Pepperell Planning Board releases eight River Road subdivision lots from performance bond

PEPPERELL — January 8, 2018 — Pepperell Planning Board unanimously releases eight subdivision lots and receives Wild and Scenic river pitch ahead of 2018 town meeting vote. The board voted Monday to release lots 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 on Maureen's Way and Riley's Way off River Road under a Form J lot-release instrument, leaving the underlying North Middlesex Savings Bank performance bond intact while freeing the specific parcels from encumbrance. Developer Al Patton said he expects to return in spring for additional lot releases as road construction advances. The board also received a presentation from a representative of the Nashua Wild and Scenic Study Committee, a three-year, 11-community effort covering the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit rivers, initiated after Congresswoman Niki Tsongas filed study legislation in January 2015. The presenter said designation would prohibit new federally licensed dams and qualify river segments for roughly $175,000 in annual National Park Service funds allocated by a locally controlled stewardship committee, with Pepperell's Board of Selectmen expected to bring the draft stewardship plan to a 2018 town meeting vote.