With Thanksgiving coming, there are but 2 meetings this week one of which (the PB one) is in-person only.

Planning Board (PB)– Monday 11/21 at 7:00 pm – in person only (no zoom) at 7 pm in Gym 2 on the first floor of the Rodda Center (and repeated on Monday 11/28 – same time and place) Click Here for Very brief Agenda.:

Note: that the agenda is Holy Name’s requested special meeting to consider two site plan proposals that would implement pieces of the hospital zone expansion that is concurrently in litigation due to myriad alleged errors in that ordinance’s adoption process.

Why the unusual date and logistics? It appears that whenever PB Chair Bodner wants limited public attendance at a meeting involving controversial content, he schedules it for Mondays (not the PB’s regular Thursdays) either immediately before or after a holiday and changes the start time from the regular 8:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

There are several issues that will be played out in the PB meeting on Monday evening: First, it is unclear from what starting point the 11/21 hearing on the two site plans will begin – since it is unclear what is the status of the original hearing in light of the absence of a transcript or recording (see Voices story about this meeting on its website – Click Here).

The agenda calls for BOTH site plans to be covered on 11/21– but only a single witness (the HN architect witness) was heard on what is currently labeled the 2^nd site plan (to approve a day care center on the western side of the expanded hospital zone ). There are indications that the original hearing with the architect’s testimony will be declared void and the entire HN site plans process will be started as if de novo.

And of course, the entire site plan process HN is pursuing could be completely overturned depending on developments in the litigation challenging the underlying ordinance 22-2022 (the hospital zone expansion ordinance) Click Here for Voices earlier website story on this litigation.

Apparently, some of the chaos of the prior meeting will NOT occur on Monday. Voices has been assured by both the Clerk’s Office and the Manager that the Town will have secured outside professional contractor support for both the audio and video of Monday’s 11/21 meeting – and that the meeting video will be placed on the Town website. But note: No Zoom!