[Added 1-17-2019]
A.
As provided by MGL c. 44, § 53G, the Planning Board may
impose reasonable fees for the employment of outside consultants,
engaged by the Planning Board, for specific expert services deemed
necessary by the Planning Board to come to a final decision on an
application submitted to the Planning Board pursuant to the requirements
of the Agawam Zoning Bylaws, the Agawam Subdivision Regulations, and
any other Town bylaw/ordinance, regulation, or rule as they may be
amended or enacted from time to time.
B.
Funds received by the Planning Board pursuant to these rules shall
be deposited with the Agawam Treasurer, who shall establish a special
account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special account may
be made at the direction of the Planning Board without further appropriation
as provided in MGL c. 44, § 53G. Expenditures from this
account shall be made only in connection with the review of a specific
project or projects for which a consultant fee has been collected
from the applicant.
C.
Specific consultant services may include but are not limited to the
engineering of roads and ways, private and public, driveways, grades,
grading, and sanitary systems, to hydrogeologic and drainage analysis,
to impact analyses of various kinds, and to environmental and land
use law. The consultant shall be chosen by, and report only to, the
Planning Board.
D.
The Planning Board shall give written notice to the applicant of
the selection of an outside consultant, which notice shall state the
identity of the consultant, the amount of the fee to be charged to
the applicant, and a request for payment of said fee in its entirety.
Such notice shall be deemed to have been given on the date it is mailed
or delivered. No such costs or expenses shall be incurred by the applicant
if the application or request is withdrawn within five days of the
date notice is given.
E.
The fee must be received in its entirety prior to the initiation
of consulting services. The Planning Board may request additional
consultant fees if necessary review requires a larger expenditure
than originally anticipated or new information requires additional
consultant services. Failure by the applicant to pay the consultant
fee specified by the Planning Board within 10 business days of the
request for payment shall be cause for the Planning Board to determine
that the application is administratively incomplete (except in the
case of an appeal). The Planning Board shall state such in a letter
to the applicant copied to City Solicitor. No additional review or
action shall be taken on the application until the applicant has paid
the requested fee. For applications to be considered under the local
bylaw/ordinance regulations only, failure by the applicant to pay
the consultant fee specified by the Planning Board within 10 business
days of the request for payment shall be cause for the Planning Board
to deny the application.
F.
The applicant may appeal the selection of the outside consultant
to the City Council, who may disqualify the outside consultant selected
only on the grounds that the consultant has a conflict of interest
or does not possess the minimum required qualifications. The minimum
qualifications shall consist of either an educational degree or three
or more years of practice in the field at issue or a related field.
Such an appeal must be in writing and received by the City Council
and a copy received by the Planning Board within 10 days of the date
consultant fees were requested by the Planning Board. The required
time limits for action upon the application shall be extended by the
duration of the administrative appeal. In the event that no decision
is made by the City Council within one month following the filing
of the appeal, the selection made by the Planning Board shall stand.
The appeal to the City Council shall not preclude further judicial
review, if otherwise permitted by law, on the grounds provided for
in these rules for MGL c. 44, § 53G.
