Planning Board considering plans for Mauro Farm site
By Nathaniel Weixel Contributing Writer

Marlborough - Updated plans for the development at the Mauro Farm site still need more tweaking to conform to guidelines required by the city's Engineering Department.

The Planning Board acknowledged at its Aug. 8 meeting that one of the civil engineers of the project, Benjamin Smith of Tunison Smith of Easton, updated the plans to include the changes that were recommended by the Conservation Commission. The changes, which mainly involved the locations and sizes of two detention ponds, would allow more space between a pond and one of the nearby houses, owned by Fred Ebert. Smith said a third detention pond would be built.

However, the plans are still missing some of the Engineering Department's key components, which they detailed to Smith in a page-bypage analysis. Consequently, Smith will have to file a copy of the updated plans with the department and meet with City Engineer Tom Cullen by the next Planning Board meeting Monday Aug. 20.

Cullen will then recommend to the Planning Board if the revisions to the original plans are significant enough to require Smith to withdraw the plans and resubmit them. That decision will be made at the Aug. 20 meeting.

If Smith has to resubmit the plans, he will have only until Monday Aug. 27, the last Planning Board meeting before the 135-day deadline from the original plan submittal expires.

Planning Board Secretary Carrie Lizotte said part of the problem is that Smith is trying to submit plans with the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board at the same time.

"He's trying to piggyback two plans together," Lizotte said. "It doesn't usually work that way."

Lizotte said it makes sense to file with the Planning Board first because the Conservation Commission won't act until it has a recommendation from the Planning Board.