Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Apparently they are.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

THERE'S A VACANCY.

I'M JUMPING.

I HAVE A COUPLE SIGNS THAT I MADE.

A COUPLE EXTRA ONES.

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ONE HOME AND PUT IT IN YOUR GARAGE WALL OR OUTSIDE YOUR SITE.

I have a couple extra words if anyone would like them.

It won't be able to move. How's this? Does this work? That'll work.

Does anyone want to stand?

Does the mic seem to be working? I think we're all good. Oh, okay.

They're staring at us.

Not late. Early. Sweating it.

I'm just on time.

What are you talking about? I got another minute.

all right we're good to go all right um welcome to the uh june 3rd 2026 regular regularly scheduled meeting of the durham planning board meeting um all members are present and if we could please stand for the pledge of allegiance

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Are there any amendments to tonight's agenda?

Yes, I have one to add.

I'd like to

Just like really a talking point about the Goral Palmer reviews or third party reviews. I'd like to do that earlier before we get into substantial discussion, just because I think it's going to relate to the discussion later on. So maybe if we could.

Ahead of new business.

Sure.

That be okay?

Yeah.

Okay.

I mean, they're general review process, not specific to.

No. Okay. No. General.

All right. Yeah. We probably should have a second and a vote on that.

So you're fine.

All in favor?

Thank you.

Okay. Acceptance of the meeting minutes from the May 6th and 20th meetings.

My only comment is that my attendance on the meeting of the 20th is not represented.

I don't know if it matters or not.

Sure it does. Yeah. Okay. We'll get that corrected.

I move that we accept the May 6th minutes as presented and accept the 20th meeting minutes as amended.

I have one other comment on the May 6th meeting minutes where we had asked the applicant if they knew whether or not any violations had been rectified and the applicant stated that they had no idea what had been addressed to date. I just want to put that in the record that the applicant had no knowledge of anything that had been addressed.

And you're talking about the Ripley.

Yep. Page 3. Yes, this is a yep. Under new business under the request for conditional use approval for expansion of the Ripley jade and gravel pit at 1104 Hallowell Road, Map 7, Lot 57. UNDER 7A.

IT'S REALLY HARD TO HEAR YOU OUT HERE.

NO PROBLEM. I'M JUST MAKING A MOTION ON THE TABLE TO ACCEPT THE MEETING MINUTES AS PRESENTED, AND I'M ASKING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE MEETING MINUTES. AND THIS IS IN RELATION TO THE MAY 6TH MEETING UNDER NEW BUSINESS A. And this is all part of the agenda, if you all have had a chance to review it. The request for conditional use approval for expansion of the Ripley Jaden gravel pit at 1104 Howell Road, Map 7, Lot 57. The applicant was asked whether or not there was a timeline for DEP review and what violations have been rectified to date. And in the meeting minutes, it does not state that the applicant said that they have no knowledge of what has or has not been rectified today so I'd like to add some meeting minutes that that was stated by the applicant is that clear yeah okay thank you you're welcome I'll amend my motion for the six to accept them as amended I'll second that all in favor

Okay, next on the agenda, informational exchange on non-agenda items.

George? As usual, I have included my monthly report, which logs the work program for my position, as well as other things that I'm working on. So I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have on any of that content.

comments in George's report. Anybody else?

I just thank you for the thoroughness of that, George.

Okay, moving on.

Any informational exchange on non-agenda items from residents?

Hello, I'm Tyler Hutchison, 1012 Hallowell Road. I just wanted to read a prepared statement about the Ripley-Jayden pit, which is not on the agenda tonight, but I'm sure will be again at some point. The Jayden pit received a stop work order issued on May 7th. Despite this, some agreement allowed the pit to continue to operate to finish some orders. Additionally, there were diesel deliveries to the site on May 13th. So confusingly, work was allowed to continue with little clarity to the affected community. Laid out in the order from May 7th, there were three stipulations that would allow work to resume. One, the applicant demonstrates that all ongoing operations are fully in compliance with the existing approved conditional use permit. As there are existing massive encroachment on property lines and well setbacks, no mitigations of the noise complaints, which go well over the ordinance limit, no diesel refueling pad or ditches, and no explanation of PFAS cleanups, clearly this condition has not been met. Two, the applicant obtains all required municipal approvals, including an amended conditional use permit authorizing the expanded gravel pit operations. As the recent application was considered incomplete, this condition has not been met. Three, the planning board determines that the continued work is authorized under applicable approvals. As there has not been a planning board meeting where this was voted on, this condition has not been met. However, on May 21st, the stop work order was revised to allow the applicant to resume work until June 4th to haul out stockpiled resources. It seems contrary to the original stop work order that a revision could simply enable operation again. Under the revision, there has been continued heavy traffic on Rabbit Road, which has been forbidden. and pit trucks continually running stop signs from Rabbit Road onto Route 9. Additionally, there is no evidence that there has been any repairs to setback violations and no evidence of environmental reclamation. From my perspective, after continued and demonstrable violations of state law and the town's ordinance, the process of enforcement makes no sense. It is baffling that a clear stop work with three alternative ways to satisfy the complaint can be rescinded and revised even temporarily while the applicant has met none of the necessary criteria. I know the planning board is not responsible for enforcement, but expectation of complying with ordinance should go into your decision-making. I believe that this evidence demonstrates that the Jade and Pitt operators are either technically incompetent or indifferent to town ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you. Hello, I'm Kimberly Post.

I live at 274 Rabbit Road and I too have a prepared, trying not to be emotional statement. So thank you for giving us this moment. What worries me the most is not just this one pit, but the precedent we are setting. We are here, all of us are here because the operator expanded first and asked permission later. The board has already found the application incomplete and lacking the documentation needed to show compliance with your own standards. If an after-the-fact expansion with an incomplete application is ultimately forgiven or approved, the message to every other large operator in town is simple. Go ahead and break the rules now, and you can negotiate your way out of it later. This is especially dangerous because the rules being bent are the very ones that protect our wells, our aquifer, and the streams and wetlands around our homes. All of us, of course you know this, live on private wells. When buffers, slopes, and boundaries are treated as flexible instead of firm, it is our drinking water and our land stability that are put at risk. This is a terrible precedent for ordinary residents and for small businesses that work hard to follow the rules. The rest of us pull permits for home projects. We stay within our lot lines and accept conditions because we respect the process. It feels deeply unfair to see a well-resourced operation push far beyond its original five-acre approval and then be treated as if the only question is how to legalize what has already been done. You have the power to say that Durham is not a place where rules are optional for big operators and mandatory for all of us. Upholding your ordinances, insisting on full compliance before any expansion, and refusing to normalize after the fact approvals is how you protect not just the neighbors of this pit, but every resident who depends on you to keep the playing field level. Please don't reward this pattern. Please make it clear that in Durham, the law applies the same way to everyone, especially to those with the biggest impact on our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Kimberly.

I'm Michelle Keith. This is David Keith. I live at 24 Christmas Tree Trail. So I'm in a budding property to the Jaden Pit and I contacted the co-enforcement officer last week regarding the continued work they were doing and I was informed of the consent agreement that should be signed by tomorrow. And I'm wondering what if, I don't know if you're allowed to answer a question, if there's any way to see the consent agreement, mostly because our property line, they've cut closer than the 100 foot buffer in some places, according to our measurements, under 30 feet. And it's also noted in a failed inspection report. And so I'm wondering if there is any plan for reforestation in the consent agreement or if there's a way that the public is able to see what is involved in the consent agreement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That sounded like a question more than a statement. Is there something that you can add to that or?

The only response I can give is that the enforcement process and the review of the conditional use application are completely separate processes, both with their own legal parameters, and we're trying to protect the integrity of any future legal actions taken by the town by not bringing the enforcement issues into the discussion of the planning board. So I've requested of the town manager, and he has agreed that When the application comes back for continued conditional use review, the town attorney will be present to advise the planning board on the procedures they are to follow. What kind of time period do you think that may be, sir? It's really up to the applicant to get the materials that were stated in the letter of an incomplete application. So until they provide that detailed information for the board to make a decision, We can't really put it on the agenda.

Can I ask a follow up question? Yeah, I know it's out of order.

It's really not on the agenda.

Okay. Yeah, just to be clear.

The conditional use permit is a planning board matter. And enforcement is not a planning board matter. But I thank you all for your comments.

Any other residents have comments that are not on our agenda? I'll be on rabbit rope. Yes, sir. If you would give your name. Phil LaPierre. Thank you. I believe we have a competency plan in Durham.

I think we had one back in 73, 74. And every so many years, it changes. At that point, in the 70s, no gravel pits were permitted no more new ones. If you had a piece of property, you could sell one truckload of gravel to someone else or you could do it on your own property. Times have changed a little bit and I understand that. And I believe West Durham, where we are, it's a residential neighborhood, rural residential and agricultural. And how does this gravel pit fit in that? I know at one time you could live at your property and have a small business. How does this gravel pit fit in that?

Or is that no longer in existence? Someone answer that?

I don't have the history or the historical knowledge to tell you how that gravel pit came to be.

Well, this gravel pit here now is, what, a few years old? Well, there are several in the area. Well, the one we're talking about, the Ripley? How does that fit in our neighborhood legally? Does it? Or does it not? I don't know.

Mr. Chairman, again, this is not on the agenda tonight.

I thought this was for people to speak up.

It's for people to have comments, not to have a discussion of a project, which is what you're moving into. It's a difference.

How do I get the answers to some of my questions?

Email me.

Another gravel pit across the road on Route 9 started around 70, 71, something like that. I've been on my resident for 50 years and that gravel pit across the road with supposedly used to pay the guy's taxes. That's all they wanted. 50 years later, which at one point was supposed to be just for gravel. After the gravel was removed, a new contractor came in. I believe they'd bought the property, started extracting the bedrock. And that's been going on for several years. It's extremely noisy. At first, it was very loud. Sometimes I could feel my house shake, which was probably close to a quarter of a mile away. Since then, it has been improved. I'm kind of wondering how long this new pit is going to be in existence. Once the gravel is removed, are they going to be able to start blasting the bedrock? Right now, at one point, the bedrock is about seven feet from the surface. then it slopes down. I don't know what depth the bedrock is at the other end of the pit. I'm just kind of concerned about that also. And one of my main concerns is the young people, all this young, you know, boy. How is that going to affect that person?

It's not only the noise, but it's also the dust, the rocks, the, you know,

coming from the blasting and the removing of the ledge.

I mean, this could go on for another 50 or 60 years. I won't have to worry about that, but there are young people that do. And the other concern is we have some young people that have just moved into the area. They're in the woods, beautiful. They wake up a few days later, within a year, Trees are removed. Now they can look out and see excavators and so forth. It doesn't bother me personally, but I feel for these young people that invested much of their life savings and will be for the next 20 or 30 years. How does that affect them? I'm concerned about the quality of life in our neighborhood. Like I said, I probably won't be around another 20 or 30 years, but some of these people will be. So I'd like to have you take that in consideration, and I will get back to you.

My name is Jessica Harrigan.

I am 245 Rabbit Road. Pretty to the point. We moved to Rabbit Road in 2008, and for more than a decade, we had no issues at all with our wealth. We replaced our well pump once in 2019, which is assumed normal wear and tear. But in the last year, things have changed dramatically. We had to replace the pump again in 2025 because it was pulling up nothing but sediment. We had to replace our water heater in March and then add a filter in April because of what was coming out of the well. Our well is very close to this pit. I'm not a hydrologist, but I know that I'm not, but excuse me, I'm so sorry. But I know what I'm living with, more sediment, more breakdowns, more cost, and more worrying about safety of our water. That's why strong enforcement of setbacks and groundwater protection matters so much to the families like mine. Throughout the course of this pit, there has been an extreme change in our water. I have cracks in my foundation. We moved into Durham because of the ruralness. The quiet. The quietness. And having somebody, I understand businesses and people need to make a living. And I've seen feedback as far as people, you know, that's what they do. But when we come and we move in and we try to do the best for our families and have a good home, to have somebody else turn around and make havoc and have damages that we ourselves have to sacrifice and make to fix. What do they do? They just do their job and leave and then we have to fix it. So I just wanted to say that. Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica. Mr.

Chair, could you comment on the process so the people, so the public understands the process that we have to go through? So I don't, I wouldn't want people walking out of here thinking that We're not listening. We are listening. But the process that we have to wait far legally to address some of these concerns.

Sure. Yeah. And it's unfortunate that I didn't mention that during our last meeting. But during a conditional use application, there are certain criteria that need to be met by the applicant. Once that criteria has been met, then we can decide whether or not we have a public meeting on that application. Then it moves to the next phase of approval. So that's typically how it works. For every conditional use permit, that's how it works. So once a conditional use permit has been approved by the planning board, that's when we decide whether or not to have a public hearing. So until that happens, we will not have a public hearing.

I have a quick question. Yeah, I just wanted... I think you said that once the board approves the project, then you'll have the public hearing.

The conditional use permit. The preliminary conditional use permit.

The process says you determine whether the application is complete. and you have enough information, which is what you found last time, it was not complete. So once it's complete, then you'll decide whether to hold a public hearing. If you hold a public hearing, you'll take that public input into consideration when you make your decision, and then you'll vote on whether to approve, deny, or approve with conditions the actual permit. So that's the sequence, completeness, public hearing, decision of the board. Thank you for the clarification and correction.

You're welcome. Does that answer your question, sir?

Oh, no, I have a separate question. It's okay.

Come up and give us your name.

My name is Greg Martens. I live at 261 Robert Road. My question very simply is, evidently they have permission or a new permit or whatever to go till tomorrow, the 4th of June. Is that correct? He has to talk about the enforcement. Okay. Well, I want to know what to do on the fifth when I see a truck coming out. Because I don't, you know, I'm really angry. I've been disrespected by this guy more than once. I know that's something we shouldn't be talking about. But I don't trust him. I want to know if there's anything I can do when I see a truck coming out on the fifth. Because although I drove in there today, all the material is out. That's supposedly he did on five acres. He took all the material for 15. So there's really no reason for him to bring anything out. But I want to know what happens when I see a truck coming out. If I see a truck, am I going to be watching?

Take a picture and call and contact the code enforcement officer.

Great.

Thanks.

Are there any other residents that would like to discuss any known agenda items? I just have one question.

Hi, my name is Rebecca Harrigan. I live at 245 Rabbit Road. I would just plainly like to know when we are going to be able to get answers to our questions. It appears to me that they've had plenty of time to straighten everything out that they were supposed to have straightened out and still haven't so i think we as the residents deserving these are public meetings and the agendas are posted prior to the meeting okay so we don't we'll know when we do thank you

Any other residents have any comments on non-agenda items? Are there any non-residents that have comments on non-agenda items? All right, continuing on.

Continuing business, we have none. And before we move into new business, Juliette, we wanted to have a discussion about our peer review engineers.

Yeah, thanks for the time here. I was just curious, more of a question or a discussion between all of us really and George is when the third party reviewer is reviewing applications. In the past, we have received, reviewed and received the comments that the third party reviewer has made to applications and then the Person applying for the project, their comments back or their items that have been addressed. Is that the plan going forward here as well as we're looking at multiple subdivisions and other applications that will need third party review? I would like to state that I would like to see the third party reviewer comments and I would like to see how the applicant is addressing those comments as they come in.

I'm hesitant to respond to that because I need time to process the implications of that.

Would anyone like to talk about or comment on that? Like, do you agree?

Typically, the process would be that the peer reviewer reviews the project plans, submissions, and provides the applicant with comments on that. where it does or does not comply with either the ordinance standards or sound engineering practices so they give the applicant an opportunity to make changes and corrections and then the changes and corrections are submitted to the peer review engineer and then the peer review engineer will write a report for the planning board consideration on their review of the project plans and the process that went into the plan their opinion that's provided to you and that could be just a clean bill of health or it could be that they found these deficiencies and the applicant has responded to those typically what they do in those letters is they go through point by point the applicant makes a response to the point to the point to the point and then the conclusion the engineer writes a letter could be just one page saying we are satisfied that they meet the requirements of the ordinance now what we typically do as we did the deer creek crossing is we will provide that all in the final plan application so that's why i was hesitating because we would certainly do that but i don't think it would be workable to have the planning board involved in that process before it comes for final no no no it's based on Based on the comments that you're seeing, because you're done with the application with the preliminary approval until it comes back to final.

That's absolutely fine with me, as long as we see it ahead of final. I just wanted to make sure that that was going to be the process.

Now, let me take it a step further and ask. I mean, do you want to see all of the emails back and forth between the two?

I don't.

Okay.

Is that a serious question?

Sort of.

No, no, no. Just the items that the third party reviewer pointed out. If they're good, they're only going to point out the tips.

A lot of times they're backing forward about questions. Like they just had a discussion about this new DEP process for well, you're here tonight. How they look at stormwater permits. And so they're going back and forth discussing that and they finally came to an agreement on how it should be applied. So I don't think you want to have all of those discussions. No, no, no.

I think just at the end, the final report, before we get into final review.

Well, it will be when you get your final application. That's part of the goal here.

That's what I mean, part of the final application.

Yeah, part of the goal here is not to have them come back, and then you start reviewing the plans, and then they go to the peer reviewer, and you make a lot of changes, and it just drags out the process. Here, the goal is to, we're encouraging applicants to work with the peer reviewer, get those issues resolved before they come back for final review. And then the process with the planning board is much smoother and quicker.

As long as, you know, I can, current applicant, I think is doing a good job with this. They're reviewing with a third party and speaking to those comments so that we are aware of what's going on. As long as that happens, I think the final report for the final application makes sense. If we're more in the dark and we are also reviewing a certain point and we don't We're missing what's also going on?

No, you won't be in the door.

Okay, then that's great. I'm glad we're going to receive that final report. Right. Thank you.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. George, would you mind sending out a draft of the process of the third-party review? Sure. As we just discussed, just so that we're all on the same page. You know, from applicants' due diligence to Gold Palmer's part, It's also important to know that Gold Palmer does not do work in Durham. Yes, so there's no conflict of interest. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, just so we're all on the same page, George, if you agree with that.

Yes, sure. Great. Any other concerns on that?

No, I appreciate that, and I think that's wrapped, unless you want to talk more about this at another meeting. You answered my question. Thank you.

Well, we'll see a draft. We'll add it to the agenda when it comes out and we can discuss it then.

Okay.

We're all set with that. We can continue on to new business. Request for amendment of the Greystone Ridge preliminary subdivision pool to extend the deadline for final plan filing. Map 2, lots 35 and 42. Public comment will not be taken of the applicant. A little bit.

Mirrors were burning. I knew it was coming. I brought another simple size in case people want to get anything, but as we said, it's an extension request. It's not going to go into necessary detail about all the design elements.

All right.

Hello, everyone. Good evening. My name is Matt Pelletier with Terradot Consultants. There's a couple of new faces that I didn't see last time I was here. Represent Graystone Ridge LLC. And we're here respectfully to request an extension of the Graystone Ridge subdivision plan approval process in accordance with section 6.8.8. of the Durham zoning ordinance. And this is particularly due to permitting timeline delays and then some plan changes as a result of the third-party review, which I'll get into in a second. At the last preliminary meeting, there was a request with the board to go review some wetland delineation that was done by Eric Lima. We went out and an area by Pingelbrook Road, by Mr. Belfort's property, It was a little wet. There might have been a stream there. Some questioning of if he got to that point. And so it requested he look at it again. Goral Palmer concurred that he should go back out there. And so he did. And lo and behold, that area turned out to be a wetland and a stream. And it was parallel and exact where we were putting our road. So we were just going to plow through a stream in a wetland. So, discussion with the client. We thought it best, based on all the elements, to move the road to the Blue Jay Way alignment, which was discussed in the initial phases, but ultimately went through. We wanted to go through the 50-foot right-of-way because it was an easier just straight out and through, but if we were to keep it there, it would have been significantly more environmental impacts. I don't think DEP would have been happy about it. We probably would have It would have completely blown our timeline out of the water, back for DB permitting, probably a full NERPA permit, especially with that stream there. I don't think anyone here would have liked it, and I don't think Mr. Belfort would have liked it either, among other problems he had with our design. So we decided to move it, which I think is a good decision in the end. We made checks to the residential area calculations, which we've updated in the plans that we sent and in the The cover letter we provided, not a lot changed. I mean, it was a small area that we were adding. Still have 13 lots, still meet all the open space requirements, still meeting DEP requirements. So we went ahead with design. So we redesigned the first 600 feet of road to go for the Blue Jay Way. Very similar, I mean, still design. We still have ditches and drainage pathways to get water to Pinkham Brook Road. a couple catch basins in there, which is very similar to what we were offering previously. We put in some more stormwater buffers on the backside of lot one in order to treat stormwater properly. And we also got some fire pond information from the hydrogeologists. We've not received that report yet, but he did give us some preliminary information to grade it into the site so we could have a more finalized design. Additionally, very importantly, everything at the underdrained solar filter, so 7 plus 50 in the new design, probably around 6, station 6 plus 0 in the old design, everything back there is largely unchanged. So still all the same buffering, or most of the same buffering. The only thing that has changed, which will be provided in the final plan submission, is any comments that Goral Palmer had that we addressed. So there's some minor changes as a result of that. but everything else beyond that is essentially the same. So biggest meat and potatoes updates were in the front, but I think it still captures the same thing that we wanted, you know, still having access, but we're improving the condition with the Belfort property. We're not right up against his house anymore. We're not impacting his wells. We still have some buffering. We're still redirecting some stormwater with the underdrained soil filter so he doesn't have water coming to his house. Overall, I think it's working very well. As part of this too, kind of update you on our process and where we are to grant us the extension. We have updated all the relevant agencies with this updated design. So we were working with Maine DOT for an entrance permit for Pinkham Brook Road. They've since seen the new design. They've actually told us in the email, which I have not provided, but will be provided Um, at final, all the information that comes with it, um, that we are going to receive the entrance permit. They do agree with what we've proposed. We just haven't gotten physically yet. Um, so I have to, you always have to kind of keep, you know, just reminders on some of these agencies are very busy. So, um, we will be getting that, uh, army core. We've updated them because we're not doing any environmental impacts that hasn't changed. It's just more like, you know, here's, here's the updated plan. Just wanna make sure there's no red flags. Um, they've come back and verify a few things, mostly to do with the summer occupancy season with bats and when we can clear. Um, so that, that's a big issue, a lot with Army Corps. Um, and we've agreed to their terms that they, that we're not going to be clearing in that, that timeframe. Um, so we should be getting that permit in the next two weeks to a month, uh, is my guess. Uh, they still have to do a lot of, uh, things on their end and like get it, get it through the process. Um, cause it actually, we have someone from North Dakota doing an application. if that tells you anything about how many people are able to process these applications, but we'll get it eventually. We've informed DEP, and again, this is, we've reminded them and we haven't really heard back. It's gonna take them, I think, a little bit longer. They're aware that we have this update. We've provided them all the necessary materials for that update. They've acknowledged, they've received the materials, and I put in an email to try to get them to, like, hey, what's the timeframe in this? Again, DEP is very busy, so we haven't heard. So I'm not really sure what the DEP timeline is, but we're going to keep pressing until we can get the final say. And then Grow Palmer, we've already had our first round of comments with them, addressed some initial design concerns, which have been addressed. And then we had the design change come in for the front. So we sent an updated plan to Grow Palmer. We've already actually received comments back from them. updated change. We just received them last week, so we're going to address them this month. They've essentially said that we addressed all their comments that they had before, but there was a few minor things in the front, which we are going to handle and address, make sure that we've got all our ducks in a row. And of course, if DEP comes back with any concerns, we would have to address those. It's kind of like a moving target. We're just going to try to kind of iterative and hopefully we can kind of get it zoned into the right time frame. So that's moving along very, very smoothly, I think. So I think with that, you know, I think we have all the necessary materials that an extension is warranted in this case. I think when we initially talked that we thought that might be the case just based on how DP was operating at that moment, we weren't sure we were going to get the permit. There were still some issues with that um so i think that um this just kind of confirms especially with the design change that um just an extension is warranted and we're continuing to move along and come to a conclusion as quick as we can so um with that i don't have any additional comments at this time um i'm happy to kind of get a discussion and see see what um if you have any questions have any of the abundance been involved in this

requests to change?

So we know that I know this from when we had people out there that Mr. Belfour, I believe, was getting a lawyer involved in terms of where we're putting the road. Is my understanding that our client who is not here today has reached out or is going to reach out to their lawyer to let them know that we are making that change? But I do not know anything more than that. It is my understanding that Tish is aware or will be aware very soon.

Thank you.

It's a great question, Alan. And I would just say that I very much suggest that coordination happen between the applicant and landowners.

Yes. I will remind her that she should do that.

especially with the initial application, there was a lot of concern from some of the abutters and to keep them involved in the process is certainly to your benefit. Yes. And certainly to ours too. I agree.

I got a couple of questions for you.

Just this going to this table here. Can you explain what this is net residential area and density calculations, rural, residential, and agricultural district.

Yep.

And then you've got like things here, total parcel area, wetlands, open water, yada, yada. Are these the amount of acres in the project area that are like a wetland or are open water? Is that correct?

That's correct. That is an exact table from Our subdivision plan. So it's in our plant set that we provide.

Your new one, the updated one.

And even before. So that table was there prior and then the updates were the yellow marks. So those were the things that changed. So biggest being wetlands, streams, and that kind of impacted the calculation.

And did those decrease the amount of wetlands or did they increase because...

They should have increased. Yeah, they should have increased.

Because you didn't identify the wetlands previously. And so now you're accounting for those new wetlands in here? Yes. Okay. Same with open water, that's stream.

Yep.

And then total removal, what's that?

So that is the amount of net residential area we have to take out, so that would have increased as well, because you're adding steep slopes, wetlands, streams, other things, and that total removal gets larger.

Okay, and what was the, I'm sorry, I don't have it in front of me, what were the lots allowed before?

In terms of?

Number of lots allowed, residential density.

I believe it's, the density is 90,000 square feet per.

Sorry, you have 13.18 lots now? Mm-hmm.

It was like 13.23, but I apologize.

I should have put up another column about the new... All right, that explains it.

It's a little less just because there's more that we have to take out, but it still didn't change the fact that we have 13 lots.

Right, right. Okay.

Yeah, you're not changing the amount of lots. You're just updating your calcs based on the wetlands.

And you're still above 13. Yes.

And you're proposing 13. Okay.

Can you explain why these wetlands were missed?

Yes, I can. I can. I can explain that. So when we typically do these projects, and it can get a little squirrely depending on who contacts when and when they start. Eric got into this pretty fast, which is great. But we hadn't done any of our boundary survey stuff yet, which doesn't necessarily need to happen. But what happens is he used Parcel Boundaries and GIS. The problem with that is that they're notoriously wrong. They're not accurate. They're just, you know, they're just polygons on the map. They're close, but they're not like survey grade lines. So what happened was is that in this case, it happened to be very off. So what he was going off of on his map, he thought that that area was off site.

So he didn't even look at it.

He didn't even look at it. Okay.

Oh, wow. You know what I have to say? that is the best answer you could say.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, versus he just missed this wetland, you know?

So... No, well, he did, but it's because...

It's on the corner, right? Like, where those wetlands are are kind of on this, like, corner of the project area, right? Yeah.

I was just going to slide this up. I'm sure that's a...

There we go.

Yeah, so... Right here. That's in the exact area we were. Yeah, on the side of it. Okay. So, yeah, I thought, like, when we went out there, it's like, oh, yeah, just different markers, but it was quite wet, and it turns out he didn't even look over there. And it's because that case comes up sometimes, and we try to do the best we can in the conceptual phases, but sometimes it's that different. And in this case it was, which is unfortunate. But I think there's some intrinsic benefits in the fact that we're not going through that area anymore.

I think it also shows why it is important for review, right? Yes. And third party review.

Oh, absolutely.

Like, I think it's... And field walks, like site meetings, you know. And verification. It's very important.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we hope to, you know, when we do these projects, we want to be as accurate as we can. So in these third party review, it serves a very important purpose. Like, if you, you know, come back as we're starting to build, especially if we get into like building this and it's like someone makes a comment and then it turns out as we're, you know, getting started construction, that's a whole different, that's a whole different ballgame. So, um, I'm glad that he made the correction. It's like, Oh, that is a wetland that is on me. And we, you know, we move forward and we have this new update set. I still, I still think it comes with the, and I still think it's very close to what we had before. Obviously it's a little, it's a little bit longer. Uh, we went from, um, I think it was like 24, 55 to 25, 70. Um, and part of that is because we went a little higher and have to kind of, you know, split these two lots, which does work. Um, but, uh, I think overall the product and how we're able to get buffers and get away from the butters is good.

Um, and that was the only area where the wetlands were, um, misidentified or not identified that area. There was no other, um, edits needed to the rest of the wetland delineation. OK, can we get a copy with the final? Yes, or I'd like to recommend that we do the final the wetland delineation report update. Yes.

Yeah, I in this on this extension request under provided just the plans and some of the initial materials. Because there's still a lot we need to gather for the final, but I did bring the report just in case.

The updated?

Updated one that will be provided with final along with, as you were discussing earlier about Goral Palmer's review, both sets of comments. We had one set of comments and response, and then we'll have a second set of comments and response. So you'll get all that final submission.

Okay. A couple more things along this line. Vernal pools. So should we be worried about the vernal pool delineation?

I don't think so. I think he does a very good job.

Well, did he look at that area?

This area?

The area that was missed for Wellens.

For Vernal Pools. Oh, for Vernal Pools. I mean, he's very good at that. Like, I chalked this miss up as bad initial data, and that's why he just didn't get over there. So in terms of his... How he identifies, I have no question about it.

Oh, no, I'm not suggesting that at all. What I'm saying is in the area that he missed before, is there potential a vernal pool could have been there?

No. I think we saw that, too, when we were out there. Vernal pools are very distinct. Think about that mica pit up there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

So, yeah. So, I don't think so. The answer to your question is no. I don't have any. I was actually surprised that that was labeled a jurisdictional stream, but I guess the I'm not a wetland scientist, so that's not my call. But I think he's very good at that. So I don't think it's a vernal pool.

Okay. Does the new report mention vernal pools? Because I was looking at the old report. I didn't see mention of vernal pools. But I know we talked about it back in the day. And so I just want to make sure it's included in that.

I will double check with him. I don't think he specifically mentions because they're two separate. I mean, certainly when he goes out there, he will identify if he thinks there's a vernal pool, but then it's a separate survey, right? It's a different delineation technique. So oftentimes he'll do that separately depending on how big the site is, how many wetlands he has to flag. He may be like, oh, there's a couple of vernal pools out here. I've pinged them, but I should go out and make sure it's significant or non-significant, how big they are, et cetera. So I don't, I don't, I will double check with him on that, but I don't think that he specifically did a vernal pool survey on that new whale. And I don't think there was any reason for him to necessarily.

If he could just update that, like from his professional opinion. Yeah. Okay. And one more thing and I'll break. I think last time we talked about, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife you had consulted with, but was there a potential for significant vernal pools somewhere?

They were checking the mica pit, and that was determined not to be significant because it's man-made.

So you got a response back on that? Yes.

Okay. That might have been provided preliminary. I don't remember. I will double-check, but it will be provided. If it wasn't provided preliminary, I'll check our records. I'll provide it again at final.

Okay. And then does the main Department of Fish and Wildlife need to be updated with a new site plan?

Not necessarily the site plan, but potentially the wetland addendum.

Okay. So I'll ask for that then, too, for final.

I'll have to double check. I think usually it's more related to Army Corps, especially if we make impacts. But I'll double check on the IFW. They may not, but... I'll double check with them. I think that'll be the easiest thing.

Yeah, the letter that you have right now is, I think, pretty old. It talks about a 16 lot.

Yeah, that's probably from the very beginning.

So it probably would be great to have an updated history of wildlife response for finals.

Yes. All right.

So you mentioned that Goral Palmer had flagged some items on the revised plans, specifically on the front where the entrance is. Can you elaborate on what they may have found if you are at this point? Anything that would majorly change the orientation number lots?

No. So most of them were minor to add this detail here, add this note, which is describing your ordinance to be on the subdivision plan that you didn't have. We did make some minor changes to the back where Probably the biggest change is we took away a buffer we had in the back at the hammerhead. And that's because we were able to get the buffering we need at the front better. And it was a little awkward to have a ditch that gets over there. And it just seems like we didn't need that anymore. It also simplified how we were dealing with the hammerhead. There was some curb there that we didn't need anymore. So we thought that would be best to simplify. We shared that in our common response to Gore Palmer. They didn't have any issues. And anything else we change going forward will be addressed in their updated response that they sent to us. Great. Thank you. But no other orientation with these, no other issues with other than the minor comments that we should add to the subdivision plan. No other issues like majorly with the design that we had.

Thank you.

um so talked about dep still in review right unsure on that timeline yes what was your best guess you don't it's fine if you don't have one a couple months okay well like it's it's really hard to gauge then we we sometimes just have to be like um

attaching the head of DEP sometimes to get some of our questions.

Copying them, yeah.

Copying them, and they just don't have any people. So we're trying to give them space. We already knew we were going to come into the extension request, so it doesn't make sense for us to... We certainly want it sooner rather than later, but we don't need to start hounding them every day for a permit. We're still waiting on a few other things as well.

Talking about that, once we get into... Because we're obviously talking about an extension, and I think that we don't necessarily put an exact date on an extension, correct? Because if we did, the possibility of having to revise that as things with DEP, their backlog is... Just what it is, it's a backlog, and we can't get any guarantee from the DEP, and that's a controlling factor.

My opinion is that we ask the applicant what they feel comfortable with. That's where I was going with it.

Yeah, and so as I was, if I could just continue a little bit. DOT, you're pretty much done. You've almost got, or it sounds like you've gotten approval, just need to wrap that up. Yep. Army Corps, same, sounds like.

Yeah, in the next, in the next month, I would. I would suggest it really depends on how quickly they work in North Dakota. And if something comes up with their review, they still have to go through their process. But I was just emailing the person last couple of days and they don't see any hiccups. It's just a matter of getting all through the process itself.

Okay. And the Goral Palmer sounds like they're working fast. Which is great to hear.

They did a thorough make sure. We had updated them with cost estimates and we're still waiting on a hydrogeological report from Markhampton, which we should be getting soon as well. It's all like within the next couple months.

So yeah, that's where I was going to go with it. What's your thought?

So my thought in here to request a six-month extension just in case anything goes awry in that six months, and I think that's You have six months for primitive final, just doing an easy six-month extension just so we can get everything we need in the summer. And honestly, we might be applying more in September, October, August timeframe. It's just really like when the last things come in.

So six months is what I was going to request.

Any other comments?

I'm very glad that you reached out to look at those wetlands. It is unfortunate that it was missed. I think having our sidewalks is really important. It's also important that the wetlands folks have the latest and greatest plans when they go out there to make sure that they're looking at the property as a whole or all the parts of the property. And I'm glad to see that there's one less curb cut or opening on the road and reusing an existing curb cut. That's a great, that's a nice change to the plan. Enhancement to the plan. So I think six months is conservative. I think that's great. And that doesn't push us into a position where the application needs to be resubmitted. Correct. That's the purpose of an extension. Yeah. Okay. So six months is, where are we? Today's June.

Yeah, it'd be like October, December.

Yeah, I've always counted my fingers.

July, August, September, October. Yeah, December.

December. Like I said, I think we'll be in prior to that, but I don't know. A lot of things can happen.

The one thing I was thinking about is you said that you are going to follow along with the bat...

clearing window recommended and i think it ends in march so if you get approval say december january you're getting close just for your thought there yes you know but you know actually this is you know just the way it kind of things out it actually plays pretty well in terms of when if we get what we think we're going to get in terms of approvals then they'll as soon as they get approval they'll be able to start november hopefully um Barring anything that changes. So that should work out pretty well. But yeah, it will end in March or whatever. March 15th, I think, or something like that. March to August. Right. It's November 1st to March.

Is when you can.

Is when we can.

It's easier to say it that way. Yeah. Sorry. I don't mean to say. Keep going.

Oh, I'm here.

I want George. in our notes uh mentioned you know we were approving if we approve this extension you know um we haven't really had that much time to review the changes um and yeah there hasn't been much change like in the back 40 um there's been quite a bit of change in the front 40 but what i would say is i am okay with granting the extension um with the applicant understanding that we haven't fully reviewed it.

We're not here to review anything.

Well, I just mean like, well, the prelim, so they're changing the site plan. And so we haven't really dug into that. We dug into the previous site plan for the prelim.

The document that I just handed out will address that.

Okay. Okay, good. All right. And you're going to summarize that, George? Okay, thank you.

Okay, so as we've been discussing and learning the importance of documentation, so in the past when we've done extensions, we've just kind of had this discussion and then have a simple grant extension. However, the ordinance specifies that you have to make certain findings when you do an extension. And as we're learning from other projects, having that documentation is important, not just for the award, but for the applicant. because if anyone ever challenges the decision, they will look for any and all failures to address ordinance requirements. So what I did was I used our more and more utilizing AI assistance in this process so that what I did was I took all of the applicant's submission and my agenda notes and I uploaded them and asked AI to prepare a formal set of findings based on this application extension request and prepare findings that meet the requirements of the ordinance. So this document is a set of draft findings of fact relating to the Greystone Ridge preliminary subdivision approval extension request. So it summarizes the requested action, the original approval, the original deadline, the extension request, the applicable standard of 6.8a, AND THEN THE FINDINGS THAT SUPPORT THE EXTENSION. I'LL JUST READ THE BULLETS. TIMELY REQUEST. THEY'VE DONE IT BEFORE IT EXPIRED AS REQUIRED. THE CAUSE FOR THE DELAY. THEY'VE PROVIDED DOCUMENTATION. YOU'VE HAD DISCUSSION OF THAT. THE ADDITIONAL FIELD REVIEW SPECIFICALLY OF THE RESOURCE IDENTIFICATION. THE DOCUMENTED REDESIGN OF THE ENTRANCE ROAD YOU DISCUSSED TONIGHT. ENGINEERING REVISIONS ARE UNDERWAY. PowerPond has been incorporated and they're doing a hydrological analysis of that. The agency and peer review progress, they've updated the cluster subdivision calculations. It's substantially consistent other than as discussed with that front road portion with the preliminary approval. And this is not intended to be a waiver of any part of the final review process. And there have been no amendments to the ordinance that would affect this project. So your conclusion for the reasons stated above, you find that the applicant has demonstrated progress toward the final filing and has provided sufficient cost for delay to meet the requirements of 6.8 subject to the conditions. Conditions are the extension is granted. I'm not sure this specifies. I think it says insert suggested January 14th, which I'm assuming would be six months. Okay, original conditions remain in effect. That's important. Final plan consistency. The agency approval is being done. The peer review being completed. The resource avoidance and wetland documentation. Julia, that addresses those concerns that you raised tonight, I think. Updated calculations and the plan notes. We also had some discussion of the need to do a little bit of tweaking on that. Confirming. When it comes back for final approval that no applicable ordinance changes have occurred. And then finally the clarification and no construction is authorized and space all of that out. And then failure to submit within the timeframe will again necessitate another extension request. And then we even generated a proposed optional motion language. So this would provide the needed documentation to cross all the T's and dot all the I's from a legal standpoint.

Thank you, George. And with AI, that took about 20 minutes.

Okay, can I say a couple comments, George? Sure. In relation to this?

Yeah, and propose any changes to it. This is a draft.

Yeah, so just based on what we've talked about, the first being number three under conditions, final plan consistency. So that's where I was going with this, is that we say that the final plan shall be consistent with the approved prelim plan, right? So that was back then. And it says, any changes from the approved prelim plan, including the revised entrance road alignment related to stormwater, wetlands, blah, blah, blah, shall be clearly identified in the final plan submission and reviewed under our criteria at that stage. So that's kind of where I was going. We'll be reviewing that at that stage.

Yes, I think that's absolutely.

It'll make it go faster for you, which I think is what you want. Number four, I would like to add the Maine Department of Inland Industries and Wildlife to that list of agencies, per what we talked about, sending another consultation letter to them with the updated plan set and number of lots, et cetera, right? Wetland report.

Yes, wetland report specifically. I think that's the one that they care about the most.

Yeah, well, just also the cover. Look at the letter you sent them. It's old. Next is number five. I would like to talk about before we got into this application. I don't know if we need to say this in here, George, but peer review completion will look like us receiving a final report from the third party reviewer, right?

Absolutely.

Yep. Okay. Last thing is number six. Let's add wetland documentation plus vernal pool updated report.

I just want to point out that I don't know if he might provide a letter stating there's no vernal pools, but I don't know if there's nothing there. I don't know if he's going to provide a full report.

No, no, whatever he thinks is good. But I would think that if we're adding additional area to the survey that he didn't look at, he might want to say something, whatever that might look like.

Or just confirm that vernal pools are not present.

Or just confirm. Yes, exactly. And it could be in an email. It doesn't need to be anything formal. Just updating the file.

Thank you.

Sounds like the only, there are only two that need to be amended and it's four and six. I feel like three and five address your concerns. Four you wanted to add.

Main Department and fishers and wildlife.

Yep. And then six, you wanted to add the whole language.

That's correct. If we think number five captures the final report from the third party reviewer.

I do.

Okay.

All right. So just the changes to number four and number six.

Yeah, I'm okay with that. Yeah, you are. Yeah, I'll make a motion in that direction. Did anyone else have any comments?

And question bonus. Wow, look at that.

All right. I move that the planning board grant the applicant's request for an extension of the January 14th, 2026 preliminary subdivision approval for the Greystone Ridge cluster subdivision pursuant to section 6.8.8 of the Durham land use ordinance. based on the findings that the applicant has provided a timely written request, identified causes for delay, and documented progress towards filing the final plan application, including revised road alignment, agency permit submissions, continued peer review, and related engineering revisions. The extension is granted through December 3rd, 2026.

January 14th, 2027.

Okay. Six months or so. Okay. All right. January 14th, 2027. Right. And is subject to the conditions of approval stated in the updated notice of decision. Ask a question.

Second. Okay. Why is it...

We're granting a six-month extension, right?

But from the original. It currently goes through July 14th, 2026.

Oh, it goes through July 14th. Got it. Thank you so much. Okay, that makes sense.

And your motion includes the changes to four and six?

Yes. We didn't really talk about... That's fine.

You got it. Yeah.

It'll get in there.

We didn't really talk about that.

Yeah.

You got that, Ari?

Yeah. Seriously.

Okay. Anything else? Do you have a motion?

No, not for me. Second. All in favor?

Okay. Thank you very much.

Good job. Got a couple of nice days ahead. Hopefully you can enjoy them. A couple of warm days.

You as well.

Till the wet weekend comes.

Yeah, till the weekend comes. Sunday looks. Okay. Last on the agenda, I believe, number eight, out of business, planning board discussion of representation on interim economic development committee.

George, do you want to lead this discussion? I will. Thank you.

So as I put in the agenda notes, the town has received a grant to do a study of the area south of actually the power line along Hallowell Road near Cushing Road down to Brown Road and then over past the There's Bell Farms. It's kind of an agricultural area back there. So I'm not sure of the exact distance. The map kind of showed the study area. So the goal of the project is to basically do a feasibility analysis of if the town were to try to establish an economic development district for the purposes of generating some needed tax base beyond existing residences. that this would be a potentially very opportunistic area to do that for a number of reasons. Obviously, we've had the better energy storage project was proposed for that area, which would have been a $300 million project. We have several existing gravel pits, which are a hot topic right now. And one of the discussions has been of trying to get a positive result from those gravel pits rather than just the impacts. So we'll be exploring many other communities across the state have been putting solar farms into gravel pits, which is kind of like an opportunity to put in some needed capital for reclamation and basically make it a win-win for the gravel pit operator and the solar farms because those are the ideal places because typically they're not elevated, they're not open to public views, and best of all, they have no shade trees. So they're very, very favorable for locations for solar farms.

They're also already disturbed.

And they're already disturbed. So that's another factor that argues for this particular area. Access to the power lines for those alternative energy sources. We've already had one proposal for a major battery energy storage system there. And then you have a number of natural resource-based industries in the area to include the gravel fits, but also there's a wood processing, custom wood processing that has been before this board for approval of a sawmill. There's another wood processing entity there. So there is a major, one of the highest paying taxpayers is the KOA campground in that area. So that is another example of a pseudo natural resource-based industry opportunity. And then also the Bell Farms, which is a fairly significant operation in Auburn. They have these fields in Durham, as well as some over near the town line with Auburn. And so there's a significant agricultural energy synergy potential here that would tap into potentially establishing a opportunity for the town to build some tax base. Now, there are challenges with that. Obviously, impacts. Another factor lending itself toward this is that there's a relatively limited residential base in that area. Very large parcels. There's opportunity to keep that development away from the existing road residences along Brown Road, as well as the Hallwell Road and Cushing Road. But at the same time, there's just an awful lot of vacant land there that could be utilized for this type of rural Durham type economic development, as opposed to Freeport, other more built up areas. So the goal would be to find something that works in Durham. And so we're talking about, we've got a grant for $75,000. We've signed a contract with Greater Portland Council of Governments. They'll be doing all the research, the neighborhood, excuse me, stakeholder outreach, kind of serving the committee, but like we did with the community facilities, have a citizen oversight committee to kind of, you know, Review the process, make sure that it fits the Durham location and values of the comprehensive plan, and then hopefully that committee, when the project is concluded, will be able to be comfortable with it enough to present it to the select board and the community as something to move forward with. And the other aspect of it that we've looked at and that's very important is to have an actionable plan as opposed to a study that will generate more study, which is typical of these types of, because there is a lot of research that's needed. And before you do that, you need to kind of do a visioning process and a feasibility analysis to determine, does it even make sense to move forward with it? Once you establish that, then the goal would be not to have the makings of a plan that's going to take another two or three years before you can get any meaningful tax generation from it, but to have something that can move forward quickly if it's determined by the select board and ultimately the voters of the town and town meeting have something for the next town meeting or at least by the second town meeting after that or a special town meeting depending on what the results are. What we've talked about is rather than forming another committee for the town, which we're already overstretched, to have what we're calling an interim economic development committee consisting of the leadership or representatives of the groups that are currently involved in land use policy, which would be the planning board. Obviously, you would review the development. You've already reviewed development in that area. The Conservation Commission, which has done a lot of study on alternative energy, including a review of where in town they're best suited and where they're not suited. The Agriculture Committee, which is working on amendments to the agricultural regulations to bring them into the 21st century. And they bring in expertise to the issues of agricultural and potential agricultural production. AND THEN WE HAVE THE PLANNING BOARD, THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION, THE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE, AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SELECT BOARD AS WELL. AND THEN ASK FOR A VOLUNTEER FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT HAS PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT EXPERTISE AS OPPOSED TO JUST A CITIZEN. WE REALLY WANT TO GET AS MUCH RESOURCES INTO THIS TO HAVE IT BE AS EFFECTIVE AS POSSIBLE. SO THAT'S KIND OF THE YOUR PACKET INCLUDES A DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR THE SELECT BOARD TO CONSIDER THAT I WORKED WITH THE TOWN MANAGER TO REPAIR. AND SO AT THIS POINT, JUST WANTED TO BRING YOU UP TO SPEED WITH IT AND HOPEFULLY GET YOU PREPARED TO RESPOND WHEN THE SELECT BOARD DECIDES WHETHER TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT INTERIM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE. THE GOAL WOULD BE TO START AS SOON AFTER THE TOWN MEETING AS POSSIBLE. AND I USED UP A LOT OF ENERGY ON THAT.

So you mentioned, so this is on the Auburn line. We're close to Auburn here, right?

No, it's close to the... You mentioned Bell Farms.

Well, Bell Farms has farmland over on the other side of what would be Stackpole Road.

Okay.

By that power line. They have fields in Durham over there, plus they have fields right in this area.

Okay. So are we close to Pownall here? Sorry.

Well, Brown Road is the line. Half of it is Pownall. Half of it is Pownall.

So I'm just curious if we could possibly, we don't need, possibly coordinate with other HJs, other towns, like not make this just a Durham, like if we're so close to other towns and they're doing similar things, like maybe it would help if we kind of, bond with others too, but we don't need to figure that out right now. Yes.

I was thinking that could be a discussion of the interim economic development committee during the process.

Okay. And then the timeline, you said hoping to pick an interim committee soon.

Yes.

Is the select board meeting on this? Are they this month or is this just going to be a...

It's probably going to happen after the town meeting. After the town meeting. That's their focus right now.

I think that 23rd is the next because they met on the first because they had a timeline to meet with the posting of the articles.

Right. And so at that time, they would be discussing who's going to be on the committee or will it be we're going to create this committee who wants to be on it? Like, will we be talking about this again next month? Us?

I believe you expressed an interest, correct?

Yeah, no, I'm just trying to figure out timeline.

I think, doesn't it say in here, George, that it would start in January?

Is that what I read? I don't think so, but that certainly would not know.

They're already starting. I mean, they're formulating the background to get off the ground.

Okay, so it sounds like...

decision on the interim committee with their funding is for a two-year process but there's nothing that says we have to take a full year two years to do it got it and this is going to be similar to the open space sort of yeah yeah okay it's the same program actually the funding oh okay community action grant yeah okay

So would we, as a planning board, agree on who represents us? Or is the board going to determine how that process works?

Well, they'll probably initially suggest the leaders of each group. But if you have candidates that are more qualified, more entrusted.

I would love.

And the other thing we've discussed is possibly having an alternate. So that if that, I mean, there's so many committees that people are serving on already. Yep. with other personal conflicts, it might be good to have an alternate for each of those.

Yeah. Yeah, I would love to serve on it. I think my experience in energy, specifically solar and storage, could only help.

Yeah.

It's interesting. When you talked about a closed pit would be a good... candidate for putting in solar, but then we probably would have to revise our ordinance because we talk about reclamation when a pit is closed.

That could be part of the reclamation, but this will also be discussing needed ordinance changes.

Yep. I move that we appoint Juliet to this committee. since she expressed an interest and has the background to support it.

Thank you, Alan.

Yeah, I'll second it. Having a subject matter expert in this very specific topic is a luxury, so I think we should take it since she's expressed interest.

And again, obviously, it'll be the select board that does the appointment, but your recommendation will be that she be the appointee for the planning board.

I appreciate that.

All in favor?

Thank you. Should we talk about... Represent us well, please. Oh, I will. I will. And I'll keep you all updated too, George. You put that in your notes. That's one of the roles of the...

Yes, absolutely. ...is to keep you all in the... That'll be one of the functions of the representatives will be to report back to their groups and get input from their groups. And George, are you serving on the... Well, I'll be involved for sure.

I hope so. I really hope so.

Along with my AI assistant.

Although, I mean, you were the mastermind behind this, right?

Like, I mean... It's AI.

What about an alternate? Should we talk about an alternate or... Yeah, that would be good. Would anyone be interested in being an alternate? And so this would be, I guess, if I, you know, die or... Or can't make a meeting.

Okay.

Yeah.

Till death do us part.

Yeah.

I'll offer myself as an alternate, unless anybody else has an interest in that.

Great.

So moved.

Yeah.

All those in favor? I'll just lump those together as one motion.

Thank you.

And the alternate part is not, that's something that the select board would need to approve, right? Because you're outlining.

Yeah, because if they don't know the alternate, then he's moving. Yeah.

I suspect they probably will. In your summary, it says generally includes this area. Do you expect that this group would look at Durham as a whole?

Not really. What that does is it holds open that during the process, the boundaries of that may shrink or expand. If contact panel, they've got a switching station over there with CMP, and they say, oh, wow. Let's work together here. And part of the impetus and opportunity of this is that the agricultural community, they could really benefit from this in terms of some production facilities that would serve them, whoever, if they're available, where are they? And the other big part of it is the alternative energy is probably not gonna generate tax base because it's tax exempt by the state, on property taxes. However, that can really make a huge difference in terms of energy availability for very high energy consumption processes. And having that alternative energy might really make a difference in terms of their bottom line. And if that gets plugged in. So as part of agriculture energy, that these two things can be really symbiotic and have that be one of your competitive advantages for other communities. And the other realistic is you're competing with very big operations like Backyard Tomatoes in Madison, which has 40 acre greenhouses. And again, it's not that you're looking to do anything like that, but you're competing with those entities and their production capabilities and capital. availability. So, but I do think with what you've got going here in Durham with some of their, like Breplanova and Old Crow Ranch, there's some real niche opportunities that could benefit from having combined production facilities, storage, and processing that. So, it's just to explore. May not make sense. May not be viable.

Right.

Don't know what we don't know. Yeah.

But we have a grant to look into this, which is great.

Yeah, no, it's a great grant. And I know I brought this up with the select board before where our comp plan lists the development of a, or the creation of an economic development committee as a high priority that's never been addressed. and this still doesn't seem to address that need or that topic in the comp plan and this application also doesn't talk about how it meets our comp plan but once at the completion of this would it require that the comp plan be updated sooner than the state mandated time frame for COMPLAINT UPDATES?

IT COULD BE, AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU END UP DECIDING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT, THEN PART OF THAT PROCESS WOULD BE AN ADDENDUM TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. AND ON THE ISSUE OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, THIS IS A STEP, FIRST STEP TOWARD THAT, AND ONE OF THE DISCUSSIONS OF THE STUDY WILL BE, WHAT SHOULD THE ENTITY, MANAGEMENT ENTITY OF THIS BE? AND IT COULD BE AN an economic, permanent economic development committee. So it's an interim step toward that implementation goal of that goal and a proven one, I think.

Yeah, no, I think it's kind of important to acknowledge that we're somewhat addressing a high priority issue in the conflict.

Great.

Awesome. Thank you all. I'LL DO WELL. I WON'T LET YOU DOWN.

WE'RE COUNTING ON IT.

I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION TO ADJOURN. ALL RIGHT.

WE'RE DONE. THAT'S OKAY.

NO, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE.

YOU CAN'T. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. No, I haven't.