Planning Board Meeting

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Wednesday, January 8, 6:00 pm until 11:45 pm
Google Meet - See Details Below
A meeting of the Planning Board

Planning Board Meeting
Wednesday, January 8 · 6:00 – 11:30pm
Time zone: America/New_York
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/orq-zckx-umn
Or dial: ?(US) +1 405-586-8164? PIN: ?208 683 414?#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/orq-zckx-umn?pin=7262112277051

Meeting of Planning Board

Members: (Quorum)

• Remote: Sara Wik, Member, at 6:00 PM
• Remote: Robert Slowinski, Chair, at 6:00 PM
• Remote: Loren Feinstein, Secretary, at 6:00 PM
• Remote: Gregory Olchowski, Member, at 6:00 PM
• Remote: David Greenberg, Member, at 6:00 PM

Also Present:

• Laurie Francis of Colrain
• Allison Gage of Regional Pollinator Corridor
• Elizabeth Erickson
• Diana Parsons
• Shawn Kimberley
• Joe Kurland Colrain Town Moderator

See original Agenda Final Minutes

Meeting opened: 6:02 PM

Meeting closed: 7:05 PM

0. Meeting Preliminaries

   • Meeting Opened / Attendance Taken (see above).

   • Minutes Approved: Wed, Dec 11 - Planning Board Meeting

1. New Business

   • 6:05 PM: Colrain Pollinator Plan - Visit from Allison Gage, FRCOG

     General Discussion...
     Allison Gage presented suggestions for ways to adopt language in our town zoning bylaws to assist in the protection and creation of pollinator habitat. There was a general spoken desire to obtain more specificity and be able to prepare

   • 6:25 PM: Massachusetts ADU Updated Regulations - www.mass.gov/ADU

     General Discussion...
     Shawn gave suggestions for places where we will need to update our town zoning bylaw definitions to match the new state regulation definitions. There is a potential for the removal of our accessory dwelling bylaws if it is now covered by the state regulations. There are some concerns and questions still regarding the law in formation. General agreement was that this will require more discussion at a future meeting. David offered to share his draft of bylaw changes as they relate to this new regulation.

2. Old Business

   • 6:45 PM: Master Plan - Continued Agenda Item

     General Discussion...
     Diana presented some points for assistance for this project. She is working on grant funding for the outreach portion of community visioning.
     There is a clear need for more broad community involvement as well as a framework to assist in making that involvement productive.
     This will be discussed further at the upcoming Select and Planning board co-meeting as well as future PB meetings.

3. Meeting Wrap-up

   • Next Meetings:
     1. Tue, Jan 14, at 4:30 PM "Planning Board Meeting" -- Google Meet - See Details Below
     2. Wed, Feb 5, at 6:00 PM "Planning Board Meeting" -- Google Meet - See Details Below
     3. Wed, Mar 5, at 6:00 PM "Planning Board Meeting" -- Google Meet - See Details Below
     4. Wed, Apr 2, at 6:00 PM "Planning Board Meeting" -- Google Meet - See Details Below
     5. Wed, May 7, at 6:00 PM "Planning Board Meeting" -- Google Meet - See Details Below

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Minutes prepared by PB Sect

Minutes approved on Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025