Town of Huron Planning Board Minutes - subject to approval.
Regular meeting - September 14, 2009
Call to Order: Larry Lockwood called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Larry Lockwood, Jack McGuire, Joe Snyder and Charles Boogaard. Chris Kenyon was absent.
Other Officials present: Dave Buisch - Councilmember and Roger Gallant - Building Inspector
Correspondence: Larry received a notice from the Genesee Transportation Council calling for projects to be submitted for funding. It did not seem to pertain to the Town of Huron. Also, there was a notice of a Planning School coming up in Monroe County, which Larry passed around to the board members.
Joe Snyder asked if training had been completed by all board members. Charles, Chris and Larry would be completing their hours at the County training that Wednesday. Jack and Joe had completed their hours.
Approval of Minutes: Joe Snyder moved, seconded by Jack McGuire to accept the minutes of August 3, 2009 as written.
Old Business:
1. AT&T Cell Tower
Larry reported that a letter had been sent to Verizon by the Town Attorney regarding allowing collocation on their tower.
Joe Snyder had attended the ZBA meeting last month and reported that the principal issue that was outstanding was that the denial of collocation by Verizon was not well-supported by AT&T. The original approval of the Verizon tower by the Zoning Board had stipulated that collocation be allowed. Amy Reichhart, the Associate Attorney for the Town, had since spoken to the attorney for Verizon and then sent the letter as follow-up. Joe had also requested that SBA demonstrate why a 195ft tower was needed instead of a 150ft tower. Rod Prodonovich, the AT&T representative said that he would bring one of the RF engineers to the next ZBA meeting. Joe reported that the ZBA had said that they could not move forward and agree to the building of a new tower until they had clear, supported information saying that Verizon denied access to AT&T on the other tower. Joe also noted that there were several items that needed correction in the packet provided by SBA.
2. Outdoor Woodburning Furnaces
Larry asked Dave Buisch about the Town Board's tabling of action on the law. Dave said that the draft had gone to the attorney for suggested changes and the board hadn't gotten anything back yet. Dave said there were also some modifications recommended by the attorney. When asked how the Town Board had felt about the Planning Board recommendations, Dave said that a Town Board member had taken issue with the requirement that someone who already has a woodstove may have to make changes if someone were to build next to them. Dave said he would send a reminder to the attorney about the changes.
3. Recreational Trails
Chris was absent. The clerk noted that Trail Works had been holding informational meetings and is holding one at the Wolcott Library on October 12th at 6:30PM.
4. Master Plan
Charles had emailed the professor at Cornell but was unable to make contact since it was the first week of classes. He was told to call back. He will also try to talk to other colleges that he had been unable to contact over the summer.
5. D & L Disposal
Joe Snyder had some concerns over the condition of the property. Joe said that when this had initially come before the Boards a few years ago, there was extensive discussion about how the property would be used. The owner of D&L had said that after business hours, everything would be contained within the many buildings on the property but Joe stated that this is not happening. After discussion, it was decided that Roger would contact the owner about possibly planting arborvitae or something similar along the front on Ridge Rd. and down Powers Rd. to screen the view and let the owner know that the Town is willing to work with him on the issue. Roger thought that the owner would be open to that.
6. Shared Services
Joe asked Dave Buisch if there was anything new to report. Dave said that there is a committee comprised of the Town of Wolcott, the Village of Wolcott, and the Towns of Rose, Butler and Huron. The first meeting was cancelled when only Dave and one other person showed up. The second meeting was with the School Board, the Towns of Butler, Rose, and Huron and the Village of Wolcott. They had extensive talks about shared services and possibly even combining some administrative services. There was discussion of combining the courts and possibly moving the Town offices. Use of one of the school buildings was being considered.
Jack asked if they had discussed combining Highway Departments and Dave said they had discussed it.
The Huron Town Board agreed to share costs for a feasibility study.
Dave did state that combining any services would only be acceptable to him if it would mean reduction of cost that would be returned to the taxpayers.
New Business:
1. County Planning Board Monthly Report
Larry stated that the County Planning Board had received a copy of Local Law #4 from the Town of Huron. He said that the board had looked it over, approved it and sent some recommendations.
Joe Snyder asked what it was and Roger said that anytime someone was going to change a lot line or boundary, they would now have to get a permit for it. This would help the Zoning Department keep track of changes.
2. Coastal Erosion Law
Dave said that the DEC finally approved the Coastal Erosion Law.
Jack asked about the moratorium on septic inspections on Crescent Beach. Dave Buisch said that if another inspection was done, most would pass and that the board is currently looking into a system that would be required for that area. There will be a presentation by a company who installs a multi-flow system that has worked well out there on October 15. The company will present to the Town Board and Crescent Beach residents and anyone else who is interested.
Joe asked about if the HUD grants could be used but Roger said that they would not apply because they are for year-round residences.
3. Meeting on Water for Port Bay
Jack asked Dave Buisch how the meeting went. Dave reported that it went well and the informal petition that had been circulated was favorable. There was discussion about the fact that it can be a hardship for some people to either hook-up or to afford the increased taxes to pay for the water. Charles said that, in his case, he wasn't sure if it would be worth it to him when he might only have 30 years on the bluff due to the erosion issues. Jack asked how the project on the bluff was coming. Charles said that they would be able to tell more after the winter and spring.
Adjournment: Jack McGuire moved, seconded by Charles Boogaard to adjourn the meeting at 8:30PM.
Email communications
During the month of August the following emails were received:
8-2-2009 from Chris Kenyon: he wouldn't be at the meeting but would attend the Trail Works meeting on 8-18.
8-4-2009 from Joe Snyder: Draft of comments on Outdoor Woodburning Furnace Law to be sent to the Town Board with responses on 8-4 from Chris Kenyon and Jack McGuire.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Grandjean, clerk
