Pepperell Planning Board Votes to Recommend First Full-Time Planner in Years

PEPPERELL — January 19, 2021 — Pepperell Planning Board unanimously recommends FY22 budget that includes a full-time planner for the first time in years. The board, meeting via GoToMeeting on January 19, voted to forward a planning department budget to Town Administrator Andrew that lists a $74,000 planner salary — acknowledged by the board to require an additional roughly 30 percent for benefits, pushing the true cost above $100,000. The budget also includes $50,000 for a zoning overhaul consultant, a separate $20,000 for a market and zoning study of the former Peter Fitzpatrick School site, and $24,000 for a part-time planning board assistant. Town Planner Lisa, an AICP-credentialed professional who has been part-time for the past two years, told the board she had been advocating for the hire since March 2020: "I think the town is right for a full-time planner — I'm not that person." The board also unanimously granted New England Craft Cultivators an extension of its special permit deliberation deadline to May 17, 2021, while the town pursues a zoning article at a forthcoming special town meeting.