BETHEL — Selectmen will convene a special board meeting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, in the town office to reappoint two Board of Appeals members.
Town Manager James Doar said Wednesday by email that the board needs to reappoint Chairmen Mike O’Donnell and Wende Gray, whose terms expire on Friday, Dec. 31. No one else applied for the seats.
The two members are needed so the Board of Appeals can formally adopt their own written decision on Dec. 16 regarding resident Mark Egeberg’s appeal of a Planning Board action.
Previously, Bethel planners decided that Barry Hallett Jr., owner of the Funky Red Barn tavern, didn’t need to go through site plan review to repair water damage to the century-old building.
According to the Planning Board’s Sept. 22 meeting minutes, a site plan review process wasn’t needed because Hallett proposed to remove and replace floor boards.
He also wanted to install pressure-treated joists in a large portion of the first floor, which is 40 feet by 35 feet, and to reinstall carpeting, the dance floor, bar and bathroom floors.
Planners unanimously agreed that the site plan review wasn’t applicable, because the project involves the rehabilitation of an existing building, repairs of existing shortcomings due to aging and because there won’t be any changes in size, use or function of the building.
Doar said Egeberg appealed the Planning Board’s decision to the Board of Appeals, arguing that a site plan review is necessary.
But at its meeting on Dec. 16, the Board of Appeals upheld the Planning Board decision.
However, Doar said the appellate body’s next scheduled meeting was for Tuesday, Jan. 4, which is within the 21-day period provided in the Board of Appeals ordinance.
That meant selectmen needed to reappoint O’Donnell and Wende Gray so the Board of Appeals could adopt their written decision.
Doar said selectmen were going to make the appointments at their next regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 10, but that would be beyond the 21-day window for the appellate body’s action.
The seats needed to be filled prior to the Board of Appeals next meeting on Jan. 4, in case one or more members couldn’t make the meeting for whatever reason, resulting in the lack of a quorum, Doar said.
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