Planning Commission Minutes 3-31-2022

Planning Commission Minutes 3-31-2022

TOWN OF RUTLAND PLANNING COMMISSION

MEETING MINUTES

 

DATE: March 31^st, 2022

LOCATION: Town Hall and a publicly accessible conference line

OPEN MEETING 6:30 P.M.

 

Commission Members Present: Chair Barbara Pulling, Dana Peterson, Jerry Stearns, Howard Burgess, Sherman Hunter, Andy McKane, Norman Cohen, and Jim Hall. Mr. Hall was not a voting member for this meeting.

Members of the Public Present:  Mary Ashcroft

Approval of the Agenda:

Mr. Stearns moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Old Business: Subcommittee Report on Building Notification Ordinance

1. The committee has not met recently and did not have anything to report.
2. Discussed an ordinance found from the Town of Bennington. There is language in it which could help us draft ordinances in discussion. The enforcement language was of particular interest.
3. The goal of our ordinance is to encourage residents informing the Town office of work going on.
4. Discussed having the ordinance address construction of driveways to allow sufficient access for emergency vehicles. There is a driveway access permit process already in place. It is not known to what level this is utilized.

Old Business: Report from Selectboard Meeting

1. There are new committee assignments now for Board members.
2. Mary Ashcroft is the Energy Committee member. Most committees have just 1 Board member.
3. There is an open position to represent the town at Regional Planning Commission meetings as our alternate representative. Jim Hall is currently our primary representative.
4. No member immediately expressed interest.

Old Business: Update on the Pocket Park at the Center Rutland Falls

1. The presentation was made to the Selectboard recently. They were informed of all the ideas brought up so far.
2. Discussed the surprise rights of way belonging to VTrans in the area of our proposed Pocket Park.
3. Reviewed a map of the area showing the rights of way found.
4. Some of the rights of way may be historical and no longer in effect. VTrans will be doing research to see what they can find.
5. There was discussion on if this may be related to old railroad rights of way.
6. More information is needed from VTrans to determine the next steps.

Old Business: Subcommittee report on the Enhanced Energy Plan

1. Selectwoman Mary Ashcroft is Chair of the Board Energy Committee.
2. Discussed the energy survey, and Selectwoman Ashcroft will be sent a copy of the survey.
3. Selectwoman Ashcroft asked what the goal of the survey is. The intent is to gather opinions and most content comes right from the Enhanced Energy Plan.
4. The last time the Board Energy Committee met was to discuss adding a solar array to the capped landfill, but it ended up not being done. There was a discussion about adding solar arrays to roofs of Town owned buildings, but it has not been pursued.
5. The Planning Commission Subcommittee and the Selectboard Energy Committee will plan to meet in the future.
6. The method to collect survey information has not been decided yet.

Announcements

There were no announcements.

Approval of Minutes March 10^th, 2022:

Mr. Peterson moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Stearns seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Peterson and Mr. McKane abstained from the vote.

Adjournment:

Mr. Peterson moved to adjourn.  The meeting adjourned at 7:53 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet

 

 

______________________________________

Barbara Pulling

Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair