The Planning Board voted 5 to 2 to appoint BETA Group, Inc. as the engineering peer review firm for the town of Hopkinton during the meeting on October 15. There had been a meeting on September 24 in which BETA was reviewed alongside Fay, Spofford, & Thorndike LLC and Lenard Engineering, Inc.
Although Fay, Spofford, & Thorndike had previously been the peer review form, many Board members felt that they had not adequately performed their duties. Lenard Engineering had pitched themselves as being close by and having 41 years of experience, but Planning Board member Deb Thomas felt that they were "much too green."
BETA has been working with the Downtown Initiative Steering Committee (DISC) to revitalize the downtown area of Hopkinton, but some Board members felt that BETA had not worked well with DISC. Planning Board member Claire Wright was bothered by BETA saying that DISC had not pushed their ideas hard enough during the review at the September 24 meeting.
"It wasn't a matter of not pushing [DISC's] plan hard enough, it was a matter of coming up with varied creative solutions in response to community input," said Wright.
Other members, like Christian Ollenberger, were in favor of BETA.
"I think they'll be able to do a peer review competently," said Ollenberger.
BETA will now have a two year contract with the town of Hopkinton after negotiations.
To see both meetings, click here.
