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SPENCER – At its September 16 meeting, the Planning Board adopted the master plan and heard about changes to the landscaping at the David Prouty High School project site.
Taylor Wentworth, chairperson of the Master Plan Advisory Committee, talked about the two-year process to put together the updated master plan and thanked all the key players involved in its development.
She said the document is “not a binding set of laws. It is a living document meant to guide Spencer thoughtfully and flexibly into the future.”
Wentworth described the master plan as “clear, user friendly and accessible to all,” emphasizing it “reflects the community’s needs and aspirations.” Input from workshops, surveys, feedback and public meetings were incorporated as much as possible, she said.
She noted that Lauren Vivier, former town planner and conservation agent, had been instrumental in its completion, saying, “She was the spark the held this together to the finish.”
Wentworth also praised current planner Vivian Poplawski for working to get up to speed on the master plan, adding she had confidence in her abilities.
“She’s doing a great job and we are really lucky to have her as our town planner,” Wentworth added.
Spencer worked in partnership with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, whose representatives noted the plan contains indexes with lists of funding opportunities and grants to help the town carry out its goals.
Town Administrator Jeff Bridges agreed with Wentworth that the master plan does not have to remain stagnant for another 10 years. He suggested the plan get re-visited periodically, selecting one particular chapter at a time, for example.
In the future, “The town may want to change things and there is nothing wrong with that,” Bridges said.
Mike Ethier and Jason Monette from the David Prouty High School Building Committee also appeared before the board to talk about changes in the parking lot for the project.
Monette, who is also on the School Committee, said they have concerns about snow removal in the original parking lot plans. As a result, they are modifying small portions of landscape islands; revising the sidewalks to be flush; revising a vertical curb on the lot’s east side; and making landscaping changes.
Monette said it was going to be a “nightmare,” for custodial staff to manage snow removal in a timely fashion without the alterations. He said they would be dropping down the “ears” on the islands located in the middle with the crosswalk as well as eliminating the ones on the ends. (The islands on the left and at main entrance will stay the same).
Because of the eliminations, snow can get pushed toward what was known as the Blue Building, Monette said. There is an area to stockpile it to the left of the building.
Monette said as a teenager he used to plow the DPHS lot and it was an easy task because there were no islands at the time.
Bridges said when they originally looked at the site plan, he was surprised to see so many islands to plow around.
With a landscaping business background, Monette said it became apparent there would be too many trees and shrubbery debris to be maintained in what was proposed originally.
“It’s not fair to the custodial staff if we don’t have the manpower,” he said.
Monette said the purpose of the landscaping changes are to try to ease the load on the maintenance end of the project once it is finished.
He said the goal is to make it more practical. “It’s common sense stuff we need to nip in the bud now to make lives easier down the road,” Monette noted.
The proposal includes reducing the number of sugar maples around route 9 from six to four and getting some smaller, slower growing trees in the courtyard instead of taller ones proposed.
The town planner said out of the landscape plan, three Princeton elms were from the paved island to the east; three tulip trees will be removed to the west of main entrance; and one ginkgo biloba from the southernmost area to provide more canopy space for the remaining.
Monette said the project’s architect from Whitsett Jones had been helpful and “great about hearing our concerns.”
