001Hello, and welcome to the Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 meeting of the Litchfield and Hampshire Planning Board. Will everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> So, we'll start with the roll call of members present. Jared is Ronald, vice chair. Letha Riley, member. Steve Gannon, selectman's rep. Russell Blanchette, member. Jesse Know, alternate. Travis Tucker, member. Okay, we also have Joan, our Planning Board administrator. Um So, um we have an alternate, and we have 1 2 only five voting members today. So, um I Jesse, would you like to participate in voting today? Yes, I do. Uh perfect. Um so, you'll be a
002voting member today. Um Public input on non-agenda items. Does any member of the public wish to comment on items that are not on our agenda? Seeing none, we can move on to item one of the agenda, which is Finnegan Fence application for an exterior wall-mounted sign at 457 Charles Bancroft Highway, tax map 20, lot 18-1. The sign will be internally illuminated. Measurement is 24 in overall height. Area is 54.8 square feet, 35% of the building length. Owner is 457 Charles Bancroft Highway LLC. Uh it has been re-notified due to the meeting uh cancellation. Okay, is the uh member or applicant present? Yes. Would you like to uh speak about your application? Absolutely. Well, good I'm going to say evening at this point, everyone. My name is Jason Gagdon. Um with Sousa Signs here on behalf
003of Finnegan Fence. We are here before you to see if we can have a um externally illuminated with halo illumination wall sign approved for the design. This is a second rendition, if you will. We had gone back in front of the ZBA board for a slightly larger sign, and that was uh ultimately denied. So, this is kind of the scaled-down version, if you will. It meets all of the sign aspects as far as criteria for the linear length of the building, as well as the square footage. So, exterior wall sign is going to be, like I said, it's a internally illuminated, so it's going to be a front-lit, which means the acrylic lens will have light shine through, but it will also have the aspect of the halo illumination, which casts light out the back
004of the sign onto the building as a like a halo or drop shadow. So, I mean, very simple sign, but if there's any questions, please ask away. Okay, thank you. So, um this is >> from Jay. You have that on the portal, right? Yeah, so this is something that has to be accepted is accepted and um approved. Yes. Okay. Um So, based on the comments on from Jay, uh everything is present are all the fees and all that stuff? >> paid, and abutters have been re-noticed. Okay, sounds good. So, um I'd like to entertain a motion to accept the um application, which is not approving, it's just accepting it for completeness. So moved. Do you have a second? Okay, we have an approval and a second. Uh any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor
005of accepting the application, please signify by saying I. I. Those opposed, abstain. Motion passes 1 2 3 6 0 0. And uh next uh This is pretty straightforward. So, >> Are there comments? Um have we gotten any uh comments online? No, not online or or um no written comments, but there are abutters here for whichever sign. Is there anyone that like to comment before we uh open this up to public for comment? No. Okay. Uh would any members of the public like to comment on the application? Okay, seeing none. Uh any further discussion uh by the board? As long as Jay's okay with it. Yeah, I can read uh Jay's uh letter, since that might be uh helpful for those here. Uh I have reviewed the application for the the sign. Uh height would be
00630 uh 23 and 1/2 um inches, which is below the maximum height of 2 feet. Um and the proposed length of the sign is 28 feet, which equals 35% of the length of the building. Therefore, the proposed proposed sign meets the requirements of the section 1503.01B of the zoning ordinance. So, uh looks like it uh follows all zoning. So, um any further discussion? I just want curiosity's The sign be lit 24 hours a day, or is it going to be, you know, scaled back at night? What's What's the overall plan? I know we do have some abutters that are here. They're not speaking up, so I assume they're in favor of it. They do not have an issue. It's just for my own Yeah, no, very good question. Uh we usually don't recommend signs to
007be illuminated 24 hours a day. Um with the monument sign, I believe that thing is on a time clock. So, the same system would probably be applied for the wall sign. So, it would be on, you know, from dusk to uh more or less not I'm assuming I don't know what time it's off at now, but I would assume probably 10:00, 11:00, or so. Okay. So, it would not be illuminated at all night long. It'll occur at a certain time of night. That's our recommendation and the intent, correct. Okay, and yeah, I think it would probably make sense for it to match um Yeah. Thank you, sir. Is it going to be matching the hours of the business, or just whenever it makes sense for the Okay. And what's your uh name uh for uh
008for the uh minutes? Thank you. Um And any further last section? Okay. Uh in in in that case, would someone like to make a motion to uh approve the application? Uh Mr. Vice Chair, I will make a motion that we approve the Finnegan Fence application for an exterior wall-mounted sign at 457 Charles Bancroft Highway, tax map 20, lot 18-1, uh with an internal illumination and the dimensions as specified. Okay, thank you. We have a motion. Any second? Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor of the motion to approve the um sign application, uh please signify by saying I. I. Okay, anyone opposed or abstained? Motion passes uh 6 0 0. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Enjoy your evening. Thank you. So, uh next
009on the agenda, we have another sign. Um so, an application for a sign at 461 Charles Bancroft Highway, tax map 20, lot 18-3. So, this is basically right next to the other one. Um the sign will uh so, this is owner 461 Charles Bancroft Highway LLC. Joel Electric, sign to be internally illuminated and mounted on to the building face. Measurements are 84 in wide by 24 in tall or high. Okay. Um is the applicant present? That would be me. Would you like to speak about your um application? Yeah, my name is Michael Gallagher with Spectrum Signs and Graphics on behalf of Joel Electric. Um basically the same as the previous sign that was proposed. It's going to be internally illuminated. Uh meets all ordinances. Um there was an update, which I did bring um the
010design drawings along, though I'm not sure that um it's going to look too much different from what you may have. Would you like for me to distribute these? Uh sure. >> Sure. Yes, please. Chair, I would say it'll be sufficient. Thank you. Thank you. We can share one. Yeah, we can share one. And if if I may, Mr. Vice Chair, um a comment to the public at home who's listening, watching this, and also our audience here. We do have files that last application that was before us. We We we weren't we were looking at a visual of the sign. So, I didn't want anyone at home to think we weren't we were just blindly accepting. Um so, um typically we would have it up on the screen up there, but it's currently not, so I
011apologize for that. >> a problem. That's actually why I wanted to offer to pass these around, so um the main difference from the um design that was submitted in the application to now is that there's it's going to be a halo illumination, same as the exact sign. Um it's going to be a very soft glow. This is actually from pretty close up to the building face from the uh right of way. Um it definitely will not be as dramatic. Um and it meets all ordinances at 2 ft at maximum. It's 14 sq ft total. Um and I believe all the abutters have been notified as well. Okay, thank you. Um so um Joan, is are all the uh requirements um uh being met? Mhm. Neighbors are notified, fees are paid. Okay, thank you. So, um
012I guess uh looks like everything is that's required is there, so would someone like to make a motion to accept the uh application? So moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion to accept the application, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed and and abstained, motion passes 6-0-0. Um so yeah, this looks like a pretty straightforward um application. Um and it appears to meet all um uh zoning ordinances. Uh any uh discussion by the board? I would have the same question as the last one. Um the hours of illumination. That's a great question. Thank you for asking that. Um right now we don't have any restrictions on it being um powered off during off hours for the business. Um the
013intent of a halo lit sign is to be visible at night with that back light. Um if there are concerns, we'd certainly be willing to um have a a shutoff. I believe I saw the ordinance is 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Um but we would be certainly willing to accommodate any other kind of requests before that time. Um I believe everyone's out of the building by 9:00 as well, so if so be it, we could do that. Yeah. And Eric, the owner has been a long long-time resident of Litchfield and he's more than willing, I'm sure, to accommodate any neighbors that may have an issue. Certainly really nice guy. Yeah. Yeah, and I'm assuming you would also not recommend the that uh the illumination be done 24/7 for the life the lifespan of the sign,
014probably. So, we're actually graded to have the sign on 24/7 without any detrimental um impacts to the longevity of the sign. Um but again, if there were concerns, then we would certainly address those. That's not an issue. Um especially Joel Electric, they're going to be pretty handy in any kind of regard to the lighting situation, so yeah. Okay. Any further discu- uh comments from the board? >> a comment on that on that uh time of the sign that where that's building sits back and this is not a very big sign, that it would almost have a presence if the sign was on that people were there that you know to dissuade any kind of problems. The that's um initial intent for for a halo lit sign is for that nighttime hours to be visible. So,
015and again, thank you. So, let me understand correctly then, if I may. So, the the ordinance says that it has to go off between 11:00 and 7:00. It's not in the ordinance, but I've been doing a lot of permitting between here and Londonderry and back and forth, so I it may be Londonderry's permitting ordinance that actually says that, but Okay. We'll let you know. We'll double-check that, but I mean, as you're going to be neighbors with I mean, you're neighbors with Finnegan's Fine Foods anyway. Um I imagine your the timing of illumination would probably be pretty similar, so And we are outfitting it with a timer as well, if needed, so we are prepared for that in in the case that they would like that to be shut off at a certain time. Yeah. Like
016this is a commercial section of town, but we definitely would recommend um just yeah, not having it on 24/7, but that's that's just a rec- like personal recommendation, not a not what the ordinance says. Um okay. Uh so, do any members of the public uh uh wish to comment on this application? Okay, seeing none. Um so we definitely have a question to look into our ordinances on what the uh illumination hours are. Yeah, it's only applies to uh off-premise uh signs. Um there's nothing in 15 to 1503 that has hours. No. Well, like most things, we want to be sensitive to the neighbors in the area, so I'm sure you'll do that. I think the intent is 9:00 p.m. Mhm. Ideally. Yeah, that would make sense. And if you go a few hours beyond that,
017just to for the Mel's to awareness for Mel's customers, that might make sense, but yeah, af- staying keeping it on after all the neigh- businesses are closed doesn't make much sense, but um that's not a requirement. Okay. Uh any other comments or questions, comments, concerns by the board? Okay, in which case >> Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion that we approve the sign at 461 Charles Bancroft Highway, tax map 20, lot 18-3, owner 461 CBH LLC, Jolt Electric. I an internally illuminated sign building mount with dimensions specified. Okay, we have a motion. Uh do we have a second? I'll second. >> a second by Jesse. Uh any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor of approving the sign at uh 461 Charles Bancroft Highway, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed and abstained,
018motion passes 6-0-0. Okay. Thank you, board. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Uh okay, next on our agenda we have stormwater management and MS4, and for that I think we have our town administrator. Good evening, Kim Kleiner. Um so here I am back again. Um as the board I'm sure remembers, um a couple years ago we worked with Nick Christofori from CEI on some regulation changes um due to stormwater management and MS4 regulations. Um this is really the second part of that. Um once we concluded that review, we were required we're actually uh about a year and a half late um on doing an LIDGI um and an impervious cover creation review. So, part of this um is the 2017 permit requires that you go through all your ordinances and um your regulations and
019you look for areas where you could incorporate different low-impact design um models of stormwater management. Um in order to do that, um as part of their contract, their 2024 contract, uh CEI started this review for us. Um so, we and we waited. Um I got this last fall. We waited realizing that we wouldn't have the time to really put together um some discussion and movement in time for town meeting um this this March. We now [clears throat] have until from now until about September um to have some discussion over what CEI has found and what they recommend um to incorporate that in our MS4 um report for October 1st. And if necessary, make any changes um in time for town meeting in 2027. So, that's kind of the time period. Um we included a chart
020of that Mr. Christofori um completed going through all of our existing regulation and our ordinances and his recommendations. Before bringing uh Mr. Chris- Christofori in, I'm so much want to say Nick, cuz that's what I say every day. Um we thought it would be better to give it to the board so that you could have some discussion. I know Mr. Minkara, um because NRPC works on stormwater also, he may have some other suggestions. Um there are other towns. Amherst has done a great job with this, so there are partnering NRPC towns that we can look for additional language from. Um Road Agent Brown and I have gone through the recommendations. We have some concerns already. Um more related to the paving. Um and the size of driveways and and that things of that sort which
021they recommend that you cut down um your paving areas. That's one of the recommendations throughout the MS4, quite frankly. Um but because of our existing equipment, that creates challenges for us. So I think there's going to be a lot of discussion. This was really just bringing it forward so we could start those discussions and whenever the board would like, we're happy to bring um CEI in to have more formal discussion. But I think that looking at the other towns working with NRPC and Mr. Minkara um is probably a good start. And certainly I can answer any questions if the board had any right off the bat. So are the um like driveway ones that you're talking about and the pavement ones related to like the site design one shown in the assessment that is sent?
022Yes. So um when Road Agent Brown and I were reviewing them, um we were particularly concerned where you know, currently the roads are 24 ft due to the size of our plow. We have concerns um with going to 18 to 22. Um and how have other towns addressed that? That was one of the questions that we have for CEI. Um we thought if we created more of a well-developed list so that we're not going back to CEI piece by piece, that might be um we do have a contract aligned for this year with CEI so they're certainly available um to assist us in any way. Uh the other um concerned was you know, when you talk about this alt- alternate um paving what's what is the makeup of that material? Right? And and how does
023that hold up in our New England weather and with our existing equipment and so we just want to make sure we do our due diligence. Um some of the other you know, when you start talking about you know gardens and rain gardens and I mean, that's worked into a lot of towns' regulations. I'm not sure how much use that gets. Um but some towns get up working up like they advise that you build up and not out. Well we have existing concerns about that. Um you know, we keep the rural culture of our town. Um so we want to take all that into consideration. So we thought if we got a comprehensive list of all of our concerns together, then um and Mr. Minkara's suggestions then we could bring in uh CEI and have a
024discussion. Um we have to at least for the MS4 uh permit to satisfy that, we have to have gone through this procedure and adopt some recommendations. So you [clears throat] have to have some low impact design um written into your ordinances. Yeah. Regarding certain like some of these requirements, it definitely looks like a lot of it's hard to enforce because a lot of it's up to the site builder and if they want a bigger driveway it'll be hard to stop them from building a bigger driveway except for the road the cut to the road. Mhm. Um and alternative pavement, that seems theoretical. Yes. Um I mean, there are alternative sources out there. Um I think you also get into the cost to the developer. Mhm. Right? And so some of these low impact design uh
025procedures have a higher cost. And so looking at other towns and the way that they've adopted these principles, their ordinances actually speak to that. Right? So if if the developer can come in and can address that it raises the price of the project by such and such then they it's waived. So that can certainly be built into our decisions, but um So is it fair to say Mr. Chair, can I ask? So is it fair to say then that when you say we have to incorporate or take some of the recommendations, that we can word it in such a way that we acknowledge what was said. We put it in there that it would be a nice to have under certain circumstances. Mhm. Is this where we're going with this? Okay. That's where we're going.
026So I mean, I I would want to hear have you talked with Jay Minkara about any of these particular items yet or No. I provided the report. I would I I unfortunately I didn't realize he wouldn't be here. Um they have at NRPC, they have a storm water um consultant who's very good. Um and I'm happy to call her and have some discussions with her. Um I think that in all of the in all of these areas, there's best practices, right? Best man at your BMPs, your best management practices and you're trying to incorporate as many as you can into your regulations. But everybody knows that at the end of the day, you can't double the cost of a project. You can't um we have to be very careful with our storm water infrastructure. So
027as much as we can deal with the cleaning of the water and the and keeping the ultimate end result and not increasing our storm water infrastructure, that's a that's a save to the to the town, right? So I was I was wondering if you had talked to Jay already because I would envision this conversation with us to be with to have asked Jay to kind of hone in on those sort of low-hanging fruit that you know, those topics or those areas where we could probably um be able to to update our ordinance in a in a mindful way, an intentional way, but not one that's you know um rather burdensome to developers and then save that other stuff for suggested um is suggested ideas that you know uh it would be encouraged if they wanted
028to do that. I think that's a great start um because I think that Mr. Minkara knows I mean, obviously working as your circuit rider and under your contract, that's probably the best. I think the other concern is working with the road agent um on the roads um and the driveways and things that fall under you know, more under the road agent authority with the Board of Selectmen and then kind of bringing the two together. CEI is our MS4 expert. Um and then taking whatever we come up with and um you know, giving that to CEI for for their review at the end because they will help us incorporate that into our MS4 report. Um but if we can do as much of it at our level as as possible without CEI having to walk us
029through it, I think we'll have a better product. And yeah, looking through I see definitely a lot of recommendations for permeable surfaces for sidewalks and I think that might be used in some parts of Europe, but >> [clears throat] >> difficult to do with New England. Yeah, it No, difficult to clear. Yes. >> it it like obviously it's designed to handle the um im- per- like water permeating through it, permeating through it. Um this could be could cause some maintenance concerns because if it's not designed well it will cause uh it'll get washed away. Right. Um it'll up in the in the drainage ditches after you plow it. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, so Water will freeze and crack it. Yeah, it'll probably like if if it doesn't have good drainage, it will swell and then
030crack and And there are other things. I mean, certainly when you're talking about especially when you're talking about paving and and things like that, there's other things to take into consideration. I mean, if we go, you know, over a maker, we have to ask for a permit from the state from DES. So, there's there's other rules and things that that do work together. Um asphalt is is one of those areas where it's the necessary evil, right? We we all need it, um but it doesn't generally help our storm water infrastructure. And there's ways through natural vegetation and buffers and and to to work with that low surfaces to help. So, I mean, I think probably um Mr. Mancara will definitely have some suggestions and I'm sure that the other towns within in RPC who have
031already adopted this will have some some great ideas that we can learn from as well. So, first step. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, looking through um yeah, I can definitely imagine how like rain gardens and stuff like that can help filter out like nitrogen runoff. Whereas the current thing just pipes it all to a ditch, basically. Um so, more square footage of greenery can help remove nitrogen before it infiltrates into the ground. And even, you know, conservation has come up with some great um concepts for helping um with the with the pond and you know, the geese and uh those are all they're different ideas to help with the storm water and with the cleaning of our waters that don't involve chemicals and and things of that sort. So, those are all and there's innovative ways every
032day being created. Um but I would say, you know, looking at the other towns that fall within in RPC's um territory that they've probably already worked with um will be helpful. Yeah. Interestingly, it also recommends parking maximums. Yep. Mhm. Which is an interesting requirement, but it would it would satisfy that requirement. Um then there's the question on figuring out appropriate maximums because we don't want there to be situations where there's half the parking that's necessary, but we also don't want triple the parking that's necessary either, so. And you know, we look at businesses like, you know, malls. I mean, you know, a lot of their parking is a cornfield. I mean, that's an alternative that doesn't Yeah. Um require asphalt and and but you deal with other situations that make business operations a little bit
033more difficult to but Like they were closed for parts of days due to mud. Mhm. Definite tradeoffs. Doesn't fit every situation, but it may work for for some situations and it could be a best practice in others. Right. Okay, so I guess the next step is to talk to RPC and Jay Mancara. Mhm. Um any further discussion for this item? We found our summer project. >> Yeah, I was going to say. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, it's got to be talked about. It's [clears throat] got to be dealt with. Yep. Yeah, some of it we discussed during the last year's, you know, style guide Yep. of the the water gardens and other ways of treating the water before it reaches the Yeah. All right. Okay. Thank you so much. I Well, if you know, Joan
034Joan and I talk every day, so um she always knows where to reach me and uh the road agent has already given me his comments, so when you're ready and you want more discussion, just let us know. Oh, yeah, send that our way. The more information we have, you know, as I'm sitting home doing my reading in preparation for meetings, that the more I have to read, the better informed I'll be when I arrive here. Certainly, I'll get that to Joe. I'll get that to Joe. Good idea. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. So, Joe, maybe um Jay we could ask Jay in advance of the next meeting if however they want to schedule it, I guess, just to to figure out, you know, maybe he can put it into smaller chunks
035like he did with all the other stuff that we worked on in the last year or two to um piece it apart help us walk through the important points of of that, so we can have some meaningful discussion. Cuz otherwise, we're going to bite off more than we can chew in any given meeting, don't you think? Yeah, I think he'll be good at kind of helping us identify what are maybe the the practices and ideas that are going to be most applicable to us. And pacing ourselves through the process. Yeah, I think so. Very good to get the road agent comments to see what his concerns are. Yeah. Yeah, good point. Yeah, because a lot of the practices that we may recommend would then be his responsibility once they for maintenance and repair replacement. >>
036[clears throat] >> And he is not equipped to repair permeable pavement, I'm sure, so. We've had this discussion at the Morse Falls with property. Okay, anything any further discussion for the MS4 stuff? Okay. Uh lastly, we have um election of planning board officers. So, Michael Croto is no longer here um and um we we also lost um Jeremy. uh Jeremy. Uh he so, we we no longer have our former chair and we no longer have our um Clerk, I think he was called clerk. Yeah. >> Yeah. But I'd like to take a moment and thank both of them um on behalf of the planning board, if you guys are listening. >> [laughter] >> We thank you very much for your service and um we would like to more formally thank you and particularly Michael for
037your service to the planning board for the last 15 years, which is pretty substantial commitment to this town. Oh, yeah. Indeed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's only one other person that sat on the board longer. Yeah. >> That's Joan and she's knocking 50 years at conservation. Okay. So, Mike Mike needs to come back and sit a little for a couple more years. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, [clears throat] I appreciate very much their service Yeah, and he stepped up to chair for years when no one else stepped up for that position. Yeah. So. So, I believe you could also, now that Jeremy is gone, you could appoint Jesse as a full-time member if he's willing also. So, that would probably be a recommendation to the board of selectmen to become to make him a full-time member in
038place of a Yeah. Yeah, but now You can appoint or suggest and then it'll go to the board and then the board will approve, but that's something also to consider tonight. Yeah, and Jesse, are you interested in becoming a full-time member? And I I have a clarifying question for you. So, does that change like my term or does it give you a new term? Like how does that work? I think it's Mine is >> [laughter] >> No, but if um if you recommend it, then I will put it on the board of selectmen's agenda Um and then your term will stay the same, but you'll be a full member. Okay, got it. Thank you. >> He does He doesn't have to get resworn in by Terry, right? Because he's still an alternate. No, okay. Okay.
039No, only if your your term changes, your term ends and Then you have to be re- Okay. Right. And my current term ends March of next year, March of 2027. Okay. Are you interested in >> But my answer would be yes. >> [laughter] >> Sounds good. All right. In which case, would someone like to make a motion to recommend? >> I was going to say, I think, you know, Jesse's attendance has been fabulous and if he's willing to be a member, we'd love to have you as a full member, so I glowingly endorse you. >> [laughter] >> We've almost exclusively had you become a voting member almost every time you come. >> [laughter] >> I've learned a lot in the past year. So, I would make that motion to ask Jesse to move from alternate
040to full-time member. I would second that. from the select board. That's it. Yeah, you've got my second on that one. >> Okay, so So have a motion and a second to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that Jesse gets promoted to a full voting member for the Planning Board. Uh any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying I. I. I. Can I cast a vote? >> [laughter] >> Sure, you can vote for yourself. Unless if you want to be a full-time member you can. I'm going to abstain because You are an alternate, right? And we have no votes against, so the motion passes um 5 0 1. Um okay. Uh thanks for uh helping out the board. It's an honor and my pleasure to do that for the
041town. Okay. Okay. Um so next is uh Planning Board off- officers. So um I would chair, vice chair, and secretary. Yep. So in the past we've gone without We have gone periods without a secretary before. >> Yep. Um with the current way things are, I don't think it's too important to elect a secretary. Yeah, because you have an admin assistant John kind of fulfills that role. Yeah, a lot of the admin and the note the um minutes are uh hopefully taken care of by the staff here. Um so we just have the chair and vice chair. I'm open to becoming a chair. I was going to say if you're open, I'm making a motion. [laughter] >> [gasps] >> I I I in my the short time I've been on the Planning Board, I don't know
042how the you know, the rest of you have more history with this young man here, but um I you know, I I've been impressed with your ability to steer things and uh understand uh some complicated topics, frankly, and um you know, you're always pretty level-headed. You give everyone their their due and to speak up and say things and I think you serve this town really, really well and you clearly love it here and it shows. So I think no better person to make a motion to put into the chair position than Jared O'Connell. Thank you. >> motion. Okay. Um so we have a second. I would like to second that motion. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay, so we have a motion [snorts] to appoint me as chair of the Planning Board by Aletha and we
043have a second by Travis. Uh any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor of um making me chair of the Planning Board, please signify by saying I. I. I. I've been doing this for 15 years now. >> [laughter] >> You're going to be around a long time. Okay, and no opposed, no abstained. Um so motion passes uh 6 0 0. You're going to be great. Yeah. Thank you. You're going to do great. Um Yeah. So yeah. >> here for you. Yeah, interestingly since I joined the Planning Board, there has been a full turnover. So uh fortunately we have our someone who has prior experience and and history, but um yes, everyone's new since I joined. >> Yeah. Uh okay, so now we have Who wants to be the vice chair and chair the meetings when
044I'm not here and and it and Jesse, it's also an option for you because you will uh or at least once um you're um a full-time voting member. Uh if you're interested. I would look to the two folks over here to my left have been here for a while. I know Russ, you have served once before, so you you know, I don't know what your feelings are. Uh Travis, I mean both of you have have done excellently since you you know, since I've been here, so I I I don't know who has any i- dea of wanting it. It's It's also possible for you to You've [laughter] been doing even even better job. Um if if you have interest, I'd say it's yours. Um if you're not, I would say I love this town and
045I love um being able to be a part of this board, so I would, you know, do it if if no one else wanted to, but you're a great guy, so it's yours if you want it. Come on, Russ. You'll do a great job at it. >> [laughter] >> I'll teach you everything I know. I don't need that. Okay, so I'm going to make a motion then. Am I making a motion? Are you Are you not you not wanting? >> Motion away, I shall second. Okay. So I make a motion that Travis Tucker will step up into the vice chair position of the Planning Board and um yeah, that'll be awesome. I will second that motion. We have a motion and a second to uh appoint uh Travis Tucker as vice chair of the Planning
046Board. Uh any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying I. I. I. Uh opposed or abstained, motion passes 6 0 0. Congratulations. Thank you. Nice. Um okay. >> We've got We've got a good board. >> All right. And I think we're opting to not >> are going to do great. >> I think of course they are. Of course they are. They love this town and it shows. >> Yeah. Yeah. And we're all here too, so we'll help you. We're going to need you guys. >> [laughter] >> I've learned a lot from everyone here. Yeah. And then you'll be chair next year. >> [laughter] >> We're going to need a uh recruitment effort for new alternates. That's a good point. I think like we have We Are we missing
047any full-time members today? >> going to say, do we need to consider more members? Yeah. Yeah, we need more members cuz right now we lose You have a full board with alternates or which one? With alternates or Without alternates, seven. Seven people is is full members, three people is alternates. Right, is it Yeah. Yeah, that's what the bylaws call for. And that includes the um Board of Selectmen's rep. Seven. Yes. Okay, so that's basically six non non. >> Yeah, so Steve is our seventh [clears throat] person. Yeah, so um we currently have one, two, three, five, so we need two more but we're also open to alternates if uh people are not The Selectman counts in as the seventh as seven. Yeah. But You need one. So we need We need to find one more
048full. One more full. One more full and we're up to three alternates. We have five right now. So we have six, yeah. So we have one more full-time member. One full member and up to three alternates. Three alternates. So the big question is how do we advertise? Do we put on that big sign out by the town hall like we wanted to do and leave it out there for a year and a half >> [laughter] >> Hey. You can So unfortunately we anticipated that this was coming. So um it went out in our newsletter um last month. It'll go out again this coming month. We're going to look to put something um on the town sign and on the transfer station sign. We have three boards that were concerned more concerned about uh the Planning
049Board, the Zoning Board, and the Recreation Commission. Um so you know, we've received a couple in um this month and you know, but we are really putting it out as as much as we can um including on the website. So if anyone has any ideas on other places um that we should post, please let us know. Um and we will do so, but um there is a volunteer application right on the website that people can fill out um depending on which board you choose, it will go to Joan and I or the chair of Zoning and I and um and we'll get it taken care of right away, so. I love the newsletter, by the way. I think it's great. I've been telling all my neighbors and they're like, "We've never seen that." Oh, you
050got to see it. >> [laughter] >> You know, so If they >> It's it's a way to know what's happening in town and [clears throat] Yeah. you know, you feel connected. Oh, good. I'm glad to hear that. If they If people sign up for the Litchfield alerts Yeah. on the website, then when the newsletter goes out, it will go to your email. And um you know, so we really are trying to push that Litchfield alerts. Okay. Um and we had a great time at the Resource Fair, you know, everyone was there. Um in January, we're looking to do that. Uh spoil our alert to the Selectmen. Um but we already have a date in '27 that they want to do it. Um and I think that was really good. Um so we're trying to get
051information out as best we can. But then people's We've had a number of people sign up for the town Facebook page. We're really happy to see that. Um although we try to cross cross post over to the Litchfield what's up, um you'll definitely get it faster if you do the town page. Yeah, I would say out of all the boards too, if you really want to understand what's going in town, the Planning Board is the one you want to be on. Yeah. The Recreation's great if you have you want to be involved in recreation when you have young kids, you want to get involved that way. Conservation is great for longevity of the town, also knowing what's going on. But to really have a finger on the pulse of the town, the planning board is
052really the one that a lot of people ask questions about, what what's going here, what's going there, can they do that? And the zoning board it may not have it doesn't have the same commitment certainly that they only meet the third Monday. And there are some months they don't have cases so they may not not meet. Um but it's very very important and if you don't have a full board you can run into statutory problems. Yep. With not hearing cases so um it's a very important board. Or simply not having a meeting because there's no quorum. There's a statutory requirement that we meet monthly. Yes. Yeah we seem to have this problem in this the summer when people go on vacation sometimes and then of course in the you know in the winters a number
053of us have got have work obligations that just conflicted with travel or and then you get sick. Right. You know. I think the with the increase of ADUs and the the state allowing everybody to have an ADU the zoning board's going to be challenged a lot so we do have to build that up. Yeah absolutely. Yeah yeah and it's a long term member. Um Mr. Devereaux thank you very much to him. Um but yeah he's served a very long time. Mhm. Um so >> stepping down this year isn't he? He is yeah. So how many members of the ZBA are there? >> [sighs] >> Currently there's three >> stepping down too. Yeah so one became a selectman. There'll be three left Mr. >> Or four. Maybe three. I think I think I think half of
054Laura [snorts] and And. Um Oh gosh um I can't >> So Yes yes yes. >> Exactly exactly. I picture his face but I can't >> Yes. And I would say you know for anyone out there who's interested in um you know planning and development in a town in general that the zoning board is a really great place to start because you know there are very defined criteria under which you operate. It's very black and white. You know. It's either in or it's out and and and they follow that code and it really helps you understand um what you need to abide by. So I find that that's if you have no experience in that area and you're looking to volunteer in town I would recommend to start there first and then move to the planning
055board eventually but I think that um we could probably use the help in zoning. And we are we're very fortunate to have a very educated and experienced chair Yeah. on that board um but I I agree if you learn all the zoning ordinances and everything it's a great That's kind of step to come here and and be able to use those so um it's a very important board that unfortunately I think it's overlooked sometimes. Agreed. But so anytime Joan or I if you have any ideas shoot us. I think the physical sign I think a two of the members here saw that sign and that encouraged them to apply. Oh. very clear it where it wore me down. >> [laughter] >> And my husband kept saying to me don't do [clears throat] it you're retired
056don't do it. I'm [laughter] like but they need someone. So Yeah you did it. Sign's going up tomorrow. >> [laughter] >> It's going TO FLASH NOW. IT DOESN'T work on everybody. >> Yeah we need a flashing sign. We really need it. I had major guilt as [laughter] I drove by every day. Everyone everyone has an internal clock right and that's how long as yours is and when I saw the sign like it's still there. Still >> [laughter] >> They did that to me in 2012. Oh. [laughter] Same thing huh? Yeah. Same thing. >> you. Then it it [laughter] works right the sign works. >> I guess it does. The old analog way of doing things is Well Thank you very much and congratulations both. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Kim. Any uh further
057discussion regarding the election of planning board officers? Nope. Okay. Next we have committee reports. So I think that would mainly be uh board of selectmen. Sure. So from board of selectmen obviously we had the elections. I was reelected Steve Perry was elected uh Dr. Kim Queenan has stepped down. Um Our first meeting with Steve would be next week. Uh thankfully the majority of the ballot was approved especially the budget and the police. Uh there was a couple items I would say personally I think more got approved than I was anticipating. All the school warrant articles got approved as well. So that's going to help us out next year as we move forward and try to set the plan going forward. I would say one of the things we all kind of agree on is next
058year there cannot be 28 items on the ballot. Yeah it was four pages it was just too much. People got analysis paralysis reading it. But the as you went down through the votes you could tell people were actually reading it because I would I expected them to go down halfway through and then just say no you know I'm I'm done reading. But the way the votes went you could tell that they actually read it and understood. I did see a lot of people walking around with the uh voter's guide and they used that as a basis so they knew what they wanted to do so they did the homework they came prepared. Um next step for me I'm not sure. We we will also reappoint towards boards next at the next meeting. I'm more than
059happy to stay on the planning board but we also like to give other members opportunities to rotate through. So if I'm here great if not uh it's been great working with you folks. I'm not far away. Um I have definitely learned a lot on this board and I've enjoyed it. Um you know if there's an opportunity for me to stay I will. Um we'll leave it up to the board next week. Yeah Steve Perry's uh he was he's spoken to us I think a few times Yes. He's served on this board. He's chaired this board. He's Yeah he's been he's been in town for a while. He was on ZBA until just now. He was He was a selectman a while ago He was a selectman at one point. He was the town moderator. Yeah
060he's he's been involved for a long time. Yeah he has a lot of experience. A lot of experience for very level headed very logical. I think it's going to be a a good year working with Steve. Mhm. Sounds good yeah looking at the uh uh the ballot items for the uh zoning that we proposed that looks like the one that got voted down the most but still passed was the uh one for regarding um the funds for public works facilities. And base and I think that's probably just confusion because Yeah that wasn't worded I don't It's just allowing us to spend money we collected on public works facilities. >> Yeah yeah it's But it it it it people I think read that as oh they're asking for money. No it's just it's the the way
061it's allocated from impact fees are going to Yeah it's money that comes from uh impact fees which are from new construction. Um I don't yeah I think there's definitely some confusion there and how that was communicated. Um do we have any other committee reports? April 2nd is the um conservation commission will hold elections also. Who was on that? I I Michael was on a whole bunch of committees. >> He's on he's staying on conservation. >> yeah. Okay. But I mean we but we I mean aren't we supposed to put people at different places? We don't have to. >> But Laura Laura Merrimack I think has uh two and N RPC has representatives. >> Laura Merrimack River advisory Yeah that's still Michael too right? >> have any N RPC representative um uh positions that will need
062to be um filled >> I'll have to check on that. I think Dr. Queenan is staying on with N RPC. Okay. And there was somebody else but I I don't know the name. Yeah I don't remember the second person. So maybe we can figure that out for next meeting or something because it just I think Michael could >> want to be Sounds like you're looking for more work to do. No. >> [laughter] >> No I just I don't want to be I I don't like surprises so you know I when we sit here and we're asking people questions and I you know I I don't want to find out after the fact that oh well somebody already talked about that on the selectmen's thing or whatever I I yeah I don't like that so I
063I think we'd be better served if we know what's going on in the other Yeah. Mhm. committees or groups so I don't know and we can make a judgment call on I guess I would look to you two to make a judgment call on on where you think we should place ourselves if necessary. Mhm. Was Michael on the N RPC? See he's on the CIP um He's on Merrimack Laura Merrimack. Laura Merrimack okay yeah. And I don't think he's on N RPC. It's Kim Queenan and somebody else I can't I don't know the name but I'll find out. Okay. Uh So, I think yeah, we don't have as many people on committees anymore. It's not committee related, Mr. Jeff, but I I like several of you as at the polls and worked the polls on
064um election day. And I was pleased to see Didn't we have like 1,500 people come out to vote? >> 17. Yeah, I think so. Cuz I was only expecting like 1,300. There have been March meetings where you know. We have 6,000 registered voters, though. Don't forget. No, I know that, but town elections you get hardly anyone. So, I was really pleased to see It's it's interesting to see behind the scenes on what actually happens to and how late you stay and Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a lot of work, lot of effort. I went home, my knees hurt, and my feet had blisters. Yeah, I was only there half of the day. 10:30. Yeah, it's a long Yeah, it's a real long. You were there all day, too. Crazy. Especially on a 72° day. It was
065awful. >> Yeah. Oh, I know that was hard. But it's definitely something like I would encourage everybody here and even on TV if you want to volunteer a little and understand more about the process, it's Yeah. It's it's interesting. Could always use the help. We had the young gentleman behind the camera spent the day there as well. >> going to say, he and I were were at a table together. It was kind of nice. I got to meet another younger person in in Litchfield. It was great. So. So, anyone out there who wants to work on the polls or wants to volunteer during elections see Terry Briand, who's our town clerk. Yep. She'll hook you up and get you all, you know, oaths and all that good stuff and Yeah, Terry was reelected as town
066clerk and she's been it'll be 20 years. Yeah. Good. Very cool. Okay, do we have any other business for this evening? Just a minute. Yes. But the that meeting was canceled, was it not? We have the February 3rd >> the March 3rd before that. Meeting was canceled. These are the February minutes. Cuz on March 3rd we would have approved the March 3rd. We would have approved them, yeah. I thought it was March. Yeah, these are February. I gave a look and I didn't notice any problems. Has everyone else had a chance to Yeah, they looked good to me. Fine. Yeah, there's in section 1.3A, appointment of alternate members, my first name is misspelled. It should be j e s s i e. Uh-huh. Yes. j e s s i e. Oh, yes. Missing an I.
067Hm, there's another thing that I forget if I stated it properly in the prior meeting, but um like the previous contamination threshold was 70 um parts per million probably or or parts per billion, I forget, but I didn't specify a unit uh for the PFAS. And then it says noting that levels had been below it but but now be approaching it. The the levels are now approaching the new lower requirement, which is like >> you on? This is on page the beginning of page three. Um Okay. I think it we could clarify by saying Mr. O'Connell referenced a previous contamination threshold of 70 noting that uh uh levels are below it but now may be approaching the lower the new lower threshold of I think it's 10. I can look up the current threshold. Yeah,
06812 parts per trillion for PFOA. So, you can clarify by saying then um the new lower threshold of 12. Because it's definitely it's nowhere near 70. It's I think I remember the last testing was like 10 parts per million or parts per trillion. Uh any other um uh items from the that needed to be amended in the February 3rd minutes? Okay. Yep. In which case uh would someone like to make a motion to approve them as amended? So moved. Okay, we have a motion. Second. And we have a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor of approving the February 3rd, 2026 minutes as amended, please signify by saying I. I. All those opposed and abstained. >> I'm going to abstain. I don't remember if I was there or not. Oh, the minutes will tell
069you. I don't think I was. You were you were absent. Uh okay, motion passes uh 5-0-2. Okay. Uh any other business for this evening? Okay. I guess uh would someone like to make a motion to adjourn then? So moved. Okay, we have a motion. >> Second. Motion and second to adjourn. All those in favor of adjourning, please signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed, abstained, motion passes 6-0-0. Okay, thank you for watching the uh um the March 17th meeting of the Planning Board. Uh when will the next uh meeting be? Uh First April. Tuesday.