Planning Board
Town of Keene
Keene, New York 12942

Date:			Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Kind:			Regular Planning Board Meeting

Place:			Held Remotely Over Zoom

Board Present: 	Tom Hickey, Larry House, Mike Hartson, Linda LaBarge, and Brian Crowl

Board Absent:  	Travis Gagnon and Ron Hall

Others Present: 	Kathy Gagnon, Kevin Hall, Steve Popp, Warren Kries, Robert Hickey, Derrick Martineau, Joe Pete Wilson, Supervisor and Katelyn Magnan

Call to Order:  	
Tom Hickey called this meeting to order at 9:02 AM.

Approval of Minutes: 
 
A motion was made by Tom Hickey, seconded by Linda LaBarge, to approve the Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting held Tuesday, December 8. Motion – CARRIED, 5 Yes

New Business: 
K-21-1	Robert Hickey - Subdivision
Robert Hickey presented the Board with a subdivision project at his property at 10862 NYS Rte 9N, Keene, Tax Map# 53.2-3-41.001. He said the subdivision would leave him with one lot at .63 acres and the other at .52 acres, so that he could sell his house if needed. Tom Hickey asked if he owned the lot, and Robert Hickey said that he did. Tom Hickey said that he'd seen Kevin Hall's map of the subdivision and saw no problems with it, and Mr. House agreed. Mr. Hartson asked if the lean-to shown on the map that appeared to be on a separate lot was on the house lot, and Robert Hickey said that it was not and that they would change that later. Mr. House said that there would be a boundary line adjustment. Mr. Crowl asked for clarification that the map they were referring to was at the Town Hall, and Mr. House said that he had a PDF file and it would be at the Town Hall. Mr. Hall then said that he could print out a full size map for the Town Hall if needed. Linda LaBarge offered a motion to approve this project, seconded by Brian Crowl.  Motion – CARRIED, 5 Yes.

K-21-2	John Sargent - Subdivision
Mr. Kevin Hall presented the Board with a subdivision project for John Sargent at 71 Levi Lamb Way, Keene Valley, Tax Map# 62.12-5-29.000. He explained that he had presented this previously the the Planning Board prior to COVID-19 which had put some things on hold. He said that Mr. Sargent had purchased a parcel from Ben Kernan and merged it with his camp lot, and now his son wanted to build a house on a portion of the property, so the plan was to subdivide it and change the lines on the original configuration for a better driveway. He said it would be coming from a different right of way, and he had sent those papers to the Board, and it would be 2.2 acres. Mr. House said he looked at the site and saw no issues, and Mr. Hickey agreed. Mr. Crowl stated that he was also familiar with the property, and also saw no issues. Mr. House said it was a heavily forrested lot. Larry House offered a motion to approve this project, seconded by Mike Hartson.  Motion – CARRIED, 5 Yes.

K-21-3	Steve Popp - Change of Use
Steve Popp presented the Board with a Change of Use for the Yoga Studio beside his coffee shop, Old Mountain Coffee at 1769 NYS Rte 73, Tax Map#62.59-4-11.000. He explained that they were not currently allowing people inside of the shop, and the yoga studio next door was closed, so they were planning to sublease it and use it as a warming area and bathrooms for the customers. He said that they might put some retail in there to cover the cost, and possibly in the future add some seating. He explained that he had spoken to Mr. Martineau and that he told him that he would likely need the change of use. Ms. LaBarge asked if they needed a change of use as both buildings had been used as commercial businesses. Mr. Hickey said that he felt the change of use was appropriate, and that a change of use could mean going from a bar to a hayshed, and Mr. Crowl agreed, citing that they had done this in the past with the bookstore next to Cedar Run. He said that Mr. Popp should fill out an application explaining what he was doing, and Mr. Hickey agreed. Mr. Popp said that he had an application filled out, and Mr. Hickey said that he thought this was a good idea. Mr. House asked if they could approve it since he had the application filled out, and Mr. Crowl agreed. Larry House offered a motion to approve this project, seconded by Linda LaBarge. Motion – CARRIED, 5 Yes.

Old Business:
K-20-33	Warren Kries - Single Family Dwelling
			Mr. Hickey began by reading a text message from Mr. John 					Ferebee the night beforein regards to Mr. Kries project at his 				property at 				11262 NYS Rte 9N, 					Keene, Tax Map#44.4-2-3.200. He said that Mr. Ferebee 					would not be available for the meeting, but that he had the 					stamped plans and Mr. Hickey told him to drop the original 					copy off at the Town Hall, which he said he would. Mr. Hickey 				asked if Mr. Kries knew what was going on with the plans, 					and Mr. Kries said that he was told the same thing. Mr. 					Hickey asked if the residence would be one or two 						bedrooms. Mr. Kries said that the original plan would be one 				bedroom and a loft, and that when he spoke to Mr. 						Martineau, the footprint of the building was what was 						measured and that was why the square footage was not 					included for the loft originally. He said that the loft would be 					used mostly for storage, and they would keep a bed up there 				for visitors, and the basement would be used for storage as 					well with things such as a boat, 4-wheeler, etc. Mr. Hickey 					said that since there would be stamped plans that it would 					help to finally answer the questions about the square footage 				of the house. Mr. Kries said that he had gotten nervous about 				pouring foundation though he had been reassured by the 					concrete company that it would be fine if it did not get too 					cold. Mr. Hickey stated his concerns about the foundation not 				being designed by an engineer because of the bank it was 					being built on, but since there were going to be architect 					plans, he was less worried about it. He mentioned that he 					was sure Mr. Ferebee's plans were good, but that he was 					not an engineer and that had been an issue. Mr. Kries 					mentioned that there were plans for support walls which he 					believed had been stamped. Mr. Hickey stated that the Board 				had only ever seen hand drawn plans from Mr. Ferebee, and 				that the architect plans would finally solve all the issues. Mr. 					House said that he felt everyone on the Board and Mr. 					Martineau needed to see the plans and look them over before 				approval, and Mr. Hickey agreed. Mr. Kries said that he 					believed the architect was someone from Jeffords Steel 					Engineering, and asked how long before they would know 					when they would be allowed to build. Mr. Hickey said that it 					would be by the next meeting, and that there was a separate 				permit for the foundation so he was good to go ahead with 					that part now. Mr. Hickey said that they would keep in 					contact with Mr. Kries through email to keep things going, 					and Mr. House stated that he did not want to approve 					anything right now without seeing the plans. Mr. Crowl 					brought up that the precedent had been set, and that they 					were told two months ago that they were going to see these 					plans, and had no plans at all, and then only hand drawn 					plans, and it made sense to wait and make sure they looked 				right. Mr. Martineau said that he had no problem as long as 					there were actual plans, and that he was not comfortable 					signing off without them. Everyone agreed to table to project.

Correspondence: 
			None

Discussion:  
Mr. Wilson brought up that the Town was in the final stages of getting the new website up, and he was in the process of migrating what was on the old website onto the new one. He asked if that was okay, and if this would be a good time to reconsider the fees they charged, which was currently $25 for a building permit. He said that he did not feel they were charging enough to cover the cost of operation. He mentioned that Mr. Martineau might be able to prepare something, and asked if Mr. Crowl might have some experience in filing permits with other towns. Mr. Crowl said he did, and he agreed with the fee increase as other Towns did definitely charge more than Keene. He said that certain things were broken down, and they charged for things such as chimney inspection as well. He said that they should be able to pay Mr. Martineau and cover costs without showing any loss by increasing the rates. Mr. Wilson said that this was something that the Town needed to change rates overall, and not just in the Planning Board, as they had been using tax revenue to cover costs at places such as the Transfer Station for a while. He said that he would help Mr. Martineau compile some data and Mr. Crowl stated that it might be a good idea to contact someone at the state level to ask about fees as well and the definition of square footage. Mr. Hickey agreed that they should be charging the same as local communities, and Mr. Wilson said he would work with Mr. Martineau to get a proposal together for Board to look at. Mr. Hickey stated that he believed, though he wanted the Planning Board to have input in it, that the Town Board was meant to be the one executing laws, and Mr. Wilson said that the Town Board would go by whatever the Planning Board and Mr. Martineau recommended. Ms. LaBarge mentioned that the website currently states that they meet on the first Tuesday of the month, and asked if it could be adjusted. Mr. Wilson explained that they could not currently change certain parts of the Town's website as it was so outdated it would not allow for edits, but that he would make sure to add that to things to correct for the new website. 

Tom Hickey and Larry House met previously to sign the following resolutions from last month's meeting: John Ferebee, Single Family Dwelling; Hyman, Garage; Viriginia Miller, Garage; Warren Kries, Foundation

Adjournment: 
Motion to adjourn was offered by Tom Hickey, seconded by Brian Crowl.  Motion – CARRIED, 5 Yes.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:28 AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Katelyn Magnan

Next meeting – Tuesday, February 9 @ 9:00 AM, to again held remotely.