Plaistow board moves to use RPC hours for master plan, seeks clearer fee accounting under RSA 673:16

The Plaistow Planning Board on Sept. 3 discussed how to deploy a newly finalized contract with a regional planning commission for master-plan work, updated capital-improvement committee organization and a review of planning-fee accounting under RSA 673:16. Board members said the RPC contract runs from September 2025 through June 30, 2026, provides approximately 10 billable hours per month and has a contract cap the meeting said was $8,400 for the term. Members discussed using the RPC hours for master-plan working sessions, subcommittee work and targeted support on topics the board prioritizes. Daniel (Dan) Kane was identified as chair of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) committee; Kane and other members said they will circulate dates and work to schedule a CIP meeting soon. The board reviewed the traditional CIP spreadsheet and asked department heads to send information through Kane as CIP chair. Board members also asked the town treasurer for a fee-accounting summary and cited RSA 673:16, which the chair noted requires planning-board fee receipts to be held in a separate account under the treasurer—s responsibility. Several members said planning fees have not been raised in over seven years while the consumer price index rose by roughly 25 percent in that period; members suggested a modest fee increase to offset processing costs. The chair said he had gone back four years to examine collections and asked the treasurer to provide inflow and outflow summaries so planning-board costs (including legal fees) can be reported on a gross basis to the budget committee. On the master plan itself, members reviewed examples from larger communities (Windham and Kingston) and discussed priorities drawn from the board—s earlier public survey. Potential focus areas included transportation (highway safety and roundabouts), housing, economic development, public utilities and open space. The board highlighted that some committees already exist in town (for example, a highway-safety/transportation committee and the CIP) and discussed forming or tapping citizen committees where needed. The board noted that state statute amendments now list waste reduction among master-plan elements to consider, and members said they would incorporate that into their planning updates. Regarding housing, the board asked members to compare the proposed edits the town has prepared for the housing chapter with the existing text; once members confirm the tracked changes are actual improvements, staff will post the updated housing chapter on the town website. The board asked staff to reforward a state-requested packet (a letter with a series of questions about a state road project on Route 125 and Northern Avenue) so the planning board can provide input; the conservation commission had already submitted a detailed response. During the meeting a member of the public, Jeffrey (Jeff) Adams of 33 Newton Road, volunteered to serve as an alternate member; the board asked the volunteer to submit a short letter of intent addressed to the chair so the board can place the candidate on the Sept. 17 agenda for a formal vote. Next steps recorded at the Sept. 3 meeting included: scheduling CIP dates, circulating RPC-related working-session agendas, requesting and reviewing separate fee-accounting from the town treasurer under RSA 673:16, proofing and posting the updated housing chapter, and asking potential master-plan subgroups to coordinate with existing town committees.