Selectmen's Meeting Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2022
7:00 PM Meeting called to order by Selectboard Chairman, John Esposito. Also in attendance were Selectmen Howard Brown and Tim Berry, minute taker, Laurie Brown and Town Counsel Brian Young.
Esposito led the meeting in the pledge of allegiance.
A couple that are Town residents came in to complain about a property owner who, they say, is living illegally in a second residence on one lot, running a business without ZBA permission, and having too many vehicles parked on the property. They want the Selectmen to enforce the ZBA’s denial of a Special Exception to have two homes on one property, and to stop the illegal business.
Esposito explained that the Board has had them come into a Selectmen’s meeting and have asked them about all the vehicles, campers and the business. The homeowners said that they have 4 grown children who all have at least one vehicle, and that one of their sons has a disability, and he works on his truck as a form of therapy. They say they only work on their own vehicles, and that there is no business activity there.
Berry explained to the couple that our Town ordinances are weakly written; we don’t want them creating a junkyard on their property either.
Young said that we have to isolate each of these issues. You have to be able to point to a zoning ordinance that is being violated.
As to the 2 residences; our regulation says “only single-family residences are permitted on a lot”. It does not specify only one single family residence to each lot. I have advised the Board that they must give these people a legal way to occupy both residences. The building inspector told them that they had to get a structural analysis done to make sure the residences are safe to occupy. They have done that. They will not get a certificate of occupancy until the deficiencies are remedied.
The couple asked why the Board isn’t going after the seller because the ZBA denial should have been disclosed.
Young said that it would be up to the owner to do that.
Berry added that the owners have been taxed on two dwellings for years.
Young did say that this 2nd dwelling does not fit the description of a multi-family unit or an ADU, and that the Town will not win in court.
The couple maintains that the situation is much worse now than it ever was; they are taking junk trucks from next door and putting them up for sale in their yard. We see out resale value going down and taxes going up. There are now vehicles all the way up in back and in the barn.
Esposito asked if they were all registered as it looked like, from his drives by that all the vehicles in front are registered, and the law does not restrict how many registered vehicles you can have at your home.
Berry held that we have the freedom to do much as we please in this Town, and we hope that people won’t take advantage of that. That being said, we need stricter regulations.
Young said that you can put in all kinds of regulations, but you need to be careful – you don’t want it to be too restrictive. The whole Town must abide by these regulations.
Berry asked them to help the Town out by looking for more evidence of a business, and told them that they could draw up a petition for an ordinance and present it to the Selectmen with 25 registered voter signatures before February 1st to be included on the warrant for Town Meeting.
Young also said that the couple could bring the neighbors to Superior Court civilly.
7:35 PM The couple left the meeting.
Esposito stated that his submission to the Town Report was almost finished, and asked for input from the other Board members.
The public hearing for the budget and warrant articles, including bond issues is being held on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at the Village School in the MPR at 7:00 PM.
Berry said that he called our Emergency Manager, Chief Wilson, to ask that he get PPE into all the Town buildings, and signs for the mask mandate. He wasn’t happy with the tone of the response he got.
Esposito strongly reminded Berry that he should not be acting on his own on things like this; it has to come from the Board.
Esposito stated that there is no Selectmen’s meeting next week – it is Martin Luther King Day; the offices are closed.
Berry asked that the Board meet on January 31, even though it is the fifth Monday in the month.
Since the public hearing is scheduled for the next day, it is agreed that they will only meet, if necessary, on the 31st.
Brown was asked to keep the agenda clear on January 24, 2022.
Esposito said that he did not agree with the warrant article that DPW Director, Ben Crosby, submitted asking to set up a Capitol Reserve Fund to replace DPW equipment. Berry and Brown agreed. Esposito will ask Crosby if he is willing to remove the article from the warrant.
H. Brown spoke of an email from the Town auditors letting us know that the $278,000 received from the CARES act could be used at the Selectmen’s discretion due to assumed income reduction due to Covid-19.
Esposito suggested it be designated to the Brook Road culvert replacement since that is our highest priority road project at the moment.
Berry explained that the money needs to be designated in April, and in his opinion, it should go to the culvert project on Brook Road.
Esposito said that, on Wednesday, at the JLMC meeting he will get the information regarding replacing the fire alarm systems in the Town buildings.
Esposito reported that, at the SLRD meeting last week, they did not have a quorum.
Berry asked if the Budget Committee minutes could be posted on the website to comply with the right-to-know laws.
Esposito said that the Board’s, Commission’s and Committee’s recommendations for membership changes and renewals are due to the Selectmen by February 1st.
8:30 PM As there was no further business before the Board, Berry motioned seconded by H. Brown to adjourn.
All in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Brown