Planning Board - Regular Meeting

planning board uh as always this my meeting is probably broadcast or could be rebroadcast on Westford cat uh today we have with us uh Jeffrey morett assistant Town manager Joe jtz Town planner and our town engineer Paul starret as always we'll start with open Forum anybody in Bob yeah I do um people some people here may have seen on some of the public forums there's been some negative comments about the impacts of MBTA community housing in this uh community and I want to set the record straight um these comments have been with respect to Capital uh funding for uh infrastructure improvements when the committee dealt with NBTA community housing and when we the planning board did it uh during the uh public hearing process we made it very clear the the intent is that any project that comes forward and requires an improvement in infrastructure let's say an additional well for our public water uh system that those costs should be determined we will listen to them and those costs will be passed on to the project developers they are not to be passed on to the rate takers or the taxpayers in this community I want to make that very clear and I've asked I've already spoken with Jeff and Joe to make sure we get this message clearly out to our own departments uh in town as well as to the town's people and as well as to fincom the select board and everybody else in this crazy uh financial budget season as we do go through with the budget we do expect that Capital costs and all these costs will be determined we expect to hear what they are but we do not expect to pass them on to this community and that's all costs if there's a a cost Associated just with running through the permitting process I don't expect the

town to put money for Grants and other Associated costs I expect that money to be determined to come to us and we will pass it on to the project itself thank you next uh anybody else in the board for open Forum no thank you NOP staff anybody in the audience all right looks like our first public hearing item is pb2 oh we're missing uh uh do tonight so there'll be four of us um first item is pb24 2550 Main Street Fletcher Library looks like it's been about two and a half three months since we've seen him but come on up let's see what's going on hi I'm Ellen rainville the library director and we have a couple of library at trustees here from the elected Board of Library trustees and members of the permanent Town building committee as well we have our OPM Alicia monks from cha con Consulting and we have Leah wolovich Cordy from fold Alexander Architects and representatives from um horley Whitten as well so we're back with you uh to review the site plan having worked with the engineering and the planning department and um we have a brief slide deck to show you and I'll let Leah take that away thank you alen and thank you everyone yes um thank you for welcoming us back Asen mentioned we have Representatives here from fangle Alexander uh horse lewit and civil and Jordan Landscape Architects the purpose of Us coming before you again tonight is to respond to some of the comments we heard the last time that we were here as well as ongoing conversations with the town engineering department so next here's who we have um you'll be hearing from myself Kata and join us

tonight as we click through this thanks so um first is a quick introduction um of the tree Covenant that was a question the last time that we were here this is an image of the 1987 deed and the portion of the L um that it affects so the existing library is to the right here um and as you can see the buffer itself is really only in that back right hand corner yeah in the aqua and the red outline so that is the conditions as they exist today what is impacted as you can see very few trees actually do land in that buffer but if you go to the next slid Joe we have some um enlarged images of the trees that are going to be removed as part of the proposed project um there are two that fully land Within buffer but there are a few on the outskirts um and then in response to that Covenant what we are proposing to do is um try to follow it as closely as we can originally it wasn't even implemented for the language of the original deed it was a single world of pine trees that was planted instead sorry can you speak up a little bit um absolutely uh so it was originally a single row of pine trees that was planted because that was agreed to by the neighbor of the time so that's what's shown here in the existing conditions is that single row but in order to follow the Covenant the the deed from 1987 what we are proposing to do if you go to the next slide Joe is to actually put that second row of pine trees in a zigzag pattern within that

buffer so we are restoring that um double row that was agreed to as part of that 1900 B7 so that is the first portion of our screening conversation and the other um item of concern that had come up the last time you were here in October was additional screening from the immediate neighbor so if you go to the next slide Joe and this is a conversation that is ongoing there is a committee that has been formed um that is working through negotiations with the neighbor it's a conversation that's continuing uh but we our team thank you verdant for the beautiful image um is pretty telling what the existing conditions are on the top there with the taller pine trees along the driveway which we've also had reviewed by an arborist and he confirmed AR excuse me um I'm getting signals from the audience they can't hear you can you try to speak up a little bit sorry everyone so um there are some existing pine trees that are along the driveway that are not part of that Covenant that we just reviewed but are established trees that have been there for a long time um but they are not in good condition for a review that we had by a professional arborist and we do have that report so and they're also not providing screening for that neighbor very well anymore particularly for headlights and traffic that are coming in and out of the driveway so the bottom image is showing what the proposed planting would actually do and while it is not tall established pine trees it is actually a dener grouping of plantings that provide some more screening and with that I will hand over the landscape discussion to Kata from

verdant might I ask to use the pointer I have a separate one if you want the orange button yes thank you so much so hello everybody my name is Kya padlo I'm with verdant landscape architecture um Leah covered that graphic quite nicely just to reiterate um on the previous Slide the existing condition does not provide a lot of good buffer at the lower levels The Human Experience the first floors of both the uh the proposed Library uh uh Renovations as well as the ab Butter's first floor looking towards the library there's not a lot of buffer there now but in our proposed condition there will be new Evergreens planted in a row that will grow together eventually and also eventually get tall and maintain their foliage to the ground they won't have bare foliage in the lower levels as they age in the same way that the white pine trees are doing currently so we're trying to avoid that from happening again um so um what we've done here this is our overall plan and then I have just a few brief slides that look at in more detail each of the zones along the north the center in the South and then something about the lighting but um what we've highlighted here in red outlines um are the areas that show any kind of significant changes um that have been made since our last presentation to you last fall um in order to respond to your comments um also the town Engineers comments um and the fire department's comments so we're going to um just like the civil engineers plans which you're going to see shortly we're focusing on just these changes rather than reiterating the whole presentation again and describing our whole design intent um to help limit the length of the presentation um and as you can see most

of the changes are focused on the back half of the property um the the left side of this screen behind the library so let's start at the top of the page if you go to the next slide we're going to zoom into that Northern Edge again and along the bottom you can see the previous iteration of our plan from last fall and along the top you can see the proposed uh condition um with changes to the bio retention area which is in that little triangular Green Space formed right where the driveway ends and becomes a parking area because of those there's some changes to that bio retention shape so we had to alter the planting around it essentially nothing significant really to share in that regard except that there were some small changes to plantings there um what the most significant change along the north here is what Leah already described the trees along that Northern property line to the left side of this these slides previously we had some deciduous trees and some shrubs and some other things and um now we're I'm going to be providing uh the evergreen trees that the Covenant had required a double row of staggered uh aligned um white pine trees along that length um white pine trees just to be clear are native trees so we love them we use them in a lot of planting designs especially on the outskirts of sites like this so they're appropriate um they're particularly fast growing species of Evergreen um which is nice um and it's what's required in the Covenant so that's why the choice was made next slide please now we're going to look at the center of the parking area essentially um these mainly have to do with comments from the town engineer um regarding the expansion of the footprint of the infiltration system that the civil engineer will get into in just a minute um as a result of the expansion of the infiltration system below the Pavements and the plant beds in in the area um

kind of to the uh South uh half of the parking area um we had to change some plantings and we had to make uh let's see we had to make sure that basically that the root systems of the trees and the shrubs would not impact that drainage system and get in the way of the drainage system system and cause some failures of that drainage system potentially so you see in the bottom um image we had five large shade trees through the central planting islands around the parking you know within the center area of the parking area um and now we have one large shade tree and two small shade trees which are to the right end of that closer to the drop off yes thank you I was going to point them out myself but someone's doing it for me thank you um so we've reduced the tree number a little bit we've also had to reduce some shrub plantings in that zone so that we don't have any um impact of shrub Roots um interfering with the drainage system lastly we introduced um a root barrier root stop barrier um there are four trees shown on this image it's actually five total at the drop off to the right side of the drop off near the entry and those the tree locations haven't changed um however there was some concern that there are some drain pipes that cross between them underground and we're in order to avoid the tree roots from interfering with the drain pipes ever um it was determined we could add root barrier around the drain pipes to eliminate the potential for those roots to get anywhere near those pipes so those details and I think Jonas will get into more detail about them there those are um shown on the civil engineering plans but we've coordinated that on our plans as well so it's noted on our plans next slide please so lastly along the southern edge of the parking area uh we also made some changes um this included adapting to the new dumpster location

that was a request to you know make it easier to remove trash it got shifted and angled and this fashion so along the bottom is the previous iteration and our current plan shows it angled like that therefore we had to make some planting changes just as a uh you know related to that a major change to the parking the Pavements and things um we also reduced uh a we removed a couple of trees from this Zone to uh eliminate any potential conflict with the infiltration system um and pipes that um exit out towards the Wetland on the left there um and we also reduced the size and species of a couple several of the trees here so that the roots wouldn't overgrow uh the space allowed nearby some of those drain pipes that are underground um and and shifted them around a little bit to make sure that they were well away from those impacts last slide please um we have also updated the lighting plan and this is just a sort of like a conceptual image showing where each light is as if the yellow light is what the light it's not really accurate to a real photometric but just for us to be able to see where each of the lights is located those yellow shaded areas indicate U light locations um previously the main changes here have to do with shifting of a pole light here or there to respond to Fire Department concerns about turning radi uh through the parking lot um and also to respond to the dumpster uh relocation we had to shift a post light a little bit and lastly if you go to the next slide we're going to focus in on the front of the library on the right hand side you see the plan that we shared last fall indicating several smaller Ballard lights near the front walkway to the historic facade um we have eliminated these modern style ballards from the front walkway instead um we're including only one single uh light post that will match uh as closely as we can match the

lights that are outside the town hall here to unify the style of light that's um visible from the front and make it more historic and inke keeping um I believe that's all I have but happy to come back to um questions on these slides or others and I'm going to pass it over to Jonas now to will talk about civil engineering thank you thanks guys yeah um I am Jonas pron professional engineer with horse leid group U good to see you all again um I will also just mostly address any of the comments we received from you as well as um fire department conservation and the engineering department um so this is speaking to some of the changes from the planning board um I'll also use this nice pointer um so we have identified the snow storage um in four different locations shown in light blue on the plans and we've also added a note um on the plans stating that any excess snow that there is not capacity for in these storage locations will be um brought off site to a town determined location um we have shifted the angle of the dumpster PAD as Kya mentioned and so that way a front loader or a side loader would be able to access the dumpster as needed uh We've also um revised the building footprint so we are providing more than the 15t setback from the edge of the building Corner um and I think the uh landscape buffer has been spoken to already um next slide please Joe um regarding um the fire department comments um we've run the a revised fire truck turning analysis and per some of the fire department's uh followup comments we've shifted one the light

posts to avoid any possibility that uh The Sweep from the firetruck ladder uh would hit the lamp post um and then from the water department we've just adjusted the how the connection to the street Works um so we've added uh or we we basically shifted the shut off Valves and we're only tapping at one location next SL please Jo um finally we've been working closely with the town engineering department um we have revised the storm water system to have a much larger um storm water chamber system and that will prevent any storm water from ponding in the parking lot even during the 100-year storm event um we are planning to reuse this 10in outlet pipe which is the current um outfall and discharges close to the Wetland on the north side of the site um and then we are proposing One new outfall um associated with the storm water chamber system as well as an outfall that we don't anticipate will really receive any flow but it's associated with the foundation drain system so only in rare occasions would groundwater rise to the point that any sort of low level of outflow would occur there um we've been working closely with the town engineering department like I said we um observed a new test pit with them to confirm the subsurface conditions the soils um and we've also been working to make sure there's enough cover over the pipes um and uh like K I spoke to we've been working really hard to make sure that we uh will not have any conflicts related to the landscaping and the pipes um that's a point of ongoing coordination so we anticipate that may continue over the course of the week as we provide those final landscape plans and civil

plans to the engineering department um but we are providing root barriers in the two remaining locations where we have pipes close to the trees so that should prevent any root growth over the pipes and in every other location we have either revised the trees to be shrubs or otherwise shifted them I think that is it for engineering I guess lastly before we turn it over to any questions uh the design team and the project would just request that we close the hearing pending any comments or conditions no you you got to get captured by the microphone you can either sit in the middle or yeah um so uh the project team would just like to request pending any conditions or comments from the planning board that we uh close the hearing at the end of this discussion okay great thank you um why don't I go to uh Mr Starrett do you have comment I see you had a lengthy comment letter December 11th thank you Mr chair Paul stett Town engineer uh let me say first of all that it was it has been a pleasure to go through these sheets uh this project is going to become one of the jewels of the Town Center we very clearly put a lot of time and effort and it's been a joy to go through what my colleagues have put together uh we did uh issue a significant amount of comments and uh as Jonas and the team have described they've been very diligent in responding to those and I'd like to thank the staff at horley Wht in particular they've done a phenomenal job of Stepping Up full disclosure I did go to to University with Janet so I I know all of her Secrets because I I have the same ones

and uh but they've done an excellent job and uh and they have uh addressed by what I'm hearing tonight our one of our out standing comments and that's the conflict between landscape uh in particular the root systems uh all of our utilities live underground uh so we are we are constantly concerned about the long-term maintenance of having to come back sometime later uh and and address infiltration of mature Roots as as the trees grow uh but apparently barriers are going to be used so when they address that comment uh to us uh then we should be uh well and square squared away uh the only other things I'm aware that were outstanding uh uh there was an issue about their septic capacities uh they didn't speak to that uh so far this evening but I I'm hopeful that you'd get some clear resolution on their capacity to handle any Title 5 septic uh U effluent that that will be produced at the library and then just as a cautionary uh tale and comment having worked on many projects of this size when you get a project this big and and it's uh being designed by a team of different Consultants uh there are sheets going back and forth all of the time we've made comments they've made revisions revisions have been revised and you end up with uh a lot of layers because everything is electronic now uh so we do uh recommend uh that they issue to us a final stamp set for construction that you will endorse of course as a part of the decision process but I do recommend that we go through that uh to make sure that uh everything has been captured as agreed upon and that all of the comments

are addressed it's it's just a one of my tened experiences knowing how easy it is for these things to get to a contractor and be in conflict with what you have what we've agreed to in principle but never make it onto the milear sheets um apart from that we have uh already documented our recommendations for our conditions and uh I and I don't know that there hasn't been any resistance to those so we should be in good shape so let me ask start again your your letter was there were quite a few things outstanding on that letter yes most of those have been cleaned up are you're confident yeah I'm we're is again uh these revised sheets going through them uh uh we did get some material material or later this afternoon so we haven't looked at that which is another reason that just getting those final set that final set that's going to go out to bid uh where you do not want to you don't want the library to become the center of change orders uh for for construction and which the potential is there so we think we we would we would be able to capture those things and I'm not and and it wasn't clear to me what what the team's intentions were for uh quality control if they're planning to have the plan Set uh reviewed uh for the purposes of looking uh uh like we did at the highway facility where as you recall we we captured millions of dollars and change orders by having it reviewed by a third party and I don't know if that was every year intentions to have that done but uh we'll double check we're meeting three times this week good and I think there's one uh final small piece um there is an outflow pipe so behind the library lot proper there's um about

three acres that were bought let's see at the May 7th 1988 annual town meeting um it was actually 2.5 acres and that is under the care and custody of the select board um at the moment there is a pipe that crosses the boundary uh but unfortunately it's closer to the wetlands and in this new site plan um the pipe crosses closer to our western side our church side and um hopefully it would only carry water during High storm times but we have uh a draft uh request for an easement for um March 22nd uh annual town meeting so we'll be formally um being sure that there's an agreement in place for that at the moment there is a pipe that no one ever approved from many many many years ago B um okay the simple question is um I think you addressed the new lighting fixtures I did ask last time whether you were going to go before the historical commission January 22nd so January 22nd we go back in front of the historic commission um and we have several things on that agenda okay um with respect to the drainage outfall which is going close to the wetlands I'm assuming this has been or is under review with the Conservation Commission we see them Wednesday night okay um I guess my questions along that and hopefully they'll address that is the drainage that's going off site especially from the parking lot could potentially contain salt and other contaminants what's being done with

respect to that is there going to be limitations on the use of salt um all um outflow to the wetlands all of the flow to the outf flaws it goes through these treatment systems the bio retention system and the subsurface system um and that will remove um you know the required level of pollutants from the storm water effluent um um before any sort of discharge occurs okay um so we anticipate that's where most of it will go and we'll also have a salting plan that's already been that's part of the storm M report and part of um the the general site M okay getting to maybe the more complicated issue of the snow because I you you did show typical snow storage areas but I think there's still areas on that plan I think was whatever that sheet was C4 um thinking about the areas where you don't want to put snow is also important because it won't be treated you potentially could be taking salt and contaminants off the lot and so I think we're going to want to know where those areas are and probably have a few signs that indicate to the the plow operators where snow should not be placed Beyond it's pretty clear on the prints you know in terms of when you DeMar the wetlands unfortunately if I was a snow plow operator I think the places that are most typical for you to put the snow are the back of the property and that's just where you don't want to put the snow um so I think it's going to be important to delineate and and demarcate where those areas are um as shown here I mean you you say typical snow storage areas what's the capacity of the snow storage on the site I mean if you had three Ines of snow when you removed it from all of the

parking and roadway would you have capacity to store that snow we haven't done um calculations in terms of the GU that's something I'd like to see because I I I think looking at the amount of paved area and there really is very little snow storage area on here right um I'm just afraid of what the enticement is to put it in the areas where you don't want to put it so I think it would be useful for us to have that discussion around what is the capacity of the site because I suspect 3 Ines would be stressing it because of the large surface area Mr chair if I could uh for clarification it's my understanding that uh we after a storm will remove snow so there's two activities with snow and ice there snow plowing you just get it out of the way but we will come back after you know a day or so after events did we do that up at the library I know we do it here here we do it if we lose enough parking spots right yes yeah so when when we had 110 Ines of snow that year we were we have snow farms and we're we're we're when the crews are done plowing when the event over we send Crews back and they do remove snow which is a second operation yeah and I'm thinking along those lines Paul um just want to know they we want to see the plan of where you going to put the snow temporarily as I said the obvious place is to put it at the back of the property and I think that is the place you don't want to put it you're going to have to put it on one of the sides uh so it's not impacting the drainage into the wetlands so I think that kind of a plan is important to get recorded and I will say and I've explained to the planning board in the past and we have snow plow operators in the room they will I can tell you at 3:00 in the morning after 24 hours of being behind the plow that snow's going

wherever they want that's that's just the reality of it you know we we can address things after the fact but you know the best the best laid plans so just don't count at 3:00 in the morning it sounds like right now excess snow is currently stored in the existing parking area and that even with the proposed situation if that were to continue that is something that will be captured by the proposed storm water management system correct that is correct so so it either gets removed or eventually goes through the system and gets treated before there's any discharge but if it's excessive it needs to get taken off sight just as it is now unfortunately the typical snow storage areas are off of the paved surface probably outside of the drainage capture area they're on what appear to be grass or wooded areas so that's my that's the only reason I'm ask no I I understand but if it exceeds that limited capacity then they're going to go right to the current procedure most likely of storing it in the paved parking areas and they'll lose capacity temporarily until they remove that so that's it okay great joh okay um obviously my biggest concern was making sure that engineering's comments were captured and most of my notes were around those comments so um if Mr Starrett is fine I am very happy um with the engineering side I do have two little questions um kind of knit things but um one of the items is these paved flumes and it says that um the designer has stated that the library staff will be responsible for properly maintaining the paved flumes to prevent clogging so my question is does the library really have maintenance people on staff that are going to go out there and clear the paved flumes we we have one full-time

maintenance person and we have a frozen 12-hour week nighttime maintenance person and because we are seeing a 50% increase in square footage for the library and under the new stretch code and plumbing code quite a few more restrooms we will need additional maintenance staff but yes we currently we we have both the help of the highway and public works department to plow we have um grounds care from public works and then we have our own maintenance staff doing snowblowing and shoveling and you know roof snow removal so we do have staff for that okay so you're comfortable sometimes it's the library director I can imagine you know Mr chair if I could for clarification can you remind me was that uh these these aren't porous papers these are when when you say flumes you're talking about the to the bio oh oh oh okay so you don't you don't need a v want for us I remember that right no no we don't have we don't have a vacuum truck and I don't see one in our future so okay and then one other little comment was um in terms of parking for events uh there was a reference to a 2011 parking plan which obviously you know quite a bit of time has expired or has lapsed so does the library still have an agreement with the First Parish for parking by rest so um the the memorandum of agreement with first par parish is still in operation the 2011 plan approved by the select board is still in our emergency manual um and the Nim Cog plan for 267 parking spots around the common is

still something we refer to and um we are part of those agencies nonprofits and organizations around the common every every time the select board is allowing use of the common we all are pulled to be sure that we don't have conflicting events occurring and that's really an issue about parking so we uh all have um a mutual assistance parking situation around the colony okay good I'm fine with that thank you thanks yeah I have the same concern about parking and it does look like the parking is kind of delineated in the Emergency Management plan but with the the expansion of the library um with the same number of parking spaces essentially if that parking plan could be more available to folks it could even available in the library or something like that because you know there's there's to your point there's parking spaces along the road there's parking spaces across the street in the park in the in the church but for someone to not know until they go into the emergency manual you know to find those it would be so was absolutely um we have a meeting room um policy approved by the board of Library trustees and a meeting room reservation system so um we will have more conference rooms and so anytime that we um have that meeting room reservation signed off and returned to our management staff we could would make the third page of that the parking around the common map and then people would understand where to direct you know especially if Boston Road is closed and the library is a construction site um

it's it's going to be um tense for a couple of years so um but we we absolutely can do that as a courtesy we have the information and we already have a process in place to confirm and email with every meeting room us user so that would tell them where they can um advise their group users to go that's great yeah even on the website I'm assuming it parking is put it on our our website too yeah all right good then obviously thanks for all the work with the engineering on the drainage and other issues too so other than that no other comments great I will go to the audience please uh state your name address and your question listen loud so everyone can hear my name is Andrew remik I live at 54 Main Street I am the uh butter and I'd just like to start by saying that since our last meeting me and my wife have tried our best to be open with communication and collaboration and I've got to say I'm more than a little disappointed we've gotten very little back since October I think the only email was an email saying that they needed to form a subcommittee to address it and I was assuming there may be a little behind plans so to see such a refined proposal that they've made no effort to keep us on the loop on I'm more than a little disappointed I would also like to say that I disagree with their reading of the Covenant that it only applies to the backl back half and not the front half particularly if you look at the land as it is now it looks like a very deliberate 10-ft border from the street all the way to the back of the lot and there's a very consistent spacing of white pine trees it looks like that's very much was built to satisfy the Covenant and if you consider the fact that that parking lot only exists on land gifted within that Covenant the fact that the driveway itself would not be covered seems a little suspect additionally from a report from the ton arborist assuming

the Covenant does not apply on that land they detail how the years of adjacency to the uh heat from the library driveway and the salt overflow from that driveway is what has killed those white pines that are about 5T from the driveway and they are now proposing of putting that driveway within 5 ft of myland and putting that salt and and heat damage onto my land and my trees and I do not think that is acceptable uh additionally I've got I've got plenty more here um that tree screening uh beyond that they don't seem to be motivated in keeping it but that same arborus report posed very clear hazards and I'm surprised that they've been sitting on this report since October and it does not seem like they've been making attempts to address it quoting their arborist report the last tree in the row has a large top section that is already completely dead causing immediate risk and potential damage these trees are extremely unstable and not safe and will very quickly become unpredictable in so many ways this report is dated October 24th it's January snow storms are coming I'd rather not see what happens when there's snow on those branches I don't think those trees necessarily need to get cut down I don't know what needs to happen but I'd really rather see those trees be trimmed I'd like to see some level of open communication from our neighbor something but I'm I'm disappointed with what we're getting we we do apologize to our neighbors the remics because we received one um late December formal um report from Town Council you're correct we told you we were talking with Town Council with public works with the facilities department and um we had the loss of chairs of both the permanent Town bill committee and the library trustee board

in uh mid December the trustees have not yet me to replace their trustee chair and um just today I spoke with Town Council again so we have every intention of continuing a conversation with you um but you are not correct when you think that the deed and the Covenant and the restricted language applies to the front part of the driveway in 1987 we bought additional land uh at town meeting that had been owned by Roy Smith and the Covenant only applies to that rear portion of the lot so there's absolutely a discussion to be had but the deed um with the restricted language and the pine tree planting it's the rear part of the lot the Covenant is a little vague on where exactly in the library is covered I could not find a map of the what exact lots are covered myself I would need more records but when you say that this is still open Communications yet you come into this meeting with a well-refined proposal saying that the Covenant is solved and addressed it really doesn't make it sound like you're trying to get any opinion from me it looks like you're just trying to say here's what it is we don't want anything we don't need anything appreciate your concerns the conversation between the board and directed back Mr Moret have we had any conversation with Town Council about this Covenant so we've had uh most of the conversations I believe have been directly uh with the library department on behalf of the Board of Trustees we did have a brief conversation today with Town Council we know they have reviewed the information um believe the plan is consistent with u Ellen's uh recollection um what I would say there's a couple of things so right now um any of the buffer that's being proposed I think is well within your your site plan review standards in your jurisdiction I would not recommend to this board that you approve uh Landscaping that is inconsistent

with the requirements of that restriction at this time however um since it does seem that there is going to be uh future conversations about this I think leave open the possibility that should the parties mutually agree to a different uh landscape method to have an very simple process to come back to this board at a public meeting to Simply revise it something according to what they all all agreed to but absent that which is unfortunate that that hasn't happened I I understand in three months but I think it is best it is well within your right to approve for the here and now a landscape buffer consistent with the restriction and allow for the possibility to have it uh amended I guess to that Jee I would be asking what is the Restriction we we have two different opinions right now I can Prov the limits of that restriction guess I'd like to get Town council's input on that here is lot L that was purchased and this is from this bound to this bound that's where the buffer restriction language applies not along the driveway only along this lot L that was B in 1987 you can see behind us the land under the care and custody of the cect and I can also send to this board the opinion of Town Council see my contest would be as as landscaped currently the only stretch of border that seems to satisf by the Covenant is the first half

closest there doesn't seem to be any white kind and there's like a very deliberate 10t buffer all along that front half and if you think about the what the spirit of the Covenant is protecting that driveway didn't exist without a parking lot for to serve so it really seems like you know I'm so sorry but I was there I negotiated the land purchase with Roy Smith so the Pines which predate my 52 years of the LI a long time the buffer is to one okay make a copy for the resident yeah thank you anything else sir uh well just the the environmental impact on my land of their driveway being literally right next to it within that 5ot buffer that is well documented by the arbor report do have damaged their own trees I would like that very clearly noted in the record certainly sir and I I would suggest to you that uh part of this long Engineering Process to make sure that storm water and in contaminated water does not get over to your property and if it does obiously there's going to be proper for that and I I mean I don't know if this is the right form or what the form is but there seems like a very clearly documented Hazard to my house and property from those dead Tree Tops and branches that has not been addressed for months it's winter now that doesn't seem right to me I is there is there another Forum I should be Tak I would talk to the Department of Public Works and talk to the tree Warden I would do you have like contact information I could reach out to um actually if you provide your contact um I'll make sure that someone reaches out to I can talk to tree Warden I'd prefer to do it I think the tree wardens what I don't want to belabor this part in the meeting you anybody else in the

audience all right seeing no other questions um we guess we have a decision to make Bob you raised some snow questions there some other questions that about Landscaping do we want to go the public hearing and rely on Mr stett to ensure that those questions are answered I would like an opinion from Town Council on this Covenant before I make that decision personally I can give you that no that's I mean I we can make decisions on Landscaping but we've got a real disagreement here between the library trustees and the abutter and I I think In fairness to that abutter we we have got to get a determination by our Council as to what that opinion is I don't want it by light L people I want it by Council said do you have a thought what is this that's Town council's opinion so I have a couple thoughts that have come tonight uh so one there was a question of uh Wastewater so I did have a direct conversation with water superintendent Mark Warren today he is in the process of reviewing what he believes to be the final application that will be submitted to D he uh explained that the net increase of design flow for the Wastewater is less than 300 gallons per day it's really quite minimal he doesn't anticipate um issues but you cannot guarantee anything in the Perman process but that is something uh that must be addressed uh with d and if there are issues that's something that they have to react and respond to it's really not um a planning board issue per se um there are a couple of other things that have come up tonight so first of all it's not uncommon for this board to um if you were to issue an approval to have

a condition that requires the applicant to provide a final Revis set of plans that addresses the outstanding comments and usually it's technically related um and usually to the satisfaction of the engineering department because one of the common like the biggest um technical concern tonight relates to potential conflicts between Landscaping elements and subsurface utilities so that is something that if engineering department has provided a final set of plans that's stamped um and addresses their comments that would satisfy um that particular concern so with respect to the Covenant regardless of I would say where the trees are or not what people suspect the the Restriction it applies to a certain parcel of land that's it the Restriction is finite it's limited it is whatever it is and I trust that Council has reviewed that yes and the trustees please don't interrupt so Council has reviewed that but if you would like further um clarification it could always be another um special condition where subject to SAS Factor review by Town Council confirming that the limitation as shown on the final plans is consistent with that restriction and if it isn't they would have to come back to this board just as if an impass is reached say engineering and the applicants team has a disagreement about what the conflicts are between uh landscape elements and the subsurface utilities they again would have to come back to this board and there's one other thought I don't want to forget um this current proposal it does um propose an overflow through unusual circumstances onto land under care and custody of the select board um while you can't require that they secure an easement you can require that they pursue an easement obviously it requires

thirdparty approval town meeting perhaps Andor select board so they would be obligated to seek those permissions and if they're unable to secure that then they again would have to come back to this board and make the necess NE changes in order to address those underlying concerns my thoughts are typically to not continue meetings especially as taxpayers are paying for these Consultants to to come back to these meetings costing us all money uh but I'll go back to the board and Bob your thoughts on what we should do here uh I'm willing to listen to others but um I still think we need some more inputs I'd like to hear what happens with conso conservation I think that could affect some of our conditions and we might want I mean if we close the hearing we can't take additional information yes so if you close the hearing you're correct you cannot take additional information um for this process that doesn't mean that you can't take future information for an amendment request or if they come back to the boort and make changes if something changes we could amend right right so Joanie so my big concern was originally with engineering and knowing that engineering there been a good working relationship I feel much better about that however with that said seeing all these other things that have come up tonight I I am a little concerned especially with this whole Covenant thing has been such a big issue from the beginning and I'm really I I'm just surprised it hasn't really been nailed down and addressed and and even as even though we have that opinion I mean that it's not like an official on a letter head something we would expect to see so I'm still a little concerned and but I agree I mean I don't want to you know belabor things and cause you know additional taxpayer money but some of

these are pretty big issues and one of the things I've been trying to scrambling to find we were provided the copy of that Co that Covenant and I can't find it um in one of the the various meetings when we had this discussion earlier uh last year but I would like to tie it all together to understand what that Covenant is and make sure we kind of understand the bounds of the covant which there seems to be a dispute on want a copy of the COV yeah I know I'm trying to would it be enough to have a condition that Town Council confirm consistency of the proposed Landscaping as it relates to the restriction I mean I that's going to have to happen anyway yeah so I'm I'm fine with that being a condition I mean can't we can't have something that's violates a recorded Covenant it wouldn't be understood and I would like to get the um Town council's opinion on letterhead submitted into the official record we can do that yeah I spoke with Town Council today and but Jeff wouldn't the opinion come through you well in this case it it went through um Ellen on behalf of the board of Library trustees but this would be your decision and there's nothing to say that you would require a condition that Town Council provide to the planning board an opinion stating that you know this must be consistent with that we'll call it Covenant of record or deed restriction whatever it is um and if it's not then they must revise the plans accordingly to Town Council satisfaction just like they would have to revise the plans to the satisfaction of engineering department to address their technical concerns so if your concern is to say that Town Council must make sure this is

consistent with the deed restriction that can be done through conditional approval right just like requiring final revised plans to the you know satisfaction of engineering department okay I think that's the main sticking point right now and I I'm happy with a I'd be okay with uh approving the plan voting to approve the plan with the condition again that we have to get a Town Council sign off that the buffer and the Covenant are all consistent I I tend to agree seeing four Consultants that we're paying taxpayer money to be here and come back again I don't want to do that you know um so I guess uh is there nothing else from the audience or staff um I guess we'll have a motion to close the public hearing anybody want to make that motion okay so moved is there a second with with with those conditions absolutely right okay we can go through the list to make sure I'm sorry Joanie did you second second with those conditions all those in favor say I I opposed okay now conditions that we want included there's a series of conditions suggested by engineering department relative to their technical review we have standard set of conditions for any site plan review decision but there are some specifics about um having Town Council confirm that the proposed Landscaping within the area subject to the deed restriction is consistent with those

requirements we but U separately from that we want to allow for um possibility of future amendments to Landscaping within that Covenant you know should the parties uh reach an agreement uh we would not recommend that this board uh Embrace those changes unless we have something in writing from all the involved um we have another uh suggested condition that the applicant seeks the necessary permissions for say drainage easements that may be required on land required from the select board and if unable to secure those ultimately they have to return to the board to resolve that matter um let's see and then just the uh provide a final set of revised plans to the satisfaction of the engineering department that addresses um their techn technical comments take action on the arborous report and contact the tree Ward that would be all to I'm not sure that is their condition that's something you're we're going to follow up on um if there highly recommend you come and make an agreement with the butter is there something else I'm forgetting I don't believe so no Bob your concerns with snow we satisfied yeah they fine all right having said that is there a motion to approve PB 2425 50 Main Street JB Fletcher Library uh is amended and discussed this evening with conditions attached so moved second all those in favor say I I I I opposed okay good luck thank Youk you thank you very much uh we're going to jump we're

notum oh yes we are going to jump yes to uh just quickly we're going to skip to uh General business item PB 2037 478 gr road request for minor modification to alter the entrance of the property to accommodate a center Island curb radii adjustment to protect a new utility pole good evening Mr chair good evening thank you for taking this out of order uh for the record attorney Melissa Robbins from Farland Robbins uh we were requesting a minor modification to change the pole location permanently uh but after some discussions with uh Town staff and uh DPW we've realized this is not the ideal spot for this poll even to stay permanently even with the protections that we had in place with the center Island so what we're suggesting now is that we are going to move this um and any of you that have dealt with National Grid can feel our pain that this may take a little bit amount of time uh what we're requesting right now is a 6mon temporary pole location for this poll to stay uh we'll work with engineering staff and Mr Fox to ensure that there are safety precautions put in place while we have an occupancy for those buildings one and two um and that's what we're requesting right now is just a temporary pole location in the location that it should not be in uh while we work with National Grid to move the pole I asked um Mr stett to stay just so he can answer any questions from an engineering perspective so did they put a new pole in in the middle of the road yes that's a brand new pole we actually to the existing we just got power today it's a taller pole and we've been begging for power we did just get electricity today but obviously that pole is in the wrong in the wrong location is that how you designed it Mr Waterman no there's a note on the plan that says poll to be removed and it's supposed to be right where that tag is to the left hand side that says proposed curb at ex existing utility poll that is

actually where the poll should be awesome Mr stett yeah we thought we thought it was a joke when we first drove I and saw that they had had done that but you know uh so we did the the director of Public Works did have some safety concerns given that there were going to be these aren't just contractors coming in and out of this particular property you're going to have you know families and cars and snow and ice and it just takes one so uh uh we the director in particular asked that they stay with the approved plans but in consideration of their tenants uh and their operations on a temporary basis if well protected um that it would be satisfactory to have a temporary condition and then uh they can work directly with the director of Public Works to resolve how that safety is going to be installed great uh I 100% agree so uh anything from the board Bob no Don no there no if engineering's satisfied with it y absolutely all right so we we don't have to modify do we what are we doing Jeff well top of my head I believe there's a pesky condition of approval at this point that stands in the way so you would in effect be authorizing the temporary measure for the pole to remain until they can replace it and for that to not be an obstacle to issuing a certificate of opy for the first building that's correct right that's what's uh we are we have buildings one and two that are up right now uh we're right now about to go for an occupancy for building one now that we have power uh and so that's what we're requesting is the temporary modification to allow for the pole in this location and how long you think we will'll take excuse me how long do you think will'll take I'm asking for six months uh we'll keep working with National Grid and if at any point we feel though we need more time

we would come back to this board but we'll diligently work towards that end of getting it moved awesome so I think we need a motion to Joe is that correct he yes okay motion to that we get approval for the temporary arrangement of the protecting the poll with engineering and DPW authorize seeo sign off for building one yeah that is there second second all those in favor say I I thank you very much you Mr chair see you guys thank you Mr CH see you thank you thank you PA all right moving on to pb24 32123 oakill Road your keys Melissa uh public hearing consider the application for site plan review uh to allow changes of use from Factory warehouse to Dog Daycare including removal nin's parking space is an installation of a 5,000 ft fet outdoor play area and Associated Landscaping welcome thank you Mr chair uh for the record again Melissa Robbins from Farland Robbins as you said we're here tonight for a site plan review you know what can I get a motion to wave the reading of public heing so move second all in favor say I I sorry that's okay we're here tonight for motion to open the hearing don't motion move open the public I was wondering so moved second all in favor say hi hi there we go right now we go third time the chair here we go uh so we're here tonight for Zippy's Dog Daycare uh with me tonight is Matt Waterman from lantech Consultants uh Jim and Lisa Payne are here they the project applicants as well as Melissa Spalding Melinda Spalding sorry I'm a Melissa that uh is the proposed manager at uh Zippy's Dog Daycare uh as the chair has pointed out we're here just for site plan review um Doggy Daycare no is not an allowed use in your zoning chart this

is technically the boarding of animals on property less than 5 Acres uh we did have to go get a use variance from the zoning board of appeals to allow for the use out here even though basically everything out here is pre-existing non-conforming uh previous Building Commissioner determined that a variance was required and so we went and got one which was approved by the zoning board of appeals uh the daycare will provide for 80 animals total there will be absolutely no overnight boarding on site so this is only a daycare uh this is a change of use the structure already exists it was built in the early 80s the entire structure was previously used as a business and a factory which uh focused on fabrication but unfortunately the business has moved to devans and there's no more fabrication being done there so the building itself is vacant uh what we're proposing is to just use a portion of the structure which will be set aside I think as you can see it on there with the little tiny print which is unit a the total inside square footage will be 6,250 square feet I'm gonna let Matt give you more detail on that in a second while Joe pulls up the detail sheet um and outside where we're taking out some of the parking area closest to the uh road that will be a large play area it's about 4,850 Square fet uh we also received a variance from the zoning board of appeals to allow for an 8ft fence along those property lines which will help uh you know keep the dogs in and mask any of the sound from the neighbors uh from those of you that don't know the pains they are well established business owners in the town of Westford already uh they're excited to start a new business in the town of Westford Doggy Daycare is a much needed uh use in the town of Westford I don't know if you're familiar with this or if you use doggy daycares but the good ones I'll have waiting lists they're very hard to get into so there is really a demand for this type of use in the town and in the community um Melinda Spalding

as I said will be the manager of the daycare she has experience with Doggy Daycare she's actually worked at the rough house which is the other big Doggy Daycare in the town of Westford for the last four years and she's been the acting manager for a little over a year and a half um when putting together this application I tried not to recreate the wheel the rough house has been a very successful business in the town of Westford uh in Reading just their materials when I went back and looked at their last modification they had noted themselves that they had been in operation for almost 14 years it had never had a complaint uh so when I'm looking at projects like that I try to mimic exactly what they're conditions say so we can be just as successful and good neighbors uh just for a little bit of distinction between us and the Rough House the Rough House is a little smaller uh they have 110 dogs uh they also do overnight boarding for 30 animals uh they have a Butters very closely behind them they have a Butters about 100 feet right behind them is it's tadm road but I think it's tadm Road and Chumps for that Loops behind their structure uh but directly behind there is a um a Butters our closest of butter is 500 ft away I think our actual closest of butter is directly across the street on the other side of the commercial building on the other side of Route 40 it's about 500 uh but if you go towards Greystone you have uh the road then Dunkin Donuts then Westford Collision uh and then the closest GreyStone of butter which is about 500 feet away as well I won't go too much into uh labor in this because I know it's an existing structure with existing parking an existing area and I'm going to let Matt talk about it but I do want to just quickly go through the conditions that the zoning board of appeals have already put in place I will tell you that when I propose this at the zoning board and as I read these you a lot of these are duplicates Right From the Rough House that have been successful um so the outdoor structure will be in the location for which it's shown on the plan um that we're not moving that it's been decreased slightly from what we shown the zoning board just

to be so the setbacks were in compliance with the zoning bylaw I know the board had a previous plan with the application where the fence line was a little bit off and Town St Sierra was great picking that up so we've adjusted that properly uh which we lost a little over 100 square F feet in doggy outside play area so 4850 now uh there should be staff on the premises whenever dogs are on the premises I think that goes without saying and we don't have any overnight boarding which makes that condition a lot easier uh the walking of dogs shall only occur on the property again uh we're not looking to walk dogs off property there's plenty of area inside and outside for these dogs to be on the daycare uh this particular facility will be limited to $80 dogs which is plenty of area for that there should be a minimum of one staff person with experience in dog handling I think that's probably missing some words there should say at all times while there's dogs on the premises uh which we can add to the planning board condition if we'd like uh The Establishment should maintain a ratio of one staff member to a minimum of 20 dogs this is actually right from the Rough House modification that they got in 2023 that's the exact same um requirement they have as well our hours are a little different because we have no overnight boarding so ours are 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6: p.m. Saturday and Sunday we offered that up we think those are reasonable times and knowing that we had an a butter come to the zoning board meeting that was really worried with um warning dog barking as I'm sure you are if your neighbors let their dogs out early uh We've agreed to not let dogs out Monday through Friday before 7:00 a.m. so that first hour they'll be kept indoors and 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday just to continue to be good neighbors out there as I've stated there'll be no overnight boarding um a little bit different is that we are not going to keep any waste whatsoever on site uh the waste will be cleaned up immediately and then there's actually Services now that come remove all dog waste from the site every day uh which is makes our life a lot easier and we

don't have to worry about storage of any of these materials on site whatsoever uh the fence surrounding the outdoor enclosure shall be such material as to act as a visual buffer for our Butters and minimize minimize barking and that every year we'll agree to a certificate of inspection from your building department to make sure we're conformance with these sections um so those are all of the conditions of approval again uh this is an existing site so we're not really changing a lot what we are going to change I'm just going to turn over to Matt to go through briefly just to give the board an idea yep if we go back to the site plan um I'm sure some or most of you have been to the extension of oakill Road Extension beyond the where the D the the gas station is and the Dunkin Donuts um Packard Machinery sits on the corner right um with g Road at the intersection and laser services is the building that was behind them um there's two entrances along oakill Road we're going to be blocking off the first one and then on this plan here you can see that there was nine parking spaces and a loading dock that gets removed um with the majority of the parking being behind the building um further North away from oill Road or away from Groton Road um so what we do is we remove that parking area it's about 6,000 square fet of of pavement um so we are reducing the amount of impervious on site um and then we're putting in a Synthetic Turf with a drainage system underneath um for the outdoor kennel um the building itself um ala quickly touched on it Unit A is on the Le hand side as we're looking that's the Doggy Daycare um the building itself is just about 10,000 over just over the footprint is just over 10,000 square ft um Unit A we take up about 6,250 um that's about 5600 on the first floor and then a small uh lunchroom on

the second floor just about 600 square ft um Building B or Unit B is on the right that stays the same and and is intended to whatever any of the allowed uses in this District what is there now mat is there anything there now there's nothing um from a parking standpoint um there's currently uh 40 spaces we remove nine spaces so there's 31 remaining um we're allocating 11 uh for our side of the building um there's expected to be about five people or employees on site at any time um and so that would leave about uh six spaces active for for drop off um for the dogs um and then that leaves 20 spaces for the unit B which is currently what they are allocated for right now is half of the parking um the the the drop off and I don't know if Melissa got into it but I mean the majority of the parking is just dropping off your dog and picking it up there's no one staying there there's no other uses or shopping or anything that you'd be doing there um and so the six or seven parking spaces that are available umate for this use um the indoor the the the basically the indoor space is majority of it's kennel on the indoor so there's the kennel on the outside but then there's an indoor kennel in Unit A it makes up about 65% of the the floor plan and then 35 is dedicated to office grooming storage um and things like that we did have floor plans they weren't 100% clear but the majority of it gets remodeled into like indoor kennel into three areas uh small dogs medium dogs and large dogs um Landscaping uh the majority of landscaping focuses around the the perimeter of the outdoor kennel there's

the indoor architectural plan with the kennel on the right hand side where the mouse is currently and the indoor what we called play area what was called play area is the indoor kenel and then the front of the building is just a reception and and office and Storage um Landscaping is focused on surrounding and and buffering the the outdoor kennel with an 8ot fence stockade fence and then Evergreen plantings around the outside along the abutter two Packer machinery and then the abutter or the oakill road along the the RightWay additional plantings there um Melissa talked about waste removal it's daily cleaning um where we are in a Zone 2 they have committed to using all organic sanitizers um for the astro turf in particular um so there won't be any chemicals it all be organic we did provide cut sheets of that to the board of appeals um it's whsy wash W YSI W um but we are committed to to using just organic sanitizers for for for maintenance um there's no work within 100 ft of the wetlands um and then lastly we we do removed just about 6,000 ft of impervious and just to talk quickly about the daily operations I mean this is a drop off pick off pick up mostly live parking situations so there isn't really parking and you stay at the site uh the rough house has about 13 spaces allocated over to the lack of a better Direction I know this will kill Jeff to the right hand side of the building at the rough house as I stated in their application when they just went for modification for more dogs they've never had a problem over there um there is no uh it use manual line for Doggy Daycare so we figured we would use what had worked for other areas obviously if we need more parking area there's more

parking area out here um the rest of Unit B is more of a warehouse factory set up so we don't even think they're going to use the 20 spaces but we don't think we're going to need them in any case uh just given the nature of our use um just quickly about the abutters as well um we think this is a perfect location for this type of use we're really in an industrial area our closest a Butters are a gas station uh with a dunk of donuts and then the other butter further up oakill road is a Contractor Yard which also uh can be considered a louder use and also got a v use variants for their 8f foot fence for sound control so we're not concerned to sound to those neighbors uh we did go knock on doors our immediate neighbors had no concerns whatsoever I think that we've answered all the questions um but we're happy to answer any questions the planning board may have great like uh just quickly being a client of the the Rough House do I have to recuse myself I don't think so we have an employee of the Rough House here too so yeah it's fine um I would like you to a pine on the parking yeah I mean literally you park for 30 seconds the dog runs in the place and I mean I just think about you know how the difficulty we had with the kid daycare right yeah same thing right know you would think dogs and 11 car spaces it's going to be a lot and I'm sure they all come at the same time they don't that's I think and I think that's the difference between a regular daycare and uh Doggy Daycare is that they staggered times people some people are earlier commuters later commuters so you come at different times during the day and there's no really conversation there needed like a child hand over here Skippy and you hand the leash and it's done once you're signed up and enrolled um I wonder if there's any that we should consider that so the other side does get ready do we have to physically Mark sparking spaces for them they'd have to come to you anyway yeah

yeah there's not enough parking spaces for the uses they couldn't come to they couldn't go in my point is though that if they get you know they have 20 parking space well how many are you said now that you're allocating to them 20 right 20 to them now TW we're going to give them 20 we're keeping 13 11 11 sorry math is hard 11 11 spaces for our use and then uh 20 for for theirs cuz we're we're removing nine where our outdoor play area is going so what was the last use in that other a factory and warehousing it was that um fabrication use so if a future use comes in there it's the same use as what was last in there that might not be considered change in use they might not have to come to this board which is fine just uh just making you aware I just it doesn't necessarily mean they have to come back here if it's the same type use that was last there zoom in on the r but they wouldn't need the parking just to that point if it was a fabric if it's a warehouse and Fabrication they're not they're going to have four employees and most of their areas going to be storage anyway so so when this building was built it was first built in 1983 and then they came back and built the second half of the building um as in 1989 and so these parking calculations were from the site plan that the planning board approved in 1989 for laser services which is it's like it was a machine shop but a higher end machine shop with laser Precision just like the the name sounds right um were the two units rented separately no no it was one laser services occupied the whole building right okay cuz that's getting to one of my concerns here is first off um Pages 153 and 154 in our packets it would be helpful when you put in plans that are rotated from the rest of the plans there's a directional Arrow

so I could kind of align these CU these two floor layouts are 180 de I think I know what you're I I I know what and there's no marking on them as to which way is North so that's not good practice but looking at what is unit a on the left I believe correct which is vacant there appears to now be only one means of egress in and out of that space as indicated on the plans yeah am I mistaken well there'll be the the main entrance which is you can see behind the the accessible parking I'm talking about unit I'm I'm I'm sorry Unit B B Unit B that's the they're flipped Unit B I don't know I there's a back door there is a back door oh right on that it's not shown on the I'm looking on the plans on page 153 of our packet okay which is the FHP the J drawing the yeah there's an outdoor fire escape on the building that's the fire escape door and there's another door right there also that you can any rest to that side okay that doesn't show on the fph uh plans right there is absolutely one there and I know that the fire department was given an opportunity to look at this as well that's I just want to make sure we're leaving a space that is safe yes and the Building Commissioner would because the site plan review yeah would review that even just in in terms of tenant fit up they would review that application and make sure it's it's up to code that's correct that was I was looking at that not for looking at Unit B but for looking at unit a right and trying to determine if there was a door between the main interior of the building and the play area this plan does not indicate such a door it just indicates there are two 10t wide Gates Right but there is going to

be yes and on the floor plane I think they show the access from Unit A to directly to the outdoor play area yeah so that that was confusing on the pl so that that's my just to keep the dogs contained I don't want them going through the parking lot to get into the enclosure we'll clarify that for sure yeah yeah the construction drawings to Jeff's point will have to show all the access and erress these are floor plans to show you the general layout but when we go to the new Building Commissioner for actual building permits to retrofit we'll have to make sure that all access and eass is up to code m so that was really my only concerns was had to do with with those areas and the means of egress and the fact that there's no directional arrows on those plans so you couldn't correlate all the plans together I'm good otherwise my only concern was the parking parking issue but it sounds like you've got it covered so I'm fine I just have one question on the grooming is that like baths and stuff for the dogs like if that's the case would how would the dra rage work the grooming we've been working with the Board of Health and that was some of their initial comments during the board of appeals application um was we'll be required to put in a holding tank for The Grooming um sink and they have to have if if it's if it's if it's using flea and tick collar and some of those chemicals that that'll go to the holding tank if it's just organic shampoos they can use a secondary bin but then they'll have to have hair filters so that it won't clog the septic system so they have a couple requirements for both conditions but their main concern was the chemicals the strong chemicals in flee and tick treatments and then if it's I think kind of standardized shampoos they were less concerned um so there there may and we haven't done a final layout but there if there's more than one sink then we'll have one that'll be dedicated to the holding tank and one that'll be dedicated for the septic system um but if there's only one sink when we go to

the final build it would have to be connected to the holding tank um and that was a requirement of the Board of Health and we'll need a Board of Health approval before we can construct any of that as part of our building permit okay yeah I just want to make sure right that's great Reay has been commenting all along since the beginning of the variance application and Abby yeah and I think I think Melissa you did take care of my one concern earlier today was I talked to Joe uh was condition five just adding um that was the the staff person with experience in dog and adding the phrase whenever any dogs are on premises I'm fine I think those words must have just been left off the decision but I think it goes without saying that there should be somebody qualified and dealing with dogs on the premises at all times that there's dogs on the premises you could merge two and five into one really but yes yeah we can make that clear in the say plan review decision as well okay go to the audience anybody in audience have any questions concerns comments all right um staff anything else I would ask is if you would like engineering to do their customary review before um you close the hearing just to get I'm in favor closing the hearing and having to draft a decision everybody in favor for that yes did engineering review this as I mean they typically will wait to hear if you have any you know particular comments so if you wanted their typical review before you closed and made a decision or or could be a condition of approval yeah engineering has an issue yeah I think yeah okay all right having said that is there a motion to close the public hearing for pb24 3213 oakill road so move second those in favor say I I uh is there a motion to direct staff to draft a decision consistent with the discussion this evening so some second

all favor say I I I anything else um can you just draft a decision approving approving draf decision approving this application I'm picky like that we'll make the changes to the plan to clarify esses at to staff shortly thank you thank you good luck thank you thank you all appreciate it I have one more okay we went along we have reviewed that draft decision for Pb 2427 definitive subdivision def definitive subdivision special permit flexible development modification Depot um we've had we've hearing on this we've approved it we've had a draft decision I have any questions concerns on the draft um it looked good actually I had one question I think it would simplify it I think this was picked must have be must have inherited this condition from the original flexible development condition but at the top of page four in the decision it just says this special permit shall elapse after three years yeah from the grant hereof right I don't think we need that no I mean the flexible Development Division has been built that just confusing so I I had a suggestion there I I'd rather say that this special permit modification shall lapse so in other words if they exercise it and go through the change they need the modification but if they manage to sell it without remove you know what I mean then they can I think if we put modification it's it's clear that's better yeah okay yeah I just didn't understand what would lapse right no that's just I think just standard language that got carried over but I agree there's no need for it we're going to take care of it immediately so there will be no

lapsing so okay J um yeah I had that same concern um also the provision shall be binding on owner or owners of each of the Lots plural I don't know if it's supposed to be plural it should be lot it could be lot yeah yeah just simple and then there was a a little bit of a disconnect in my mind between um item three and the amendment page two where one is listing the funds to benefit residents age 55 and over or um based on the select board yeah um and then Amendment two is actually listing cost of transportation for seniors in um if it goes over that $25,000 the rest goes to affordable housing so to me they were they were a little bit in Conflict I think they need to say the same thing and I drafted this document the i i drafted this amendment to the restrictive covenant using some language that I think was proposed at the planning board meeting so I was very specific as to where the money was going but I think the condition is more General yes but it' be it would be simple for to to just B if the board wants we could take the condition from the restrictive covenant and move it over to the planning board decision so that it's clear if that's where you want the money to go then that could just be that could be identical so you're saying the $25,000 to transportation and anything over that to affordable housing but should it be specifically Transportation or senior over 55 I think would be I thought I could be mistaken I thought the overarching concern was to make sure that if there's excess money it somehow benefits residents in town are 55 plus right over there were specific conversations about whether it should go towards transportation for Cameron that benefits 55 plus or there was talk about affordable housing trust but then it

might be need to be restricted to 55 plus so and we could have not gotten it right but we thought in the end it was the generic benefit 55 plus residents in town and however the select board was amendable to if this even comes into being right um that you know they can accept it and use it for anything not inconsistent with that which could mean transportation for Cameron or you know trust fund Monies to benefit 5 pleasure of the board I mean we can make it more General like the condition or we can make it more specific at the point so just really making sure when we're done tonight it's what you folks want right yeah I I would prefer the more General over 55 plus or you know 55 however we want put it but I think I'm making it real specific just for transportation I think is is not a good idea sure revise that my my opinion and then so you guys are amable with that change I'm yep that's fine okay and then I had two other things on the signature page the date is 24 instead of 25 right and the vi we have to just change the vice ch all right um nope good I'm good as well we'll make those changes and sign off on it yeah the only the only other thing is that Town Council is still uh weeding through my document here so just subject to the review and approval and minor changes that Town Council may make can we just get a motion to that back that would be great please right uh motion to can I have a motion to approve the decision and the agreement as amended this

evening subject to potential changes by Town Council who's already reviewing it we currently reviewing it so moved second all those in favor say I I oppos thank you thank you very much moving along we have last it item under General business request planning board to allocate $275 31 from the summer Village gift fund towards planning study specifically a market study for 12 North Main Street I will look to be brief um back for the FY 24 round Comm One Stop we received a housing Choice Grant to conduct two studies a Wastewater analysis and a market study analysis for 12 North Main um that was a total of $190,000 uh last month the manager was authorized to enter enter into a contract for the Wastewater analysis with Lombardo Associates for approximately $129,000 um now we've just conducted the uh RFP for the market study um have someone selected for this upcoming select board agenda um however to fill the gap between the 129 uh 131 for the Wastewater plus the 884 for the potential uh consultant rkg Associates for the markets study we're asking that you provide um the SE a recommendation for the sewing Village gift funds in amount of 27531 to be utilized um from the approximately $19,000 available from the gift fund was 1990 $109,000 available in the gift fund we're asking to use you know the 20 27531 to supplement this for the study it would have to both studies would have to be done by June 30th so it's a pretty quick turnaround uh for both of these analyses to be be done give a lot of information for you know future decision what happens with the prop y thoughts

Bob um nothing joonie fine with it don't make sense y I'm in favor so you want a motion Mr Mar said yes please can I make a motion to recommend to the select board that they allocate $27,500 from the summer Village gift funds towards planning study specifically market value study Market study for 12 North Main Street so second all those in favor say I I I great thank you very much uh I don't think I saw anything else we the minutes minutes yes oh what is this I didn't see this all right so we do have minutes to review get a motion to approve the minutes from December 2nd 2024 a mo second discussion anybody have any no comments no comments oh I did uh I don't have any comment Bob no I'm good all those in favor approval say I I I I all right and then can I get a oh we do have some correspondence yes a couple items um there's ongoing public uh facility study going on um so there's going to be a few Community conversations information when those uh dates and those public meetings will be over at the Millennium um and then there'll be a presentation at town meeting uh kind of going over the findings of of what that study um is uh reaching conclusion about for what our facility needs are um so it's just to

get some information out there if anybody wants to participate in those conversations all right terrific Johnny what's Nim Cog doing with the rates yeah just kidding see what happens Darren I know yeah I know really all right a motion to Jour so move second all the fav say I I thank you very much thank you