PERU — The Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board agreed during Monday evening’s selectmen meeting to meet at 5 p.m. Oct. 14 to discuss whether or not to renew a junkyard permit for JC Demolition.

During the Sept. 23 selectmen meeting, the board initially voted to table the application until meeting with the Planning Board, inspecting the site and watching a video of the meeting at which the permit was originally approved.

The original permit was issued to Jesse Childs and Lori Labbe in July 2012 to convert the old Diamond Match plant into an automobile demolition and recycling facility.

At the time, the Planning Board included several conditions JC Demolition would have to abide by before beginning operations.

Planning Board member Steve Fuller said during Monday night’s meeting that some of the conditions the Planning Board initially gave to JC Demolition were that the company would need to have a spill prevention containment plan, and should be keeping records of when it runs its crusher.

“The idea was that when he started operations, if he didn’t comply with the conditions, we would shut him down,” Fuller said.

“But he never started operations,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Jim Pulsifer said.

Pulsifer said that in his opinion, if the boards decided to renew the junkyard permit, they’d have to make sure that he met the conditions that the Planning Board initially gave him before he starts operations.

One resident asked Pulsifer why the Board of Selectmen would even consider renewing the permit if the owner never met the conditions of the original permit.

“Because he never started operations,” Pulsifer repeated. “If he didn’t start operations in the first year, and the renewed permit said he’d still have to meet the conditions before starting operations, why shouldn’t we renew it? Since it was once granted, unless we have cause, I’m not sure how you can deny him a renewal.”

Another resident said that since Childs had a year to meet the conditions of the Planning Board and didn’t do anything, that’s a good enough reason to deny him the permit.

“You’re right that it would be within the board’s power to deny JC Demolition the junkyard permit,” Pulsifer said, “but you have to ask yourself what that opens up for you, in terms of if they contested it.”

Resident Dawna Kazregis suggested to Pulsifer that the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board demand that Childs purchase flood insurance for his junkyard before they grant the permit.

“The flood insurance should definitely be paid first, before you grant the permit,” Kazregis said.

“You can’t do it that way,” Pulsifer replied. “You can include a stipulation in the permit that says, ‘You must have flood insurance,’ but you can’t say, ‘Before we’ll consider your permit, go get flood insurance.’ I’m not disagreeing with you, Dawna, but there’s procedure to follow.”

After an hour of discussion, the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board agreed to meet again Oct. 14 to continue discussion on the permit and whether it should be renewed.

In other business, selectmen also unanimously voted to approve a building permit for Todd Vienneau and Melissa Bryant to place a 14- by 70-foot mobile home on their property at 74 Old Valley Road.

The board also unanimously voted to approve a building permit for Ricky Gill to build a 10- by 12-foot storage shed on his property at 454 Auburn Road, on the condition that he pays double the normal permit fee. The reason, Pulsifer said, is due to the fact that that Gill built the shed before applying for the permit.

“I don’t think it’s exactly fair that he’s able to do that,” Wing said.

“What should we do?” Pulsifer said, “Make him tear down the shed and re-do it?”

“No, no,” Wing replied, “but I do think that we have to set an example somewhere.”

According to the town law, if a resident builds something before receiving a permit, they must pay double what the permit fee is, which is $10 in the case of Peru.

“I want everyone to know for the future that all construction requires an application for a permit before you build it,” Pulsifer told the audience.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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