Planning board asks staff to draft RFP to overhaul stormwater management and simplify erosion-control rules

Staff told the board the towns stormwater program is producing growing compliance and oversight problems: contractors are exceeding the planned disturbance percentage on some sites, inspections are inconsistent, and the town is holding engineering-escrow accounts without clear inspection follow-through. A staff member summarized: "We have right now a $135,000 of estimate over escrow," and said the town lacks in-house capacity to process and monitor the required inspection reports.

Members discussed policy fixes including a two-stage inspection triggered after foundation backfill for larger disturbances, clearer thresholds (for example, treating 17,000sq ft as a state-relevant Alteration of Terrain threshold), separating simple erosion-control requirements for small lots from complex engineered-system rules, and building a waiver mechanism for sites with bedrock or high groundwater. The board agreed to ask staff to prepare a draft RFP seeking outside engineering and ordinance expertise to (a) review the existing stormwater and erosion-control ordinances, (b) recommend a simplified erosion-control section that applies to single-lot construction, and (c) propose inspection, escrow, and enforcement protocols. Staff said a draft RFP would be circulated to the board for input ahead of the next meeting.