Committee Meeting
Minutes of October 16, 2006
Chairman Mark Sullivan
opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m.
Members present: Anthony LaChapelle, Paul Feeney, Robert
Delaney, John Michelmore, Arthur Barrett, William Buckley, Sr., Neil Forster,
and Arthur Muldoon (alternate)
Neil Forster was voted
Vice Chairman on the Motion of Chairman Sullivan, seconded by William Buckley,
Sr. The Motion passed 7 – 0.
Chairman Sullivan
assigned Town Departments to board members to act as liaisons:
Neil Forster will be
liaison for the Police Department and the Water and Sewer Dept.
Paul Feeney will be
liaison to the Roads and Highway Department
Arthur Barrett will be
liaison to the Fire Department
John Michelmore will
be liaison to Town Council
Tony LaChapelle will
be liaison for Inspections, Board of Health, and the Assessors Departments
Chairman Sullivan will
be liaison for the Advisory Committee
Each board member reviewed the
report from RKG and were asked to comment on the report.
Robert Delaney stated
that he didn’t feel qualified to question the findings and deflected to Randy
Scollins, stating that Mr. Scollins’ review would be thorough.
Randy Scollins made
note that the Board of Selectmen have begun the process to hire an independent
consultant and should have an appointment made by November 13th. The report will be due back to the Board
within 30 to 60 days. Also noting that
the contractor gave a gift of $35,000.00 to the town in order to hire an
independent consultant to submit a fiscal impact analysis.
Members questioned if the
contractor was indeed paying for the consultant in full, or only the first
$35,000.00. Randy Scollins holds a
letter stating that the contractor for Patriot Place intends on paying any fees
incurred for the independent study.
Once a consultant has been acquired and an estimate given, a follow up
letter will be sent to verify the price tag of the consultant and requesting
assurance that it will be paid by the contractor in full.
Steps the town has taken to this point
A summary report was completed by Selectman Thrasher and Delaney
A gift of $35,000.00 from the
contractor was accepted by the Board of Selectment to hire a town consultant
Initial steps have been taken for
the hiring of an independent consultant firm to produced an impact report
Selectman Thrasher is
working on legislation for the additional liquor licenses
Planning Board meetings are being
attended by Selectman Hickey
This, The Comprehensive Patriot
Place Review Committee has been formed
The Planning Board has received a
General Overview Report, Traffic on Route One Report, an Internal Traffic
Report, and a Local Road Impact Report.
Maguire is onboard, and EarthTech
is covering the Sewer and Water issues.
Mr. Feeney will check
into who and what is HNTD Corp. Are
they under the Maguire umbrella, working on the road situation?
Bill Buckley submitted
his comments and they are attached.
Arthur Barrett
submitted his comments and they are attached.
Paul Feeney submitted
his comments and they are attached.
Tony LaChapelle
submitted his comments and they are attached and he added that we absolutely
need someone watching for our best interest with real worldwide experience in
large projects as this. Also advises
that we firm up that the developer will cover all expenses incurred by hiring
an independent analysis group.
John Michelmore
submitted his comments and it is attached.
He also stated that this is not a job for amateurs. We need a complete report from our
independent source and compare the two reports to see where the discrepancies
may lie. He also reminded us that the
Board of Selectmen do not have jurisdictions over Water & Sewer Department,
etc. The Planning board is where these
decisions should be made.
Neil Forster submitted
his comments and they are attached.
Neil also noted that the Board of Selectmen have done a great job to
this point and added that the study by Selectmen
Thrasher and Delaney was very
helpful. We need to get our arms around
all the issues because lots can and will happen very quickly.
Chairman Sullivan
noted that perhaps we should invite the department heads or their consultants
to attend these meetings. We need to
pinpoint who are the decision makers within the town. Who has the authority to
do what?
Randy Scollins
submitted his report and it is attached, he also noted that the report is a
“developer friendly report” and that much of the methodology is flawed.
Public input
Lorraine Brue wanted to know if the consultant
that the town hires would bring the same level of legal expertise, and would it
be from the same source? John Michelmore replied that that’s
what we’ll be looking for or we shall look elsewhere for that via the Board of
Selectmen.
John Hannon, very
concerned about the liquor licenses, stating that we’re not even sure where
they’re going and what establishments will be located there. Robert Delaney noted that public safety
is very important and he believes that Patriot Place may be very similar to
Newport or Faneul Hall in Boston.
Michael Stanton
reminded folks that the liquor licenses are a separate issue. Bill
Buckley stated that without the licensing for this, perhaps the whole
project would not be completed.
The committee’s next meeting will
be held on October 23rd and the Fire Department will submit their
findings.
The meeting was Adjourned at 9:20
p.m.
Submitted,
Lynda Walsh
HOME MEMBERS SCHEDULE ARCHIVE PLANNING BOARD XXXXX
