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PLANNING BOARD
Town of Greenland Greenland, NH 03840
11 Town Square PO Box 100
Phone: 603.431.3070 Fax: 603.430.3761
Website: greenland-nh.com
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING
Thursday, January 17, 2019 – 7:00 p.m. – Town Hall Conference Room
Members Present: Frank Catapano, James Connelly, Stu Gerome, John McDevitt, Rich Winsor, Steve Gerrato (Alternate), Catie Medeiros (Alternate), Paul Sanderson (Selectmen’s Rep)
Members Absent: David Moore
Also Present: Members of the Budget Committee–Mark Connelly, Frank Hansler, Sharon Hussey, Patty Porter
Staff Present: Mark Fougere – Consultant
Chair Gerome opened the Planning Board public hearing at 7:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by the Chair; he announced a quorum was present and the meeting was being recorded.
- Fire Department Update
Members of the Budget Committee were invited to take a tour of the existing fire station prior to the Planning Board meeting; they were encouraged to stay for the Fire Department update.
Present were John Ricci, Ricci Construction; Eric Weinrieb, Altus Engineering; Jim Marchese, Building Inspector; and Ralph Cresta, Fire Chief. J. Ricci did the initial presentation to the Board. A two story 10,000 sq. ft. facility was proposed. There will be more space and it’s ADA compliant; there is gender separation. It will be environmentally friendly. It will be a drive-thru building with six bays. Provisions have been made for expansion if the Town purchases the land adjacent to the lot.
- Ricci reviewed the floor plans: conference room, Emergency Operations Center, dispatch, gear room (the current fire station doesn’t have a gear room), and wash room (it’s now a requirement to wash gear after a call). The wash room and apparatus bay will drain into a 5,000 gallon tight tank; it will be pumped out so any contaminants will stay out of the Town’s septic systems and will be totally contained. It will be located in the back. Also on the first floor will be the Chief’s office, Deputy Chief’s office, and bunk rooms. A full two-stop elevator will be located on the first floor. On the second floor there will be meeting space for training for 43 occupants, men’s and women’s separate washrooms and locker rooms, future bunk rooms, kitchen and day room. The apparatus bay will have trench drains; when vehicles are washed, it will flow into trench drains and the tight tank. All the contaminants will be contained. The building will be wood-framed. Spray foam will be used. Asphalt shingles for easy maintenance.
- McDevitt asked how the building was sized for the future. J. Ricci responded the currently there are five pieces of apparatus; the proposed building provides space for six. The building will also provide overnight accommodations. P. Sanderson added that the department is evolving from volunteer to full-time. In order to have one person on full-time, 24/7/365, five personnel are needed in order to fill the one full-time equivalent. The building was sized for 12 people; two would be on full-time and the
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Planning Board Public Hearing Minutes – Page 1 of 5 (Thursday 01.17.2019)
Documents used by the Planning Board during this meeting may be found in the case file.
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necessary supervisory personnel. S. Gerrato asked the upcharge for brick rather than wood-frame. J. Ricci responded it would be $17 to $18 per sq. ft. There will be 16” of cellulose on the roof and asphalt shingles. The new gear room will be approximately 27’x15’ or 400 sq. ft. The existing gear is stored in an area 8’x16’ (rough estimate).
There will also be accommodations for the gear washer and dryer that don’t exist today. The gear washer will tie into the trench drain that will tie into the tank. Effluent that could enter the leach field needs to be separated from fire department debris that should be contained by itself. Vehicles will only be washed inside the building. Chair Gerome noted the building would be in the aquifer and it was important everything was contained. J. Ricci explained that the 5,000 gallon tank will be in the back; when it reaches 3/5 full, a light will come on to indicate it’s almost full and should be pumped. To combat moisture from washing the vehicles inside, moisture-resistant products will be used for the ceilings and walls as well as destratification fans. To avoid mold, paperless drywall will be used (FRP that’s easily cleanable).
- Weinrieb stated they have just started to dig into this project. An existing conditions survey has been completed, wetlands have been mapped, and topography on the boundary and wetlands has been done. There are two cross culverts from the Police Station driveway, Portsmouth Avenue, Town Hall and the residential property abutting the proposed lot. E. Weinrieb noted the wetland locations. There will be some impact to wetlands.
The building is setback approximately 100’ from Portsmouth Avenue, leaving enough room for visitor parking so people can go in the front door. There will be a handicap parking stall in the front. Enough room is also available to have the overhead doors open and trucks pulled out. The access in will be from the Town Hall and Police Station driveways; they will drive straight through into the bay. Eight parking spaces will be in back, a sidewalk to the Town Hall through a side door, and a 4’ concrete apron just outside the bay doors. To make the grading work, there will be a retaining wall on the front left side. A large cross culvert will go through the drainage swale; drainage computations haven’t been done at this time.
The preliminary grading plan was reviewed. The finished floor of the building has been set at elevation 27.5, approximately 1.5’ above Portsmouth Avenue to allow grading down from the building towards the property line and pitch from Portsmouth Avenue back approximately 25’ to create a low point so water is not pitched onto the street. The majority of the flow will be directed to the east and the existing rain garden that was part of the Portsmouth Avenue improvements. Their goal with stormwater management in that area is to increase the size of the rain garden to provide treatment and mitigate the peak ridge run off; none of the calculations have been done.
The roof pitches are shown on the plan. A significant portion of the site pitches to the rear. That area will probably be another stormwater area in the southwest corner closest to the Police Station and possibly the side closest to the Town Hall driveway.
The 5,000 gallon holding tank will be permitted through DES: it will actually be a holding tank registration. One of the criteria is that an alarm system be provided. The alarm will come on and a call will be made for someone to come and pump the tank. That will prevent contaminants from wash-down inside and from rinsing vehicles to enter the gear rinse area. The generator will be on a pad. The septic tank will be 1,250 gallons with a duplex pump chamber. Based on preliminary data, the flow will be small. There are two leach fields on the plan: one for the Town Hall and one for the Police Station.
A wetlands permit will be needed due to the small impact to the wetlands filling in the cross-culvert. It should be a minimum expedited; it’s less than 3,000 sq. ft., possibly 1,000 sq. ft. An AOT (Alteration of Terrain) permit will not be needed. The site itself impacts approximately 35,000 sq. ft.; it falls under the
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Planning Board Public Hearing Minutes – Page 2 of 5 (Thursday 01.17.2019)
Documents used by the Planning Board during this meeting may be found in the case file.
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threshold of a SWIPP and NOI. Depending on what needs to be done with the septic system, it may be just over an acre; that will be a reporting requirement through the construction process.
- Weinrieb noted that the plans are conceptual. They received the survey earlier in the week. He felt positive about the grades on the site and stormwater management. The grades are relatively flat around the building and there’s a north/south orientation. The Town may want to consider looking at adding heat tape to the pavement on the north side to keep it free of ice and snow. The apron in front could be made larger to accommodate a full vehicle.
- Weinrieb hasn’t had the opportunity to review the geo-technical study done on the site. P. Sanderson stated it was important for the Planning Board to know that geo-technical work had been done. J. Ricci reported that borings were done on-site in October 2018. Larger footings than normal will be needed; those have been accommodated for in the pricing. Sections of material need to be removed from the area where the footings will be going; new material will need to be brought in. They are fully aware of what exists on-site today. The pricing for the warrant article includes accommodating the existing soils with new soils; it is buildable. Geo-piers aren’t needed; conventional construction can be used with a larger footing. Some of the soils will need to be removed and replaced. All the recommendations from the geo-technical report have been included in the plan. P. Sanderson added that the soils that would be brought in exist at the Transfer Station; the Town owns the soils. The spoils to be removed can be taken to the Transfer Station and stored.
- Weinrieb stated that the lot is only 100’ wide. It’s bounded on two sides by Town property and one side by a private lot. There is no way to fit the building within the setbacks. There is 11.5’ from the westerly abutter, and right up to the Town Hall property line. The building can be moved a little more; he left room in between for grading and stormwater management.
The building is designed to be expanded if the abutting property is purchased by the Town. Vaughan Morgan stated he has spoken to the property owner and the Town will be given first refusal. First and second floor square footage of the proposed station is 2,800 sq. ft.; the apparatus bay is 4,900 sq. ft. (7,700 sq. ft. on the first floor; 2,800 sq. ft. on the second). Total square footage is 10,500 sq. ft.
Different scenarios for the building location were discussed. The apparatus needs to exit unimpeded and be able to focus. It may be possible to move the building over another 5’ towards the Town Hall. However, E. Weinrieb didn’t want to impede any stormwater management. R. Winsor stated he would love the Board to look at this in a more homogeneous view where the existing facilities are incorporated into the plan. Is there merit in re-engineering some of the traffic flow and incorporating the two into one development? What will be done with the existing structures? How do you look at the project as a big picture? E. Weinrieb agreed what was going to happen on the other side of the site should be thought out. He added that if there was an opportunity to purchase the abutting property, a master plan for the Town campus should be considered.
Turning templates for the turning radius have not been included. Fire trucks have a short wheel base to make tight turns. E. Weinrieb noted areas that have been widened.
- Catapano commented that for a quick take it was pretty well designed and was laid out pretty well. He thought the building was ugly and architecturally may stand out on that road. J. Ricci noted this was a conceptual design and not everything was done. F. Catapano liked the floor plan and thought it was very useful. He also liked the fact expansion was possible. The building meets a lot of the Town’s criteria. The Board was concerned about setbacks.
Chair Gerome opened the meeting to public comments. V. Morgan commented that eight years ago a plan was brought in to design a Town Hall, fire station and Library. That plan would have fit nicely here
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Planning Board Public Hearing Minutes – Page 3 of 5 (Thursday 01.17.2019)
Documents used by the Planning Board during this meeting may be found in the case file.
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and may eventually happen. J. McDevitt added that considering the traffic flow for the future was important. A conflict with vehicles coming back from a call needed to be avoided. V. Morgan, responding to a question from R. Winsor, stated that the Maintenance Department would move into the existing fire station.
- Connelly asked what happens if the warrant article goes through for the existing building. V. Morgan responded they were looking to make improvements on the building as needed. He would have the Building Inspector go through to look at what needs to be done. It would be a useable building. P. Sanderson added that the warrant was a matter of dissension and disagreement on the Board of Selectmen. There are some people who believe this is not the year to “put lipstick on the pig next door”. Decisions need to be made over here before what might happen over there. There are other needs in the Town (tax relief and Bayside Road) that are a much higher priority. P. Sanderson also commented that salt and winter maintenance trucks would be best at the Transfer Station. J. Connelly commented that the land here needed to be looked at for what could be done; he hated to waste space.
- Winsor stated he appreciated the Fire Department meeting with the Planning Board and that they did a great job. It doesn’t appear that many waivers will be needed; it’s a good clean project. Looking at it a different way may be a benefit. P. Sanderson added that a future Planning Board may look at it from a CIP point of view and trying to involve citizens. It’s been very difficult to get citizen involvement on these types of things.
The Building Committee started with the report that came back from MRI which provided a basic needs assessment. What would it take to allow the Fire Department to move forward and flourish, rather than coming to the ragged edge of not being in existence? P. Sanderson continued there is a chance it could go out of existence. If that were to happen, there’s a pervasive view in Town that other towns will pick up the slack; that will not happen. They have been in communication with all of the neighboring towns; P. Sanderson emphasized they will not come here. A private ambulance service could probably be created, but not a private rescue service. If the Fire Department were to go out of existence, there would be an immediate negative effect on resident’s homeowner’s insurance rates. They felt it was imperative to bring the issue forward and put it in front of the voters for their consideration.
- Connelly, also a member of the Budget Committee, stated that he wished the Budget Committee had seen the Fire Station plans before they voted to “Not Recommend”. P. Sanderson stated they could change their vote after the Deliberative Session. V. Morgan added they should have stayed after the public hearing when the Budget Committee met to recommend/not recommend. When asked if there were any questions, there were none. The Building Committee has been working on the plans for a long time; the plans are well-founded. P. Sanderson stated a lot of credit should be given to the consultants and everyone who has helped them; this has been done at breakneck speed. J. Connelly stated it was a shame other Budget Committee members weren’t there for the tour and presentation. They would be able to see how far along they were with the planning and design. It was nice to see a design that correlated with the warrant article.
- Connelly asked if the bond passed, when construction would start. J. Ricci responded that three months of permitting and review would follow the Town vote in March. If started July 01, they would be past the School frenetic of starting the end of June; building should be completed in eight months. Money would be available as soon as the Selectmen were able to negotiate a bond issue. The cost of the project: the building is $2.6 million; $100,000 for furnishings and equipment; 7% contingency of $190,000 has been added. The amount on the warrant article is $2.9 million. Site work has been included in the figure.
If the project doesn’t pass at Town Meeting, the cost could increase 20%. J. Ricci stated the project was started in 2012; in seven years, the cost has more than doubled. He used the example of Carroll, NH:
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Planning Board Public Hearing Minutes – Page 4 of 5 (Thursday 01.17.2019)
Documents used by the Planning Board during this meeting may be found in the case file.
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they were doing a Library, Police, Fire, and Town Hall. Their warrant article last year was $3.1 million; it failed by two votes. It will be back on the ballot this year; the same plan, specs and building will now cost $3.8 million. The increases are due to tariffs and labor. F. Catapano agreed with J. Ricci, adding it costs 50% more to build today compared to two years ago.
- Approval of Minutes
MOTION: R. Winsor moved to approve the minutes of Thursday, January 03, 2019. Second – C. Medeiros; all in favor. MOTION CARRIED
- Approval of Invoices
There were no invoices to approve.
- Other Business
Reminder: the meeting on Thursday, February 07, 2019 will be held in the School Library. The subject will be the Weeks Library and safety. Police Chief, Fire Chief, Building Inspector and Planning Board Engineer will be at the meeting.
- Sanderson updated the Board that at the Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, January 21, 2019, Underwood Engineering and the City of Portsmouth will be making a presentation about the Breakfast Hill Road water line. Basic information given by P. Sanderson: a line from Breakfast Hill Road will be recommended; there will be a pressure tank located near the Bethany Church pushing the water back to Post Road. There will be no linkage on Lafayette Road to the rest of the Portsmouth system. It will serve 240 customers along Breakfast Hill Road and its tributaries. There is no proposed interconnection with Rye. The proposed capital expenditure is between $18 million and $25 million; that is $85,000 to $105,000 per structure before the connection from the street to the home is done. Connecting to the home could be an additional $15,000 per property. Capital costs average out to $100,000 to $120,000 per customer. The proposal is for the Town of Greenland to pay. P. Sanderson continued that if the entire $25 million were bonded, there would be an increase of $8 on a $16 tax rate. There was a discussion about reverse osmosis filters being a less expensive alternative.
- Adjournment
MOTION: R. Winsor moved to adjourn at 8:02 p.m. Second – S. Gerrato; all in favor. MOTION CARRIED
NEXT MEETING
Thursday, February 07, 2019 – 7:00 p.m., Greenland School Library (Weeks Library Safety Discussion)
Respectfully Submitted: Charlotte Hussey, Secretary to the Boards
Approved: ________
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Planning Board Public Hearing Minutes – Page 5 of 5 (Thursday 01.17.2019)
Documents used by the Planning Board during this meeting may be found in the case file.