July 9, 2012
7:00 PM
The Planning Board for the City of Marlborough met on Monday, July 9, 2012 in Memorial Hall, 3rd Floor, City Hall 140 Main Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. Members present: Barbara Fenby, Colleen Hughes, Sean Fay, Philip Hodge and Edward Coveney. Also present: City Engineer Thomas Cullen.
MINUTES
May 21, 2012
On a motion by Ms. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Coveney it was duly voted:
To accept and file the meeting minutes
June 4, 2012
On a motion by Mr. Coveney, seconded by Ms. Hughes it was duly voted:
To accept and file the meeting minutes.
June 18, 2012
On a motion by Ms. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Coveney it was duly voted:
To accept and file the meeting minutes.
APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED PLAN
CHAIRS BUSINESS
APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED PLAN
PUBLIC HEARING
SUBDIVISION PROGRESS REPORTS
City Engineer Update
Mr. Cullen provided a new subdivision status report to the Board. He stated that a there are three subdivisions awaiting approval from the City Council and were expected to approved later this evening at their meeting. He also stated that West Ridge Estates was ready for the street acceptance and that the Board should see his recommendation at the next meeting. He has also has been conversing with the engineer for Berlin Farms and is expecting the As-builds in the next few weeks.
Blackhorse Farms
Correspondence from the City Engineer
The Assistant City Engineer has reviewed the subdivision for the subdivision approval extension request. In his report he gave the re-established subdivision approval dates with the bond re-established dates with the remaining bond amount of $248,000.00. As stated in his correspondence, there were several extensions with completion schedules that were not adhered to. He noted that the remaining work should take approximately 56 days, including the preparation of the As-built plans and acceptance plans. His recommendation to the Planning Board is to only grant a 6 month extension to allow time to complete all necessary work and resubmit a new subdivision completion schedule.
Correspondence from the City Solicitor
At the last meeting, the Planning Board had asked the City Solicitor, if the Board was to decide to pull the bond, what process they should take or if the Board had another option. The City Solicitor stated that the current bond in place may not be honored. As he explained, the bond held by Fafard Real Estate and Development Corp, is in a different name than what is on the mortgage company has, Slocumb Realty, LLC, since 2004. As he believes, if the Board is willing to pull the bond, it should have the correct company on the bond prior to pulling any bond. He also stated that in the Planning Board files, the current bond on paper has expired and no new bond is on file.
Mr. Donald Seaberg, the Engineer for the developer, stated that the bond is current and will have the new bond sent to the Boards’ secretary. He also mentioned that the company in question is part of the conglomerate all under the Fafard Real Estate and Development Corp. and each subdivision is its own LLC.
On a motion by Mr. Fay seconded by Ms. Hughes it was duly voted:
To accept and file all correspondence.
Mr. Fay shared his displeasure with the current status of the subdivision. In particular, he commented that none of the conditions of the prior extensions have been completed including the cleanup of the site and that the gate to the subdivision remain open. Mr. Fay questioned whether the completion schedule that accompanied the prior extension requests was offered with the intention of misleading the Board or whether the developer chose to disregard their representations. He also stated that the inaction has been going on long enough and was no longer acceptable, and that the neighbors and the City had not received the benefit of the Subdivision Control Law.
Mr. Fay also stated his position that the developer must submit a completion schedule showing all open items being completed within six months and that if the developer varied from the completion schedule that he would request that Board discuss taking action on the bond.
On a motion by Ms. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Coveney, with Mr. Fay opposing it was duly voted:
To extend the subdivision until August 1, 2012 with the following conditions to be met prior to the next meeting: Gate to remain open, Cleanup progress to begin and a new completion schedule that should show work to be competed in a 6 month period with the developer consulting with the City Engineers office on the schedule.
PENDING SUBDIVISION PLANS: Updates and Discussion
PRELIMINARY/ OPEN SPACE SUBDIVISION SUBMITTALS
DEFINITIVE SUBDIVISION SUBMISSIONS
SIGNS
MEDC, 169-171 Main Street
The Board was to go out and view the sign for the pocket park on Main Street. After their review the conscious was that the Board like the way it was installed. Their only complaint was that the benefactor outweighed the sign versus the use of the park.
On a motion by Ms. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Hodge, it was duly voted:
To keep the variance in place as granted and erected.
Downtown Signs
Arthur Bergeron and Tim Cummings of the MEDC came in to discuss several proposed sign options. Mr. Cummings stated that the downtown village group commented that patrons visiting downtown have no knowledge of the free parking that the City Offers. They were interested in adding signage to direct patrons to the free parking. Another sign they wanted to discuss was a wayfinding signs to direct people to the downtown. After a few moments of discussion, Mr. Cummings will bring in an example at the next meeting.
Also discussed was a larger sign at the old Met Life property alerting people of the “Sports Mecca” that Marlborough has to offer including directing drivers on where their sports facility is located. This goes along the lines of Ms. Hughes welcome to Marlborough signs. Mr. Bergeron will further discuss this with Ms. Hughes.
Mr. Bergeron also discussed adding a section to the Sign Ordinance (526-6-A) that clearly defines which off premise signs should be allowed. Mr. Fay stated that if he was willing to change a portion of the ordinance, that whole section should be clearly stated who has the authority to grant certain signs. Mr. Bergeron stated he will review the ordinance on the Boards behalf and will draft a response.
Sign Enforcement
Mr. Fay noticed that the sign for Price Chopper has not been removed. Ms. Fenby stated that the Red Cross now has an A-Frame sign bolted to a street pole on Bolton Street and the Greek Festival yard signs have popped up everywhere. Ms. Lizotte will pass the information along to the Code Enforcement office.
UNFINISHED BUISNESS
Master Calendar
Status
Some information has gone up, liked but still needs a little tweaking. Mrs. Lizotte will start to add more information, she will also to see if there is a search option for information instead of looking month to month.
INFORMAL DISCUSSION
COMMUNICATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE
On a motion by Ms. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Hodge, it was duly voted:
To accept all of the items listed under communications and/or correspondence.
On a motion by Mr. Coveney, seconded by Ms. Hughes was duly voted:
To adjourn at 8:30 p.m.
A TRUE COPY
ATTEST: _____________________________
Colleen Hughes, Clerk
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