Consultant urges Deerfield to strengthen CIP before adopting impact fees; flags $1.92M Blakes Hill bridge and transfer‑station capacity

Nate Miller, a consultant with the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, told the Deerfield Planning Board on July 8 that impact fees must link to capital improvements in the town's six‑year capital improvement program (CIP) to be defensible and legal under state statute. "The road impact fee... is done on a system wide basis based on the number of trips that a particular type of use generates," Miller said, explaining the methodology for road fees.

Miller highlighted several projects that could form the basis of a road impact fee if the CIP clearly programs them: the Blakes Hill Road bridge replacement (programmed for construction in 2029 with an estimated total cost of $1,920,000 and a town share of about $384,000 after state aid), a Middle Road box culvert that may require upsizing, and Haines Road box culvert work that, he said, is already under construction. He warned that many submitted highway items looked like in‑kind maintenance rather than capacity improvements and therefore would be ineligible for impact‑fee use.

On public safety, Miller said the police facility is undersized and that the town has not yet identified a concrete improvement project in the CIP that would justify a public‑safety impact fee. He recommended a facility needs assessment or a design study as a first step so the town can establish a realistic cost basis. "Once a facility is built... you spread that cost over the maximum service population," Miller said when describing recoupment and improvement approaches to public‑safety and municipal office fees.

Miller also reviewed municipal office, solid‑waste and recreation considerations. He judged the municipal office space to have a recoupment basis — the consultant's initial estimate found roughly 73% of the building's municipal office capacity is used by current staff, leaving room to allocate some cost to new growth. For solid waste, Miller said the transfer station was designed in the mid‑1990s for about 4,901 people and the town's current population is near that design capacity, so a transfer‑station needs assessment should remain in the CIP; several transfer station projects (gate/entrance improvements, a skid steer, a concrete pad) could expand throughput and be eligible for impact‑fee funding.

Board members and Miller discussed timing: impact fees must be spent on eligible projects within six years of collection or be refunded with interest. Miller advised the board to populate the CIP with realistic, implementable projects within that six‑year window to make any fees defensible and useful. Planning members agreed to schedule a focused work session at the next meeting to complete CIP submissions and requested departments supply project forms and cost estimates so the consultant can finalize fee calculations.

No fee ordinance was adopted at the meeting; Miller recommended additional data collection, possible extension of the consultant contract and follow‑up meetings with departments to produce the final impact‑fee study.