With the full board and a new planning administrator in attendance, Highway Surveyor Barry Denham pled his case for professional oversight on subdivision projects.
Denham told the Mattapoisett Planning Board members that he had been trying to get the developer for the Appaloosa Road project to finish mandated work on River Road.
“We’ve got to do things differently,” he asserted so that the town’s best interests were better served.
Denham said that when this project and others were approved by the Planning Board, there were formal conditions that could force developers to pay for professional oversight, ensuring that what had been approved was actually taking place on the job site.
“I don’t think the developer should get those services for free,” Denham explained, referring to his involvement in attempting to keep a keen eye on what he referred to as increasingly more complex subdivisions. “I have no way to verify that [construction] is done right!”
Denham’s frustration boiled over when Planning Board Chairman Tom Tucker said that historically the highway surveyor was the town’s “clerk-of-the-works” and that Denham could charge for the time he spent checking up on developers’ work.
“I can’t charge for my time!” Denham roared back. “There’s no mechanism for me to charge my time … and if I could … it would only go back into the general fund.” He continued, “My time is supposed to be on the highway department.”
Denham explained that due to the complexity of subdivision projects – their size, intricate stormwater management systems and other “technical” aspects – he simply could not be expected to keep up and do his highway work, too.
Tucker and the board members agreed that there were provisions in conditions imposed on at least two on-going subdivisions: Brandt Point Village and Appaloosa Road. Tucker instructed Mary Crain, who is now the newly-appointed Planning Board administrator, to contact one developer while he would contact the other to determine their willingness to pay for a construction manager.
With no other business before the board members, new member Gail Carlson welcomed Crain to her new position as a staff member of the Planning Board.
Crain had been an elected member of the Planning Board for the past several years and most recently was the town planner for Rochester. Her resume includes a master’s degree in planning and previous positions in the towns of Everett, Salem, and Watertown. In a follow-up interview, Crain said, “I’ll be doing more work on zoning and bylaws, helping the board review projects.…” She added that she was pleased to be “working in the town I live in.”
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for November 7 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell