Board selects town planner
The board voted unanimously to offer the town planner position to one of the two candidates who interviewed for the job early this month, but have withheld the name until an offer of a one-year contract is accepted. The board evaluated both candidates and checked their references. “My opinion is we cannot go wrong with either one,” said Tim Schmoyer; other members nodded or agreed. The board discussed a list of several tasks for the planner to work on, including town center parking, design guidelines for the Ayer Road commercial district, and tasks relating to the Master Plan.
Signing of Master Plan contract is dragging
The Planning Board and Master Plan Steering Committee have settled on RKG Associates of New Hampshire to complete Harvard’s Master Plan, but a protracted finalization of the contract raised concern at Monday’s meeting. RKG’s request for additional signatures on the contract—beyond the Planning Board, to which the contractors report—has delayed the start of work. Planning Board Chairwoman Kara Minar asked why the last-minute involvement of Town Administrator Tim Bragan and Town Counsel Mark Lanza had prompted neither Lanza, Bragan, nor the Master Plan Steering Committee to alert the Planning Board about the delay.
Building permit sign-off sheet in the works
Last month, a path at the Bromfield School was paved without site plan review under circumstances involving communication gaps between the Planning Board, town counsel, town administrator, and building inspector. The Planning Board vowed to avoid such events in the future.
On Monday, Tim Schmoyer reported on his effort to create a more transparent process by introducing sign-off sheets. Using templates provided by Planning Board Administrator Liz Allard, Schmoyer said the form should be posted on the town’s website. Chairwoman Minar suggested that Schmoyer discuss the proposed improvements with the building inspector.
