The Zoning Board of Appeals shall, for each application or petition filed with it, determine whether a review fee is necessary to enable it to evaluate and consider an application or petition. The Board shall determine the amount of any such review fee in the context of each such application or petition. With regard to each application fee, the Board shall determine whether all or a portion of such fee shall be a review fee and shall advise the applicant or petitioner or its decision. The Board, pursuant to MGL C. 44, § 53G, shall arrange for all review fees to be placed in a separate account under the control of the Town Treasurer. See also Part 2 below.
A. 
The choice of a consultant selected by the Zoning Board of Appeals for the review of an application may be appealed, in writing, to the Select Board by the applicant, provided that such appeal is initiated within two weeks of the initial selection.
[Amended 10-1-2018 ATM by Art. 14]
B. 
The Select Board shall convene a formal hearing within 20 days of receiving a written appeal filed by an applicant.
[Amended 10-1-2018 ATM by Art. 14]
C. 
There are two conditions which will disqualify the selected consultant:
(1) 
Conflict of interest: A consultant may not have a financial interest in a project under review or be in a position to financially benefit in some way from the outcome of the pending review process. Consultants must be in compliance with the Massachusetts Conflict of Interest Law (MGL C. 268A).
(2) 
Lack of appropriate qualifications: A consultant must possess the minimum required qualifications. The minimum qualifications shall consist of either an educational degree in, or related to, the field at issue or three or more years of practice in the field at issue or a related field.
D. 
The two conditions of Subsection C above are the only grounds for an appeal.
E. 
The required time limits for action upon an application by the Zoning Board shall be extended by the duration of the administrative appeal.
F. 
If no decision is rendered by the Select Board within one month following the filing of the appeal, the selection made by the Zoning Board shall stand.
[Amended 10-1-2018 ATM by Art. 14]
G. 
This administrative appeal shall not preclude further judicial review, if otherwise permitted by law, on the grounds provided for in this section.
A. 
Funds collected from various applicants for the 593 Account shall be turned over to the Town Treasurer by the Zoning Board office for deposit into an account separate from other funds.
B. 
A copy of the latest statement from the banking institution handling the 593 Account shall be forwarded from the office of the Town Treasurer to the Zoning Board office as soon as it is received to allow for timely and accurate accounting.
C. 
The Town Accountant shall prepare a report on activity in the 593 Account on an annual basis. See also regulations pertaining to 593 Accounts for 40B applications in Part 2.
(1) 
This report shall be submitted to the Select Board for their review.
[Amended 10-1-2018 ATM by Art. 14]
(2) 
This report shall be printed in the Annual Report for the Town of Groton.
D. 
An accounting of an applicant's funds held in the 593 Account may be request by the applicant at any time.
(1) 
The Zoning Board shall respond to the request in a timely fashion.
(2) 
This accounting shall include the following information:
(a) 
The latest statement from the banking institution handling the account, which should include an accurate accumulated interest portion to the closing date of the statement, if such statements are subdivided into individual applicants' accounts. Otherwise, a statement of principal and interest, prepared by the Zoning Board office, based on the latest statement from the banking institution.
(b) 
A report of all checks authorized for issuance since that last banking statement.
(3) 
This accounting shall not include an estimate of accumulated interest since the last banking statement. (It will not be possible to know when a check, authorized for payment by the Zoning Board, would be deposited by its recipient and when it would then reach the banking institution handling the 593 Account. This makes calculating the effect such a debit will have on an account with continuously compounding interest virtually impossible. Because of this lack of appropriate information, the Zoning Board shall not attempt the exercise.)
E. 
An applicant may request an estimate of bills pending from consultants for work complete, or in progress, but not yet invoiced. It should be understood that this information will take a longer time period (typically two to three weeks) to gather. Because of the extra work involved, applicants should request this further accounting only if they are contemplating withdrawal or suspension of their application.
F. 
If available, a brief account summary of the type described under Subsection D above shall be furnished to both the Zoning Board and the applicant at each hearing. This will allow the Board to determine if further funds will need to be collected and deposited into the 593 Account should it approach depletion.
G. 
Excess fees in the 593 Account, including accumulated interest, shall be returned to the applicant at the conclusion of the review process, when the Zoning Board reaches a decision (final action) and when final inspection has been completed.