During the meeting, it was explained that one board member resigned after moving out of town, and another member had to recuse themselves due to a conflict of interest. Additionally, a third member had missed two meetings, surpassing the allowable absences under the town’s adopted Mullen’s rule. This left the board with only three eligible members, which is insufficient for proceeding with the hearing.

To resolve the matter, the board, along with town counsel Jay Tellerman, discussed implementing a procedural reset. This approach includes republishing and re-noticing the hearing as if it is restarting, allowing new or previously absent members to participate. The board aims to incorporate all existing evidence and reports during the first session of the reset to maintain continuity without starting from scratch. This solution ensures more than the bare minimum of board members are present, preventing the need for a unanimous vote, which is not ideal for the applicant.

Robert Mather, representing Simmons Hill LLC, expressed agreement with the reset plan and confirmed the project’s eligibility letter remains valid. He requested a waiver of filing fees due to the procedural nature of the reset, which the board agreed to. It was clarified that the reset does not require a new project eligibility letter and that the revised timeline for the project will commence from the new hearing date.