Minutes
NEWMARKET PLANNING BOARD MEETING
AUGUST 8, 2017
MINUTES
Present: Eric Botterman (Chairman), Val Shelton (Vice Chairman), Diane Hardy (Town Planner), Janice Rosa, Rose-Anne Kwaks, Jane Ford, Peter Nelson, Amy Burns (Town Council ex officio)
Absent: Gretchen Kast (Town Council Alternate ex officio) and Glen Wilkinson (Alternate) – excused
Called to order: 7:09 p.m.
Adjourned: 7:52 p.m.
Agenda Item #1 - Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda Item #2 - Public Comments
None.
Agenda Item #3 - Review & Approval of Minutes: 07/11/17
Action
Motion: Val Shelton made a motion to approve the minutes of July 11, 2017
Second: Janice Rosa
Val Shelton made a correction to page 4, in the motion made by Rose-Anne Kwaks, the words “continuation of” were deleted.
Vote: All in favor
Agenda Item #4 - Regular Business
Consideration for Alternate: Michal Zahorik
Action
Motion: Janice Rosa made a motion to accept the application of Michal Zahorik for the position for an Alternate for a 2 year term, the term expiration date would be 2019
Second: Val Shelton
Vote: All in favor
Work session: Discussion of New Road Overlay District
Eric Botterman stated, at the July meeting, the Zoning Subcommittee gave a report recommending some changes to the draft re-zoning proposal. The Planning Board decided to have a work session on the draft re-zoning proposal.
Gary Levy, 81 New Road, stated, last month, there was a discussion of more specificity of the definition of “nursing home”. He spoke with Scott Hogan, his attorney, and he spoke with Diane Hardy. He also spoke to someone who ran a nursing home and now does consulting. Scott Hogan sent changes for consideration to Diane Hardy. They removed the word “assisted housing” from the overlay title. The document talks about 24 hour a day supervision. He stated he did not have the specific changes in front of him. Under skilled nursing, it talks about a health care facility that would require a higher level of medical care than would be provided in a nursing home or assisted living facility. It then goes to describe the care necessary for people that need supervision. The same language is under “memory care”. It talks about specialized care.
He stated that this is so confusing and overwhelming, if you try to go through all of the State licensing regulations including the language and rules. It is very easy to become overwhelmed with certain definitions. For example, you can have memory care, with just assisted living. That is where people might be a little forgetful, but they are not in the throes of memory loss. The lower level would be assisted living. As an aside, he had spoken to two facility owners and several people who run facilities. The basic feedback he received was staffing is a challenge. There are many of these facilities in this area. He is hoping that the Town’s does not to end up with a product that might end up failing and being converted into something else. The type of facilities that require skilled nursing, oversight and a skilled staff and 24 hour supervision are not the types of facilities that get changed or fail. They usually stay as they are and continue to do their marketing.
Diane Hardy has started to red-line the document that Mr. Hogan sent and said she could highlight for the Planning Board what the changes are for the benefit of those listening at home. The first change she found was under skilled nursing facilities. Language was added, to clarify that memory care facilities “…often in a wing of a nursing home”. The other change was in the next paragraph, “These facilities are to be built in accordance with the Life Safety Code NFPA 101 is adopted by the Commissioner of the NH Department of Safety, recommended by RSA 153.” Eric Botterman stated, under the definition of skilled nursing home facilities, they added some language to Paragraph C under “Definitions”.
Diane Hardy stated, under the definition of “dementia” on page 2, there is a new sentence at the end that says, “These facilities are built to Life Safety Code NFPA 101, as adopted by the NH Commissioner of Safety and as amended by RSA 153.”
Eric Botterman stated the paragraph above regarding “memory care facilities” was new. A part was added that the memory care facility could be a stand-alone facility.
Diane Hardy stated, in Paragraph D, in “permitted uses”, “nursing homes” and “skilled nursing facilities” were combined, which makes sense.
Under Design Development Standards, reference is still being made to assisted living or NF/SNF District which need to be changed in order to be consistent.
Eric Botterman stated under the Development Review Process, first paragraph, the last sentence, “Project plans need to be submitted to the State of NH residential care and health facility licensing for approval” is a new sentence. This is all consistent with State licensing requirements.
Gary Levy stated he and the consultant started talking about logistics. Most of the vehicles would be appropriate on New Road, like a UPS truck. Then they discussed the trucks that transport the food. The consultant had stated she spoke to two or three facilities, which were not huge facilities like Riverwoods, and they all use 40 foot trucks. This came up late in the conversations. You could not get these over the railroad bridge in Newfields. He felt it would be important to know how many trucks a week would have to bring food in and the size of the vehicles. The Town is going to re-do the road. They are not making this road suitable for heavy truck traffic. It is pretty much a rural road. People walk dogs and ride bikes. The trucks may have some navigational issues. Diane Hardy stated, as part of site plan and special use permitting process, the Planning Board will look at those issues and may consult with a traffic engineer for advice. Val Shelton stated the applicant would probably assess what the road issues were before coming in with a plan.
Claudia Vatcher, 184 New Road, stated she drove a truck for a long time, a 24 foot box truck with a sleeper on it. It was quite large. When they came home to New Road, they could not go across the bridge at the Newfields town line. They had to go around the other way. She has seen large trucks go across there. The bridge can only stand so much. She wanted to comment that her son-in-law is an (licensing nursing assistant) LNA, living up north. He can do more than a typical LNA, because up north there are not a lot of facilities or help. They are always looking for help in every care facility in the state, even in Exeter at the nursing home by Churchill’s, there is always a help wanted sign for nurses. They can’t get the help. It will be the same way here. Her son-in-law just switched to being paid per diem, because you can make more money. No one wants to work. They are crying for help everywhere.
Val Shelton stated, for consistency, in the skilled nursing facility overlay district, overlay district should be capitalized. Under “Purpose” that should be repeated. “The intent of the skilled nursing facility overlay district”, then put in the acronym SNFOD. For consistency, they should make that the same. Diane Hardy stated they should just use SNF Overlay District.
Rose-Anne Kwaks stated she was talking to Michael Pelczar and he had stated how he goes to Riverwoods a lot. She stated she knew that every time there is a medical call, in Newmarket, they have to send an ambulance, with a fire truck. This is a volunteer fire department and last month they had to call people in from Durham, because Newmarket did not have enough people to respond to calls. She asked if these facilities would tip us into having to have a full time fire department and EMTs. She asked how many calls a 75 bed unit makes for assistance.
Eric Botterman stated, if there were no more questions, they can put this on the agenda for the September meeting for a public hearing on September 12, 2017.
Diane Hardy stated she will put this into the correct format for everyone.
Rose-Anne Kwaks asked if there was an answer from the Conways about the line. Diane Hardy stated they have not heard back from the Conways after sending a letter on July 17, giving them 30 days to respond. It is not quite 30 days yet. They will do the merger at the meeting of September 12. Mergers do not require public hearing.
The Board thanked Gary Levy for his assistance with this item.
Gary Levy stated this could be a nice area and the revenue would be more substantial than for a basic facility. The goal of this was to bring financial reward to the town for the investment made in the purchase of the land many years ago. These facilities are generally paid for by private investors and tend to bring in more revenue and are more valuable. Based on the Master Plan there is something in there about people aging in place. There are a number of new companies out there that focus on going to people’s homes and take care of the basics. The whole industry is looking for ways to address the challenge of aging. What we are talking about here will bring revenue.
Agenda Item #5 - New/Old Business
Planner's Report
Diane Hardy stated they are going to get a subcommittee meeting together for stormwater later in August to have something to report on at the September meeting.
Town Council
Amy Burns stated they approved two resolutions. One was for the Macallen Dam for a stability analysis for the abutment walls on either side of the dam. The other was for the Town Administrator entering into an agreement with First Light, which is the phone communication system.
Other Business
Rose-Anne Kwaks stated the Newmarket gardeners that take care of the public gardens have a new name. The wall garden, the garden at Gerry Ave, the cannon garden and the golf course garden are all now being maintained by “The Blooming Newmarket.” They have been busy with dealing with woodchucks and mice eating things.
Conservation Commission
Rose-Anne Kwaks stated they are looking into information on Schanda Park, because they have to fix the retaining walls. Diane Hardy stated some grant money is out there that could possibly help with this. She explained that, due to the NPS, under the LWCF, funding, they cannot take any land out of that park without providing equal land elsewhere in town or else the money may have to be returned.
There was discussion of the boat ramp and the erosion occurring there. Rose-Anne Kwaks stated the Fish and Game Department was going to fix the boat ramp a while back and they wanted to put in bollards. She said Conservation Commission had wanted to keep it historic and did not want bollards, so Fish and Game pulled out and did not repair the ramp. Diane Hardy stated Fish and Game was, at one time, working on the public access improvement project there and they hired an engineer who put together a plan for stormwater management. They were talking about installing a rain garden to deal with the run-off and erosion. That plan never came to pass for the reason Rose-Anne Kwaks mentioned and other reasons. She did not know if they still had funds available. Rose-Anne Kwaks stated the Town Council should look at the ramp.
Janice Rosa stated Heron Point has a gate across it right now. She asked if that can be looked at. Amy Burns stated the Town Administrator is looking at it right now.
Agenda Item #6 - Adjourn
Action
Motion: Janice Rosa made a motion to adjourn at 7:52 p.m.
Second: Val Shelton
Vote: All in favor