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Town of East Windsor 1 TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR 2 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION 3 4 REGULAR Meeting #1787 5 September 8, 2020 6 7 Meeting held via ZOOM Teleconference 8 Meeting ID: 332 683 3563 9 Town Hall closed to the Public by 10 Executive Order of First Selectman Bowsza 11 due to Coronavirus pandemic 12 13 MEETING MINUTES 14 *****Minutes are not official until approved at a subsequent meeting***** 15 16 17 Chairman Ouellette called the September 8, 2020 Regular Meeting of the East Windsor 18 Planning and Zoning Commission to Order at 6:32 p.m. The Meeting is being held via 19 teleconference due to closure of the Town Hall to the public as the result of the 20 coronavirus epidemic. 21 22 PRESENT: Regular Members: Joe Ouellette (Chairman), Michael Kowalski, Tim 23 Moore Dick Sullivan,and Jim Thurz. 24 Alternate Members: Anne Gobin, and Frank Gowdy. 25 26 ABSENT: Alternate Member Marti Zhigailo 27 28 Also present via teleconference were Michael D’Amato, Town Planner; Ruthanne 29 Calabrese, Zoning Enforcement Officer and Wetlands Officer, and Operations Manager 30 Joe Sauerhoufer. 31 32 GUESTS/SPEAKERS: First Selectman Bowsza hosted the meeting. 33 34 Public: Reinhardt Von Hollander, Maureen Duclos, Cheryl Alaimo. 35 36 ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM: 37 38 A quorum was established as five Regular Members and two Alternate Members were 39 present at the Call to Order. 40 41 Chairman Ouellette was having technical difficulties accessing the meeting; he asked 42 Vice Chairman Sullivan to Chair the meeting in the interim. Vice Chairman Sullivan 43 confirmed that all five Regular Members were present, as well as two Alternate 44 Members; Alternate Member Zhigailo had called in indicating she would not be able to 45 attend this evening. 46 TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR 2 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Regular Meeting #1787 – September 8, 2020 ZOOM Teleconference Meeting ID: 332 683 3563 MEETING MINUTES 47 48 LEGAL NOTICE: None. 49 50 ADDED AGENDA ITEMS: None. 51 52 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: 53 54 Vice Chairman Sullivan queried the audience for comments regarding items/issues not 55 posted on the Agenda. First Selectman Bowsza requested to speak regarding constituent 56 e-mails he has been receiving related to the Silverman project on South Water Street. 57 First Selectman Bowsza began his discussion by recognizing that the Commission 58 followed the process outlined in your regulations and bylaws when considering the 59 Silverman application. However, the residents don’t feel that proper notice was given to 60 them. First Selectman Bowsza indicated he sent an e-mail to the Commission suggesting 61 that for future developments in either commercial or industrial zones that abut residential 62 properties - even if the project is properly zoned - we might think about doing a 63 notification of the proceedings to abutting residents so they have an opportunity to feel 64 included in the process. First Selectman Bowsza indicated that would be a consideration 65 he would ask the Commission to think about. 66 67 Commissioner Gowdy suggested he felt it was in everyone’s best interest if he expressed 68 this concern to the new Town Planner; he questioned if what First Selectman Bowsza was 69 suggesting was within the Commission’s purview. 70 71 Chairman Ouellette had re-established his connection to the meeting. He noted this was 72 actually correspondence from a public official; he suggested further discussion occur 73 under the CORRESPONDENCE - Agenda item number VIII - later in the meeting. 74 75 APPROVAL OF MINUTES/August 11, 2020: 76 77 MOTION: To APPROVE the Minutes of Regular Meeting #1786 dated August 78 11, 2020. 79 80 Sullivan moved/Kowalski seconded/DISCUSSION: None. 81 VOTE by show of hands: In Favor: Sullivan/Kowalski/Moore 82 Opposed: No one 83 Abstained: Ouellette/Thurz 84 85 RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS: None. 86 87 PERFORMANCE BONDS – ACTIONS; PERMIT EXTENSIONS; ROAD 88 ACCEPTANCE 89 TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR 3 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Regular Meeting #1787 – September 8, 2020 ZOOM Teleconference Meeting ID: 332 683 3563 MEETING MINUTES 90 91 No requests presented under this Item of Business this evening. 92 93 CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 94 95 NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 96 97 NEW BUSINESS: None. 98 99 OLD BUSINESS/A. Site Visits: 100 101 First Selectman Bowsza introduced Ruthanne Calabrese, who is the new Zoning 102 Enforcement Officer for the Town. She has been a regulatory officer in several 103 communities in Connecticut and Rhode Island; she’s also spent the bulk of her career 104 working in the Public Utilities sector and a bit of time in the non-profit space. She has 105 been with us since August 24th and has been a great addition to our team; First Selectman 106 Bowsza feels the Commission will be pleased to be working with her. 107 108 First Selectman Bowsza noted the Commission has met Mike D’Amato from CHA 109 previously; Mr. D’Amato is with us this evening as well. 110 111 Chairman Ouellette welcomed Ruthanne to the Commission. 112 113 Mrs. Calabrese advised the Commission she received an introduction to the Town a 114 couple of weeks ago with First Selectman Bowsza and Operations Manager Sauerhoefer 115 who brought her up to speed on some of the pending issues. 116 117 Operations Manager Sauerhoefer suggested this might be an appropriate time to nominate 118 Mrs. Calabrese as the Zoning Enforcement Agent; Town Planner D’Amato concurred. 119 120 MOTION: To ACCEPT and RECOGNIZE Ruthanne Calabrese as our new 121 Zoning Enforcement Officer. 122 123 Sullivan moved/Thurz seconded/DISCUSSION: None. 124 VOTE by a show of hands: 125 In Favor: Kowalski/Ouellette/Moore/Sullivan/Thurz 126 (No one opposed/No abstentions) 127 128 Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO) Calabrese continued with her report of site visits. 129 130 ZEO Calabrese reported she prioritized the sites previously handled by Operations 131 Manager Sauerhoefer. She indicated she hasn’t met any of the homeowners, other than 132 TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR 4 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Regular Meeting #1787 – September 8, 2020 ZOOM Teleconference Meeting ID: 332 683 3563 MEETING MINUTES 133 134 some residents of condominium complexes whose issues were more wetlands related. 135 The status of the site visits are as follows: 136 137 131 North Road – discarded motor vehicles and unsightly materials – ZEO Calabrese 138 indicated a letter was sent on 5/19/2020 and followed up with a notice of an intent to fine 139 on 7/15/2020; the homeowner responded with a letter citing hardships. During the site 140 visit of last week they noted progress has been made, items have been removed, and there 141 is a dumpster at the location being filled. Operations Manager Sauerhoefer concurred, 142 noting the Commission had agreed to monitor this property. The property owner as been 143 making a reasonable effort; they’ll continue to monitor the situation and follow up with 144 another letter if necessary. 145 146 38 and 40 Pleasant Street – ZEO Calabrese reported on inspection the front of the 147 properties had been pretty well cleared, there were no animals out front, it looked as if 148 they were digging postholes as if they were going to put up a fence. 149 150 Reservoir Avenue: ZEO Calabrese suggested she understood this to be an issue 151 requiring installation of silt fence and an anti-tracking pad. Operations Manager 152 Sauerhoefer indicated the developer has paved an apron on the other side; he felt that 153 complaint could probably closed out. 154 155 38 Harrington Road – auto repair activity not permitted – ZEO Calabrese reported a 156 letter was previously sent, which was followed up with a notice of intent to fine. She 157 suggested when visiting the site on July 31st they found most of the vehicles had been 158 removed; there’s no evidence of auto repair activity going on. Operations Manager 159 Sauerhoefer suggested it appears he has closed that business up. They’ll continue to 160 monitor the location and notify the Commission should they find the business has come 161 back to life. Operations Manager Sauerhoefer indicated he’s driven by and noticed the 162 resident has had his two personal cars at the location; the resident has a nice collection of 163 vehicles. He hasn’t noticed any commercial or unregistered vehicles; he felt the letters 164 worked with this resident as well. 165 166 Chairman Ouellette recalled that the DMV had been copied on the previous 167 correspondence; he questioned Operations Manager Sauerhoefer if the Town has received 168 any response from the DMV? Operations Manager Sauerhoefer questioned that they 169 were actually aware of the situation as the person he copied on the correspondence may 170 not have been the correct contact. Commissioner Thurz indicated that he heard that 171 someone from the DMV did stop over. Chairman Ouellette suggested if it comes to 172 contacting the DMV he has contact information for that agency. 173 174 20 North Road/Watermill Landing – ZEO Calabrese suggested the issue at hand was 175 erosion control. She and Operations Manager Sauerhoefer met with the project foreman, TOWN OF EAST WINDSOR 5 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Regular Meeting #1787 – September 8, 2020 ZOOM Teleconference Meeting ID: 332 683 3563 MEETING MINUTES 176 177 Dan DeMay; it appears he has some things on his mind he’d like to talk about. She 178 understands the Town is interested in the fate of the retaining wall proposed for the back 179 of the property. She reviewed the Site Plan; the sidewalks appear to be laid out as the 180 plans show; she noted that Operations Manager Sauerhoefer was interested in that issue.
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