Consultant chosen to review planning department
August 8, 2008
Eagle Tribune
WINDHAM — Selectmen went behind closed doors and picked a New London consultant to suggest changes on how the Planning and Development Department does its work.
The town will pay $8,000 to Gerald Coogan, planning and development consultant, for the review.
The department is responsible for land-use planning, economic development and other activities.
Coogan will interview selectmen and the town administrator to understand what they want out of the department. He also will talk with planning department employees and those who use the office, including applicants and developers.
Coogan expects to have a draft report for the selectmen within 60 days and a final report in 90 days. That report would include any suggestions for organizational changes. He’ll talk about the project with the selectmen Monday in public session.
Selectmen said a reorganization is needed due to the high turnover of town planners, and because the town needs to attract more economic development to help pay for the new high school, set to open next year.
This week, selectmen voted unanimously to go into nonpublic session to discuss the three bid proposals for the consultant work.
Selectman Bruce Breton said he wanted to talk in nonpublic session in order to be fair to the bidders and not influence their reputations. He also wanted the talk in private because of the nature of the topic, the possible reorganization of the department.
Town Administrator David Sullivan said the law allows for nonpublic talks on the consultant selection because public talks could affect the reputations of the companies involved. These kinds of talks are rare, but have, in the past, been held both in public and nonpublic sessions, he said.
The other two consultants that bid for the study were Municipal Resources Inc. of Meredith and Salem, which bid $8,500, and Naturesource Communications of Boscawen, which bid $6,100.
Sullivan said he and the selectmen came to consensus on Coogan because they liked his proposal.
Sullivan and Breton said Coogan carried out a similar review for Narragansett, R.I. Breton said he spoke with a former Planning Board member from that city, who highly recommended Coogan’s work.
Al Turner, the town’s director of planning and economic development, said all three companies seem to be fit for the job.
“I’ll work with whoever they pick,” he said.
Sullivan said he continues to advocate for a review of all town departments.
He said times are changing, with the new high school due to open, Interstate 93’s widening, the Route 111 bypass and other work. Windham is no longer a small town, but its departments have had similar organizational structures in place for the last 20 years, he said.
Regarding the planning department bids, the three companies made proposals for two phases of work.
Sullivan said the town is only going forward with the first phase at this point. The second phase would be a review of how the planning department handles applications for site plans and subdivisions.