TUFTONBORO PLANNING BOARD

February 15, 2007

Rick, Joan, Dan, Tony, Wilson, Sue and Mike were present.

Williams/ Hewitt Boundary Line Plan was signed, all conditions having been met.

One wetland application; Joan Green, Elm Point to stop erosion and stabilize bank.

Minutes of Feb 1^st with addition that Wilson will also be working on condensing the threshold of our Site Plan regs.

7:30PM

# 1 CJ winny. Continued. Received a letter asking for continuance to March meeting. The last time they were present was the November meeting. Dan moved to deny without prejudice and that they could reapply with same application when they are ready. Fees would be collected for notifying abutters but not application fee. Tony 2^nd. All in favor. Rick will send a letter to owner.

# 2 Mary Beth Hertel. Design review. No abutters present. Don Voltz presenting. Applicant has a 46 acre lot off Federal Corner Rd. and North Line Rd. They are proposing an 18 lot subdivision off Federal Corner Rd. Test pits have been done, each lot meet the minimum requirement. Sue wondered about the “long tail” of land in the proposal? Would like to leave that as a corridor for the future. She also asked about sprinkler systems for each instead of a cistern in the development? Voltz has talked to the Fire Chief and he has said that each house needs at least 7 gallons per minute to work. That would not be practical at this location. Developers preference is sprinkler but will have to go with a cistern. They have looked into different ideas for the roadway, the way it is shown now is the most feasible. It will impact less wetlands. 20’ wide road. Board commented that an 18’ roadway is all that is needed. Rick asked about the looks of lot 17, to meet frontage requirement is why it is designed that way. Fiberglass cistern. They will relook the 18’ wide roadway. Developer will proceed.

# 3 White Cliff Communications Formal Application for Telecommunications Tower.

Joan made motion to accept for jurisdiction. Wilson 2^nd. All in favor. Abutters present were Chaffee Family, Leavitt and Tranfa.

George Chianis presenting. Applicant is proposing to erect a tower on property leased from Richard Rowsell of 435 GWH with access off County Rd. Nextel has already committed to a lease from the tower. It is a permitted use in that zone.Applicant has looked at other areas of Town. This location provides the service/coverage needed. Nextel would be at the 150’ level, requesting a 170’ monopole so that others could locate on the pole, rather then having multiple towers. Sprint, AT & T, US Cellular, Verizon and Unicel could all be interested. There would be a 6’ chain link fence around the 90’ x 90’ area. It would be 200’ from County Rd and 200’ from nearest boundary. Approximately 1 to 2 maintenance trips per month, per carrier. No traffic impact. Power and Tele line only. No lights or noise. A prefab concrete self contained box for each carrier. Chianas handed in a(filed) a receipt from surrounding towns that they have been notified of this. Ad was put in the local paper. Parking area around the fence. Arborvitae would be planted around the 6’fence. Location is in a wooded area and the only trees to be cut would be what was needed for the 90’ x90’ area. Base of tower is 5’ and about 16” to 18” at the top. The tower would also be offered to the Town for antennae. Ordinance says 20’ above tree line or 190’. Nextel’s height requirement would be 150’. Question was asked if this would provide wireless for internet etc. Nextel representative responded that not at this time, who knows what the future is. Nextel does have “blackberry” capabilities. There is a 10’, on center, separation between carriers. A carrier could be 2’ above the tower or flush with the top. Would like to get approval for 170’ but would only build to 150’ until needed. If there were 6 carriers the maximum trips would be maybe 12 a month, for maintenance only. The only light is on the doorway, not on the tower,if it’s less then 200’ it’s not needed.

Board asked what kind of guarantee there would be other trees would not come down on the remaining land. Chianas responded that it’s private land and that is up to the landowner. Applicant did a balloon test for themselves and could only see the red balloon from Abenaki Tower. Tony asked if the driveway into the tower could possibly be angled so you would not see straight down the driveway? Will look into it. Tower footings, concrete? Yes. If tower comes down they only go 7” into the ground. Property owner is responsible for remaining. Dan asked about color? Non reflecting natural color.

Public opened. Bob Chaffee and his sister Cindy of Chaffee Family Trust across County Rd. He has 3 major items # 1 NH RSA 12 K. # 2 Tuft. Zoning X111. # White Cliff Communications. He asked why abutter Levengood was not notified. Levengood is not an abutter. Tranfa is the owner of the land he questioned. Why hadn’t all towers in the 10 mile zone been shown on a map? He presented one. Our regulations do not require a map.

Scale on the maps presented is not correct. Plans should have not been signed. Engineer will submit new plans with correct scale. Mr Chaffee noted that County Rd. is 726’ above sea level, Prospect Hill is 860’, Hansen way is 800’ so if this tower is 170’ high it will be 36’ higher than Prospect Hill and would be seen all around. What is the min/max tree height? Where is center ground? 13.4.D and E. Board may allow up to 190’. A 170’ is not in the best interest of Prospect Hill and Melvin Village. Are they dishes or antennae? Antennae only not dishes or whips. Cindy Trayers pointed out that by her looking at the map it looks like most of the coverage is in Moultonboro. Who will it benefit? Is the Town benefiting? She asked about it historically being looked into? A report has to be done and it is in the works. An independent company does it and White Cliff asked for it to be done by March 15^th. Travers felt surrounding property values would diminish by 20% of market value. She presented a letter from Maxfield Real Estate to back up her claim. Does White Cliff lease the roadway? Who is responsible for maintenance? Plowing etc? Questioned the drop zone.

Bob Chaffee felt the $8500.00 bond for abandonment was not enough because he knew it would cost much more to build therefore more to take down. The landowner is the only one getting any money. He does not like it that it is a private individual and not the Town. He wants the Selectmen and Planning Board to establish alternate locations and not Melvin Village because it will forever degrade the Melvin area. Maybe the landfill area or the new public safety building.

Atty. Susan Dupee responded concerning property values and they have for 11 years have been looking at this and have done at least 4 studies and found no impact on values, she will bring the studies to the next meeting. She also has had contact with Town assessor and their reply was that no one has lost value in the other Towns they have looked at. Realtors are not appraisers, they are selling. Sites on Town property? They cannot corner the market and have to compete with the private sector. Also would have to have agreement at Town Meeting and redo each year.

They lease the 90’ area and the roadway. White Cliff and the carrier would maintain it. Mr Chaffee thought underground utility would be the best, he did not want another pole on County Rd. Fall zone? Tower would fall upon itself, probably within a 35’ to 45’ area. The $8500.00 bond, usually it is only about $3500.00 to take down with a crane. Most Towns do have a $20,000 bond. “Site Resoration Bond”.

Wilson asked about the status of private airstrips. FCC says this is not a hazard to any they have located. White Cliff will get more info concerning private airstrips. There are two unused ones in the area, one off Hansen Way and one off Rt 171.

Ken Leavitt spoke on behalf of his son and daughter in law Seth and Ivy Leavitt. He is a realtor and felt it would impact values. Asked about the process? This is a site plan and will certainly be continued into March. Leavitt said he is a realtor and felt it would impact values. He felt if all they needed now was 150’ then they should come back to the Planning Board if they wanted more. Concerned about surrounding trees being taken down.

Frank Tranfa asked about what we can’t see being emitted from the tower.

John Galvin asked about backup power? Is it propane, diesel? Is there a turnaround incase a fire truck has to go in there? Parking area is big enough for fire turnaround. Does each carrier have their own building? Yes. The Hansen airstrip is in the FAA booklet.

Mike Phelps wanted to know what percentage of this covers Tuftonboro?

Randy Parker, realtor who wrote the Maxfield appraisal said it would affect market value, just the visibility of it. Bob Chaffee felt there should be an overlay map for the coverage with Town roads and lines. David Wiley of Prospect Hill commented that the height of 860’ for Prospect Hill did not take in the tree height. Wilson asked about site grading etc. is grading going to be outside the 90’? Is the topo mapped from the site or using USGS or combo? Could something be put on the plan confirming how that was done. Road construction also needs to be addressed.

Joan asked about what kind of traffic for the building. Cement truck and crane. Dan asked that applicant look into with the landowner about landscaping more specifically not removing trees in the area. Site visit was scheduled for March 12 at 4:00PM. Balloon test will be done on three days. Applicant will put notice in the paper. Probably the first week in March. Hearing is continued to March 15.

# 4 Hewitt/ Franks Formal application, Boundary Line Adjustment, Brown Rd.

Moved to accept for jurisdiction. All in favor. Jay Franks present.

Eric Roseen presenting. Hewitts (68-1-1) have 14.3 acres and Franks ( 68-1-2) have 5.25 acres. Readjusting an internal line to add 2.1 acres to Hewitt from Franks. No change in frontage. Address of abutters are not on the plan. 2 monuments need to be set. Board asked if there was a view easement? Yes, for Franks property. Need to put that note on the plan. State subdivision approval? Discussion if that was needed. Eric thought not because Franks have two lots of record. It does not show that on the plan. Board thought if the two lots showed on the plan with the lot lines to be abandoned then State approval is not needed. Checklist complete. Dan moved to grant conditional approval pending: # 1 Show the two lots, # 2 Monuments set. # 3 Addresses # 4 View easement. Joan second. All in favor.

# 5 Fenton Varney. Formal application for cluster subdivision at Mountain Shadows.

Move to waive showing utilities because they are underground. Moved to accept for jurisdiction. All in favor. Fenton presenting. The 26 remaining acres with 20 cluster lots with 25% open space. The open space management plan is a continuation of the original plan. Pins are set. Drainage report and traffic survey is done. Tony, Sue, Rick, Joan and Fenton did a site visit last fall. Have State subdivision approval (file). Does not need Site Specific approval. Will need Attorney general approval after plan is approved. Need wetland certification on the plan. Test pit data? Fenton has it, will bring it in. Road construction data needs to be reviewed. Roads remain private. Need Fire Chief disclaimer. Tony took drainage report to review. Mike took traffic study. Surety Bond. Performance guaranty. Fenton has already upgraded roads. Provide as built. Board will have Attorney give opinion on performance bond proposal.

Rick read a letter from abutter Schneider concerning a shed on Schneider property. Rick will send a letter to Schneider explaining that this is a civil matter not Planning Board.

Moved to continue to March 15 meeting.

Meeting Adjourned 11:45PM

Jackie Rollins