2019-10-17 Joint BOS and PB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Joint Meeting Board of Selectmen and Planning Board October 17, 2019 A Joint Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board was held on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:02 p.m. in Estabrook Hall of the Cary Memorial Building, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue. The purpose of the meeting was to hold a public listening session regarding whether to have an elected or appointed Planning Board. This meeting is a follow-up to a meeting held on July, 15, 2019. Present for the Board of Selectmen (BOS): Mr. Lucente, Chair; Mr. Pato; Ms. Barry; as well as Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Assistant Town Manager and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. Selectman Hai and Selectman Sandeen were absent. Present for the Planning Board (PB) were Mr. Creech; Chair; Mr. Canale; Mr. Hornig; Ms. Johnson; Mr. Peters; and Mr. Leone, Planning Board Alternate. Also present: Mr. Jeffrey Nutting, Facilitator; Ms. Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development. ITEM FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. Listening Session Regarding Elected or Appointed Planning Board  Overview Mr. Nutting, Facilitator provided ground rules for discussion, and described the meeting process. Those wishing to submit a written, rather than a verbal, comment were welcomed to do so using the notecards and sticky notes provided. Following the meeting, written input can also be directed to the Town Manager’s Office. Submissions will be archived for future reference at subsequent Joint meetings on this topic. Mr. Kanter, 48 Fifer Lane; and Ms. McKenna, 9 Hancock Street; asked to be provided with some context for the evening’s discussion. Planning Board Chair Mr. Creech said that it was intentional not to have Planning Board members speak prior to fielding public comments to guard against the perception of advocacy in favor or against the question of whether to establish an appointed Planning Board or maintain an election one. Mr. Lucente (BOS) summarized how the issue has arisen, saying that at the May 20, 2019 Selectmen’s meeting, Town Manager Malloy informed the Board that the most recent Planning Director had resigned, which raised serious concerns about the department’s ability to operate since it was the third Planning Director to resign within a year. To address how to proceed, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Selectmen, two Planning Board members, Mr. Malloy, and Ms. Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development met a total four times. Discussions topics included: department staffing challenges; status of ongoing projects; how best to recruit appropriate talent to the department. Consensus was reached at these meetings that additional 1