Master Plan Envision Newbury 2027 Public Hearing

Planning Board

Master Plan Envision Newbury 2027 Public Hearing

June 29, 2017

Approved December 19, 2017

Planning Board Members: Bruce Healey, Chair; Dean Geddes, Vice-Chair; Bill Weiler, Mike Beaton, Members; Russell Smith, Ex-officio Member.

Master Plan Committee Members:  Tom Vannatta, Pat Sherman, David Blohm, Dan Wolf, Katheryn Holmes, Bob Caia

Resilience Planning & Design: Steve Whitman, Karen Fitzgerald

Mr. Healey opened the public hearing at 7:01 p.m.

Mr. Healey read into the record the following Public Notice: Notice is hereby given that the Newbury Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Newbury Town Offices at 937 Route 103, Newbury, NH to review and discuss the following: Adoption of the 2017 Master Plan Update.  A hard copy of the Draft 2017 Master Plan entitled: Envision Newbury 2027 is available for public review at the Newbury Town Office building and the Newbury Public Library during regular business hours and available for review on the town website at www.newburynh.org.    

Mr. Healey thanked everyone in attendance and reviewed the process used to develop and draft the Master Plan Update. He introduced the members of the Planning Board and the Master Plan sub-committee. He noted that the updating efforts began in 2014 and that all sub-committee members volunteered their time during the past 2 ½ years. Mr. Healey used a Power Point presentation to illustrate the Update research, development, and drafting timeline.

Steve Whitman and Karen Fitzgerald reviewed their approach to gather the necessary data and public input for the Update. They noted that multiple methods were used to reach out to the public, including surveys, newsletter articles, informational visioning sessions, and social media.

Each component of the Master Plan Update document was reviewed and discussed along with a presentation of the proposed Summary document.

There was general discussion regarding the impact of the seasonal residency of the town, how to balance the town’s existing resources in the face of future demographic trends, the challenges of the limited public transportation options in the area, and the concerns regarding the uneven telecommunication services currently in Newbury.

There was further discussion regarding the maps included in the land use section of the Plan, and suggestions to expand the historical section to include information on the original four villages in the area.

The Action Plan was reviewed and Mr. Whitman noted that the items contained therein reflected the input from the public during the face-to-face meetings and informational sessions.

There was discussion regarding strengthening the Action Item oversight and reporting on progress.

Mr. Healey noted that the full Master Plan and Summary will be on the town website and also available in printed form. There are hyperlinks throughout the online document which makes the reading experience very interactive.

Mr. Healey opened the hearing to the Public for comments: 

Gerry Gold:

-Overall, a handsome and very useful and very readable document.

-I hope the Board can include in the Appendix the trail map mentioned in the text.

-pg. 8 above photo:  adoption date probably waiting for tonight's meeting.

-pg. 17 & 19: mid-paragraph:   depends of your editorial style whether to put the terminal “before or after the period (.).

-pg. 17 find "empty-nesters."  Which reads...... 'empty-nesters’, rather than: ...."empty-nesters," .... (& uses apostrophes rather than quote marks).
- pg. 19 mid-para above photo: income limits for defining “Affordable Housing”. Or (better): ..... income limits for defining "Affordable Housing." (putting period inside the quote mark)
-pg. 27: The word-cloud of Newbury feature words has "Fisherfield" rather than the famously misspelled "Fishersfield."

-pg. 33: Trail map not in Appendix:  even though pg. 33 says look to Appendix to find the trail map:

-The official recreation areas and hiking trails located in Newbury (as shown on the maps in the Appendix) illustrate these tremendous resources."
-pg. 36: Now reads above ski map:   "Maps showing the snowmobile Rte.s are available at the local stores and  ......." . Better:  "Maps showing the snowmobile routes are available at local stores and  ......."
-Perhaps I failed to see where credit is given. If not there already, then credit should be acknowledged for professional assistance from Steve Whitman (name of firm) & Karen Fitzgerald (name of firm).  And to Meg Whittemore, who surely did substantial work for the Committee.

-pg. 48, 2nd para.  Reads better if the first word, "As," is removed. Current sentence appears to be an introductory clause not completed with a main subject. Removing the "As" makes "Residents" the subject of the sentence.

-Note that all trails in Newbury are new trails and critical parts of the trails are on private lands.

-I've often thought of Ring Brook as an excellent site for a hiking trail linking Audubon properties with South Newbury. Let's hold that thought for the next Master Plan!

Steve Whitman:

-It was pointed out that on page 36 at the end of the trails section we say - “A composite map of trail resources was compiled for this Master Plan and is included in the Appendix.” This should be removed as I do not think we have one.
-The hyperlinks in the PDF are not working as they should.

-pg. 10 last paragraph – add an “s” to act (not sure it needs it)
 

Bill Weiler

I am concerned by and about Action # BR-5. To my knowledge, the Lake Todd Village District was not contacted about any watershed study and the commissioners did not agree to be the responsible party. I am sure the Town of Bradford would have little interest in this since less than 5% of the watershed is in Bradford. The District does not have the resources considering that they are having difficulty staffing their elected offices. Maybe the Conservation Commission should volunteer to be the responsible party. I see a problem being carried over from the last master plan. The writers of the plan put in all sorts of things for others to implement, but they did not get any commitments from the responsible parties beforehand. I think that in the future, the responsible parties should sign an agreement to be responsible, no matter how watered down.

Sue Russell

-Correction to the list of Conserved Lands in Newbury:

• Mt. Sunapee State Park-should be 2,787 acres

• Pillsbury State Park should be listed as Pillsbury-Sunapee Highlands Conservation Easement – 400 acres

Nancy Marashio:

-Document is put together very well.

-Suggests including information on Governance.
-Add a sentence on the form of government – Select Board and Town Meeting
-Add a sentence on the town/state relationship to the regional context chapter. She points     out that the relationship has statutory responsibility. Including this might give the town some leverage when dealing with state agencies. (Town Counsel agreed.)

-Re the historical text: There were four villages, originally. Newbury, South Newbury, Blodgett and Mt. Sunapee. Suggests listing all four.
 

Ken Tentarelli

-Re Action Plan: not specific enough. Suggests a timeline to indicate due date of each Item.

-Besides tracking in the Town Report the progress of the Action Plan items, should also track progress throughout the year online.

Ivor Freeman

-Action Plan language is not specific enough and should be date specific and “set in stone”.

There being no further comments from the public, Mr. Healey closed the public portion of the hearing.

Mr. Healey called for a break at 8:09 p.m.

The meeting resumed at 8:14 p.m.

Mr. Gold commented on the need to include more information on Lake Todd. He also noted that all the hiking trails in Newbury are new and that many of the trails’ critical parts are on private land. He suggested that the town talk with the land owners to make the trails protected by conservation easements.

The Board went into deliberations.

There was Board consensus to allow two weeks for public comment to be submitted regarding the Master Plan Update and Summary documents. Mr. Healey stated that A Notice will be posted regarding same at the Town Office, the Public Library and on the town website. The Board agreed to wait until the July 18, 2017 meeting before moving the Update and Summary to a vote.

Mr. Smith made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Geddes seconded the motion. All in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Whittemore

Recording Secretary