Executive Committee Members Present:
Jamie Steffen, Sandrine Thibault, Ben Frost, Jennifer Czysz, Pierce Rigrod

J. Steffen called the meeting to order at 9:50 a.m. 

Minutes
Minutes will be distributed and acted upon at the December 2007 meeting.

Treasurer’s Report
The treasurer’s report will be prepared and distributed for the annual meeting.

NNECAPA Update

1. CM: S. Thibault noted there were 2 sessions at the NNECAPA conference devoted to continuing education requirements.  It will cost organizations $95 to register as a provider and $50 per credit hour to register sessions.  NNECAPA can co-sponsor events to save organizations the $95 registration fee and will sponsor sessions in all three states so members do not have to attend the APA conference. 
2. CD Workshops: There are CD workshops planned for 2/13/2008 at NHHFA on Inclusionary Zoning and Mastering Density and on 5/21/2008 at NRPC on Brownfields and LEED.  Sessions will be worth 1.5 credits.  NNECAPA purchased 6 training CD’s this year and Vermont bought 6 last year that all may be used in NH.  There is the possibility to earn another 1.5 credits if participants take a test after the CD training sessions.

NHPA 2008 Conference
S. Thibault reported for K. Diers that the conference will be May 15 and 16, 2008 at the Radison in Nashua.  Rooms will be $109 per night and 15 rooms have been blocked off for attendees.  K. Diers will chair the COG.  Current COG members include S. Thibault and A. Vincent. J. Czysz offered to assist.  Other possible COG members identified include Rick Sawyer, Linda Ajello, and Nancy Larson.

Annual Meeting / Professional Development Seminar
The annual meeting is set for November 9, 2007, 3-7 PM at Jillian’s in Manchester.  There have been approximately 25 RSVPs for the awards ceremony.  The speaking responsibilities were divided up among committee members.  Jim will conduct most portions of the agenda as president, Jamie will give the treasurers report, Ben the lobbyist proposal, and Sandrine the NNECAPA update.  Any concerns that have been raised in regards to the lobbyist should be resolved through the proposal presentation and questions and answer period.  The proposal will be put to the membership for a vote.

Awards: S. Thibault will call and notify the award winners.  S. Thibault will request A. Vincent email certificates to J. Czysz and S. Thibault to prepare and frame for this year’s winners.  S. Thibault will email information to S. Cambell to prepare presentation notes for the ceremony.

Legislative Issues
B. Frost provided updates on 4 retained bills and noted that Senator Martha Fuller Clark has submitted various planning statute changes for this new legislative session.  There were 45 pages of LSR’s of which about 120 are planning related.  Highlights of the four retained bills were:

HB 255: The committee to study growth management ordinances worked with B. Frost, C.Johnston (LGC) and Paul Morin (HBRANH) to rewrite existing statutes to set a maximum term to ordinances to 3 years and establish guidance on content.  Ordinances could be renewed aft er the 3 years through town meeting.

HB 310: Small wind energy generation – sets limits on how municipalities may regulate residential private energy generation.

HB 331: Revises the vesting requirements of design review by requiring planning boards to call when the review has concluded rather than repeal HB1508 of 2006.

HB 335: Revises zoning variance hardship requirements and would eliminate the difference between use and area variances.

Newsletters
P. Rigrod stated the deadline for articles to be published in a December newsletter is November 16, 2007.  He would like to include a detailed article on the new CSPA provisions to take effect April 1, 2008.  Other articles identified include: the annual meeting, election results, award winners, NNECAPA and CM updates, and legislative updates.

Old and New Business

1. NHPA Lobbyist Proposal: B. Frost will prepare a summary of the services to be offered by Nancy Johnson under the proposal for the annual meeting.
2. Elections: S. Thibault suggested executive committee members elect one-another for positions through a secret ballot process.  Since she is an ex-officio member and not elected to her position she offered to coordinate the effort.  Members will be asked to send positions they are interested in or nominations to S. Thibault, who will compile into a single list to be distributed to committee members.  Committee members will write in a single vote for each committee position and return their ballot to S. Thibault who will tally the results.
3. Budget: Committee members briefly discussed preparing an annual budget to present to members at the 2008 annual meeting as is done by NNECAPA.
4. Sustainability Coordinator Position:  No new discussion.

Next Executive Committee Meeting

The next committee meeting will be either December 6 or 13, 2007.  Committee members should send their preference to S. Thibault.

Meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m. 

Secretary Pro Tempore