Unapproved Draft Minutes of Zoning Board Meeting
Present: Chairman Peter, Remy, Barry Shonbeck, Brian Merry, Nancy Ranson
Chairman Remy called the meeting to order at 7PM. The purpose of the meeting was to review the motions for rehearing the decisions reached by the Board at its hearing on January 27, 2010 filed by Pamela Martens, Russell Martens, and Cersosimo Industries and decide whether to grant them. He reviewed the outcome of the January 27th meeting when the Board had unanimously voted to define “quarry’ by the state’s definition, which appeared to exclude sand and gravel; and the second vote on the interpretation of the Westmoreland Zoning ordinance Section 441. The board had voted 4 to 1 against the interpretation that sand and gravel excavations are limited to the districts where they are specifically listed as Special Exceptions.
He informed the Board that Attorney Bradley agreed that the public had not been properly notified.
The Board members discussed what issues a rehearing would address and two motions were made by Barry Shonbeck.
The first motion was to reopen the issue of the definition of quarry. It was seconded by Brian Merry and all voted in favor.
The second motion was to reopen the issue of interpreting Section 441 of the Westmoreland Zoning Ordinances. It was seconded by Nancy Ranson and all voted in favor.
The clerk was directed to place a notice of the rehearing in The Keene Sentinel and notify the abutters as quickly as possible.
Barry Shonbeck raised the issue of the chairman having a conflict of interest because of his employment. He reminded the Board that Chairman Remy had opened a previous meeting with a statement denying any conflict of interest and the other Board members had no objections to Chairman Remy’s continuing to participate in Cersosimo’s application.
Mr. Shonbeck made a motion to formally elect Mr. Remy as the Zoning Board Chairman. All voted in favor.
Chairman Remy addressed the issue of Rules of Procedure for Zoning Board hearings. Former Zoning Board Chair, Bruce Smith, had laid out the Rules of Procedure under which he operated and Mr. Remy continued to abide by those rules. The Board was in full agreement that it is time to have written Rules of Procedure. A copy of OEP rules were distributed to all for a point of reference.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jacqueline Cleary, Zoning Board Clerk