SOUTHWICK — The Select Board approved hosting a Special Town Meeting in January and converting the town planner position from part-time to full-time during its meeting Monday night.
“I’m going to keep saying how much we need a full-time planner to help with zoning and moving the town forward in a positive direction,” said Chief Administrative Officer Nicole Parker about her proposal to increase the hours of the planner position.
The board discussed the planning position being converted into full-time and adding the responsibility to serve as the town’s economic development director in earnest during at its last meeting with board member Doug Moglin making it clear he was against the proposal.
The need for the town to hire a new planner is because its current planner, who is part-time, is moving to the DPW to take a full-time position.
That is why Parker was advocating for the hybrid position and starting the process of finding someone as soon as possible and not waiting until the Annual Town Meeting in May to include the increase in the Planning Department’s budget to reflect the conversion.
“We’re going to end up with nobody if we wait until May,” Parker said.
She proposed having it included in the warrant that is now being drafted for the Special Town Meeting that will be hosted at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14, in the auditorium at Southwick Regional School.
Board member Jason Perron, who acknowledged that were “concerns” about the conversion, said if the funding was available he supported the proposal.
“We need a full-time set of eyes on some of the planning stuff and for economic development,” he said, adding that he had always believed the town needed an economic development director.
Later in the meeting, Parker explained that she had already taken steps to find the funds for the position by eliminating two part-time positions and overtime in the CAO budget.
“We’ve been able to reduce our own budget. I don’t see [money] being that much of an issue,” she said.
After Perron endorsed the proposal, board member Diane Gale made it clear she supported the change.
“I strongly support it and view it as an investment,” she said.
While the salary range was not discussed during the meeting, when the board discussed the proposal during its meeting on Nov. 25, the salary range for the planner position in towns of comparable sizes was between $64,000 annually to $105,000.
Moglin, again, said he didn’t support it.
“I don’t see the benefit of making it a full-time position,” he said, pointing to a zoning bylaw that requires an applicant for a special permit to pay for a consultant if warranted because of the size, scale or complexity of a proposed project.
With that bylaw in place, Moglin said he wasn’t convinced the town needed the planning position to convert to full-time and added that he wasn’t going to comment on if the town needs an economic development director.
Gale countered that a company that paid for a consultant during the permitting process before the Planning Board would only “address that subdivision.”
Moglin agreed with her and said there have been issues with the oversight of subdivisions for some time in town.
Parker made a final plea for the proposal again pointing out that with the part-time planner moving to the DPW, the town shouldn’t “limp along” without a planner until May.
“I think having this [position be full-time] is the best decision for the town,” she said.
Gale made separate motions to adopt the job description for the position and convert the position from part-time to full-time. Each were seconded by Perron. They voted yes, and Moglin was a no.
As for the Special Town Meeting scheduled for Jan. 14, currently there are at least two articles that will be on the agenda.
The Community Preservation Committee has approved an application by the town to use $155,000 of its funds cover the cost of an architectural and engineering study to determine how much it will cost to repair the brick façade on Town Hall.
The CPC has also allocated $164,000 of its funds to help the Historical Society purchase a 10.2-acre piece of property on College Highway. The allocation is for the town to purchase a conservation restriction on the property, which is being sold for $220,000.
The society, using its own funds, will make up the difference — $11,000 — in the property’s price of $175,000; plus $21,000 for a property survey, a property management plan, real estate agent fees and closing costs; $20,750 in contingency fees; and $1,000 for preparing the perimeter of the property with mowing and landscaping. The installation of the kiosk is estimated to cost $3,000.
The Parks and Recreation Commission has approved applying to the CPC for $670,000 to build six pickleball courts at Whalley Park.
However, it has yet to make the formal application but is tentatively scheduled for the CPC’s agenda for its Dec. 18 meeting.
If the CPC approves the application, there will be another article to rescind the Town Meeting vote in May 2023 to authorize the allocation of $207,000 for the construction of four pickleball courts at Whalley Park.
