Planning Board Candidates Have Their Say

Two of the three Planning Board candidates talked about growth, communication and the effectiveness of the Planning Department during a forum Sunday night.

Incumbent Robert Hassinger and newcomer Michael Scully answered audience questions at the forum, which was sponsored by the Grafton League of Women Voters and gave candidates a chance to meet the public.

Newcomer Robert Sims was out of town and unable to attend. The three men are vying for two seats on the board, one held by Hassinger and other previously held by Bruce Spinney, who is now running for selectman.

Hassinger and Scully addressed several topics, including:

The need for more development:

Hassinger said that a number of developments have been approved but not yet built. “I don’t think the numbers need to rise significantly,’’ he said. The key, he said, is to attract businesses, which help offset the tax burden of homeowners.

Scully said the key is to “balance the tax base’’ by adding businesses, which add to the tax base and also create jobs, without negatively impacting the town's character.

The effectiveness of the current Planning Department:

Hassinger said he has worked with all the town planners and that the current department is the best. One silver lining of the slow economy, he said, is that the planning department gets to “do actual planning,’’ such as the development of the Mill Villages park. “We’re doing some really good things that really need to be done,’’ he said.

Scully refrained from commenting, because he is new. He said efficiency is “a matter of looking at personalities and workloads’’ and determining “Are they moving forward toward a goal?’’

The communication between the Planning Board and other town boards.

Hassinger said the communication “was not good’’ when he began on the board about 20 years ago. He said he has “worked since then trying to improve that’ by, among other things, attending every Board of Selectmen meeting until recent years and “doing everything I can to make the Planning Board as accessible as possible’’ so “people can feel comfortable coming to us.’’

Scully said he has attended every Planning Board meeting in the last three months to learn more about how the board operates. “There is never a point where cooperation and communication can’t be improved,’’ he said.