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Date: 3/30/2022
HATFIELD – Stephanie Slysz, chair of the Planning Board, came before the Select Board to make a third request for a part-time planner. This year, Slysz might get support for the Planning Board because it seems to be a trend in valley towns.
Slysz and Analee Wulfkuhle, chair of the Planning Board in Deerfield, connected via email about sharing a planner. They canvassed towns and organizations to see if anyone else had paid support for their local planning board. Slysz’ drew up a chart with her findings.
“Some of the take-aways from here are that small towns, as small as Erving, have an assistant town planner,” Slysz said. “Whately has an assistant town administrator, who doesn’t provide direct planning support, but does provide project support across boards.”
Slysz found Conway interested in more support. Southampton and Hadley planning board members started conversations with town administrators about added support. Sunderland is satisfied with its Planning Department.
Larger towns in the area vary in staffing. Orange has a strong department with a planner and assistant planner, two interns from UMass Amherst, and two volunteers. Montague and Greenfield both have a director of planning and assistant planner, though Greenfield’s assistant is only part-time.
“Orange is robust and new, [and] they utilize [University of Massachusetts] interns right now,” Slysz said. “The Erving and Whately positions are fairly new as well, and the ones closer to us in population are interested in more support, (but) they are not in a position to do so.”
Hatfield currently takes advantage of planning services from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC). One reason Slysz gave for sharing a planner is personal service. A shared planner will focus on two or three towns. That may be what Slysz would appreciate from the PVPC and doesn’t get.
“They haven’t been very responsive in the project we’re working on with them, right now,” Slysz said. “They said it should be done in May … but we’ve only had one meeting with them.”
Slysz said of the PVPC, “They’re great,” but told the Select Board it would be most helpful to have a planner devoted to Hatfield. Two big projects, a rewrite of the town’s master plan and the expansion of Route 10, may make the added support of a part-time planner a necessity.
“I think it is necessary to bring it into the master plan conversation, and the Route 5 expansion conversation,” said Darryl Williams, chair of the Finance Committee, “and that is what will drive this conversation.”
Robert Wagner, former chair of the Planning Board, commented that a part-time planner would benefit other departments and the town as a whole. Slysz may be requesting $11,000 for a part-timer, but Wagner emphasized there would probably be savings from mistakes not made and legal problems avoided.
“The advantage for Hatfield of having someone in this position,” Wagner said, “is there could be some reduced legal fees. Probably the most important part is better long-term planning for projects that are coming into town.”
Select Board member Brian Moriarty suggested Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) may have information on towns interested in part-time planning services. Under the FRCOG banner a new employee would have access to health insurance and employment benefits. Slysz commented that Wagner had first been prompted, three years ago, by a FRCOG employee to consider part-time planning services.
Town Administrator Marlene Michonski commented that an assistant in Town Hall during the day would be able to answer initial project questions and log in documents, reducing demands on the Planning Board. A trained planning assistant may also prevent some of those questions from ending up on the desk of town counsel.
The Select Board was not required to make a decision on Slysz’ proposal. Slysz, in this third request from the Planning Board, emphasized the good timing for a new supporting position.
“Deerfield started conversations with their town administrator and FinCom,” Slysz said. “It looks like they will get partial funding, and they are interested in exploring this if we could also get funded.”