VI of the Charter of the Town of Wales.

Ø      The board opened discussion on the draft Town of Wales Mining Ordinance which is based on the ordinances adopted by the towns of Appleton and Washington.  Lori outlined the layout changes made from the base ordinance (Appleton’s) and the additions in gray from the Washington version of the ordinance.  She indicated that the following sections should be looked at for modifications:  1) the applicability and/or exemption sections – members had indicated in the August meeting discussion that current operations should be grandfathered and the current section language does not reflect that; 2) and the performance guarantee section because the selectmen had been active in modifying the Subdivision Ordinance performance guarantee section to alleviate some of the money chasing they’d had to do in the past. 

Ø      Discussion of the applicability section included recommendations that we look at what we currently have on file for DEP reclamation plans by current operators.   It is felt that those with plans on file should be grandfathered and be granted approval on their existing operations with no application fees or requirements.  If there are current active operations out there that don’t have a reclamation plan with DEP, they aren’t in compliance anyway and should be required to submit an application for mining under the ordinance.  (After thought note – should this also apply to yearly site visits/fees?) 

Ø      The board reviewed the performance guarantee section and compared it to the subdivision’s performance guarantee section.  It was determined that the two were really meeting very different needs in the two ordinances mainly because the mining operations are ongoing operational pits and sites with a need for cash to reclaim the property following the activity.  This would make more of the options more viable for this ordinance than the subdivision and would require less of the “chasing money down” scenario of the subdivision.  The performance bond section will be stricken – but left in the document to be reviewed determined by the selectmen’s preference.  The irrevocable line of credit will be kept along with the escrow section. 

Ø      Lori indicated she also felt the road section needed to be reviewed for possible removal of some items that are already in the road ordinance.  The board reviewed the sections and agreed that the sections that are specifically addressed by the Road Ordinance should be stricken and replaced with an appropriate statement indicating that the entrance and roads constructed for the operation should meet the specifications of the current Town of Wales Road Ordinance.  The section on the treatment of the roads with suitable materials to reduce dust and mud will be kept, but the remainder will be replaced with the statement referenced above.  Buffers and Setbacks and Traffic Impacts sections should remain. 

Ø      There was some discussion on if we should included operational hours – it’s already in there (Section 5.2 J & K).  Board members will review this draft document for other areas that might bear review and modification and bring those changes to the next meeting or e-mail them to Lori for inclusion prior to the next meeting.  Lori will make the changes the board agreed to in this meeting along with any other suggested changes received via e-mail up to a week prior to the next meeting for review at that meeting.

Ø      There was more discussion on the applicability section in which Eric volunteered to look up exactly what “Plans” or “Permits” are submitted to DEP for sand pits and the like.  That information and the previous discussion items will assist the board with it’s planned modification to some of the applicability language and to insert some specifics for exempting the existing active operations in the exemptions section.

Ø      There was discussion about the Basic Workshop for Local Planning Boards session to be held on November 30 in Augusta.  Lori and Alice have submitted the paperwork to attend.  Eric needs to check his schedule.  It was brought to Lori’s attention that the CEO information on the phone list is inaccurate – Lori will correct and provide updated lists.

Ø      The next regular meeting will be on October 9.  Meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lori Blier, Secretary

 

 

Related documents: Adopted Bylaws, recommended modification to Article VI of the Town Charter, Initial Draft Town of Wales Mining Ordinance