The Derry Town Council approved, by a majority vote, authorizing Acting Town Administrator Larry Budreau to enter into an Inter-Municipal Agreement with the Town of Windham to allow Windham to perform winter maintenance on Nathan Road.
The Council voted 5-0-1 to approve the agreement, with Councilor Al Dimmock abstaining.
In a memo, Budreau wrote to the Council that the Planning Board approved a one-lot subdivision in October, to be named Nathan Road. The lot is to be accessed through a subdivision called Spruce Pond Estates in Windham. The new lot would be located in Derry and would receive its legal frontage from a cul-de-sac on the Windham/Derry line.
The issue, Budreau wrote, came from a Derry Department of Public Works (DPW) objection to having to travel a half mile through Windham to provide winter maintenance – plowing, salting and sanding – for half of a paved cul-de-sac.
The Derry Planning Board approved the plan with the condition that the developer arrange for Windham to take on the winter maintenance.
After a meeting between Derry DPW Director Mike Fowler and Windham Road Agent Jack McCartney, an inter-municipal agreement was drafted. Windham’s Board of Selectmen approved it on Oct. 21.
Derry would still retain all other maintenance responsibilities for the road, Budreau wrote.
A public hearing on the intermunicipal agreement was held Nov. 19. The Council delayed action on the agreement until it could determine that only one lot would be created as a result of the subdivision.
Planning Director George Sioras said he had spoken with Fowler and ascertained that only one lot of record, at 4.83 acres, would be created.
The agreement has been reviewed by Derry’s attorneys, Windham’s attorneys and the developer’s attorneys, Sioras said.
On the Derry side, that area requires two-acre zoning, while on the Windham side it’s one acre, Sioras said.
And therein lies the problem, Dimmock contended. He said, “I want it understood that the Planning Board, Zoning Board and Town of Derry want only one lot.”
Councilor Brad Benson said the issue before them had to do with winter maintenance only. “The road is there now,” he said. “This is not a covert operation to deal with future subdivisions.”
Chairman Michael Fairbanks said, “If there is a proposed change, they would have to go through the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.”
When Councilor Neil Wetherbee began to make a motion on the agreement, Dimmock objected, saying, “I was talking and he interrupted me.”
Wetherbee asked to move the question, to which Councilor Mark Osborne said, “Robert’s Rules is clear on this. You can’t move the question in order to end a discussion.”
The discussion continued, with Councilor Tom Cardon asking Sioras, “Do you have information in front of you saying it’s only zoned for one house?”
Sioras responded, “The plan approved by the Planning Board is for one lot only. If they come back, they will need a variance.”
The vote was 5-0-1 to approve the agreement, with Dimmock abstaining.
