Record of the March 9, 2010 Town Meeting
THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
To the inhabitants of the Town of Kensington in the County of Rockingham in said State, qualified to vote in Town Affairs:
You are hereby notified to meet thereafter at the Town Hall in Kensington on Tuesday March 9, 2010, to elect officers, vote on zoning articles and to vote on al warrant articles from the first session by official ballot.
Polls will be open from 8:00am-7:30pm
ARTICLE 1: To choose all necessary Town Officials for the year ensuing.
Michael Motherway 270
Fred Bloomburg 1
Robert Upton 1
Robert Long 1
Shawn Portrait 1
Richard Evans 1
Kathleen Felch 1
Margaret Ruggeri 1
Cathy Diveglia 1
Michael Motherway 1
Peter Kuegel 1
Bob Upton 1
Elliot Fixler 1
Linda Blood 1
Joan Webber 1
Bruce Cilley 1
Harold Bodwell 1
Stefanie Johnstone 1
Clair Cushman 1
Supervisors of the Checklist cont. Bob Upton 1
Donald Lockhart 1
Elliot Fixler 1
Carolyn Kimball 1
Susan Lalime 3
ARTICLE 2: Planning Board Article.
Are you in favor of amending Chapter III, Article 10 by adding letter H: Density Bonus for Workforce Housing in order to promote open space subdivisions, avoid uninhibited development that is not planned, and ensure the Town is Compliant with NH State Law RSA 674:58-61 regarding the requirement that NH Towns provide reasonable and realistic opportunity for the development of workforce housing?
H. Density Bonus: the Planning Board may award a development an additional number of conforming buildable lots as a density bonus, if the required criteria as performance standards are met. Additional density allowances are based on the number of conforming buildable lots achievable under a yield plan baseline. The allowances are cumulative and may be allowed based on the following performance standards:
1.) Density Bonus (Affordable Housing): A density bonus of 15% above that indicated by the approved yield plan will be allowed for development that will guarantee:
a) 20% of the total number of units proposed within the development (including all units allowed by density bonuses) shall meet the requirements of the definition of affordable/workforce housing per NH RSA 674:58-61 as amended;
b) Such designated affordable/workforce housing units shall be incorporated within the development as a whole (not grouped contiguously) and shall match the architectural characteristics of such development;
c) Assurance of continued affordability. Affordable units offered for sale and approved by the Planning Board as part of a subdivision or site plan and subject to NH RSA 674:58-61 shall require a restrictive covenant and lien granted to the Town of Kensington. The initial value of the lien shall be equal to the difference between the fair market value of the unit and its reduced affordable sale price, which is indexed according to the qualifying income standards. The Town of Kensington’s lien is indexed over time at a rate equal to the consumer price index identified in the restrictive covenant and lien document. Future maximum resale limits shall be calculated as the fair market value minus the adjusted lien value and a transaction administrative fee. Subsequent sales prices are not limited based on income targets, but on the combination of the housing unit’s fair market value, minus the adjusted lien value, and adherence to the definition of affordable owner-occupied housing contained in this article. The restrictive covenant and lien shall be in a form approved by the Planning Board and shall be in effect for a minimum of 30 years upon Planning Board approval of said affordable units.
d) Documentation of restrictions. Deed restrictions, restrictive covenants, or contractual arrangements related to dwelling units established under this Article must be set forth on all plans filed with the Town’s Planning Board and with the Registry of Deeds.
e) Certificate of Occupancy. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for an affordable housing unit without written confirmation acceptable to the monitoring agency of the income eligibility of the tenant or buyer of the affordable housing unit and confirmation of the rent or price of the affordable housing unit as documented by an executed lease or purchase and sale agreement.
f) Ongoing responsibility for monitoring the compliance with resale and rental restrictions on affordable units shall be the responsibility of a monitoring agency of the Planning Boards choice including, but not limited to, the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. If the Planning Boards choice for monitoring and compliance is the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority then the owner of said affordable units shall follow the requirements as set forth in the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority’s Model for Homeownership Affordability Retention Lien as amended.
2.) Every development seeking such bonuses shall provide the Planning Board with easements, covenants, or deed restrictions, which shall provide for the perpetual continuation of the performance standards, which are used in the granting of any bonus. Said easements, covenants, or deed restrictions shall be reviewed by qualified legal counsel on behalf of the Town (at the developer’s expense) and approved by the Planning Board prior to the issuance of any final approval.
3.) Where a final number is greater than 0.5, the density number may be rounded up to the next whole number.
Recommended by the Planning Board
Yes 335
No 228
ARTICLE 3: Shall the Town of Kensington raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling $1,565,115 (one million, five hundred sixty five thousand, one hundred and fifteen dollars)? Should this article be defeated, the operating budget shall be $1,568,344 (one million, five hundred sixty eight thousand, three hundred and forty four dollars), which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the voters or by law or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. Note: This warrant article (operating budget) does not include appropriations in any other warrant article.
Selectmen recommend this appropriation
Yes 465
No 113
ARTICLE 4: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $100,000 (one hundred thousand dollars) for town road reconstruction. This will be a non-lapsing appropriation as per RSA 32:7, VI and will not lapse until December 31, 2011. This appropriation is in addition to Warrant Article 3, the operating budget article.
Selectmen recommend this appropriation
Yes 413
No 189
ARTICLE 5: To see if the municipality will vote to raise and appropriate $3,220.00 (three thousand two hundred and twenty dollars) to supplement the Kensington Recreation budget of 2010 in order to provide recreational activities throughout the year promoting community involvement.
Selectmen recommend this appropriation.
Yes 335
No 267
ARTICLE 6: This article will not increase the tax rate. To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate up to $115,000 (one hundred fifteen thousand dollars) to spend toward completion of construction items necessary to bring Kensington Place into compliance with the Kensington subdivision regulations. This appropriation will be totally offset by the settlement funds received from the legal settlement agreements reached between the town, banks, bonding company and Kensington Place residents. This will be non-lapsing until the project is complete or until December 31, 2012, whichever is sooner.
Selectmen recommend this appropriation
Yes 405
ARTICLE 7: By petition of Julie Hall and 25 other registered voters: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $5,000 (five thousand dollars) to hire a certified applicator to apply preventative, proactive perimeter/barrier tick and mosquito spraying with an EPA-approved aracide from May 1 to October 31 at the Kensington Elementary School, Sawyer Park and Sawyer Field, and the Town Hall area for the purpose of protecting its residents from Lyme Disease, West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) which are prevalent in this area.
This appropriation is in addition to Warrant Article 3, the operating budget article.
[Intent: Lyme, West Nile and EEE are potentially debilitating and/or fatal diseases carried by ticks and mosquitoes. Rockingham County has the highest incidence of Lyme Disease in NH and Kensington has been on the Dept of Health and Human Services EEE public Health threat list for years. This will be part of the Town’s integrated pest management plan, which includes public education about personal protection measures, habitat management and avoidance of high risk and mosquito habitats. It will help the Town reduce the public threat of human exposure to these diseases.]
Selectmen do not recommend this appropriation.
Yes 275
No 128
ARTICLE 8: To see if
Yes 35
No 123
ARTICLE 9: To see if the town will vote to designate the board of selectmen instead of the recreation director to have the authority to order expenditures from the Recreation Revolving Fund pursuant to RSA 35-B2, II. No further approval of the legislative body is required for the use of the funds.
Yes 270
No 123
ARTICLE 10: To see if
Yes 35
No 120
ARTICLE 11: Are you in favor of amending the 1985 Littering Ordinance with the following, which establishes a clearer fine structure:
LITTERING ORDINANCE
SECTION I
No person, shall put or place, or cause to be put or placed, in and upon any Town owned roadway or property any bottles, glass, crockery, cans, scrap metal, junk, paper, garbage, old automobiles or parts thereof, or refuge of any nature, noxious thing or abandoned property.
SECTION II
A. Penalty – Any person violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a violation and up conviction thereof shall be liable to a penalty of not more than Five Hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense.
1. First offense - $100.00
2. Second offense - $250.00
3. Third offense - $500.00
B. Validity – If any section or part of a section, or paragraph of this Article is declared invalid or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect any other section or sections, or part of a section or paragraph of this ordinance.
ARTICLE 12: By petition of Robert Long and 25 other registered voters: To see if the Town will accept Hoosac Road, French’s Lane and Weare Road in their present condition as Class V (5) Town Roads.
Yes 334
ARTICLE 13: To see if
Yes 65
No 128
ARTICLE 14: Are you in favor of amending the Rules and Regulations of the Ordinance adopted at the March 1980 Town Meeting to regulate the care, protection, preservation and use of the Town Park, which reads, “Alcoholic beverages will be permitted only after securing a permit from one of the Selectmen”, to read, “Alcoholic beverages will be permitted only after securing a permit from the Board of Selectmen.”
Yes 413
1737 Voters on Checklist
622 People voted
36% Voter Turnout
Respectfully submitted
Jessica Dostie, Town Clerk