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Planning board discusses master-plan update, 53g accounts, Lackey Dam Road projects and stormwater concerns
Summary
Board members discussed launching a master-plan update with CMRPC hours and upcoming grant applications, debated whether applicants should pay for public-notice ads and peer review costs (53g language), reviewed a previously negotiated $20,000 annual payment tied to a large Lackey Dam Road project, and tasked staff to inspect drainage problems at Cobbler's Knoll.
Members of the Town of Uxbridge planning board spent a portion of the meeting on longer-term planning and oversight topics, including a master-plan update, fee language for peer review and public notices, developer payment commitments for large industrial projects and stormwater concerns at Cobbler's Knoll.
S3 said the town administrator asked staff to begin updating the master plan—the document has not been updated since 1992—and that the board had about 11 hours of CMRPC/CPR assistance already accrued that could be used to kick-start the work. S3 said two grant applications will be filed in December and requested volunteers from planning and conservation to participate. "I'm gonna need volunteers from the planning board to help participate in that and conservation," S3 said.
On fees, S3 and others discussed that applicants currently pay some peer-review costs via the town's 53g account but that public-notice advertising costs appear to be borne by the town; the board discussed changing the language so applicants pay for ads. S3 said the 53g language would need to be revised and that the account is already used to pay legal fees. "When any operator… applies and we put an ad in the paper, we pay for that ad. We shouldn't," S3 said.
Separately, S5 raised a question about a prior agreement tied to a large industrial building on Lackey Dam Road (referred to variously in the discussion and GIS imagery). S3 and others said that, based on prior negotiations, the applicant agreed to provide the town with an annual payment of $20,000 a year once the project is fully approved; board members discussed records and which parcel the payment covered.
The board also discussed a resident complaint about Cobbler's Knoll. S1 described three stormwater basins with varying performance—one holding water and one dry—and found cast-iron pipes and a dislodged rock wall in one location. S3 said Joe Maranelli will attend the Oct. 8 meeting to address the issue and Graves (staff) will inspect and report. "I'll have Graves go out there. We'll have them report and get to talk to them," S3 said.
Board members asked staff to draft revised language for the 53g account and to follow up on basin inspections; they asked that master-plan volunteer and grant coordination proceed ahead of a fuller public process.
