Zoning Board of Appeals, September 14, 2022

The town published an agenda for this meeting. No minutes have been published; the recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

economic developmentfeeshousinglegalplanning and zoningpublic commenttown departmentswater sewer

Present: Chair (unnamed) (chair); Jim (member (read correspondence)); Adam Costa (town counsel / board's attorney); Patrick (member); Dawn Bornstein (presenter (applicant's attorney)); Wes Fleece / Wesley Fliss (presenter (applicant's civil engineer, Haley Ward)); Kevin O'Brien (presenter (applicant principal)). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

No substantive votes heard. 1 procedural.

The money

1. ▶ 5:40Sewer enterprise fund

   The Sewer Commission memo says the sewer department is funded entirely by an enterprise fund paid by sewer users and warned it could become insolvent if fees are waived.

   as heard:922

2. ▶ 6:00Sewer construction and permit fees

   The memo says the application misstates the sewer construction and permit fees for the project.

3. ▶ 41:54Project cost and infrastructure estimate

   A speaker said the application puts the project cost and infrastructure costs at figures he called fictitious for running long water and sewer lines.

   as heard:60 million dollar4 million

4. ▶ 40:52Rents versus affordable rents

   A speaker cited application page A11 comparing market and affordable rents for a three-bedroom unit and questioned affordability.

   as heard:27.99 a month2300

5. ▶ 51:35Sewer connection fees waiver

   A Sewer Commission member said the connection fees the applicant seeks to waive would wipe out the sewer department's reserve capacity, and that the application's cost figures are inadequate.

   as heard:four million dollarstwo million dollars

6. ▶ 55:00Privilege fee destination

   The Sewer Commission member said privilege and connection fees go back to the town for connection and operating costs, including pump stations.

7. ▶ 57:00Inflow and infiltration charges

   Leominster and Fitchburg charge by flow rather than metering, so leaks raise the town's costs.

8. ▶ 15:42Limited dividend profit

   Applicant's attorney said profit is limited and excess above the limit is due back to the town for affordable housing.

   as heard:20 percent

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 1:38:41Next hearing set for October 12 at seven.
• ▶ 1:34:57Applicant to file a written position on the board's authority over water and sewer within about two weeks, and to submit its traffic report before the next hearing.
• ▶ 1:39:44Next hearing will focus mainly on water and sewer, with initial feedback on traffic; documents go through the board secretary.
• ▶ 1:34:57Applicant requested a copy of the Sewer Commission memo.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Public comment

1. ▶ 38:10Select board chair spoke against the project: history of the subdivision litigation, rents, infrastructure costs, safety, environment, four stories, schools; urged denial. — a speaker, select board chairman
2. ▶ 48:08Sewer Commission member detailed sewer capacity, Fitchburg and Leominster approvals, peer review costs, connection fee waivers and risk to the sewer department. — Dave McDonald, as heard, Sewer Commission member
3. ▶ 58:31ZBA lacks legislative authority to expand water and sewer districts, which need town meeting or water district votes. — Tom Alonso, as heard, citizen and select board vice chair
4. ▶ 1:07:20Howard Street traffic, narrowness, entrance location, school bus stop and pedestrian safety. — a speaker, resident of Howard Street
5. ▶ 1:12:13Effects of the development on a neighboring farm and affordability of the proposed rents. — Donna Jacobson, as heard, Howard Street resident, farmer and landlord
6. ▶ 1:16:45Compared the site clearing to strip mining; dust, well water silt and developer's responsibility. — Dennis winke, as heard, resident
7. ▶ 1:21:18Water district voted down expansion; application statements untrue; urged a no vote. — Dave Rogers, as heard, individual, former water district volunteer
8. ▶ 1:24:50Child safety and speeding on Howard Street. — Kimberly Murphy, as heard, resident
9. ▶ 1:25:56Runoff and silt from the cleared site; urged a no vote. — John alotalo, as heard, resident
10. ▶ 1:27:20Impact on schools, buses, fire and police capacity. — Jackie de Bettencourt, as heard, parent and resident

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• housing70 min · 69%
• water sewer67 min · 66%
• public comment51 min · 50%
• legal31 min · 31%
• planning and zoning29 min · 29%
• fees3 min · 3%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 2:51Hearing opened; project describedinformational · 0:45 long · planning and zoning, housing
2. ▶ 3:36Sewer Commission memorandum read into recordinformational · 3:26 long · water sewer, fees
3. ▶ 7:02Town counsel overview of Chapter 40B processinformational · 4:25 long · legal, housing
4. ▶ 11:27Applicant presentation: attorney and engineer overviewinformational · 14:04 long · housing, planning and zoning
5. ▶ 25:31Board questions and counsel advice on threshold water and sewer issuesinformational · 12:39 long · water sewer, legal
6. ▶ 38:10Public commentinformational · 50:58 long · public comment, water sewer, housing
7. ▶ 1:29:08Scheduling, peer review, and continuance to October 12hearing continued to October 12 · 14:06 long · planning and zoning, legal
8. ▶ 1:42:53Adjournmentadjourned · 0:41 long

What the captions could not carry

• Roll call vote on closing/continuing the hearing: no count audible.
• Some speaker identities and a few passages in the chair's remarks are garbled.
• Dollar figures cited by speakers are caption renderings and unreliable.
• Whether a motion to continue was made and passed is not clear from the captions.

Reports this meeting suggests

Our reading of the discussion: questions where numbers were in play and a page laying them out would have helped. Every meeting’s suggestions are merged into one register.

• ▶ 50:34Sewer connection feesWhat would waiving sewer connection fees for this project do to the sewer enterprise fund's reserves?already answered: thread:stormwater-fee
• ▶ 59:54Affordable housing inventoryHow close is Lunenburg to the ten percent affordable housing threshold and what does a 200-unit 40B add?
• ▶ 46:25Housing growth and schoolsWhat would 200 rental units mean for school enrollment and services?already answered: topic:homes-and-enrolment

Written 2026-10-16 by scripts/write_recording_minutes.py (sonnet) from sources/data/youtube-transcripts/zoning-board-of-appeals/2022-09-14-ZZ_MjjWjMEI.json — 2,512 caption segments, sha256 dac94256de80…. All recorded meetings.