Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes

Standish Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

March 06, 2017

The meeting of the Standish Planning Board was called to order by Chairman Brian Libby at 7:00pm. Present were Betty Thompson, Carol Billington, Jolene Whittemore, Cindy Beckwith and Town Planner Bud Benson. Absent were Adam Higgins, Mike Willette and Jackie Dyer, Secretary to the Planning Board.

Approval of Meeting Minutes from February 06, 2017

The first item on the agenda was the approval of the meeting minutes from February 06, 2017.  Mrs. Billington made a motion seconded by Mrs. Beckwith to approve the minutes. All in favor.

Old Business:

Shaw Earthworks, Inc., 333 Pequawket Trail, Map 5, Lot 70-Site Plan Application for Gravel Pit Expansion

Brian Shaw was present to represent himself along with his brother Brad Shaw. He said they are on their third revision of plans now and have been in to talk with Mr. Benson. He said Mr. Benson has told them that the most important thing right now is the ground water table. He said they agree and they have a variance from DEP that was transferred over from when Rodney Boyington owned the pit. He said he is aware that Mr. Boyington didn’t do any ground water study on the pit. He said there is no record of it and it was a condition of approval previously. He said they would have to have the study to get approved and it would also be a condition of approval. He said that is how he thinks DEP has the same understanding of it also.

He said they are asking for the Town to grant the condition of approval and start the monitoring on April 1st along with following the State of Maine’s guidelines. Mr. Shaw said they had talked with Bud about using the access road they have now. He said the road goes to the pit now and the access road drains so it’s internally draining. He said they want to bring the road out to the new part of the pit, but have it all drain in the same place as to where the road does now and be able to avoid any substantial water runoff.

He said the road they have in the pit now is internally draining and he is not an engineer so he is not sure of everything. He showed where the other part of the pit is and how it would be draining back into a pond. He said they have built up some of the berm to around four feet all the way around as there was a chance before that water could run out of the pit. He said they have ponds that will collect the biggest part of the run off. He said the floor of the pit does have contours in it.

He said they would be ready for any big storms that would cause emergency spill ways. He said they have also talked about where the new road will be. He said they have moved the road location and also have increased the culvert size to accommodate the larger flow of water. He said they are not a big company and opening up a piece of land like this happens slowly over time. He said they try to stabilize things as they go along and do things right. He said when they do the next piece, they will have the pond dug out and open for water. He said this will be done before they cut any trees or do anything else. He said they like to keep material enough out in the front to go them all year as they are working on other parts of the pit.

Mr. Libby asked for comments from the public or the Board. Mr. Benson said they are working with them and the shore land zoning out there is not correct. He said the wetlands out there are forested woodlands, not freshwater woodlands. He said there is one place by the culvert on Route 113 that might be a freshwater wetland and this issue still needs to be resolved. They will get with Mike More from DEP and see if they can resolve this. Mr. Libby asked if the Board wanted a site walk before the next meeting. Mrs. Billington asked if they needed a workshop and a site walk. Mr. Benson said the application is moving along well and looks like it’s headed in a clearer direction. He said the real issue is getting the water study done on the first pit and seeing where the water table is. A site walk will be done on April 3rd before the meeting at 5:30pm.

Mrs. Billington asked if it is all forested there and Mr. Shaw told her no. Mr. Benson said it is a unique site with a brook running through it about 4 feet wide. He said they need to look at the rear of the pit also and the water shedding going on. Mr. Shaw said they have some mud out there but not much.

Town of Standish, Standish Memorial Park, 670 Ossipee Trail West, Map 5, Lot 23- Site Plan Application

Mrs. Thompson said she is one of the heirs of this property and would recuse herself. Mrs. Billington made a motion to allow Mrs. Thompson to recuse herself from this application and this was seconded by Mrs. Beckwith. All in favor.

Andy Morrill was present to represent the Town. He said they had a site walk earlier tonight and he wanted to update the Board. He said the plans have not changed since the Board last saw them and they have discussed several items with Bud and at the site walk. He said there are a couple of items they are going to change. He said on the easterly side of the parking lot of Memorial Field and the proposed parking lot they had a vegetative site.  He said they are going to reslope that parking are so that the access roads will be more flat and easier for people to walk on and watch activities from. He said on the smaller parking lot off Diamond Lane they are going to relocate it a bit further away so they have a bigger area for spectator viewing.

He said on the parking lot closer to Rt.25, both accesses are not needed and they would like to eliminate the northern access. He said they have been trying to contact DEP about permitting they might need and he has a meeting with them next week. Andy said after this permitting they would be back to the Board once again with what they found out and what they need. He said he would be happy to answer any questions the Board has. Mr. Libby asked for comments from the public.

Kate Watters spoke and said as a resident she thinks this will be a wonderful facility for sporting and other events. She said her concern up there is the darkness and she feels the parking lot areas should be well lit for any events. She said she is an abutter and the property line has not yet been determined, but feels they will meet with the Town Manager and Mr. Benson in the next couple of weeks. She said they are in agreement to a meeting and also they are requesting the Town put some kind of berm or fence along their property for privacy and also people park along roadways, especially their property. They have a concern about trespassing and they have concerns about people coming onto their property, maybe a kid that wanted to smoke or something and the potential for a fire starting.

She said a fence would prevent people coming onto their property or wandering away from the park area. She said that when she has attended tournaments for kids, they are back to back and there is a lot of traffic. She asked if there is enough parking to accommodate a situation like this and she is concerned about people going in and out. She said that she would like to see lighting and she doesn’t see that on the plan at all. She said she would like to see this application go to workshop so they could talk some of these things out.

Mrs. Billington said she would like to see things also that are not on the plan and she feels that everything that needs to be there isn’t. She said she felt a workshop would be a good idea. Mrs. Billington asked about the recreation director (Jen DeRice) coming to a workshop when they have it. Should they have the workshop before they met with DEP or after? Andy Morrill said they would be meeting with DEP in a week and should have an answer before the workshop. A workshop will be held on March 20, 2017 at 7:00pm. Mr. Libby said he would contact the rec director (Jen DeRice) and see if she can attend this.

There was no other business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:27pm.