At the Nov. 6 meeting the West Swanzey Planning Board accepted Charlie Harbeck’s application and appointed him as the board’s third alternate (three-year term). The appointment passed by voice vote after a motion by Victoria Ames and a second from Richard Lane.

The board deferred a rezoning proposal from Chad Brennan because the applicant was not present. Members also discussed planning priorities, agreeing that the planner could add a standing agenda item for strategic ordinance revisions and trainings and that he would pilot a 2026 series of quarterly community roundtables to gather residents’ views on housing and development. Planner Adam said the sessions would likely be on weekends to maximize attendance and flagged process considerations (quorum rules and whether meetings should be formal planning-board meetings). The board discussed posting and quorum logistics and agreed to limit the participation pattern so roundtables do not become unplanned planning-board meetings.

Speakers (attributed)

- Charlie Harbeck (applicant for alternate position)
- Victoria Ames (moved appointment)
- Richard Lane (seconded appointment)
- Adam, planning staff (presented planning-priorities concept)

Actions

- Appointment of Charlie Harbeck as a planning-board alternate (three-year term). Motion moved by Victoria Ames; seconded by Richard Lane; adopted by voice vote.

Next steps

- Planner to schedule and advertise community roundtable sessions and to coordinate with governance staff on outreach and format. The board asked that materials be prepared ahead of each session and discussed the posting/quorum rules to ensure compliance with open-meeting requirements.

Searchable tags: ["appointments","public_engagement","planning_priorities","Charlie Harbeck"]