Pepperell Planning Board releases $265,636 in Heritage Estates bond, continues warehouse hearing

PEPPERELL — January 9, 2024 — Pepperell Planning Board votes to release $265,636 in subdivision performance bond funds and continues a major warehouse site plan hearing to January 23. Acting Chair David Ganong presided in the absence of Chair Al Patnode, accepting a town engineer's recommendation to release a portion of a long-held bond for the Heritage Estates subdivision while retaining roughly $457,000 in cash and a tripartite bank agreement pending further cost verification. The board also continued the public hearing for a proposed two-building commercial warehouse at 149-163 Nashua Road — submitted by developer Tom Cervenka — after consultant Matt Waterman of Land Tech reported no fundamental stormwater barriers but acknowledged that geotechnical infiltration testing in former quarry areas cannot be completed until spring. Interim planning consultant Eve Tapper of Planners in a Pinch, introduced at the meeting, pressed the applicant on plan revisions and urged caution before closing the public hearing. A contentious discussion over a $500,000 state legislative earmark for a food hub and commercial kitchen — claimed by both the Fitzpatrick Collaborative and the town's Agricultural Commission — was tabled to January 23, with Ganong citing a June 30, 2024 legislative spending deadline and noting that the chair must weigh in before a funding recommendation is made.