PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES

June 1st, 2005

7:30 PM

 Jamestown Library

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. and the following members were present:

Gary Girard                  Andrew Kallfelz – arrived at 7:42 p.m.

Betty Hubbard              Jean MacGregor-Brown

Barry Holland

 

Not present:

William Kelly

Victor Calabretta

 

Also present:

Lisa Bryer,AICP – Town Planner

Cinthia Reppe – Recording Clerk

Steve Goslee – Director of Public Works

Michael Gray – Town Engineer and Deputy Public Works Director

Don Bunker  - Fay, Spofford & Thorndike.

 

I.       Approval of Minutes from May 18th, 2005

A motion was made by Commissioner Holland and seconded by Commissioner Hubbard to amend the minutes with the following changes:

Pg. 1 strike Barry Holland as present and list as not present.

Pg. 2 first paragraph of Jacks Electric,  3rd sentence add interior space but the overall size of the building is still the same.

Last sentence delete He and add Jacks Electric agrees to.

Pg. 4 middle of page change liters to leaders  end of page change hind site to hindsight.

Pg. 5 8th line from the top change a to and.

Middle of page sentence should read The Planner informed the applicant that The the Planning Commission doesn’t want to see fill, alteration to the natural grade, and more than minimum square footage.

Pg 6 second sentence from the end should be added to say The Planning Commission would like to know if the lot to the south is flagged for wetlands.

So unanimously voted.  Commissioners Holland and Kallfelz abstain.

 

II.    Correspondence

1.        FYI – Letter from Valerie Southern Re- Jacks Electric. Received

2.        CRMC – Cease and Desist – James Simmons, 17 Maple Ave. Jamestown, RI 02835; Construction of a front porch, rear deck and second story bump-out within 100 feet of a stream at your property located at Plat 9, Lot 16 without benefit of a CRMC assent or in violation of a Council order. Received

3.        Letter to Jack Brittain regarding Planning Commission approval.  May 27, 2005. Received

4.        Letter to STD Developers regarding negative recommendation to the Zoning Board on Ferry Street Received

 

III.  Citizen’s Non Agenda Item – nothing at this time

 

IV. Reports

1.               Town Planner’s Report

2.               Chairpersons report

 Commissioner Girard attended a program put on by the Aquidneck Island  They discussed the high groundwater issues.  Commissioner Girard submitted a packet to Town Planner Lisa Bryer that explained some of the things discussed.

3.               Town Committees

a.       Harbor

A workshop to discuss the expansion of the woodpile pier with a larger touch and go facility will be happening soon reported Commissioner Kallfelz.

b.      Fort Getty

Town Planner Lisa Bryer reported on the Fort Getty Committee, they would like to stay together until a land use planner is appointed.  The town council has not let them know yet if this is possible.

c.       Buildings and Facilities

Town Planner Lisa Bryer reported that the town received 9 bids for the Town Hall and 4 for the highway garage.

d.      Others

4.               Sub Committees

a.   Tree Committee

Commissioner Holland stated there have been lots of turnovers in leadership there.  Frank Andres is the new chair of the committee.

 

 

V.   Old Business – nothing at this time

 

 

VI. New Business

1.      Town of Jamestown - New Municipal Water Standpipe – Assessors Plat 9, Lot 152 -  96 Howland Ave – Development Plan Review in a Public Zone by recommendation of the Zoning Board – Also Recommendation to the Zoning Board under Section 82-501 #5 of Zoning Ordinance, Powers and Duties of the Zoning Board of Review

 

Mike Gray,  Deputy Public Works Director along with Steve Goslee, Public Works Director and Don Bunker from Fay, Spofford & Thorndike presented the plan for review by the Planning Commission.  Dimensional variances are needed for setbacks.  Because of the dimensions of the lot the setbacks could not be met.  The graffiti on the tank had not been taken care of quickly due to the weather but it is now taken care of and painted.  In the past yard maintenance was handled by an abutter but the Highway dept will take over because the site is now required to be fenced.  Mike Gray referred to the Planners memo, the town has been working for the last 3 years to look at methods to alleviate the water supply problems. This solution will help with fire protection. 

 

In the Planners memo it said the tree at the northern corner is rotting according to Dave Nickerson and should be removed.

 

 Mike Gray read a letter from Dave Nickerson that suggested certain species of trees.

A commissioner commented that the tank is 100 feet tall.  It will take a long time for the trees to grow.

 

Mike Gray commented on Mary Ann Joyce’s letter.  She is referring to the noise from a compressor that is loud and they are coming up with a plan for the new tank that will not use the compressor on a regular basis.  But there will always be a need for an emergency generator that will have to be run occasionally to insure that it remains operational.

 

Commissioner Kallfelz, asked “can’t you solve the storage problem without a new tank?”

Don Bunker explained the plan from an engineer’s standpoint to the board.  With only one storage tank, repairs to the system cannot be completed without the only water supply becoming non-operational.

 

A discussion ensued regarding the amount of water pumped now and how much it will increase with the new tank.  Commissioner Kallfelz asked if it is worth it for an extra 350,000 gallons. The gallon per minute increase is significant stated Don Bunker.   Are we going to continue to pump from the south pond?  Yes we are Mr. Goslee stated. 

 

Commissioner Girard stated that we should concentrate on the development plan review.  Commissioner Brown asked if there is something we could do ascetically to make it more appealing?  We can look at different types of tank material?  The light blue color is a tremendous improvement over the previous red checked tank.

 

There could be more tall trees to put across the front of the property that start with height said Commissioner Hubbard, also by not putting them up against the tank but at the edge of the property line to make the structure seem not so large would help. Commissioner Girard asked Commissioner Hubbard to suggest some sort of plantings. 

Commissioner Hubbard suggested a better vegetative screen.  Commissioner Hubbard suggested working with the neighbors for some additional plantings and getting suggestions from them.

 

 Commissioner Holland said it doesn’t matter how you disguise it, it is still 100 feet high and big, paint it sky blue to blend in.  Commissioner Holland also said to work with the tree committee, like the planner says in her memo.  See memo to add the change.

 

Commissioner Kallfelz is struggling with a million gallon tank if we are only short by 380,000 gallon.  Why do we need such a big tank?   It relates to the usable portion of water and the pressure that is needed from the entire million gallons.

 

Lisa Bryer, town planner asked do we want to set some parameters for item 3 relating to working with abutters and a maintenance and planting plan? For instance, increasing plantings along Howland Ave. and a  maintenance program, and also work together with the abutters and come up with appropriate screening on all sides  This are making a recommendation to the Zoning Board. 

 

The Planning Commission made the following findings of fact and recommendations to the Zoning Board of review and approved the Development Plan based upon the following findings of fact and with the following conditions of approval:

 

Findings of Fact:

  1. The Town Council has been presented with and held a public workshop on the Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike Water System Tank Siting Study, prepared in February 2003;
  2. The study reports that the Town currently requires 90,000 gallons of equalizing storage and 630,000 gallons of fire flow storage (3,500 gpm for 3 hours based on ISO data).  This leaves the Town with a storage shortage of approximately 380,000 gallons;
  3. 7 alternatives were investigated by FST and considered by the Jamestown Town Council sitting as the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners;
  4. The Town Council voted to implement alternative A3, a 1.0 million gallon standpipe at Howland Avenue site with vaulted pump for recirculation and water transfer. 
  5. This alternative will provide the additional storage necessary to maintain tank levels during prolonged periods of high demand, meet the current fire flow deficiency as well as provide emergency storage that the proposed pump station can make usable;
  6. The Town received a $500,000 legislative grant through Senator Reed’s office for the construction of the new water tower.  This money will be used to leverage the bonded funds for the water system upgrades.  The Town Planner applied for another ½ million grant for water system improvements in FY 2006.
  7. If additional alternatives are to be considered it should be done so by the Town Council if they choose to reopen discussions on the selected alternative;
  8. The site is currently maintained by the western abutter who will no longer be permitted access due to safety issues once the new tank is installed;
  9. This proposal is consistent with the 2002 Jamestown approved Comprehensive Community Plan, specifically Policy 3, Action item B of the Public Services and Facilities Action Plan.

 

Recommended Conditions of approval:

  1. Plant 12 evergreen trees as shown on the planting schedule on the Site Plan, Notes and Details by FST for; the Zoning Submittal. 
  2. Remove the existing 36” tree on the northeast side of the site along Howland Avenue and replace with a 2-2.5 inch caliper shade tree;
  3. The Town of Jamestown Public Works Department should work with the abutters, and the Tree Preservation and Protection Committee to develop a site maintenance plan to include additional appropriate trees as deemed necessary and additional appropriate screening, not limited to vegetation.  The Maintenance Plan should not compromise the integrity of the plan to provide additional water capacity to the Town making cost effectiveness to users a priority;
  4. The Town Public Works should set up a maintenance schedule for vegetation maintenance on site, including but not limited to weed removal around the tanks, trimming of hedge if necessary, cutting of grass, pruning of trees in the front and back of the property
  5. Use the same color paint for the new standpipe as the existing one.

 

So unanimously voted.

 

A motion to adjourn  was made by Commissioner Kallfelz and seconded by Commissioner Hubbard. At 8:55 p.m.  So unanimously voted.

 

Attest:

Cinthia Reppe                                 This meeting was recorded on 1 micro-cassette