By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
Tension over the recent reorganization of the Planning Board came to a head at Monday night’s Town Council meeting, where former chair Marie Clarner addressed the news that she was not being reappointed.
Clarner spoke of her disappointment and frustration over not being reappointed by Town Manager Michael Borg after serving the town on various boards and commissions over the past 40 years. Clarner served on the Planning Board for nine of those years, elected for her first two terms and nominated by Borg for her third, and was the board’s most recent chair.
“I decided that I would come here today during the community comment period because I have a right to speak, as a resident, to say that I’m really disturbed,” said Clarner.
Clarner began by outlining her experience in town, which included 23 years on the Conservation Commission, 32 years as a Representative Town Meeting member, and 26 years as a math teacher in the North Attleborough school system. Clarner currently serves as the chair of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, a position she told the North Star Reporter she will not be stepping down from anytime soon.
“You lose my connections, which have been hard earned for 40 years,” said Clarner to the Town Council. “I know more engineers, many more attorneys, many more developers than most of you know.”
‘Just time for a change’
According to Clarner, in a telephone call she had with Borg on June 23, she was told she was up for reappointment to the Planning Board, but he recommended taking her name off the list over concerns that Town Council would not vote in her favor.
Taylor O’Neil, the town’s communications and information officer, told the North Star Reporter that Borg did call Clarner on the afternoon of June 23 to let her know she did not have the votes necessary from council members to reappoint, and that this matter could be “revisited in the future, but not resubmitted.”
A letter erroneously sent by the town days later to Clarner stating she was indeed reappointed to the Planning Board added further confusion to the situation. On the advice of a municipal lawyer, Clarner took that letter with her to the town clerk to be sworn in for what would be a fourth term. However, it later came to Clarner’s attention that that letter was sent out by mistake.
O’Neil confirmed that the letter was sent out in error as a result of a miscommunication between the town manager and administration, stating that letters were prepared in advance of the meeting for all reappointments. She added that Clarner’s letter not being pulled prior to the batch being sent out was something the town wished had not happened.
Clarner’s thoughts on why she wasn’t reappointed boils down to two reasons: her vote on the Kelley Boulevard housing development, and her hesitance in rezoning the former Allen Avenue School. Clarner explained that the Kelley Boulevard developer’s lack of interest in making the project “special” is why she cast an abstaining vote, and that her unease over changing the Allen Avenue School’s zoning from residential to commercial stemmed from the possibility that a four-story building could potentially be built in a neighborhood setting.
When asked by the North Star Reporter why he chose not to reappoint Clarner, Borg said that it was “just time for a change.”
“I believe that there’s a benefit to having a fresh set of eyes to look at a particular problem set, getting those different perspectives,” explained Borg.
To Clarner, the lack of response from town councilors to emails and letters she sent regarding not being reappointed is what disheartened her the most.
“I am very sad to see no response from any of you, and not even the courtesy of anyone to say to me ‘what’s happening?’ To me, that’s the dying of the light of the town that I love.”
Borg also announced at Monday night’s meeting that Connor Tarr would be appointed as the fifth and final member of the Planning Board, a decision that was favorably voted on by the Town Council, 8-0.
“Connor firmly supports all of the things we want to do in town,” said Borg. “He’s already an associate member where he comes in and sits in on certain items, but now we ask for him to be elevated to full member.”
Tarr came before the council to outline his experience as both a certified civil engineer and lawyer for the Department of Public Utilities’ Energy Facility Siting Division. In his current role, Tarr also helped to rewrite and develop regulations, specifically working with local zoning and planning boards.
Planning board reorganizes
With Clarner in attendance at the Planning Board’s Aug. 7 meeting, this time in the audience as a resident, Jason Gittle was voted in by his fellow board members to serve as the newest chair.
As part of what Town Planner Gil Hilario described as “the board’s annual mandatory reorganization” Bill Blais was renamed as vice chair for another term, and Gregory Lorincz agreed to serve as clerk.
Despite some tense moments at the start of the meeting, where Blais received a nomination to serve as chair but did not receive any “yes” votes, and member Gregory Walsh later turned down a nomination for the position of clerk, saying “I don’t want it,” Gittle told the North Star Reporter that being voted in as chair is something he’s looking forward to.
“I’m actually pretty excited to be the chair of the Planning Board,” Gittle said. “I have some definite ideas on some things I would like to make quicker for the townsfolk and the town management and I think there’s some opportunities there.”
Gittle brings with him years of experience from the City of Attleboro, where he served on its Planning Board for 20 years and as chair for the final four years of his stay.
“I approached the town manager to get involved, do my civic duty, and an opening on the Planning Board came at roughly the same time I interviewed with the town manager,” said Gittle. “It was exciting for me, because the town of North Attleborough is a different circumstance than the City of Attleboro, but things like a new high school, looking to minimize cement sprawl, mixed use overlays, a lot of the same challenges existed in Attleboro. I’m happy to help Mr. Borg and the town of North Attleborough in any way I can.”
“I seek out qualified people who are interested in the subject, want to share in the vision that we, the administration and council have, of moving the town forward,” said Borg on his addition of Gittle to the Planning Board nearly two years ago.
According to Gittle, reviewing the town’s site plan review process and looking for ways to expedite site plan review are two goals he has set for his second term on the Planning Board. A “boiler plate” set of conditions for development projects is also something Gittle thinks could be implemented, citing it as something Attleboro used to help expedite the process of a developer coming before the board.
“From the town’s perspective, we’re always interested in fine tuning the efficiency. We want to make sure that we present a very open, transparent, friendly, solution-oriented town and process,” said Borg. “We don’t want to have the reputation that we’re difficult to deal with.”