MEETING MINUTES OF THE

BURNS COMMITTEE

February 18, 2004

Town Hall 6:00 PM

 

Members in attendance:

Dana Farley (Village Resident), Chair                 Moe Harvey (Citizen at large)   

Jessie Bradley (Recreation Committee)              John Owen (Affordable Housing Committee)     

Charles Russell (Selectboard)                             Jack Clemmons (Economic Development Committee)

 

Members absent:      

Dee Pierce (Conservation Commission)                         

Al Moraska (Planning Commission)                                           

One seat vacant

 

Others present:

Nancy Sabin

Dean Bloch, Town Planner

                                   

The meeting convened at 6:00 PM.

 

Minutes

The minutes from January 14th were approved.

 

Update of Septic Rights on West Side of Greenbush Road

Dean indicated that the Purchase and Sales Contract for Lot 3 of the Charlotte Land Trust subdivision (signed by James Dickerson) indicates that septic capacity on the Lantern Visions lot can be used by the Town.  He is going to ask the Town Attorney to draft a pledge agreement as provided for in the contract.

 

Planning/Feasibility Contracts

There was discussion about issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Planner/Facilitator/Designer.  It was decided that an RFP would be issued.  Dana and Dean will work on it and distribute it. 

 

Dana and Dean will also finalize and distribute the septic RFP, and include topographic surveying and wetland delineation.

 

Designating Neighborhood Planning Districts

There will be a Kick-off meeting for Neighborhood Districts at the next meeting.  Dana put an article in the Charlotte News.

 

The meeting will include an explanation of “design statements,” designation of neighborhoods districts, choosing neighborhood leader, and developing a mailing list.  An invitational letter will be distributed.

 

There was discussion about the best way to divide the village, eg: into quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE) or along roads (north Greenbush, east Ferry, south Greenbush, west Ferry).  No decision was reached.

 

Meeting Organized by Jack Clemmons

Jack described the meeting that he organized.  There was a good turnout.  Some of the neighbors had not met each other previously, so this was a good opportunity to get acquainted.

 

Some people said they don’t want things to change.  Jack said that , even so, you still need to plan.  There was discussion about how much things have changed since he first moved to Charlotte, when the north part of Greenbush Road consisted of seven farms.

 

There was discussion of the following issues:  open land, new housing, cluster/sprawl, affordable housing, water and sewer capacity, the use of water by Horsford’s Nursery, the pond near Nancy Sabin’s property, traffic, sidewalk/pedestrian paths, alternate routes/roads.

 

The meeting was a good chance to give people a chance to discuss the issues affecting their neighborhood.  This will be followed up with the formal “Kick-off” meeting at the Town Hall.

 

Rezoning of Burns Property

The potential for rezoning the Burns property was discussed, since currently some of the parcel (to the west) is in the Rural District, and the portion of the east is in the Commercial District.  This was discussed with Brian Shupe at the last meeting.  He had said that he felt that rezoning would need to be done concurrently with or following an amendment to the Town Plan.  This hasn’t been discussed by the Planning Commission.

 

Composition of Committee

It was discussed that the representative from the Conservation Commission (Dee Pierce) has not been attending, and that one of the representatives from the Planning Commission (Jim Donovan) has resigned.  The Conservation Commission is currently looking for new members, so it was felt that the replacement of Dee should wait until the new members are on board.  With regard to replacing Jim, the Selectboard has advertised for another “at-large” member instead of Planning Commissioner.  They received two responses:  Chris McGee and Karen Frost.  Jane Michaud has expressed interest, but has not submitted a letter.

 

Next Meeting

The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday March 10th at 7:00 PM.   The agenda is the kick-off meeting for the creation of neighborhood planning districts.

 

Action items:

C         Dean and Dana to refine Request for Proposals (RFPs) for septic analysis/wetland delineation/topographic survey and for facilitator/planner/designer and distribute.

C         Plan Neighborhood Kick-off Meeting.

 

The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Dean Bloch