Seekonk Planning Board Looking for Volunteers

The Seekonk Planning Board is hoping that after developing the expectations and the requirements for both the Economic Advisory Committee and the Energy Committee, citizens will be forthcoming in applying for those positions.

“Hopefully, entice people to join these committees by giving them an idea of what will be expected,” said Town Planner John Hansen Jr.

The new committees will be formed as part of a new Master Plan that is being developed for the town.

The planning board will oversee these committees to ensure that they stick to the new Master Plan and are committed to completing the action items on it. According to Hansen, that was not always the case with other boards with previous plans.

“They are going to be their own board,” said planning board member Russ Horsman, adding that things change and a few years down the road the board will likely develop its own priorities and ideas.

Hansen said it would not be an easy task to find experienced people to serve on these two boards, particularly the Energy Committee, but other members said they were encouraged by the discussion at the public forum on the master plan that took place Nov. 1 that showed there were people with the knowledge and passion required to serve on that committee.

Update: Descriptions and applications are now on the Planning Board's website for the Economic Advisory Committee and the Energy Committee.

New guide to local permits

The planning board has also developed a new pamphlet to help citizens understand the local permits and help guide them to which permits they need and where they need to go. The pamphlet will be available on the town’s website in the near future, and the board is looking into distributing it to local banks and real estate agents as well.