Okay, welcome everyone to the Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 Planning Commission meeting.

First item on the agenda item 3A is a surety reduction, Reynolds Farm 1D.

This was continued from our previous meeting in the call.

Has there been any change in the status?

No.

Okay.

You mean from the from the last meeting to the Yes, I I think that the last meeting the concerns were that there was a uh outstanding item that may or may not have a significant cost, and we were looking for some more information on that.

And I know the um the it remains the theme.

We we went out to inspect the site for uh requests to release the bond um early fall, late summer, early fall.

The site work itself is satisfactory, but there are a number of street lights that are not installed, and you had held fifty-two thousand dollars at your last year for that.

Um that they have not been installed at this point in time.

So we do recommend that you continue to hold the 52 uh 52500.

Um Jim, you had requested that an representative for the the developer be in attendance, so uh Mr.

Damber is actually here tonight for that.

For I know you want to have a discussion about it.

I mean, my my concern was that at this point, you know, this is this is a unique situation in my 17 years here that we have a developer that hasn't fulfilled everything that's on the development plan.

And we don't know what other things it could entail.

We we know that there's conduits in, but if there's a problem pulling wire, if we have to uplift any of the sidewalk, if we have to uplift any asphalt, if there's any other issues attributed to it, um, what will be the cost and to reduce the bonds and just hold $50,000 and speaking with the town engineer.

I think there was a uh a rough bid that the town had received a year ago of about $80,000.

Um I just want more than it was a couple years ago.

Yeah.

So I just want to be cautious about transferring that cost to the town because I think that the people that bought there have a reasonable expectation that they should expect everything that's on the approved or significantly with what's on, you know.

I don't want to say everything.

I'm not sure if everyone was on the board, but there was a request to not install the remaining lights, and the board denied that request.

So they did request to not put a mode lights as well.

Yes, if you could come up, we just because we have a stenographer.

Uh my name is Michael D.A.M.B.

Um.

I was partners with Mr.

Fisher when we developed this.

Hugh Fisher handled most all of the uh dollar and cents things and building the units and so forth, and we did the site work and and all other things.

Uh I don't want this board to think that we're walking away from something that we were obligated to do.

And I don't know if you know understand the full story of it.

But at the time that this development was approved, and we went out there to get going with it, the town, your engineer set a bond amount, and there were all line items for all the things that we had to do.

At that point in time, I think it was uh national grid was the electric company at the time.

They had taken over from uh Nauraganson Electric.

The the uh policy that they had in these subdivisions were they were supplying the light bases, supplying the uh light poles and supplying the conduit where necessary, and they were billing the town for this, uh sort of like a rental until it got paid.

I don't I don't know the the true mechanics, but this has been uh uh uh codified through the town.

That that's what the uh message was.

So somewhere along the line, when perhaps when national grids sold out to Rhode Island Energy or whatever happened, they changed the policy.

They no longer wanted to get involved in supplying light poles and uh or any of that.

They didn't want to be the bank for any towns or so forth.

So but but prior to that, the deal was that they supply them.

When the bond was set, and all of the line items in the bond were calculated for a cost to come up with a million three hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars.

Uh in there was there was no no line item for electric light poles.

There was a line item in there for excavation and backfill for electric and telephone.

I have that right here signed by your town engineer uh at that time.

So we then went and we supplied a bond based upon that, knowing that we had no obligation to supply light poles or wire them or do anything else like that.

So that's kind of where we stand.

Um we would personally like you to release the whole thing because we feel we don't have an obligation.

Will we work with you?

Absolutely.

We're not trying to stick something to you or anything like that.

Uh what we did do, the electric company before they changed their policy, they had supplied us with all of the light bases, and we went out and we installed all of them, and then right as we went along at a certain point in time, they said, Oh, we're not putting any more poles up.

Uh and that's basically where we stand right now.

Mr.

Damber is correct.

There's a this is unfortunately one of those situations where it's not just there's not just one issue, right?

There's a number of things that happened.

Um the there were a couple of lights that were installed where we don't know why or how the rest of them didn't happen.