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Board members said that while they thought both the finalists they interviewed were qualified, they were concerned that Robert T. Markel potentially would be torn between his duties in Williamstown and his current role as interim town administrator in Hampden.
“He has a 20-plus hour commitment there which means he’d be limited to a 20-hour commitment here,” Andrew Hogeland said. “When Hugh [Daley], [Town Manager Jason Hoch] and I talked about the job, we thought a part-time job would be OK.
“I still feel that way, but I feel differently thinking that’s all we could comfortably get. We’d have competition for the other half of his time, so if our needs go up for more hours and days, he’s less likely to be available, whereas Charlie [Blanchard] would be more available. That’s the deciding factor for me.” ....
But first Chair Stephanie Boyd reviewed the steps the board took to gather input and generate consensus around the marijuana issue, which generated angst, confusion and, ultimately, no action at the 2020 annual town meeting.
Boyd talked about the feedback the Planning Board received from the Select Board; the Board of Health; the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee; the Zoning Board of Appeals, which ultimately would apply the bylaw in special permit proceedings; and the Agricultural Commission, which last year ended up writing a competing bylaw to that proposed by the Planning Board.
Boyd also ran the draft bylaw language past the Williamstown Fire District and the Williamstown Police Department, she said. Neither raised any objections to the language the board has been developing since September. ....
In the interim, the college agreed to work with the commission to document the histories of Chandler House and Hardy House and to advertise their availability to anyone who wants to preserve the structures in whole or in part.
College officials who appeared before the panel at its virtual meeting said the school was prepared to wait out the maximum 12-month delay allowed under the town s bylaw without an impact on the building project s timeline.
After Community Development Director Andrew Groff advised the commission that, in recent years, the body had ordered shorter delays, Nate Budington suggested a six-month delay each of the structures, which the panel found to be preferably preserved. ....
Margot and Bill Moomaw asked the town to allow them to address nuisance vegetation, particularly bur reed, that has taken hold in their pond since they treated it for Eurasian milfoil nine years ago.
With this submission, the Moomaws are requesting approval for a multi-year pond management plan, beginning with hydro-raking to remove the accumulated biomass, muck and silt in order to create better conditions for aquatic species, and to restore depth to the pond, the couple wrote in a letter supporting their application. Post-hydro-raking, annual assessments of the pond will determine the use of targeted chemical means to control emergent nuisance vegetation with agents that are considered safe for aquatic species and humans. ....
But the conversation brought to mind a date seven days earlier as the board and the public relived many of the same arguments that have dominated the body s discussion for months as it hashes out a new zoning bylaw to regulate the production of cannabis.
I ve said this a half dozen times, I m amazed I have to say it again, Andrew Skinner said as he pushed the board to draft a bylaw that allows less canopy square footage for outdoor production.
Planning Board members could be forgiven for feeling kinship to Bill Murray s character in the movie Groundhog Day as they heard many of the same arguments from some familiar faces. ....