As the Finance Committee continued to sift through budgets and requests for new spending in the coming budget year, testimony about Harvard’s need for a professional, on-staff planner dominated its agenda this past Saturday.
Rich Marcello of the Planning Board and Paul Willard of the Conservation Commission, representing two of the town’s three land-use panels, appeared jointly to advocate for the position, which Marcello said might best be filled by a senior-level part-timer with “strategic abilities.” Members of a third board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, were not present.
The Planning Board wants this year’s Annual Town Meeting to approve $80,000 “for the position of town planner starting in FY14.” A town warrant article and a job description have been drafted, but not yet approved. Two weeks ago the board voted 3-1 to help fund the first year of the new salaried position with $20,000 of the $100,000 appropriated to it by Town Meeting last year to complete a two-phase master planning document.
The salary to be offered, however, has not yet been made public, nor has a plan to completely fund the position been revealed. A Jan. 23 memo from the Planning Board to the Finance Committee says the “salary figure” would be “further explained by the Planning Board [and] Town Administrator.”
Willard: ‘Time is now’
“The notion of a planner has been around for a number of years,” Willard told the committee, noting that the town faces “tough decisions” about development in the Ayer Road commercial district—stretching from Route 2 to Myrick Lane—and the jurisdiction of Devens. “If there is ever a time to justify the need for a planner, it is now,” Willard said.
“We’re kind of in crisis mode now,” said Marcello, referring to high turnover on the Planning Board and its August decision to dissolve the Master Plan Steering Committee and take sole responsibility for completing the town’s 10-year master plan. The so-called “Phase 1” of this plan was completed last spring by consultants who were overseen by an eight-person Master Plan Steering Committee. The Phase 1 plan calls for a definitive study of Devens, a town-wide referendum on whether to keep or relinquish the Devens land that falls within Harvard’s boundaries, and a final master plan based on the Devens decision.
Marcello cited the study of Devens as “adding controversy” to the “stalled” master plan process.
“Our position is that Harvard is falling behind,” Marcello said, citing the towns of Shirley and Westford as places that have actively managed their commercial development. The loss of “institutional memory” on the Planning Board is also a problem, he said, after the recent resignation of chairwoman Michele Catalina and, before that, the decision of long-time member and chairman Kara Minar to retire from the board.
Marcello: The only board without professional help
“Do we need a [better-] working board ahead of bringing in a planner?” asked Finance Committee member Laura Vilain, noting that police, fire, and other town departments also needed personnel.
Marcello said he thought a salaried planner could help the board work better. “We are the only board that doesn’t have any professional help,” he said, naming Finance Director Lorraine Leonard, Town Administrator Tim Bragan, and interim School Superintendent Joe Connelly as examples of salaried professionals who assist town boards.
Currently, the Planning Board uses the services of town employee Liz Allard, who holds the title of conservation agent and land-use administrator. For legal services, the board uses Town Counsel Mark Lanza. To evaluate requests for building permits or to take any other action that requires permission under Harvard’s protective bylaws—such as altering driveways or stonewalls—the board has used independent engineering groups including Hamwey Engineering and Ducharme and Dillis Civil Design Group. In 2012, the board handled seven applications of various types, according to figures supplied by Allard, each of which can require numerous hearings.
The Finance Committee asked many questions at its nearly two-hour meeting but did not take a vote in regard to supporting the Planning Board’s proposal to fund a planner.
