Selectboard discusses master plan update
BELCHERTOWN – Following a presentation from the Town Planner in August, the Selectboard discussed updating the Master Plan.
Selectboard member Jen Turner said she wanted the item on the agenda so the board would revisit the topic with Selectboard Chair Ed Boscher, who wasn’t present when the presentation occurred.
“My thoughts are, look at the plan in its different sections,” Turner said. “Review them and make some notes to yourself about what you think about the implementation pieces, and we come together to pull together what we view as priorities as a board.”
Town Administrator Steve Williams said doing that would be a “multi-meeting process.”
“We can try to get some sort of format about how we’re going to list those priorities,” he said. “The problem is a lot of these documents are outdated so these priorities might be completed, or they may noteven be what our citizens are expecting us to be focused on.”
He suggested jumping into the summaries and working backwards from there. At the Aug. 21 meeting, Albertson provided background to the board.
The first master plan was done in 1975, and Albertson said he believes it was widely forgotten. Then in 1998, it was picked back up by a member of the Planning Board. It took about three to four years to get a new master plan, Albertson said, because the one completed in 1975 was obsolete.
“The plan was finished and adopted in 2002,” Albertson said. “Over time, peoples’ memories fade and we updated it in 2007…We added a section on agriculture.”
Two sections of the plan have been updated and two more were added—the economic development section which occurred three years ago, open space and recreation, which was done in 2021, the age- and dementia-friendly section, and climate resilience and sustainability. As of that meeting, the Planning Board was in the process of updating the housing section of the plan and was set to vote to adopt it on Aug. 22.
Boscher asked how the process works to update the document.
Williams said he believes the process is already underway with the Planning Board, but there will be some back and forth.
“Once we identify the priorities and the departments responsible, we can ask the departments to report on it, similar to their goals and objectives,” he said.
Turner said usually the town gets help with updating sections with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
“I’d love to tackle community facilities, we’re really challenged right now,” Turner said.
Williams said the challenge currently is funding the capital needs listed in the capital needs plan, which was created last year by Williams and Town Accountant Jill Rossi.
The board agreed to talk about the plan on Oct. 2, and then every two weeks until Thanksgiving.
