The Board of Selectmen on July 14 agreed by consensus to move forward with updating the town’s impact-fee analysis for public safety and to preserve a limited contractual relationship with the regional planning commission for technical planning support.
The planning board had requested use of an existing $20,000 appropriation to hire a consultant to update impact fees. Planning board members said two firms responded to a May request for proposals and recommended spending about $15,000 to update public-safety impact fees now and using a smaller portion of the planning discretionary funds to keep RPC involvement alive in 2025.
Why it matters: Plastow’s last impact-fee review dates to 2017, planning board members said, and an update could change fees that developers pay for public-safety infrastructure; the work also informs the master plan and other development decisions.
At the meeting, Richard Anthony and Dan Kane of the Plastow Planning Board described the procurement process and the trade-offs between a full, all-fees study and an “a la carte” approach that focuses first on public safety. Anthony said the planning board has a $20,000 appropriation and that the “best bang for the buck” was a roughly $15,000 proposal focused on public safety, with other fee categories to follow.
Town Manager Greg Colby described tight fiscal conditions in 2025, noting unexpected costs—snow plowing, assessor replacements and PFAS work at the fire department—that together create a need to find roughly $250,000 in the current budget. Colby and selectmen discussed preserving a smaller RPC “circuit rider” engagement this year rather than a larger contract, to maintain the relationship and avoid having to re-establish capacity later.
The board’s informal outcome was to hold $15,000 for the public-safety impact-fee work and preserve roughly $5,000 of planning discretionary funds to maintain RPC support and master-plan work. Selectmen said the planning board will formally select a consultant at its next meeting; RPC staff and the planning department will coordinate timing and scope.
Discussion vs. decision: Selectmen reached consensus to proceed with the impact-fee vendor selection and to keep a limited RPC relationship; no final multi-year contract was adopted at the July 14 meeting. The planning board expects to vote to award the work at its upcoming meeting.
Next steps: Planning staff will provide the two RFP responses to the selectmen and the planning board; the planning board intends to choose a vendor at its next meeting and RPC will be asked to confirm short-term availability for the limited engagement.