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Town of Concord staff update: new community development director, upcoming rodenticide petition, Warners Pond forum delayed
Summary
Town staff reported a new director for the Department of Community Development, said petitioners will seek a Town Meeting article to ban certain rodenticides and that the Warners Pond Task Force public forum was postponed to mid‑March to allow more technical review.
Delia (Town of Concord Department of Community Development staff) briefed the Natural Resources Commission on several administrative and policy items, including the hiring of a new director, an expected citizen petition to ban second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides, and scheduling changes for the Warners Pond Task Force public forum.
Delia said Alisa Sandoval began last Tuesday as the town’s new director of community development; Sandoval previously served as deputy chief planner for the city of Newton and held planning posts with Stantec and the town of Bedford. "She started last Tuesday, and we've all had the opportunity to meet with her, and we're excited to welcome her," Delia said.
Delia told commissioners the town is expecting a citizen petition for this year’s warrant seeking a ban on second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides (described in the meeting as "escars"). She said petitioners have requested meetings with the health director and that the town will meet with petitioners before the warrant closes on Feb. 19. "I was on a call in December with the Pesticide Bureau, and they're talking about banning this at the state level," Delia said, adding that a state‑level study and review process would precede any statewide ban.
On Warner’s Pond, Delia said subgroups are finalizing competing proposals — especially questions about channel depth and width following a possible dam removal — and that the public forum originally scheduled for February would be pushed to mid‑March to allow more work. "There's a little more time needed to finalize the proposals and work through these issues, and so it's been pushed to mid March," Delia said.
Delia also reported a request‑for‑quotes result for a 50‑foot wall design at Hayward Meadow: the town solicited quotes from four firms and received one response for about $9,000; the committee expects to proceed with that vendor.
The commission did not take formal action on these updates; commissioners asked staff to continue coordination with relevant departments and to report back as petitioners and task‑force subgroups refine proposals.
