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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE VIENNA

PLANNING BOARD HELD APRIL 26, 2017

The meeting convened at 7:00 PM at the Town House. Regular members present were Waine Whittier, Ed Lawless, Alan Williams, and Creston Gaither. Minutes of the March 22 meeting were read and accepted.

Proposed changes to the Building Ordinance and the public hearing to discuss them on May 1 were informally discussed.

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM.

Creston Gaither, secretary

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Reviewed and signed Warrant #08 ($22,367.77)
4. The selectmen reviewed and signed Bank Reconciliation report.
5. The Selectmen read a letter from PretiFlaherty advising them to refuse the two recently presented Citizens’ Petitions. The selectmen reviewed this with the petitions’ presenters; the petitions were refused.
6. There was a discussion on navigating the Town Website. All new postings appear on the home page, in the order they were posted.
7. Worked on property cards. 

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Chuck Yates presented selectmen with two new Citizens Petitions: One pertaining to term limits of elected officials; one pertaining to a personnel issue. Mr. Yates found issue with an article written by the Ordinance Review Committee which was on the website in the April/May newsletter. The selectmen feel that the article in question did not recommend how to vote on the upcoming “run-off” election, but rather explained the reasoning behind the creation of the current Building Ordinance. Yates, Whittier and Wade strongly oppose the current building ordinance.
4. The Selectmen worked with a town resident on her property cards and tax maps.
5. The Selectmen agreed to contact MMA in reference to the two new citizens’ petitions.
6. Charles Yates has agreed to be on the Ordinance Review committee. The Selectmen are in search of one more resident to join the committee. The next meeting is Thursday, April 20th.
7. Dodi reported that DownEast Energy came to clean the furnace for the town house. The service man discovered that it had a cracked heat exchange. Considering this and the age of the furnace, he recommended that the furnace be replaced before the next heating season. The cleaning was cancelled. The Town House committee has been apprised of the situation.
8. Selectmen agreed to contact the town attorney concerning the two new Citizens’ Petitions. 

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Reviewed and signed Warrant # 7 ($78,511.30)
4. Selectmen discussed Building Ordinance issue. It was agreed to have a single question and four options, while making sure voters only vote yes on one option. Any ballot that has more than one option marked yes will be void. The selectmen will contact MMA and PretiFlaherty, the town’s law firm, on the best way to word and present the ballot.
5. Selectmen worked on property cards. Pulled the cards for all properties that had been transferred in ownership from April 1, 2016 to April 1, 2017. Also pulled cards that had ongoing construction, which were flagged to recheck in 2017. John Sexton, assessing agent for the town, with assistance from Dodi, will work to update all the cards. They will then be given to Annie Tibbetts, tax collector, to enter into her system. 

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Researched the amount of money raised to create and update the Town of Vienna Comprehensive plan. The selectmen looked in the past town reports 2004-2008 to see how much was raised and spent in each of these years on the comprehensive plan. The town voted to update and fund the comprehensive plan in 2004. The town raised $12,869.00 over the four years and the remainder was funded by grants - totaling $31,152.00.

1. There was a general discussion with Tom Ward, RSU #9 superintendent, on the budget process. He did indicate that Vienna’s share for the 2017-2018 budget should go down this year. Here is a link to all budget information, calendar of meetings, etc: Mt. Blue Budget
2. The annual budget meeting will be held May 2nd at the high school. The budget referendum will be held in Vienna on Tuesday, May 16th . (These are tentative dates)
3.  Lidie Robbins was welcomed as Vienna’s new representative to RSU9. Her official appointment papers were signed by Lidie, selectmen and the town clerk. Her three year term will begin in June. 
4. There was a follow up discussion about a school bus driver who was seen texting while driving in Vienna. She had reportedly been dismissed, but then was seen driving a bus in another town. Dr. Ward said that a mistake was made, but promised it will not happen again; said bus driver will never drive for RSU9 in the future.

[NO FORMAL MEETING IN FEBRUARY 2017 – see below]

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE VIENNA
PLANNING BOARD HELD MARCH 22, 2017

The meeting convened at 7:00 PM at the Town House. Regular members present were Waine Whittier, Ed Lawless, Alan Williams, and Creston Gaither. Also present were Tom Ferraro and Burt Whittier. Minutes of the January 25 meeting were read and accepted. Note that no formal meeting was held in February. Creston and Waine met at the Town House on February 22 but, lacking a quorum, no formal business was conducted.

Tom Ferraro presented his application for a temporary dock on land his parents own which is depicted on tax map 11 as lot 45, on Parker Pond, including a Google Earth photo showing the proposed dock location. He was advised that Section C of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance is the pertinent article. He has already obtained a Building Ordinance permit for a proposed structure on this parcel, and said that Code Enforcement Officer John Archard has determined that the structure site is at least 250 feet from the pond at high water mark. He presented a letter from the parcel’s owners (his parents) authorizing him to act as their agent in this matter. Given that the proposal is minimal and Creston and Alan have been to it a number of times the Board agreed to waive the usual site visit.

Based on Tom’s application and verbal representations and the Board’s knowledge of the site, the Board concluded that this project:

1. Will maintain safe and healthful conditions
2. Will not result in water pollution, erosion, or sedimentation to surface waters;
3. Will adequately provide for the disposal of all wastewater;
4. Will not have an adverse impact on spawning grounds, fish, aquatic life, bird or other wildlife habitat;
5. Will conserve shore cover and visual, as well as actual, points of access to inland waters;
6. Will protect archaeological and historic resources as designated in the comprehensive plan;
7. Will avoid problems associated with floodplain development and use; and
8. Is in conformance with the provisions of Section 15, Land Use Standards.

Tom said he expects Hammond Lumber Company to install the dock (though they are not yet formally committed)—he expects them to cart it from the house site to the installation site and was advised that cutting out a new path will not be permitted. And that a 6 foot wide meandering path would be permissible.

The Board voted 4 – 0 to authorize Creston to issue the usual permit by letter.

Burt Whittier inquired about regulations controlling a multi-unit building on a single parcel, i.e. a duplex with 2 units. He was advised that doing this on a relatively recent outconveyance could create third division that could trigger subdivision review requirements. He noted that it would be a commercial structure and was advised that Vienna has no ordinances specifically addressing commercial structures.

Prospective new Board members were informally discussed.

The meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM.

Creston Gaither, secretary

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Reviewed and signed Warrant # 06 ($15,516.48)
4. Selectmen received a Citizens’ Petition to repeal the Building Ordinance, enacted on March 12, 2016, along with any amendments voted in on March 10, 2017; and reinstate the Notification of Construction Ordinance enacted in 1996.
5. Selectmen agreed to have the special election (tentative date, April 28 th) to vote on the two Contradicting proposals, the new Citizens’ Petition, and a fourth option to repeal the proposals voted in on March 10, 2017 and go back to the Building Ordinance enacted on March 12, 2016; with the understanding that the selectmen will task the Ordinance Review Committee and others to come up with a compromise proposal for changes to the building ordinance to be presented at the March 2018 town meeting. It will be stated clearly on the ballot that you may vote YES on one option only! If a ballot has more that one mark it will become void and will not be counted. (Note: The special election has now been set for Tuesday, May 16th  from 3:00 PM to 8:00M. Public Hearing will be May 1st  at 7:00 PM.  Both will be held in the Community Room)
6. Luke Olson dba All Season Handyman turned in his proposal to extend his contract for mowing for the 2017 season. Selectmen accepted the proposal and signed the contract.
7. Selectmen reviewed a resident’s property card by request.  The resident had questions relating to her increased valuation due to tree growth rates.
8. Adjourned meeting until Thursday at 6:30.

~                                            

Discussion of the two opposing ordinances that were passed at the March 10 vote.

Discussion of what can be done to work out clarification and compromises to the building ordinance.

Two of the selectmen, Dodi Thompson and Chris Smith joined the meeting and discussion turned to whether to have a special election decide how to handle the conflicting articles passed during the 3-10 vote. It was agreed that a special election would be the most fair. Meeting adjourned 8:10 PM.

- Marianne Archard

This meeting was postponed from Tuesday, March 14, due to the storm

1. Reviewed and dispersed mail.
2. Read and accepted minutes from the previous meeting.
3. Organized property cards.
4. Selectmen held their meeting in the small office, as the Ordinance Review Committee and others were meeting in the bigger room. Selectmen had a general discussion of the annual town meeting which was held the previous Saturday. The budget passed as recommended. All incumbents were re-elected; the two contradicting proposals for changes to the Building Ordinance both passed. There was a discussion on how to best handle this situation with a special election.
5. The selectmen then joined the ORC meeting for further discussion on the special election. After much discussion, it was agreed that we would have a run-off election on the two proposals; we would make it clear on the ballot that you can vote Yes on only one proposal. Present for Ordinance Review Committee meeting: Marianne Archard, Jim Anderberg, Tim Bickford, Stanley Webster, Waine Whittier, Dodi Thompson, Chris Smith.