Planning Board - Regular Meeting

we'll start the meeting. So, the plan tonight is we were going to do a brief overview of the proposed zoning amendments so that folks can watch this later if they'd like. Um, we will also have a presentation one week from today in the library if anybody wants to attend that. So, I will jump into this. If you guys have anything to add or any questions, just speak up. All right. Okay. So, what we want to do tonight is provide a little bit of background about the work that we've been doing for the last two to three years on um housing and zoning amendments. talk about each of the changes that are being proposed or housing and then there are a couple others that the board of selectmen um have requested. Also want to talk about the master plan fund because that will be a warrant article at town meeting and then just a summary of um of the ordinances in terms of what we've been doing um for the last couple of years. We've had two grants um to work on our housing ordinances. We've done surveys, an economic development survey, a housing survey, couple of housing forums where we also collected feedback from people, a land use audit. We updated our housing master plan um chapter. So from here out for the next couple of weeks up until election day, we're talking about what we've proposed and nothing can change at this point. It it's um it's been proposed and it's sort of on the official ballot. But what we've been

doing for the last couple of years is getting input from people. And I'll I'll just pause for a second to say one, I want to express my appreciation to everybody here on board and Mark and Glenn um as well as citizens who've been coming in and providing input. We have adapted what we originally proposed. We've made changes based on people's feedback and that's the way the process is supposed to work. Um so that's a really good thing. So thank you everyone. In our uh master plan chapter for housing, we set uh three goals. One has to do with reviewing and monitoring our regulations um and you know so we can continue to um look at our housing stock and how it fits with the needs in the town. Um folks want to see increased housing while retaining rural character and that's really been the challenge with a lot of this is balancing those two things having more options in housing at the same time protecting our rural character. And then we'll also talk a little bit about what the state's been doing. Um, but in in those goals, you'll see that we talked about expanding our accessory dwelling unit ordinance to allow detached dwellings and to look at multi-family dwellings. And the other thing is um to come into compliance with the state's workforce housing law. We're currently out of compliance. We've had, I think, at least three outside experts now look at that and confirm that we are indeed out of compliance and that puts our community at risk um to, you know, challenges. While um while we were doing this, the

state legislature passed a couple of laws that changed the picture for us. And they did it in a way that um they used what's called preeemption which is when a state government and tell a local government our rules supersede yours. So whatever we say goes uh you don't have a choice. So that's um that's what they did on two things. The first is requiring multifamily housing in commercial zones and requiring towns to allow detached accessory dwelling units. And they put a couple of parameters around that, but there's a a little bit of flexibility there. And then I already mentioned the workforce housing law. That one's been on the books um since 2010. Brenttonwood had an ordinance, voted it out, and we're proposing to bring it back to bring us back into compliance. We'll look now at the actual proposals. Um, and again, the the the challenge here and what we've been aiming for is to do this in a way that's both compliant with the law and works for our community. And that's been a, you know, a lot of what we've been talking about, a lot of give and take and compromise to find something that works for Brentwood and keeps us in compliance with the law and protects our our um our community. So, the first um the first two in this presentation are actually part of the first um article that you'll see on the ballot. Um they're they're together. This one is showing a few adjustments in our zoning district. So, um, Pine Road, which [clears throat] has heavy industrial use, one of the things that the state law does allow us to do is to exclude housing in areas where there's heavy industry where we can make that case. And this is an area that has

always excluded housing. So, we're we're saying that no multifamily in the Pine Road commercial industrial district. And then what we did to to differentiate that from route 125 and 27 is to create a new definition of light industrial use. Um so so that would apply in those areas and then doing away with the existing multifamily professional office district on North Road and folding that into the residential agricultural district. So, one thing um as we go forward and talk about multifamily and commercial zones that I want um to be clear is that when we talk about that ordinance um proposed ordinance, it would apply in the yellow areas only, the dark yellow. Um so, the light yellow residential agricultural district, that's um where we have our single family housing and a lot of um conservation space. and the um that multif family ordinance would not apply there. I think we can Yep. The next one is just um a couple of definitions. If you if you are interested in seeing that um especially maybe folks who have um property on um 125 or 27 if you want to see the full definition of light industry you're welcome to uh reach out to Mark and get a copy of that. So the first um major proposal is for multif family in the commercial zone along routes 125 and 27. It would allow up to six units per developable acre or up to eight if there is workforce housing included and that would be subject to um New Hampshire's uh

requirements for septic. We've got some parameters in here about what kind of multifamily can be built and some design elements to try to break things up a little bit. um have some aesthetic requirements and uh I mentioned earlier that we've gotten some feedback from folks and that's been really helpful and we've made some adjustments. One of those things is that um people wanted to see the um uh mixed use. So we're we've included 50% of the first floor gross square footage in a multif family development will have to be dedicated to commercial use. And that does a couple of things. Um, we think that might lead to some smaller units that are more affordable um, in the multif family housing and it helps diversify our tax base by having some commercial space and it also hopefully will bring some amenities. That's another thing that we've heard from folks that they want to see more things closer to home. Um, can you go to the next one? One of the big questions we've gotten is what happens if um this does not pass. What does a no vote mean? So, we actually um talk to our town attorney so that we could give an accurate answer. So, if this ordinance fails, the new state law will still go into effect July 1st. So that means I was talking about how this you know state law trumps local ordinances. So that means um it would just be multif family would just be an unrestricted permitted use in the commercial areas along 125 and 27. So we would lose the control that we're trying to take back here. or some of that local control where we're limiting the density

and we're um requiring commercial space and we're requiring some design elements. We wouldn't have any of those options and the only thing that would kind of guide density would be septic requirements which are going to be a lot allow a lot more density than what we've proposed. So, this is um you know, we think a way to comply with the law again in a way that works for Brentwood um gives us some back some of that local control. Uh I also want to mention that the workforce housing law, which we'll talk about a little bit, has um a piece in there about multifamily as well. So, if this fails, we would still be out of compliance with the multif family law. Anybody want to add anything from the board? The next proposal is for the detached accessory dwelling units. So, uh, right now, um, Brentwood does have an accessory dwelling unit unit ordinance. We only allow attached ADUs. So, this is one of those things that um if you look at the full changes like if you were to come into the office or on on you know voting day, you'll see an existing ordinance and then you know changes that we're proposing to make. So, this is one where there's already something on the books. We're just proposing to make some changes. Um and we uh put a limit of 50% of the living area of the existing home up to 1100 square feet just kind of based on some proposals that people have come in um you know requesting the um and then the state law doesn't allow us um to have any aesthetic requirements. So, there had been discussion before the law was passed

that we might want to try to say, you know, these detached units need to look like a garage or look like a a carriage house or a barn or something, but um we're not allowed to have any of those kinds of requirements. The next major um housing ordinance proposed is the workforce housing ordinance. So, this is bringing back something that Brentwood had before, bringing us into compliance with the law. And um I think there are some misconceptions about what workforce housing is. It's tied to the median income in Brentwood, you know, in any community. And it sets a maximum purchase price based on um the 100% of the area median income for a family of four. And um the median income in Brentwood is quite high. I think it's up to like $140,000. Um so the current purchase price um if it was set today would be $431,000. So um our job under the law is to provide reasonable and realistic opportunities for workforce housing and and that's what we're trying to do with this. And again, it protects the community by having a law on the books. Um, protects us from being challenged. You'll see when you go to vote. Uh, a couple of other changes. We are proposing to change some business signage rules, um, relative to the size of the building. Um, we've, you know, gotten some feedback again from business owners. We're trying to make it fair, be responsive. um and you know have it be more consistent for businesses along 125 and 27.

And then uh the select board requested two minor changes in the um the building permit process. So you'll see those as well. On um town meeting day, there will be a warrant article to continue to fund our master plan fund. Um this is a really important document that is um you know sets the tone for our ordinances. So it's where we work with the community um to you know come up with collaborative ideas about what we want in the community and we put it down in writing in the master plan. Um but it's also something that we have to have by law if we want ordinances. So, if we want any control over development and if we want to collect impact fees, so when somebody comes and builds something in town, they um they pay some money to the town to help offset some of the expense of new development, we have to have a master plan in order to do those things to have ordinances and collect impact fees. Um, and it has to have certain contents in it and it's supposed to be updated about every five or 10 years. The other thing that um a master plan does is it it's again it's a community document. So it's it's not one person or a small group of people saying this is what we want for the community. It's meant to be again something that reflects what the community wants. So we you know we've gone through a process like for the housing chapter to have you know public input on that. So it used to be that that money was in um the budget every year to do one or two chapters. We were successful the last few years in getting some grant funds too to to um pay for those chapters. Uh but what we decided to do is establish a fund so that we

could update this um holistically all at once in a few years rather than doing it peacemail. Um, and I think, you know, I've I've said I'm willing to um work on parts of the plan, volunt, you know, volunteer my time to do some of that, but some of it we need outside experts, you know, around transportation, um data about the land in our community, things like that. We need um we need some funds to be able to do that. So, we're asking to put um another $8,500 in that fund. And this is just a summary. And um again, we will be in the library uh at 7 o'clock, one week from today, Thursday. And um we'll be talking about these same things, but we'll also all be there if folks want to come in and talk and ask questions. Um we'll be happy to do that. And you can always also contact Mark. He's got the full documents. seek and answer questions. Um, we really want to make sure that going into election day that people have had their questions answered, that uh they understand what we're proposing and why. And uh we, you know, we hope that you have your support. The board I think is, you know, the consensuses were all behind all of these and would like to see them pass. So,

any questions? [clears throat] That's a great summation. uh Kristen of the work that's gone on over the last couple years. A lot of that work was done by yourself and uh or yourself and Glenn Greenwood obviously did a lot to help out Mark being on full-time now contributed much to that as as did the board. Um is this this presentation is such a great summation. Is that something that can go on the planning board website? Uh I will attempt that sir. I I I don't know. Maybe it's not. I've experienced some problems between the website and my computer today. Like it's not recognizing new files that I've put up and I've had to move them around, but I will definitely attempt to do that, sir.

Well, you know, and I I don't know how practical it is, so I'm not obviously demanding that, but uh it might be helpful where it is kind of a summation again. No, you're absolutely right.

You know, and speaking for myself as an older person in town, and of course, we have a wide range of time that people have lived in town. Some people may have lived in town five years, 10 years, or some of us 70 years. Uh, and this these are a lot of changes that are going on the ballot this year, far more than we normally have. And, you know, it can be a bit confusing, but my personal takeaway is that um, you know, we we've need needed we've known we've needed to address housing here in Brentwood for more than a quarter century. Um, and we feel that's that's the premise of us working on this project, having these consultants come in. And in addition to that, obviously, we're faced with some new state laws this year. Um Brentwood like most small towns uh really doesn't appreciate the state coming in and telling us what to do but under the circumstances where we are now the way these ordinances are written uh retains about 50% of the allowances that uh could be achieved if we blanketly adopted the state law and allowed you know double the number of dwelling units which could happen based on soil type. And we also all lot of most of us most of the town through surveys have uh said that the commercial zone is important to Brunwood. So the state law says that you have to allow multif family and housing and your complete commercial zone. But this board's uh uh provisions be put forth uh dictate that 50% of the ground floor area of any building in that commercial zone will remain commercial use. so that we are retaining commercial space to be built out in Brentwood which is important to the tax base and as Kristen said to just the availability of goods you know closer to home. So I'm I'm really hoping as an old-timer that people go to vote and vote affirmatively on uh the whole range of proposals because I think that gives Brentwood the most um control uh that we could

possibly have and uh I think it's just a big step forward. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah. And if I could just add one thing to that, I definitely agree with um um with um so much of what Bruce just said. And I also just want to add to that, and you touched on this, Kristen, but um I've really um been heartened by the process um throughout um you know, this work. Um the the public has been such an exceptional help stepping up to the uh um coming to uh responding to surveys um coming to our hearings and um hopefully they'll continue to come um next week to the library. Um the public engagement has been fantastic. And then in terms of the final products, you know, it was, you know, a really great collaborative effort. Um not all of us got everything we wanted. There was some give and take for sure, but we were able to come together collaboratively and respectfully. [clears throat] And I think that the process and the final product is something that we as a board and the people uh can be very proud of.

Thank you, Doug. First,

okay, Liz Faria, alternate to the planning board. I think this is wonderful and very comprehensive and you've done such great work and the planning board has done great work. I just want to reiterate, especially at the library, the goal is to have people v go out and vote in the affirmative for all these things. And the and the reason for that is that even though you might not agree with everything that's on there, it's so much better than what could have happened if we just let the state take the lead. So, I think we really need to make that sometimes we give more information than people know what to deal do. So, I just want to make sure at the end we say something about it's critically important that you vote for this because it gives the town a little bit of control over what we have to do anyway. So, I just want to reiterate that one more time.

If it's my refrain, [clears throat] if it's okay with the board, I'd just like to do a bit of synopsis of each amendment one by one because I think this is where the voters are going to struggle. They're going to look at this language on the ballot and I think that we should give a good summation of what this language means and how it ties into the presentation. Would that be okay? Ju I'll just say one thing. Um I'm going to try to make a one pager that aligns with this. That'll make it a little bit easier to to see. You want to wait? You can wait.

Um yeah, you want to do that at the at the library? I I just think at one of our meetings before voting, we really should put this up on the screen and break it down for people. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I I think the library will be a really good opportunity to do that, especially if we have like, you know, a big screen and stuff. Um because I definitely agree with you, Mark. I think that like talking about these things, people like what they're hearing, but that this is what they're going to see on the back. This is what they're gonna this is what they're going to see. and it it's uh much less layman's it it's not written

you got to break it down and put it down into layman's terms and I and I think that's where people are going to struggle and if we can do it on the camera and get that message out to people and I can say hey watch this meeting and it breaks down what you're going to see on the ballot and what everything [clears throat] means that that whole yes no check off at the bottom you know is relevant yes yes yes [laughter] I'm not I'm just breaking it down people can can Can you I want that. That's Can you [clears throat] bring sample ballots? Print. Can you print out some sample ballots to bring? They're in your packet. Oh, you want me to do that for the library as well? Yeah. And they are on the Yeah, we can print them because they are on the website.

There was also another point brought up uh that at at the day of elections at election day at the BRC that the plane board should have copies of of I will be there from sun up to sun down. I I don't know if These are going to be printed for like poster size for the library meeting. The um the fact sheets that Resilience made for us. Yes. I'm going to try to print those poster size and have them because I I'm wondering I mean I know there's rules on electioneering quote electioneering unquote.

I've read them in in their entirety and that's why I it's not my job to tell you how to vote. It's my job to give you the information. What I'm what I'm wondering where the requirement is that the uh the form of the ballot questions be there be at the voting place. The poll what's required is the full your microphone sir. Thank you. The full the full text of all the zoning ordinances have to be available at the polling place at the polling place. So as as does a copy of the proposed zoning map. Could that be on an easel if people came in and before they went in to vote they could ask questions out? Yeah. In the in the past, we've usually done it on by way of a table, [clears throat] having a table. So,

I just didn't know, you know, we we had a discussion about what's what's allowed, how close you can be to the polls. Maybe Doug has some information. Well, but if it's if it's, you know, the professional land use administrator sitting there with just the ballot and just answering technical questions, you can do that. That is that okay? That's not actioning. I don't think you can answer technical question. I don't think you can't even do that. No, the state requirement is simply that because we can minimize the cost of the town by just doing topical descriptions of the ordinances on the ballot that the full text of what those questions are has to be available. But you can't talk about it.

I don't believe you're supposed to talk about it, but you can certainly you can have the map should be displayed and there should be a few copies of each ordinance available for people to look at before they go into the ballot. So, it's it's really I'm going to let um Doug speak. It's really important that we communicate with people about these between now and the election. Yeah. Um so, two things. So um so one my my understanding if we want to you know stand outside we can you know like you know candidates do with their signs and things like that. Um but in inside is is a no-go. We we do need to be really careful about that because

if we want the adoption of these ordinances to stand legally we can't have any like any sort of in propri you know I'm picturing like um the booth and Charlie Brown with the you know question. Oh right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't [laughter] outside. Um the the other thing I had was um a a point of order. Not a point of parliamentary order, but actually a point of like agenda order. Um it it feels like we're we're kind of starting planning for the form at the library. So, can we just kind of maybe like merge those agenda items with this because I feel like we're kind of talking about both together. Yes. And so we can just kind of like merge those.

Yep. Um, so when you asked about the what's going to be printed out, the poster size things, I'm I'm trying to do that for the library and then if it's not raining, we can have them outside. Melissa Handlin to the moderator who has no definition of what electioning is, what's allowed, what's not allowed at candidates tonight, but we could ask her how we would legally go about having that information available at the polls. I think we Yeah, I think we have to be x number of feet away. [clears throat] There's a whole another state standard that's that applies to me that I have have to adhere to as a town employee.

As a town employee, yes, they passed a RSA that speci specifically addresses town employees, but this feels like something that we could like maybe [clears throat] just get some additional guidance on. Um, but that I think we have a good idea of what we can and can't do, but we can always get some we have time to get some additional guidance. So again, Glenn, when when it says there'll be available at the polls, does that mean you just have a have the individual ordinances laying on the table in the past? I'm almost positive that's correct. Yeah, that you can have the written stuff. I don't even think necessarily can have Mark there, but just the paper on the table on the table

and just say zoning and people can take them or not as needed. If you have a question, go outside. [laughter] And and and and it does and it does the on the ballot it does say that that um the full text is available at the polling place. So so people can always step out of the booth and say, "Hey, wait a second. I'd like to take a look at that." You know, because some of some of these proposals are short and we've included I've included the the actual but even that is kind of confusing because it can be because it's so legal language. Yeah. You know, it's two sentences from an ordinance that's two and a half pages long. Yeah. You know, so it's it is awkward. So again, for clarification, will there be a table that says planning zoning? Yeah, zoning zoning ordinances or zoning

zoning zoning amendment proposals. Thank you. Ideally, we'll you know get to lots of folks before then so that they have an opportunity to I think that's critical because I think people take especially with this being complicated. I mean it's complicated for us. So I I think that the key is to reach people before voting and say if you don't you know if you need more information I'll be happy to provide it but if you if you want my opinion and my expertise having done this for a year and a half or three years or whatever

you know that that this is what we recommend that you vote for all of them you know whatever because I know I think some people or a lot of people trust you on the boards to do your job and to do your diligence and we've certainly done due diligence on these to to give them the to answer their questions or to or to steer them how to vote. I think a lot of people don't have time to try to you know digest all of this information. Anyway, great job. Thank you for all you've done. I tend to focus on trying to explain things and kind of forget the part that says please vote. Yes, please support these. We support these. Please support them.

All right. Um the library. So, if everybody can come between 6:00 and 6:30 to help get ready. Um, I'll try to print posters. Do you volunteer to pick up snacks? Yeah, I'll take I'll take care of it. So, would you want to see cheese and cracker trays? No, don't do anything that you have to like don't do anything too complicated. It's that's easy. I go down to to Market Basket and I order the [laughter] cracker tray and then I bring it back and take the lid off and get some paper plates like that. I'm I'm suggesting that because it is easy. Okay.

Um I haven't seen Janice uh I've been posting some stuff and kind of looking for is food allowed there. Oh yeah, I think so. I went to a garden thing and they had food. Yeah, I'm just curious. I It's their house and I want to I believe it's only lobster, shrimp and uh Yes. I'll go with you, Mark. We'll get some good good cookies. Okay. Stuff. Maybe some drinks. You want something to drink if you know? Yeah. I did. I mean, we could always get some some chicken. It's gonna be late, so I know. Yeah. Baby bottles of water. The small ones.

Um, an anti water bottle, but um reusable. Everybody can baby water bottles. Thank you. Um Um I can't lug a bubbler in there. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] Okay. Um anything else in the library?

Yeah. I just wanted to pop in on my two cents on on this. Everybody said what I'm going to say, but I just want to say thank you to the board as a team on what an outstanding job they that everyone has really done. Special thanks to Kristen, Mark, and Glenn for going over and beyond above and beyond making everything work, look professional, and um having the residents participate as much as they have. It's been incredible and uh I can't thank you enough. All of you. Thank you for your service, sir. And I am in denial about them leaving. [clears throat] It ain't your service ain't done.

And you will you will be back. You will you will be back. Resilience was resilience. Yeah. They they really responded to us in the way that we asked them to respond. Yeah. Um Yeah, they did a great job. Yeah, they did they did a great job and they and they allowed us to kind of take it from there and not, you know, and they joined us for some very late meetings, too. [laughter] All right. Yeah. They they did a great job. I was very happy. Well, I was always impressed if they didn't have the answer. They went back and Yeah. A specific thank you to um to Steve and Crystal. Um Steve Whitman and Crystal Kid. Um

all right. Um town engineer reviews. So we had um three interviews on Wednesday. Yesterday. [laughter] Wow. That was a long time ago. Um I think Oh, so two Two of our members are not here, but I did get their input.

Um, should we formally bring people on to vote? I I I I was gonna make that motion, but I just wanted to clarify who is uh because we we have Brian, Nate, and Liz, and I just wasn't sure in rotationwise, who like whose turn it is to be seated if we know. And if anybody wants to self- select like if you have or haven't had a chance to review the engineering firms. I have.

You have There were there were books, but everybody got the books to review, right? Yes. Do you have the option review? She might not have been here the night. No, they were handed out. Remember, there were five um pamphlets. You did Okay. You returned. No. So, so, so

yeah. So, so, so what we can do, so I can make a motion um to seat Brian and Nate. And Nate, if if you want to abstain, you're more than welcome to do that. That's totally understandable. I'll second that motion. Um, yeah. So, I'll move that we see Brian West and Nate Seazy. All in favor? I I

Okay. So, um the firms that we interviewed were SFC, um CMA, and M core. Thank you. Oh, that's right there. Um we talked a little bit afterwards about the three firms and some pros and cons and their strengths. I think um I think everybody agreed that they all have really excellent qualities and bring different things to the table. So I think one sentiment is we can't really go wrong, but we want to, you know, pick the one that works the best for us. So um I will open things up if anybody wants to share their thoughts.

Yeah. So, um I I'll I I'm happy to kick things off. First, I I I want want to thank all three applicants. Um the um interviews were really informative. Um and um all of them took the process really seriously and and really um it was was impressed with all of them. Um my uh personal opinion, I think that we should go with um SFC. Um for um for me they checked kind they really kind of checked all the boxes in terms of um being the most cost-effective option. Um their um connect their existing connections to Brentwood and expertise. Um and then sort of the cherry on top for me was really feeling during our conversation that they just have a a a really genuine enthusiasm for working with Brentwood. Um they even followed up with us over email after to you know thank us for the conversation which I just thought was like a little thing that was very you know um nice. Um it just um it just feels like like a a really great fit. Um I'm hopeful that they'll be opportunities down the road maybe to do some one-off projects with some of those um other firms, but I think going forward the best long-term option for Brentwood is SFC.

Thank you, Doug.

Yeah. Well, I would concur with, you know, what Doug said. He said a lot of things, you know, relate well that indicate that SFC would work well with Brentwood. They're more scaled to doing work with towns our size and that seems to be their interest. They're here locally and they provided some professional great advice to Brentwood starting probably 15 to 18 years ago. So, we we know the people. The principles are it's not a large company. So the principles that are would be involved with us have been uh on their team for some number of years. They live in the area. They know the area very approachable and again very professional and u they've had demonstrated the buil ability over the last again 15 years to work on projects involve both the planning board and the fire department. in the past has been certainly been great contention between boards, but they've been able to uh work through the requirements in a very professional manner, bring people together, and we've had great outcomes on every project that they've worked on. So, I highly endorse them as as Doug does and feel that they're the firm best suited for Brentwood at this time.

Thank you, Bruce. Um, yeah, I was I was there yesterday. It was very very informative. I know we we sort of did an offthe cuff uh but in um thinking about it uh further I I I would agree with uh you know the idea of SF maybe a little closer.

Yeah, sure. I I would agree with the idea of uh SFC. Um, and it was an embarrassment of riches. But the reason why I I felt uh or reconsidered if you will uh is because I I think you know there were some points that were uh that were well taken uh that even though I I felt like there was a individually and I don't not necessarily to give names but individ individually just a you know an excellent excellent uh engineer who you know I think would be fantastic to work with um we have to look at this in terms of long-term and uh that um you know individuals move but we're really dealing you know with uh a company so I I you know get that as well. um one of the firms um you know did a lot of um you know municipal work for many different uh towns in New Hampshire and um I think they have a lot of knowledge in that area. I think like Doug had mentioned um you know it's a certainly a firm that we could go to uh for u maybe a specific or a particular uh project but in terms of u you know the fit of you know someone who is local responsive and uh would would work you know for our community Brentwood I think you know the the idea of SFC uh made sense or or make sense after I gave it further thought over the last 24 hours. So I I didn't want to s indicate that because I know we were giving at our work session had given some off-the cuff

you know opinions and I I do like to you know coitate on these things and give them some thought so spending more time on that. Yeah. Oh, go ahead. Go Brian. Sure.

I read the three books and uh I made all my assumptions that day. Um part of it was their local. The second thing is we're very familiar with how they work and we have questions about the others and the price is the best of the whole bank. So I really didn't see much contention. I could go and elaborate on all the things that the other folks have said, but I I agree with everything the three of them have already said, but I didn't just make up my mind now. It was made up the day I read the information. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Brian.

Nate, go ahead. I abain. [laughter] That's cheat. Um, I concur with everything that's been said and I went over it several times. I'd also like to thank Kristen, Mark, and Glenn for putting the interviews together. They were informative and very helpful. Um, what I thought I was going in with initially, I changed my mind, then I changed my mind again, and then I settled on SFC. Um, everybody,

yeah. Yeah, it it was tough though. It was extremely tough. Um uh I'd like to point out one thing. It was mentioned a couple of times that uh in our conversation and this is just a thing in my craw that we're just lay people. Um in retrospect I'd like to bring to everybody's attention our board has an engineer, a doctor and a town planner. Not only that, we have an immense amount of years of combined experience when we have new people coming to the board and um I don't want to short change the board. Everybody adds to our success here and so please don't consider ourselves we people everybody is an intricate part of our of the equation and our team and with new members coming aboard I'd encourage you with the [clears throat] uh new engineers and Liz in your case being an alternate and Brian um and Brett I hope you're feeling are that do not do not feel uncomfortable about asking any of these people, especially Mark, um Glenn and Kristen or any one of the other board members, u something you may not understand because it does take a while, but once you're there and you think you have a grasp on it, um we're able to make decisions like we're making tonight.

Well said. And um I just want to say that you said each of us are an intricate and important part of this board and that includes you and I hope you [laughter] as an alternate um I'll just add a couple kind of specific things that um I thought stood out with SFC. Um, and it all had to do with process and communication and responsiveness that

within a day they would acknowledge that they received an application and they would look at it for completeness and they would communicate with Mark. Um, they would within five business days return comments um or give us a schedule. um inspection reports within 24 hours of a site visit, pre-construction meeting, kind of everything that you know, especially Mark that you asked about in terms of communication and and sharing information. Um I I liked all of their answers. I do agree. You know, everybody everybody's, you know, had strengths and we heard some really great um things yesterday and they have a lot of um qualifications, but um SFC seems to be the best fit for our community. Um and I agree, you know, if there's a project, there might be, you know, another firm that's got depth in the area that we can tap into. Plus, I'd like to mention that they're the only ones, I think, that did a follow-up letter after yesterday and um it just sort of reinforced my thought process of them. I'd like to hear what Mark has to say. I narrowed it down really to two of them. Um, but with my experience with SFC that I have never felt that I was just a number to them. They are always communive. They always uh respond promptly and quickly. They're always professional. Um, the only shortcoming they had is they didn't have a traffic engineer uh on on staff. So I reached out to him right after that meeting and and he promptly responded and really this is

what we do do now. We have a strong working relationship with Venice and Associates. I know I'm going to put Venice Vaness thank you uh incorporated out of Andover Mass and I'm confident that our team will be able to handle many of the reviews in house but if the review rises beyond our staff capabilities we would be easy able to bring them into our team and provide peer review and that's really what we do now is is we use the same outside source to to peer review our uh traffic studies and we don't see a tremendous amount of them. Um, but I I feel that they are eager to I am just as eager to work with them as that they are to work with us.

And I think that's important. And I just didn't get that eagerness from the other candidates to be quite honest. Um, and their their peer review time is half of of the others. And I and I feel that they are going to be the most attentive to the needs of the town of Brentwood and the Brentwood Planning Board. I I think they started out to um one of the first things they said is that we we work on behalf of the town. I had that conversation too with him that like that's their role. You need to show that. Yeah.

Um thank you for following up on that because I know that was one kind of lingering question we had. Um, I did, um, communicate with Steph and Brent. Um, Brent was, um, also liked SFC, his top choice. Steph liked all three. She had good things to say about all three of them. Thought we, you know, can't really go wrong, um, with any of them. So, um, so I I I'm not sure the exact wording of this motion, but I move that we, um, extend an offer to SFC to be our town engineering firm. I I'd like to hear if Glenn has a comment on it.

Yeah, I was going to ask Glenn before we heard the motion if you if you could if you could, sir. Well, well, we can still do the motion to second and still have and still have a conversation. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we'll have to enter into some kind of a contract. We'll have to work out that, but I think we have the basics already done. Yeah. Would we put a date in saying we'd like to engage your services and effective starting on say March 15th? Uh I we know we have a proposal at least one proposal will be here quite soon. There's a hearing on on Monday night. Um, I know you might like to do that sooner, but we will have to Well, March 1st, I mean,

but we need to we need to have a contract in place. We do we do need to have a contract in place. That's always trying to give you a little time. It would be it would [clears throat] maybe be beneficial for us. We we've sent two applications to TEC and they responded that they're really busy and it would be a little while before they got to let's see them. So it would kind of that was my plan. It would be nice for us to get contracted with SFC so we can just simply have them start off with those two applications. Well, what we could do is request that they do that just all the cart [laughter] so they can get started and then we have a little time to actually, you know, get a contract in place.

It's almost a week to the end of the month. They probably would have a contract in place to officially start much. I'm sure that they have a they [clears throat] have sample contract that they use. Do we need to send it to our town attorney to make sure? No, I think we really should, but I'm sure that she would turn it around really quickly if we and I'm happy also. I'm happy. Yeah, we have a lawyer. You within that email from TEC, it said, "How's the search for a town engineer going?" Yeah. So, so, so I'm going to modify my motion. What is that? [laughter] meaning.

So, so um I I I move that we as a planning board authorize the board and by extension Mark and Glenn to enter into negotiations with SFC for both uh for both short-term help and then also a long-term contract. I think that kind of a Yeah, I think that kind of encompasses the whole Yep. Sounds good. Do we have a second? I'll second. Anything else anybody wants to add, discuss? Oh, you didn't weigh in. Please. I thought that I just No, no, please, please.

SFC has worked with us very closely for many years. Um, they and they work very closely with one of my other towns and have for many years and they're always professional. They're always quick to respond and they are really close by. Thank you. I appreciate that. All right. Um, all in favor? I I um as we make this is there are there any abstensions? Oh, abstensions. Sorry. I was um any opposed?

So, it's 61. Um Mark, I know you probably already are thinking this, but um as you make the transition, having like some process like you said, you know, we want a pre-construction meeting and you need to be included and just, you know, kind of giving them all those expectations during our conversation,

right? Yeah. They want the full file. So, they're going to get that financial snapshot to know even if they should schedule that or not. They're what I'm hoping to get is I'll create the folders of Glenn's comments, their comments. They can just put those comments right in that folder. So, that way as soon as they're done with them, they're a available to you. I'm going to work for a process that not only works for us, but also works for them. And I think they're they're more than willing to I'm cur I am very excited about the comment letter process of how they're going to create a spreadsheet.

You won't be able to get them on paper, but I can put them up on the screen. I'll try printing them out. Yeah. But but that's a I bet 90% of the time you'll be able to print that out. It won't but it's a flowing comment letter. You know what I mean? Where where the applicant can respond to it and they can respond. I think it's going to be a much more better and more updated system. I think I but I will set out a certain amount of expectations right off the bat. Sounds good.

Just a just a question just on preserving uh the detail of the inspections that go forward through the review process. So, when it comes time that the project is approved, is there some way we can have all of those inspection reports and and any information relating to the construction of a road in one file? So, ultimately later on down the road, the highway department will be able to come in and find where we have more drainage structure. I already laid that out during the interview process of how I want that information to come into my office. Meaning you do an inspection, you create a report, you you email me that inspection report and I can easily drop that in a file and I can easily print that and put it in a binder. Okay. So at the end of the process of an application,

I will do that as the process goes along. Correct. So if anybody wants to come in and say, "How's that road process going?" I can pull that binder out. I can hand you that binder or I can send you the file in its entirety electronically. Is there a way of having like a bookshelf in there with those files so you have a file on each row? Well, I won't leave the binder on the floor if that's what you're saying. Well, or just just some some place is accessible. We've done this in fits and starts over 20 years. Started different. Some one time we had actual binders. Other times I had folders. But I have those binders. Okay. In a filing cabinet and if you'd like any of them, you may come and view them. Right. Well, just they will be available in my office. Mr. Stephen, that's great

for your review at any time. Well, again, I'm not don't need the additional information myself, but again, the highway department. Yeah. No, 100%. I I've been listening throughout the years and I've got exactly what you're looking for and it will be done. All right. Uh, next item on the agenda. We received a letter from Lori and Cameron Miner 18 Fellows Road about um the construction um in the Riverrun development and I understand Mark that you went out there with who did you go out with?

Yeah. I think first we have to establish the fact that this this board has no authority whatsoever um for enforcement of any of the claims within the letter but to clarify we could make recommendations potentially.

Yeah. So and I just want to get that out in the beginning. So what I did was I scheduled a meeting with Joe Fzone and John Levivier with in in conjunction with our code enforcement and building inspector and we went out to Riverrun and had a conversation with them to address and I also sent them this letter uh to address it u in the future and do you we can go through it piece by piece if you want. Um well everybody right

the the okay uh the home the home shaking part so on site at the moment there's no compactors running there's no vibratory compactors running so what I think is being happening here is that an excavator is walking on frozen ground to the next seller hole or the next site for digging in the morning. That's why they I that's what we've come up with. So, what John is going to do, he's going to talk to his excavator operator and if he doesn't have to move the excavator or he can leave it in place for the next morning, he's going to do that. Okay. Uh just a way of addressing that particular comment. Um and that's the only thing we can figure that's going on there. But he'll if he can, he's starting at the legal time, but he said if they can avoid moving that excavator, they're going to try to not move it. Good neighbors. [clears throat] Okay. So, the the debris now, Miss Miner did call my office once this fall. I believe it was the fall. I can get you an exact date on that. and said there was some debris within the setback within the buffer area and in her backyard. So I did call Joe and Joe said he'd take care of it. Contacted John the Rivier and a crew went out there and cleaned up some minor stuff. So what they did pull out of there was stuff that wasn't even theirs. There was a lot of trash in that area that didn't even belong to them. Was obviously old, but they cleaned it up anyway and they did a good job cleaning it up. Uh due to the weather at the moment, obviously you can't really trudge through a couple feet of snow to go out and see if there's anything there. But in the spring, he assured me that everything will be cleaned up um and taken care of.

He being Joe Fzon. Uh John Larivier. Okay. He's the John Larivier really is the guy in charge of the site. Okay. He's the construction manager. Yes. He's the owner. He's a he's the ma manager of that project. Um and did you talk about the dust in the summer? Can they do something about that? All dust controls are in place um by code and they will try to keep an eye on that in the spring. Obviously, it's winter. There really isn't any dust right now. Everything is frozen. um

permanent natural. So they requested a site visit which you did.

Yes. So the tree request they politely declined. They are under no obligation to do anything that's not within the site plan. Um I know when when you cut a forest back and what is left on that line hasn't seen sunlight yet. So once the sun starts getting into that cut area that quickly will grow up. You will quick very quickly those trees will mature start to grow up start to fan out and that will happen I know in a couple years. Um, but they they don't feel that they would like to plant any trees on that buffalo. Which section is this? Is it the little Is it that first?

I can show you. Didn't have a lot of I mean I stood coverage. I stood the last face up on top of the hill. Oh, okay. And so I was there that day and it was clear that there was a 100 foot vegetated buffer between the cluster senior project and the owners property owners that were make offering the complaint.

What it appeared to be that there there was 100 feet of woodland on the property of River Run and then as you went toward the the complaintants property line they had cut down all the trees right up to their property. So, it's 100 feet of woods, but the 100 feet of woods that's in place is owned by the Riverrun uh homeowners association at some point, presently owned by Joe Pelzone and Mr. Leer. In question is is right here. This is where they've completed so far. This circle is um binder coat and this is the residents in question. So, it's a distance and they are building a home right here. They're building one right here,

but there's woods behind there. I I they have cut this back. I I believe they cut it back to right about the line. I mean, I'd have to actually step on in their buffer to actually me measure that out. When you say they river run,

yeah, the development itself. Yeah. But this tree edge right here, it will grow up and it will mature because it was cut back to this line. I mean, they've done some other cut cutting in the area to remove trees of dangerous nature. Some bullpines. You can't leave a bullpine really on the edge of a cut because it hasn't hit the wind hasn't hit it in that nature before. And if you know anything about bullpines, if they if they aren't exposed to the weather and winds, their roots don't reach out and m grab onto the soil to hold themselves up. They're kind of in a mat and they easily get blown over. So ones on the edge of cuts have been taken out. Uh trees that are dangerous, rotten, not in good health have been taken out, which is really common practice for decent forestry.

The homeowners association down the road will be important for it would be their requirement or be on them to take out disease trees in the future. Yeah. I mean, they have every there's nothing stopping anyone in this development of Fellow's Road to put a natural buffer in themselves if if they would like to endure the cost of putting those trees in that they can. Was Wasn't that a cluster development as well? The Fellow's Way. Yeah. Okay. That's what confused me because they were required to have a 100 foot vision. That's that's why that you see that's what I'm confused about is that that

Yeah. It seems like they cut a lot of their It looks like they cut a lot of their buffer. Joe's buffer river run buffer is still there in its entirety they're 100 feet but the other development seems to cut away a lot of their buffer I'm not suggesting we do anything about it there is a 100 foot buffer right here of ve of vegetation but that's can I see the house yes I can winter all the leaves are gone it's a again the vegetative buffer where everybody's at vacation vegetated buffer you see when you go up there is on the property the river run yeah so um I think have hit the highlights there if anybody wants to ask a question. I may

was the uh homeowners there. No, we'll need to draft a letter to respond. No, that letter should come from the code enforcement officer. We are not the the this letter was addressed to the planning board. We we as a board we've read it uh acknowledged it. It needs to be addressed with code enforcement. If any other further action, but sending a letter to us, we don't Can you just Did you Did you acknowledge receipt? I can check in my email. Can you just respond and say we received your letter? Thank you. And it's been forwarded to and yeah and you've engaged. We addressed it at our meeting at this meeting.

That'd be great. Yep. I can definitely do that. So, and further questions go to the code enforcement. Code enforcement. Yeah. So would there be any anyone to follow up on the fact that on not on Joe's side but the other side where they cut the trees down that they should restore some of that is that that was supposed to be permanent. No touch uncut maintain a natural vegetative buffer. It it looked natural to me. I didn't trudge around in it and look as a board. I I really think we should just

My suggestion is not not to proceed further at this point and it would be up to the homeowner. Well, I guess the homeowners probably won't complain to the slightment about something they did, but I I wouldn't I wouldn't uh request that we take any further action at this time. No. Okay. Um but I I do want to thank Mark for your hard work and diligence on this. Yeah. No problem at Is there anything I need to do with as the code enforcement officer? As a as a select board representative, I would urge you to follow up with Chuck and um talk maybe talk to the select board um and see if they want to take any action because it does fall in the purview of the code enforcement. But before I went to the board, I would talk with Chuck,

right? I I just didn't know if Chuck was already naturally in the process or I'd need to speak with him and give him a a nudge motivation. Yeah. Okay. Uh he was there at that meeting. Okay. Was attentive and participated. I'm sure he was. Yeah. No. And I didn't follow up with him quite yet. We've been working on a few other things and I wanted to bring it here as the letter wanted it to be and then we can move forward with that. I'll speak with Chuck. Awesome. All right. Uh contract signed. Mark has it.

Um I will move that we approve the uh February 5th uh 2026 me meeting minutes. Second. Any changes or questions? All in favor? I extensions. Okay. Any other business? Um Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I I just have a consent agenda. Okay. To sign. Yeah. Yeah, let's do that first. We can pass that around and then you Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Totally.

Um I just wanted to um provide two updates. Uh one RPC and then one legislative. Um so um the House uh Transportation Committee um heard Representative Lichfield's bill um regarding the speed limit on Route 125. The committee has not voted on it yet. Um so I will keep everybody posted on that. Um I had the opportunity to go uh and testify uh present our letter. Um speak with Melissa this morning. She tried to get in touch with me, but I haven't been able because Do you have an update that I don't have because I I I haven't been able to connect with her yet. Oh,

okay. Yeah. Um, apparently it went down. Oh, it did go down. Okay. Well, okay. So, so that that changes my update a little bit, but I I want to thank [clears throat]

down. [laughter] Uh so but I I do want to thank Representative Lichfield for her efforts. Um my other update um concerns um uh RPC. So we did have an RPC meeting uh last week. Um we um approved um the highway safety improvement plan for this coming year as well as the public transit um safety uh plan. Um so the way that these typically work is that you know we have our aspirational long-term goals. Of course, we want no fatalities and accidents and things of that nature. Um, but the way that these plans are structured, um, they, you know, will have like, you know, goals for the next year based on, uh, you know, they have different algorithms and calculations that they use, uh, based on what they think is realistic for the the goals for for the next year. Um, I voted in favor of the highway safety improvement plan. Um I did vote against the public um transit um safety improvement plan. 99% of it was absolutely fine. Um my problem with it was so there was one section that deals with assaults against transit workers which unfortunately is a growing problem.

Um and um I fully respect the fact that they want to make goals for the following year that are realistic based on what they think they can accomplish. Um, my problem with it though is that there were 21 assaults on transit workers this year and their goal for next year is 20. And I I just like I said, the rest of the document was fine, but I was not comfortable voting for that. Um, so I did vote no, but it did pass. Um, and so those are my updates.

I'm just kind of interested in how the uh as far as the speed of 125 goes. Now, full disclosure, I was heading westbound from the 11125 intersection Kingston last week and I didn't get a ticket but I got the blue lights flashed at me just south of just west of that intersection there's a 35 mph speed limit so doesn't the state department of transportation have aren't they authorized to set speed limits according to some standard some so so this came up at the hearing that they they they also have like like certain calculations that they do it often has to do with the code with

um and and things of that nature. Um what the part of the problem with with the Brentwood section of 125 and this is something that that Melissa, Representative Lichfield and I both brought up at the hearing. Uh obviously it wasn't persuasive enough, but um when you approach north and middle, it goes down to 45. And that is because of the DOT I I believe if I'm not mistaken that is because of the DOT standard where if you if you are approaching uh a stoplight the uh the terrain.

So um that was part of our argument is that like hey we should have uniformity here because it's genuinely confusing sometimes what parts are 55 and what parts are 45. Um and so that was part of our uh part of our argument as well. Um, but so I I'm I'm not shocked by that outcome based on the the the conversation that the committee had. I was, you know, trying [clears throat] to stay cautiously optimistic as I always do. But um the general attitude of the committee um was that um that it is an enforcement issue rather than a speed limit issue. Um the the gen the sort of the general attitude was that. Yeah, basically just that that that they didn't see the speed limit as much of an issue as enforcement. I I don't really agree with that argument, but that was kind of the the the tenor of the of how the committee was going.

Wasn't it more like a punt really that they didn't want to touch something that they felt was within DOT per purview?

That was definitely part of it, too. Yeah, for sure. So when this when this came up um a couple years ago when there was the community meeting about the South Road intersection in particular um one of the issues was that the state law said you know you can have 55 35 or 25 and there was no specific thing in the law for 45. So they actually changed the law. the the commissioner who came to that meeting advocated for changing the law to add a 45 category for rural highways. So that was supposed to make it easier for them to change the speed limit on 125 DOT your speed.

Well, I mean at the time it was, you know, town administrator, the police chief, DOT, we can't we can't change it. It would have to be the recommendation came from Janet Stevens, correct?

Yeah. And she was involved. So they they can they don't just have to follow the the guidelines. They can listen to community input. So I think I think we were on a good trajectory and then there was a bunch of change and other things going on and it just sort of lost steam. So I think we should I don't know select board or somebody make another run at it with DOT and Janet Stevenson and whoever else. Um, and at least try to get them to drop it by South Road, by that intersection.

You You'd have to put up a blinking light. I think the decision was the absolute correct one to just leave it at 55. I'm not confused. There's a light. There's a sign. It says 45. I constantly question why people want to punish people who actually do the speed limit. If you're going to punish people, the claim is that people are doing 7075 on 125. They're the ones that should get a ticket, not the people who actually do the speed limit and pay attention. And

I I think I've the same way, but why couldn't the town of Brentwood say to our police department, we feel in this particular section of roadway speeds are are not are dangerous. Don't change the speed limit, but just enforce it. It really, if you look at the situation, it's a state road. It should be patrolled by the state of police. If there are not enough state of state policemen to patrol it, maybe our legislators should do something about that instead of trying to remove speed is going to be you [clears throat] don't have the manpower. I mean,

and it's also court. If someone takes you to court and gets a ticket on that road and goes, "Look, the speed limit in downtown Eping is 45. They made this 45 and this looks nothing like downtown Eping. You need to have legal backing to to justify that speed and someone's going to take that to court and the state has also allows a town to declare an area a business zone and drop it to 35.

Well, I think towns get it wrong all the time. I don't think the speed limit on my road should be 25. It's a rural residential zone and and the state of New Hampshire says the speed limit should be 35. But the DOT report, Mark, specifically said that um lower speeds on that roadway would uh be an improvement in terms of uh safety. So, but one hand doesn't know what the other hand's doing. So, you're saying DOT says that the speed limit should be different, but they don't do anything about it. Right. Well, that's what I'm saying is I think I think we need to ask again because I think the ball just got dropped.

Yeah. So, you know, my it was a quick conversation because I was on my way to a mediation this morning with um Melissa, but I think the idea was that we needed to um get back together and formulate a new plan, which I think was I can send you what I sent to the police chief and Janet Stevenson before that probably should go to division six, but I think we need to regroup is is really the Yeah. Yeah. rather than rather than necessarily going around around tonight because group and yeah we don't you know this board has done a lot of work no

we are proposing um a lot of ordinance changes we hired a new engineer we do not need to come to consensus on this particular issue anything else

one more thing just an RPC update I did make the introduction with uh Dave Walker are with Brett. Um, they're familiar with each other. I want to follow up with the planning board, select board to make sure that the uh note or letter is submitted for Brett's name to be the representative. Um, because it just connects him with the emails that much quicker. Thank you. Uh, any public comments? [laughter] No. Um, do we have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Not tonight. [laughter]

Second. All in favor? I I please turn up.