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D R A
F T COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING STEERING COMMITTEE July 1, 2004 Present: Steve Caine, Nan Stolzenburg, Rick Smith, Dot Mitchell, Bill Heilman, Maria McCulloch, Jim Leupold, Dave Adams, Marv Schorr, Sally Ellms, Dave Wood, Christy Schrader, Midge Dube, Linda Battenhausen, Doug Flynn, Dean Durst. The meeting began at 8:05 P.M. The minutes from May 3rd and April 5th were approved as written. Steve asked Nan to give the committee an idea of how far along they are in the process of the comprehensive plan and what the next phase will be. Nan stated that the first phase, which is the data gathering phase, is almost complete. The surveys will all be tabulated and Don is working on the build-out analysis. At the August meeting there will be a lot of information for the committee. At that point, from all the data that is collected, the profile of the town can be written. The committee will need to work on a vision statement and a set of goals, which is the second stage of the process. The second phase will be more discussion for the committee as opposed to workshops and data collecting. Once the vision statement and goals are completed, Nan said it would be a good time to let the community know the outcome of the surveys, how they are being interpreted and used to come up with a set of goals, and reaffirm the community’s feel that things are moving in the right direction. At that time, the last phase of the project will begin. After knowing the direction that the community wants to move in and what the issues are, it will then be up to the committee to work out how to meet those goals. Nan feels that by mid to late fall the committee should be into discussing strategies and recommendations for the comprehensive plan. Steve asked Jim Leupold to go over the proposal for a ground water study. Jim is the Chairman of the subcommittee working on this and he updated the committee on the steps that have been taken and the steps that will be taken. Jim told the committee that back in April he asked for proposals from two hydrologist companies. He met with representatives from Sterling Environmental Engineering and Alpha Geoscience. Each company submitted proposals. Jim met with Nan Stolzenburg, Deb Herrin and Steve Caine to discuss the scope of work that the proposals outlined. At a later date, Jim met with the other ground water committee members (Dot Mitchell, Marv Schorr, Deb Herrin) to discuss the proposal. At that meeting it was decided to select information from both of the proposals, put it into one scope of work document and give back to the two companies for them to work with. That, in turn, would give the committee the ability to compare each company on an equal footing. The new scope of work also put greater emphasis in their proposals for just providing hydrogeological expertise, and not the map work and some of the final anaylsis we can do ourselves. Jim stated they are now waiting for a response from Sterling and Alpha Geoscience. Jim and Steve met with the Town Board at the last agenda meeting and explained all this to them. After receiving the information from both of the companies, Jim said he will give more information to the Town Board and the CPSC members. At that time the committee can discuss what direction to take; i.e., what recommendations to give to the Town Board. Steve then asked Nan to explain how the CPSC would use this ground water study information and what the role would be. Christy Schrader asked why the committee wasn’t asked about this before approaching the Town Board, and that it appears the committee is being by-passed. Jim Leupold stated that he simply gave the Town Board an update. Steve said that the Town Board asked the dollar value and if it would be worth the cost. The ultimate decision on the water issue is the Town Board’s. This is not in the CPSC budget. Nan talked about the maps of the town that showed the bedrock and the surface features and stated that they were taken from a statewide database. It’s on a large scale and is not specific to Charlton. The maps she has, are not specific enough to help the town to know how to deal with the affect of future development on ground water. It’s not known how much ground water there is in Charlton to sustain development over time. The current capacity of the Charlton public water system is known. There isn’t much known about the ground water in the town, how much water there is, or where the water goes into the ground and the connection between the surface water and the ground water. Nan explained that if there is an area in town that recharges the ground water, it would be good to know for future planning of land use on that property. The role of the CPSC is to look at all of the resources and make recommendations for future development that meet the town’s goals and the town’s ability to support population growth. At this time there isn’t enough known about the ground water for the town, and if it would be a limiting factor for future growth. If the town doesn’t want to go forward with the water study now, Nan said it can be written into the Comprehensive Plan that a water study be done at a later date such as within three years of adoption of the Plan. She recommends that during this gathering of information stage, the committee should get all the information they can to present to the Town Board so good decisions for the town can be made. In Nan’s experience, when this study is put off to be done at a later date, it frequently is never done. Or, it only comes up again when a problem exists that forces the community to learn more about the ground water resource. Dean Durst asked Nan how reliable these studies are on the water availability. She stated, in her opinion, they are very reliable. Dean’s concern is that a town wide survey on water isn’t going to be a benefit because you can drill a well on a lot, go down 300’ and get 1 quart a minute, then drill 250’ away and get 20 gallons a minute. A general water study will show Charlton has shale/bedrock and impervious soils. Dean stated that if you gathered together the farmers, developers, and well drillers in the town, they could map out the whole town. A firm not familiar with the town will mean the town will spend a lot of money and it will take a year and won’t be as good as what could be done “in house” in a few months. Dean also said that he feels that the water subcommittee should have been meshed with the water study committee that is already in existence. Steve reminded Dean that the purpose of that committee was to look at the capacity of the public water system and that was all the Town Board was looking for at the time. Dave Adams asked Steve if the water proposal was going to be submitted to the Town Board regardless of the position of the CPSC. Dave feels the subject hasn’t been adequately discussed among the committee to go as far as they have to date. He stated that there are questions the committee doesn’t know, such as why it’s being done and what water problems there are that the study would help alleviate. He feels if the committee is going to be associated with this recommendation to the Town Board, they need to have a thorough discussion with the committee first before worrying about getting proposals and sending information to the Town Board. Steve feels the water issue is a very complex issue and that all the committee members have the right to voice their opinion to the Town Board. The Town Board would make the ultimate decision as to whether there would be a water study or not. Dave said that his question wasn’t being answered. A lively discussion ensued on the water subcommittee and reporting to the Town Board before discussing the matter with the CPSC. Bill Heilman said the whole committee should recommend the study and not the water subcommittee. Christy, Marv, Dean and others concurred. Dorothy Mitchell said that Town Board would need more information such as how the study would be used and why it’s necessary. She also noted that the revised scope of work sent to the two companies reduced what was expected of them since the CPSC and our consultant could do a lot of what they originally suggested they do. Steve Caine said that there probably would be a Town Board workshop to learn the details, with committee members present. Marv suggested having a workshop within the committee first before going to the Town Board. Others agreed. Dave Adams stated that the only reason a water study would need to be done would be to search for another public water supply, which would be providing an avenue for promoting development. Another reason would be if there were a problem with wells being contaminated, which he hasn’t heard of in the Town. Steve said he feels there is a great deal of concern about well water in the town and there is a question on the survey that asks about this. He stated a farmer brought up the need to protect ground water. He also said a woman called him recently stating that she lost her water because someone else nearby dug a well. There are concerns about protecting well water. Dave Wood asked the question if it is the committee that is posing this to the Town Board, or is it individuals on the committee who aren’t representing the whole committee. If it’s the whole committee then they should all be informed and be able to say yes or no. Steve said he doesn’t want the committee to feel they are being usurped. He said he was caught off guard because there’s a course the subcommittee is on and there is a belief that they are doing the right thing by everybody, but Steve sees that the committee members feel differently about it. Lynda Battenhausen said she missed the meeting where the subcommittee was put together. Steve said that the subcommittee felt the information they had to date should go to the Town Board. Many commented that the committee was never notified that the subcommittee was going to go to the Town Board with information. Bill Heilman reminded the committee that Jim Leupold volunteered to head up the water subcommittee while Sterling and Alpha Geoscience put together their proposals. Jim was going to bring the information from the two companies back to the committee and the committee would then decide whether to go to the Town Board. Dave Adams commented about a question on the survey (#14), that asks townspeople to list important threats or negative changes that could impact Charlton in the next 10 years. He said that 25 out of 763 mentioned a lack of water, or 3%. Twenty-six out of 763 mentioned public waters and sewers and 23 mentioned polluted water. (Note: These were the 11th, 12th, and 13th greatest concerns listed by townspeople.) Dave doesn’t feel that this mandates a water study. Jim Leupold suggested when the results come back with final proposals, the subcommittee can review and report to the whole committee and then it can be up for discussion. Steve said that by that time, they should have the results of question #6 of the survey which is about public and private water concerns. Dean Durst suggested that when the proposals come back that it simply go to the whole committee for discussion and a decision on whether to proceed with it or not. Steve suggested when the proposals come back, the committee try to meet on a date other than the regular monthly meeting. Nan thinks that the committee’s technical questions about the water issue would be best answered by those with the expertise. She suggested asking the hydrogeologists to a committee meeting so that all the members questions can be answered by the professionals. She also said that the committee could invite well drillers who have drilled wells in the town to a meeting for their point of view. Dave Adams said the committee hasn’t even decided yet if this study is necessary. Until that issue is addressed, some of suggestions being made are premature. Steve Caine feels strongly that the committee should at least meet with the hydrogeologists and get the technical questions answered so the committee is more educated in the technical aspects of this issue and better able to make fact based decisions on how to proceed with this important issue. Dave Wood asked if there is adequate discussion by the committee, will the committee decide whether to go forward or not? He said if it’s not going to be a committee decision, then the committee should know that now. Dave offered a motion that the committee study this topic further and come up with a committee recommendation at some point, and that it be a decision by the entire committee. This motion was seconded by Dave Adams. All were in favor. Steve Caine reviewed the course of action with the committee which is to get the information back and get it to the committee members. Invite the two hydrogeologists to an interview and ask each of them the same questions, then the committee can review. The committee would meet at the Town Hall if possible. There was discussion about dates and it was decided that Steve would coordinate everything and email the committee members with the date, time and location. Nan said that her calendar is pretty full for July and she isn’t sure if she can book another meeting. Marv Schorr said he feels it’s very important that Nan be there. Steve asked if anyone from the floor had any comments. Jerry Belisle spoke and said that he believes the water subcommittee overstepped their bounds by going to the Town Board, when they should have gone back to the steering committee. Meeting ended at 9:15 P.M. |