today's uh March 5th 2025 is a preliminary matter of the sweaty night chair of the planning board permit me to confirm that all members and persons anticipated on the agenda of President Canam me playing board members when I call your name please respond the
affirmative um Peter posos yes sir Mary Stone Scott ker yes and Steve Manan hi hello um Town staff want to call you
name please respond the affirmative we Christen Grub's planning director yes and Daniel loo uh assistant planner yes hello everyone good evening March 5th 2025 opening meeting of the new planning
board is being conducted remotely with chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 which extends the governor's March 12 2020 order certain provisions of the open meeting law General law
30A 20 until March 31st 2025 for this meeting the planning board is convening by video conference we assume as posted on the plan board agenda which can be found at the the town's
website you can join us by going to http semicolon zoom. us and entering meeting ID number 83271 41356 pass code
10879 or by calling in 1929 205 6099 us and entering the meeting ID and passcode with prompted Zoom meetings please note that this meeting is being recorded and that
attendees are participating by video and our telephone conference the meeting is also being broadcast live through local access cable channel 9 on zoom and at www.tn
cv. org and the recording will be available on the Nur access YouTube channel meeting ground rules please uh before we turn to the first item on the agenda permit me to cover some ground rules for Effective and clear conduct
for our business and to ensure that uh we have accurate meeting minutes as sure I'll introduce each speaker on the agenda after speakers conclude their remarks I will go down the list of board members inviting each by name to provide any comments
questions and on motions the meeting tonight does not include any public hearings however board members have after board members have spoken I will afford the public an opportunity to comment and or ask questions it'll see
questions and comments through the zoom raised hand function and in the order in which the people click on the raised hand button finally each vote taken in this meeting will be conducted by roll call vote all right so there's the Preamble
The First but gone um first thing on the agenda tonight we have uh make sure I do it in the right order here just give me one second we're gonna go right to Old business tonight um the first thing on
the agenda is uh Florence bushy owner Barry trustee bushy real estate trust request for to approve performance bond for charity and to reconstruct
subdivision Road between 21 and 27 Newman Road PR the previously approved subdivision plan um do we have Ben Perez and TJ Melvin present yes I DJ Melvin from Millennium engineering
believe I'm here also yep okay okay thank you Ben thank you TJ um do you want to TJ would you like to give us an update as to where we're at yeah sure so um we were in front of the planning board a couple weeks ago
discussing this project um and one of the things that was kind of suggested over so since then we've produced a plan showing the road being widened uh the the main straightaway has been revised to 22 ft
as well as the the CAC turnaround we did B did submit a revised Bond estimate to account for that change um and I know we had received some comments from Joe swatka believe it was yesterday or today uh with regards to
the storm water um so obviously area it ends up being to to Pavement um so you know it's our opinion it's such a minimal change that there's really going to be no impact to the storm water system uh but you know had commented that may
calculations provided um so what we're proposing is to account for the additional impervious area uh will provide a roof drywell on the the down fallings so the frint of the dwelling itself is you know two to three
times larger than the increase in imperious so our stance would be that we're essentially going to be reducing the amount of impervious area entering the drainage system by adding in at roof trael so we believe that the the
drainage system as approved is at Woody if I could I I couldn't hear that conversation because it was quite broken up and I I don't know if TJ if you can try to spin it again and maybe with a different microphone better pop it on my phone
sorry just give me one second DJ still with us um while yeah while we're waiting for TJ to get back on it sounded like he might be calling in I just wanted to see did did the all the planning board members get to see Joe Sak's letter I don't know
if it would be worth bringing that up um because I think part of what TJ was saying he was also breaking in and out for me but I think he was responding to the dialogue about um how much the
widened Road will impact storm water and the drainage system it sounds like they're proposing a way to imate the the runoff of the additional Road width um but I just wasn't sure if everyone on the board has been able to see the the
peer review letter yet I I believe I saw okay speak for everyone else yeah I saw it okay great so I don't know um I'm not sure
where TJ is if Banner or TJ can let us know what the plan is go it looks like TJ's calling in I'm here but I'll let I'll wait for TJ to come back back on to answer that question okay thanks benen all right sorry about that is that
any better yes okay perfect I don't know why it just doesn't want to connect but um if you get feedback just let me know um so we at the last meeting discussed
widening the road from 20 to 22 feet um in doing so it creates an additional just over a th000 square feet of impervious area um which Joe had mentioned in his his letter that we received um in our opinion it's it's generally about 1% of
the drainage area that would be switched from previously proposed lawn to impervious area uh you know not not a large increase uh you know it's our professional opinion that it's not going to have any impact on the storm water system um Joe seemed to disagree
so um in talking with Ben what we're going to propose is to install a roof drywall that will capture the roof runoff from the dwelling uh the dwelling Footprints a little over 2,000 square feet um so we'll be adding in a th000 square feet but taking out 2,000 square
feet of impervious area uh so with with that addition to the design uh you know we believe that the the storm water system would be more than capable of handling that additional roadway runoff um especially taking out uh the roof runoff that also contri contribute to
the same drainage area um again that would all be on the lot itself and in separate from the right away um I know Ben did provide an updated bond for the additional uh the
additional pavement from 20 to 22 feet uh we did widen out the uh curb radi at at Newman Road slightly just to better accommodate the fire truck um and we did rerun those turning templates as well IFD be happy to answer any questions the
board may have or I can jump into any of those specific aspects if you'd like okay um and the the HOA Kristen has is uh been sent off to Town Council for approval correct correct y all right um
does any of the board members have any questions yes so uh TJ what was the final width increase that you did on the roadway by the by Newman uh we just we didn't actually widen it we just kind of rounded out the
the radi um I don't know if I have the exact let me see if he labeled it on here so before this was I'm sorry you're not seeing my screen give me one second [Music] is it possible to share my screen or
would you be able to pull the plan up thank you Krist yeah I didn't sorry TJ I didn't realize oh wanted he wanted to screen share May
yeah yeah let me maybe I'll just pull it up TJ if that works yeah that's fine you see it that's um so just the where we have that 15 foot radius labeled um on the on the
two curb radi coming in and out of the the site they're previously at I think they were about 10 or 12 so we widened them out to 15 just to give a little bit more room for the fire truck to turn in and out um to and from the road all right here yeah yep so that
that got just a little bit longer that the curve just widened out a little bit great thank you that's that's all Pete that is in the stone wall has been that's have we talked about
that uh the retaining wall um not at this meeting I know we did talk about that at the last um so we do now show the the retaining walls um again outside the ride of way and those be part of the the lot developments themselves uh but we do now show the the two retaining
walls in those retaining walls those were added onto the um Bond shity uh yes yes they were okay very good I I saw I saw that somewhere so I figured I'd mention it
um anyone else have any questions at this time okay hearing none Kristen basically where we stand is um the the HOAs at Town Council and um we have uh the fair review comments
from well those have been addressed so um do you do you have any other comments questionis no I think the um you know if the board's comfortable with the um the bond spreadsheet as
revised then that'll be will handle that administratively in terms of getting the paperwork and the um funds and the account set up for the construction Bond and then um you know the ho a docs looked
fine to me I'm I'm waiting for review with Town Council I think that'll come within the next week we have some office hours with her on Monday um and I think if the board's comfortable you could you
know you could consider pending Town Council approval on the HOA documents that that should be all set as well okay and then and also the Mya is on its way as well right yeah um the recommendation of Town
Council was that the revised plan um showing that um 22 foot Road width does get recorded and um uh Steve has a note on the plan that references the original subdivision
plans that have been approved which um I think he shared at the first meeting that he was actually the engineer on that original plans uh forget was it Oak is that right TJ Oak
engineering yes that's correct yeah so um so anyway this would just be you know this one revised plan and then it would reference the original subdivision as approved okay great hey Woody before we uh I have one question about the
original subdivision approval because I think we saw that and not I I do we have a copy of the actual signed and recorded um there isn't one that has been found um so we did talk that
through with Town Council um and I asked whether we needed to record some kind of document that stated that um and she did not say we did she thought that
um the plans which were recorded at the time you know were significant and sufficient for um guiding the construction of the road okay cool so for 20 years ago when this was approved was this approved for the
for there to be a sister or for the house to be sprinkled um I don't know I would have to look at that Ben do you know the answer to that question yeah I don't think they ever got to a point of Designing the homes um I I don't see any
record of a sistern or any of the old plans so I I don't know the answer I guess because I I know years ago that that was the standard was the sistern and I know that a more recent you know recommendation from the fire that would would be for them to be sprinkled so I
didn't know what your design was going to be to handle that situation uh we haven't got into the design of the houses yet that's our next phase but um I guess that can be something we handle with the fire department and the building department once we start working on the house
designs that'd be great just because we don't have the original approved plan that's why I'm asking the question yeah the plan the original plan that I've seen I don't have the recorded version but I have the plan that was built from uh did not show
any sisters on it but I believe there is a recorded plan there just don't have the recorded decision from what Steve Sawyer told me so the plan has been recorded but they actual decision was not correct yeah thanks I think that is
um uh I appreciate you bringing that up Pete and I do think the building inspector is um uh the appropriate enforcement in terms of assuring that um the sprinkling happens
if it is according to building code and fire code so um but it's a good it's a good comment okay if uh anyone anyone else have any questions if not I'd entertain a motion
to approve the uh modifi plan for this project so moved I have a second second thank you Mary thank you Peter all right roll call vote Peter yes Mary
yes Scott yes uh Steve you m muted Steve but I saw your mouth okay and I I vote Yes as well as chair so thank you Ben thank you DJ good luck with your project thank you and you'll
be in touch with Chris thank you yep have a good night night guys have a good night thanks you too all right um we have to we we just approved the plan just to be safe um I edain a motion to
approve uh the performance bond estimate for this project as well sorry make that motion okay thank you Scott do I have a second second thank you Mary roll call vote
Peter yes Mary yes Scott yes Steve yes and I vote Yes as well so that's that's covered as well thank you sorry about
that um all right that brings us to the next thing on the agenda leis on and meeting reports um Larry's not present with us tonight so we won't have a zba uh conservation met last night and
um there was a light agenda nothing that pertained to us but uh some more on the K Island they approved the project out there and they've been working steady at it so they they approved a fiveyear plan for um the weak
control and uh control burning and um there's going to be a few trees removed around the out outskirts of the island mainly in the front at the access point for um bird habitat
and they're going to they're going to plug away at that at appropriate time so that they keep the impact to a minimum that's the reason for the fiveyear plan there so it's an interesting project and they've been they've been going at it
they've removed a few stands of trees out there on the Upland and uh it'll be it'll be interesting to see what it's looks like when it's done so um
mvpc Kristen I think I'm gonna take that one tonight um so I attended the mvpc liaison Regional planners meeting earlier um this one was on state contracts and the benefit of basically using the state contracts as an example
if you were to just hop on to WB Mason and order a ream of paper it's going to cost you whatever it's going to cost you but if you use used the state contract through WB Mason it's a percentage off so it was all about the benefit of using State contracts it was a thrill a minute everybody and then the other one was
about the update of my map which is basically the platform for the town of Newberry and other communities and they've been updating up and basically the most updated stuff is they're redoing all of the parcel data so when you click on a parcel and you want to
see it you get much more information than originally and that's going to be rolling out I believe they said within the next couple of weeks excuse me and that's that's my update very good thank you Daniel um so
that's it for meeting and L on reports um next is planers report um great um yeah I'll add I think as my map unrolls they're what one of the Kinks
they're still figuring out is how to um link up the pictometry the aerial the really high power aerial photos with my map so there probably is going to be some training um for how the myap works
and I'll definitely pass that along to you because I think it's a really critical tool for planning and in general um just really impressive what mvpc does to like provide access you can like zoom in and measure things and that's like I'm still learning a lot
about it but um I'll share that with all of you so I think it is helpful to look um look at all that data when it's um up and running um let's see some of the regional I guess I'll update on a a couple projects well I'll
start start with projects we have I think the next um agenda for the planning board in two weeks is going to be pretty full we have some some old things coming back and some new things that are going to be um sort of starting
up pretty soon um there's an informal in we've received an informal inquiry about uh the property at 100 High Street which has been on the market and is now under agreement it's a small parcel with a single family home but um the the buyer
of the property has some questions related to what can be done on that parcel um so I think that'll be at the next meeting we've also had um heard from uh the Sunset Club they are looking
to um request an extension of the site plan review decision for the um restaurant operation and they need to as you probably all recall from last spring and summer when we had some conversations with them um they need to
come back to the board to um discuss some of the modifications from the originally approved plan as well as um they have a request for some changes in the um structures on the parcel so I
think that request for an extension will come back first and then as a followup um they're going to be submitting to both the Conservation Commission and the planning board for those updates and modifications um I I think the
modification will was discussed last spring as a major modification so that will be something that um requires notifying the ab betters and posting a um a public hearing um we're confirming that but I'm
pretty with the minutes from last spring but I'm pretty sure the board voted that it would be a major modification already so we'll proceed as as though that's the case um and then we ALS also have a follow-up
meeting um with the uh folks who have 34 Central Street under agreement so we'll be learning more about their plans um in an informal meeting and then we'll be able to um you know take the next steps with that application as well whenever
they're ready they have not submitted yet um and then just a couple interesting Regional things um I won't talk for too long tonight um on Friday I represented Newbury at a regional
resiliency meeting it was held in Beverly and was for all the communities in um Essex County there's a big project underway being run by Noah um the economics um department and staff at
Noah regionally so there were folks there from Washington DC um and they're working with UMass ammer uh the Gloucester Marine station um Katie call is the director there um so it's a joint project with UMass and Noah um and
they're looking at at um economic data for each community so um using um the business data that's available um through specialized data sets to look at where where the most
vulnerable properties are in terms of um businesses and employers and employees um so they had Regional scale data and they're asking each Community to set up follow-up meetings which really dives into like you know which
category of businesses are going to be impacted which locations the most impacted by climate change essentially sea level rise if I didn't say that earlier it was a climate resiliency um Workshop so that was super interesting
and and just appreciate being in a community of you know all the municipalities in a room together kind of looking together at the at the broad impacts um particularly um the blue economy which
is the economy that's relying on the fact that our Coastal communities are really uh you know based on shell fishing and boat Industries and tourism and Recreation all those categories of economic um Vitality for region
so that was um interesting in addition um I wanted to mention that the last spring we applied for a um Community onstop grant for the open space and wreck plan um update project which the open space committee is working on with
the recreation committee and we were not successful but I just got a call today saying some of the projects they funded um fell through for various reasons so they actually have some funding for
Newberry so super exciting um we have you know Sadie our part-time intern who's helping the open space committee with that work and it just means that we'll be able to like really support that effort um they're working on the public survey there'll be some public
meetings um it's likely we'll even have funding to um like maybe do some improvements to some of the open space properties like new kiosks or new signing AG so we're going to sort of rework the scope of
work related to that project um with the support of this state money which is really awesome so that was fun to hear um and then I guess the last thing is um there's some discussion of whether the
town is ready to apply for uh Municipal vulnerability action Grant or a czm resiliency Grant and the location that's been identified through the hazard mitigation planning that completed recently and other um other recent
resiliency planning efforts um that people are looking at is Pine Island Road which if you all know where that is it's off of onea and is a you know a one-way Dead End Road out to Pine Island on the back side of Plum Island um and
that road really is seeing more and more flooding it has a low area between where the houses are so if you live on the far side of the flooded of the area that floods you're really being impacted more and more in terms of just being able to
get away from your house or to your house depending um so there's a resident who came in and met with us and he's willing to help write the Grant and you know we've talked with DPW and police and fire who also have a high level of
concern about being able to get to people when need um when the tides are high there's sunny day flooding um with high tides and also when there's a storm and there's storm surge it really there no culs under that
road so the water just like really quickly and rapidly moves across that road and you could think that it's fine to drive through but really get kind of Swept Away there's no guard rails um along that little lowline stretch so
we're um if we can pull that together these Grant rounds that excuse me are currently for this next fiscal year actually have a bucket of money that's prioritized for small communities so Newberry would be really competitive
because um and we also would not be required to provide a match for this round which really is kind of like how can we not try for this project to move forward so that's probably enough um oh final thing
just to update you on the warrant articles that you've all worked so hard on thank you again um we are presenting to the select board the zoning amendments um at their warrant discussion this next Tuesday so Tuesday
night the 11th um the select board has asked Woody and me and you know the department to present those articles to the select board so we'll be um using the slides that we've used in our public
hearings so far and sort of reworking the presentation and answering any questions on that meeting on Tuesday night that's it very good I I got the email on that and I'll be in attendance Tuesday for that thanks touch base with both you and
Dan tomorrow and Monday to get ready for it great thank you for the email okay and thank you for your report welome the last thing I have here is um approval of meeting minutes for
February 26 2025 so everyone had a chance to review the minutes I didn't read them okay thank you Mary for your hesty uh any everyone else yes yes I'm seeing n yes I okay
great I uh are there any comments or or changes or questions on the minutes hearing none I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes February 26 2025 so
moved second second second great um roll roll call vote Peter sure Scott yes Steve
I and I vote Yes as well Mary I didn't call on you because you said you didn't read him so I let you abstain um does anyone have anyone else have any comments or questions this
evening hearing none I'd entertain a motion to address don't move thank you Mary second thank you Scott all right roll call vote Peter Scott yes Steve Mary yes thank you I vot
yes as well have a good night everyone and see thanks thanks thank you all