6 January 2010 | Approved: 3 February 2010
Chairman Evans called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Commissioners Samantha Beres, Georgette Cole, Eric Gleason, and Steve Werts. Alternate Missy Yachup arrived after the approval of the minutes. Also in attendance were Mayor Darrell Anderson and resident Charlie Challstrom.
Election of New PC Chairman
Georgette Cole moved to elect Robert Evans as the Chairman of the Planning Commission. Eric Gleason seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
Swearing In of Members
Mayor Anderson administered the Oath of Office to Samantha Beres, Bob Evans, Eric Gleason and Steve Werts.
Public Appearances
There were no public appearances.
Approval of Minutes
Steve Werts asked about the gutters at 103 Brown Street. They do not appear to be the solid line that was indicated on the approved plans. Bob Evans will consult with John McClelland about this issue. Steve Werts moved to approve the minutes from December 2009. Georgette Cole seconded the motion. Vote: 3-0. Samantha Beres abstained.
PC Organization/Distribution of Duties – Discussion
Chairman Evans reviewed ideas for the distribution of duties. The following topics were included in the discussion:
- Steve Werts agreed to take on the Code Inspector liaison duties. The decision was made to have two (2) inspections; “Footer Inspection” at the beginning of the project and a “Close In” at the end. There was also a discussion about a boundary survey requirement for all major building permits and for fences. It was decided that this idea needed further discussion/research with a decision to be made at the next Commission meeting.
- Eric Gleason agreed to take on the building permit reviews. Building permit applications will have to be turned in one week before the PC meeting in order to be discussed at the meeting. Eric brought up some new ideas for the permitting process which included; numbering the permits applications, revising the log-in sheet, 7-day deadline for submission, a new database/tracking system and posting information to the website. All of the suggestions will help with neighbor notification, transparency and clarification.
Eric Gleason moved to raise the fee for a non-fence, major building permit to $100.00 in order to help with the cost of the two (2) new Town inspections. Missy Yachup seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0.
Georgette Cole moved to accept, in principle, Eric’s ideas for improving the permitting process with the expectation of a draft document presented at the February PC meeting. Samantha seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. There was a discussion about using a blogspot for the information in the new database.
Chairman Evans asked for a volunteer to take on fences – specifically measurements. Missy Yachup and Samantha Beres offered to do this.
Building Permits
There were no building permit applications. The Clerk announced that Carolyn Sanford (115 Chestnut Ave.) received her final inspection from Montgomery County today.
Report from the Town Council
There were no questions for Georgette Cole concerning her report from the Town Council (Exhibit A).
Other Business
The Clerk gave an update on 344 Ridge Road. The County permit has been extended until April 2010 and agreements between neighbors, the resident and the Town have been fully executed.
A question about enforcement at 415 Grove Avenue came up. Chairman Evans will discuss this with Mayor Anderson.
Eric Gleason asked about the status of the joint PC/HPC work sessions. There was nothing new.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.