On the agenda: Groton approved_minutes_2026-09-17_id-17576.pdf — data center (Oct 5)

MONTACHUSETT REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION (MRPC)
464 Abbott Ave. Leominster, MA 01453
REMOTE MEETING ONLY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 7:00 PM
MRPC MEETING MATERIALS:
September 17, 2026 MRPC Commission Meeting Materials

MINUTES
1. Open Meeting, Introductions and Announcements
This meeting will be recorded to ensure we have an accurate record of our discussion. If anyone has any concerns
about being recorded, please let us know.
This meeting is held under An Act Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency
signed by Governor Healey on March 28, 2025, allowing local and regional governments to hold public meetings
remotely or in a hybrid fashion through June 30, 2027. All votes will be taken by roll call.
Vice Chair, G. Corbosiero opened the meeting at 7:01 pm.
Roll Call Followed:
G. Corbosiero – present
R. Swartz – present
T. Russo – present
L. Shifrin – present
P. Cunningham – present
D. Thornton – present
A. Pease – present
A. Reid – present
P. Fontaine, Jr. - present
2. MRPC Minutes – August 6, 2026 – Approval of Commissioners Requested
Having no objections or corrections, P. Cunningham moved to accept the August 6, 2026
minutes as presented. The motion was seconded.
Roll Call Vote Followed:
G. Corbosiero – yes
R. Swartz – yes
T. Russo – yes
L. Shifrin – yes

P. Cunningham – abstain
D. Thornton – yes
A. Pease – yes
A. Reid - abstain
P. Fontaine Jr. - abstain
3. Cash Schedule – August 2026 – Acceptance of Commissioners Requested
R. Swatz presented the August 2026 cash schedule. The opening balance for August 1, 2026 was $705,916.83,
total receipts $107,522.49, total cash on hand before this warrant $813,439.32, less amount of this warrant
$213,582.24, left a balance after the warrant of $599,857.08.
Having no objections, R. Swartz moved to accept the cash schedule as presented, subject to audit. The motion
was seconded.
Roll Call Vote Followed:
G. Corbosiero – yes
R. Swartz – yes
T. Russo – yes
L. Shifrin – yes
P. Cunningham – yes
D. Thornton – yes
A. Pease – yes
A. Reid - yes
P. Fontaine Jr. - yes
4. Guest Announcements and Questions
No announcements or questions were presented.
5. Administrative Matters
5.1 Report of the Executive Committee Meeting of 6:00 p.m., Thursday, September 17, 2026,
Concerning Executive Director Transition – Information or Action Item
Chair, K. Munroe was scheduled to lead this discussion, however, he was unable to attend the
meeting. The Executive Committee met very briefly from about 6:00 pm – 6:15 pm. Members
requested all copies of the Executive Directors job description that we had so they can be reviewed
prior to the next meeting scheduled for October 8th. H. Ford, Administrative and Human Resource
Director will send an email which will contain all copies on file.
5.2 FY25 Audit Presentation: Information or Action Item
In August, management continued a FY25 Audit completion date from Grassi Advisors. On September
2nd, Grassi emailed management, informing us that our final draft audit is undergoing a final review.
Management was only informed of this additional review task on September 2nd. We were informed
to contact Grassi’s Chelmsford office to determine when their review would be completed. We
reached out to the Chelmsford office on September 2nd and 14th. As of September 15th, a response
from Grassi had not yet been received.
Concerning audits, please be advised that Tracy Warrington, Fiscal Director, completed a request for
proposals (RFP) for the hiring of an independent auditor for the completion of the FY26 audit. The RFP
has been advertised. (Ms. Warrington recently completed the Massachusetts Certified Public
Procurement Officials [MCPPO] Program which aided her and the MRPC in the development of this
RFP and other RFPs in the future.)

T. Warrington is hoping to have some assessments, evaluations and interviews completed in hopes of
bringing forth a candidate(s) at the next meeting.
5.3 Personnel Updates: Hiring of a Replacement Planner and New Support Staff Hired – Information
Only
Please be advised that Mackenzie Miller has been hired as a part-time Administrative Support Intern
to assist the Fiscal Director with some audit preparation tasks. MRPC has advertised for a part-time
Administrative and Fiscal Assistant. Lastly, an advertisement was posted for one or more planners for
the Comprehensive Planning Department. At least one is needed to replace an employee who
resigned in June, and a second planner may need to be hired due to the receipt of new grant awards
and an increase in workload in the Comprehensive Planning Department. Management has completed
four interviews for the planner position(s) and additional interviews will be held during the week of
September 14 (after the Executive Director returns from vacation during the week of September 7th).
Commissioners will be updated throughout the hiring process.
5.4 CEDS Adoption Update – Information Only
Please be advised that The Federal Economic Development Administration (EDA). EDA’s approval
occurred after two final edits, required by EDA, were made. MRPC was told to replace the word “race”
with ethnicities” and delete the word “electric” from “electric vehicles.”

5.5 Next Combined Meeting of the Montachusett Economic Development District, CEDS Group and the
Brownfields Group Meeting – Information Only
The next MEDD/MRCEDS/Brownfields Group meeting concerning zoning and related matters for tiny
homes, data centers, or both will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 24th.
The registration link can be found below and on the MRPC’s website.
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/2iFZkeSz4m

Through June 2027, these meetings will be held on the fourth Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., as
follows.
•
October 22, 2026
•
November 19, 2026 (This meeting will be held on the third Thursday of the month due to
the Thanksgiving Holiday to be held in the following, 4th, week of the month)
•
December 17, 2026
•
January 28, 2027
•
February 25, 2027
•
March 25, 2027
•
April 22, 2027
•
May 27, 2027
•
June 24, 2027
It is possible that some meetings may be held in person at MRPC’s office, 464 Abbott Avenue,
Leominster.
Meeting agendas, registrations instructions, and locations will be issued each month.
5.6 MRPC Lunch-and-Learn Meetings, FY27 - Information Only – Tiny Homes, Data Centers
The next Lunch and Learn meeting concerning zoning and related matters for tiny homes, data
centers, or both will be held at Noon, on September 30, 2026.
The registration link for the September 30th meeting can be found below and on the MRPC’s website.
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/XhbRWgS3M2

Lunch and Learn meetings will be held online, at Noon, on the last Wednesday of each month, as
follows (some meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of the month, as indicated below).
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

October 28, 2026
November 18, 2026 (This meeting will be held on the third Wednesday of the month due
to the Thanksgiving Holiday to be held in the following, 4th, week of the month)
December 30, 2026
January 27, 2027
February 24, 2027
March 31, 2027
April 28, 2027
May 26, 2027
June 23, 2027

It is possible that some meetings may be held in person at MRPC’s office, 464 Abbott Avenue,
Leominster.
Meeting agendas, registrations instructions, and locations will be issued each month.
P. Cunningham addressed that the PFAS dynamic is emerging rapidly and questioned if there may be
any grants to assist with remediation. L. Shifrin stated Townend is dealing with the bylaw for battery
storage and if that would be discussed on the 30th as well. G. Eaton asked that questions be sent to
Bernie ([email protected]) and or Glenn ([email protected]) and they will see if they can start a
dialogue to ee what can be done.
P. Fontaine Jr. added that the City of Fitchburg has a moratorium for both data centers and battery
storage. L. Shifrin stated she may go to one of the meetings to learn more.
5.7 Other Administrative Matters
6. Department Updates
Status of all ongoing projects can be found by clicking on the link, below:
https://mrmapper.mrpc.org/webapps/v2.27/CurrentProjects/
MRPC staff are prepared to answer questions about any contract with any local, state, and federal entity.
Commissioners are welcome to ask questions about projects in their respective communities
6.1 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
No new updates at this time.
6.2 Planning & Development
In addition to the other 12 RPAs in the state, we are in receipt of a two-year grant project. It will be
about $200,000 each fiscal year. There will be three aspects to the program. The first is that RPAs are
going to be required to work with their communities to come up with a regional resiliency portfolio. The
next step will be working with our 22 communities to develop five different feasible projects that are
reviewed and approved by EEA. Once this step is complete, two will be chosen to be worked on. We
will update you as this progresses.
6.3 Transit & Transportation
B. Doherty shared his department is finishing up their fiscal year by the end of this month. There are a
number of projects that we’ll be posting on our website in October. As a reminder, the MPO and MJTC
will be meeting every other month through the end of the calendar year. The next MJTC meeting will be
October 14th and the MPO meeting will be held on October 21st.
7. New Business
Open session - This time is reserved for topics that the chair did not reasonably anticipate would be discussed.
8. Adjournment - The date of the next MRPC meeting – Thursday, October 8, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Having no additional comments or objections, R. Swartz move to adjourn the meeting. Motion was seconded.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:42 pm.
This meeting will be recorded by the Zoom app and will be made available for viewing at
https://www.youtube.com/user/MontachusettRegion/videos.
This notice is subject to change with reasonable notice provided to all.

The Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) is located at 464 Abbott Ave., Leominster, MA and is accessible to people with
disabilities. MRPC provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (including but not limited to
interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, open or closed captioning for videos, assistive listening devices and
alternate material formats, such as audio tapes, Braille and large print), as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact
MRPC by phone (978- 345-7376), fax (978-348-2490) or by email [email protected]. All requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the
meeting. Sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten business days before the meeting.
The MRPC fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. The
MRPC operates without regard to race, color, national origin, English Proficiency, ancestry, creed, income, gender, age and/or disability. Any
person who believes they or any specific class of persons, to be subject to discrimination prohibited by Title VI may by themselves or by
representative file a written complaint with the MRPC. Complaints are to be filed no later than 180 days from the date of the alleged
discrimination. Please contact Glenn Eaton, Executive Director at 978-345-7376 ext. 310 for more information.
Anyone in need of translation services for any MRPC meeting or document should contact the MRPC directly in advance in order to arrange
applicable services. Please contact the MRPC at [email protected] or (978) 345-7376 ext. 300 with questions, concerns or assistance needs
regarding accessibility and/or language services.
Cualquier persona en necesidad de servicios de traducción para cualquier reunión o MRPC documento pueden dirigirse a la MRPC directamente
con antelación para organizar los servicios correspondientes.

Meeting Attendance
Name

M/A

Representing

Appointment Date

Present

Absent

Arpano, Abby

A

Ashburnham

12.2023

X

Dennis, Marshall

M

Ashburnham

7.2026

X

LaSorsa, Paul

A

Ashby

7.2025

X

Pease, Alan

M

Ashby

7.2001

Maxwell, Marc

A

Athol

7.2026

Russo, Thomas

M

Athol

7.2025

Copeland, Shaun

A

Ayer

7.2020.

X

Cachel, Kathleen

M

Ayer

7.2025

X

Vacant

A

Clinton

Duffy, Phil

M

Clinton

12.2011

X

Angus, Neil

N/V

DREZ

7.2023

X

Bohart, Mary Jo

A

Fitchburg

7.2021

X

Fontaine Jr., Paul

M

Fitchburg

7.2026

Labonte, Amber

A

Gardner

1.2024

Swartz, Robert

M

Gardner

7.2019

Burke, Russell

A

Groton

7.2022

Cunningham, Peter

M

Groton

7.2016

Minar, Kara

A

Harvard

7.2021

Thornton, Douglas

M

Harvard

9.2024

Kresge, Mark

A

Hubbardston

7.2023

X
X
X

X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Munroe, Kristofer

M

Hubbardston

7.2023

X

Keating, Brian

A

Lancaster

7.2025

Streeter, Frank

M

Lancaster

7.2023

Vacant

A

Leominster

Valliere, Dean

M

Leominster

Vacant

A

Lunenburg

Reid, Amanda

M

Lunenburg

7.2022

Poodry, Deb

A

Petersham

7.2024

Vacant

M

Petersham

Jackson, Melanie

A

Phillipston

7.2022

X

Telepciak, John

M

Phillipston

7.2001

X

Wright, Jeffrey

A

Royalston

7.2026

X

Nartowicz, Kyle

M

Royalston

7.2022

X

Oelfke, Bill

A

Shirley

7.2020.

X

Jones, Mark

M

Shirley

7.2025

X

Newman, Kirsten

A

Sterling

7.2023

X

Newman, Eric

M

Sterling

7.2019

X

Bennett, Jeff

A

Templeton

9.2024

X

Rich, Dennis

M

Templeton

7.2017

X

Shifrin, Laura

A

Townsend

5.2026

King, Cindy

M

Townsend

5.2026

Vacant

A

Westminster

Fantoni, Amy

M

Westminster

7.2026

X

Beauvais, Andrew

A

Winchendon

7.2025

X

Corbosiero, Guy

M

Winchendon

7.2011

X
X
X

7.2019

X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X

Guests:
Staff: G. Eaton, H. Ford, T. Warrington, B. Doherty, B. Cahill
DOCUMENTS/EXHIBITS DISTRIBUTED FOR THE MEETING
• August 6, 2026 Meeting Minutes
• September 17, 2026 MRPC Meeting Agenda
• September 17, 2026, MRPC Meeting Agenda with Details
• Grant Opportunity Spreadsheet
• MILUS Update - August 2026

X