Town boards and committees are weighing in on a Planning Board initiative to put an article on the warrant for Town Meeting this spring to hire a town planner.
Selectman Bill Johnson reported to his board earlier this month the Planning Board voted to move ahead with the planner proposal at a meeting Nov. 5 and was soliciting feedback from town boards. In addition to the Board of Selectmen, Johnson said, the Planning Board has been in contact with the Zoning Board, the Economic Development Committee, the School Committee, and Conservation Commission.
“I think they [the Planning Board members] said the town needed a planner and they voted to lead the initiative on behalf of all those that expressed interest,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, the Planning Board has determined a full-time planner’s salary would be around $65,000, plus benefits.
Johnson reported that members of the Planning Board cited several “strategic planning initiatives” a professional planner could help with: “an effective operational housing plan,” a commercial development plan, the master plan revision project, and “fixing the convoluted protective bylaws that we have.” The Parks and Recreation Commission has expressed strong interest in using a planner for its projects as well, Johnson said.
Selectman Tim Clark noted that a planner with “institutional knowledge” might provide some continuity for multidisciplinary town efforts that involve several boards over a long period of time.
“Volunteers do turn over,” Clark said. “…Every board is facing those challenges. There are a lot of new people on committees.”
Regardless of the planner’s duties, Clark said, the Board of Selectmen, as the board that oversees town personnel, should play a role in determining how the planner would fit in with other town employees and to whom he or she would report.
“I think it does influence how they feel they can interact with other boards and what their mandate is in terms of who they would serve,” Clark said.
At their meeting Nov. 6, the Board of Selectmen did not discuss at length making a recommendation to the Planning Board. Chairman Lucy Wallace favored inviting a Planning Board member to discuss the issue at a future Selectmen’s meeting, while Johnson supported a discussion among all town officials at the next “all-boards” budget meeting hosted by the Finance Committee. Selectmen agreed to pursue both options.
