By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD — Members of the Branch Village Task Force next week will meet for the first time with the consultant hired by the town to help the panel with the second phase of the proposed Branch Village plan.

Lincoln-based Pare Corporation, was one of five consulting firms that submitted proposals for the second phase of the plan, and was the firm chosen by the task force on Feb. 26 as best suited to perform the work. A recommendation was made to the Town Council and at the council's meeting on March 3 the panel authorized Town Administrator Robert B. Lowe to award a $26,000 contract to the firm. The amount will be paid with funds from a $30,000 grant awarded to the town by the Rhode Island Division of Planning and the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.
The kick-off meeting between task force members and Pare Corporation will be held Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. at the Kendall-Dean School, 83 School Street, Slatersville.
The purpose of the meeting is to review the scope of work and methodology that will be applied to the buildout model and traffic analysis. The consultants will also present preliminary findings on existing traffic conditions and capacity analysis.
Pare was hired to  help develop alternative mixed use scenarios and analyze impacts of the various  development scenarios on public services, traffic and municipal tax base. The hiring of the consultant is an important step towards advancing implementation of the Branch Village concept plan.
The Branch Village Revitalization Task Force unveiled its proposed vision statement and concept plan to town officials and residents last November. The document is the culmination of a 10-month effort by the task force, who have been working with Horsley Witten Group to examine development possibilities for the nearly 200-acre Branch Village District along Great Road. Both the Town Council and Planning Board have adopted the concept plan, which calls for a more traditional village center with street-level retail with offices or apartments above, and on-street parking and sidewalks with benches and shade trees.
The plan also suggests ways to encourage smart economic development within the 175-acre Branch River Industrial Park if it were allowed to accommodate a mix of uses not currently permitted in the manufacturing zone.
The revitalization is seen by town officials as the best opportunity to build new revenue in a way that upgrades a village in need of private and public support.
The Branch Village revitalization initiative follows the 2006 update of the town’s Comprehensive Plan, which recommended that the Branch Village District be considered a future “growth center” or priority investment area.
“The Task Force's next step in the revitalization process is to assess the impact of implementing the approved concept plan and to evaluate the suitability of various streetscape, transportation and parking improvements,” said Task Force Chairman John Flaherty. “This phase of planning will provide the Task Force with the information it needs to recommend strategies for zoning and implementation of very specific public improvements.”
This second phase of the plan is expected to be complete by June or July.
In the meantime, Lowe has initiated a Fiscal Year 2009 federal grant application that could lead to the resources necessary for implementing streetscape improvements simultaneously with the town-approved (and funded) sewer project tentatively scheduled for 2009. The town will be seeking $5.78 million by leveraging the town’s investment of 6.17 million (representing the Branch Village portion of the approved $21 million sewer bond.
“The sewer project is expected to go out to bid in September. If we manage to secure the $5.78 million federal appropriation that we requested on Feb. 15,  then it would be possible for the remaining streetscape and transportation improvements to be performed simultaneously with the sewer project,” said Flaherty, adding that letters of support for that appropriations request have been sent or pledged on behalf of the several organizations, inlcuding the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, Rhode Island  Department of Environmental Management, Rhode Island Division of Planning, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.
Phase three of the plan - drafting a mixed-use zoning ordinance - has already
been included as part of the scope of work for the re-write of the town's
zoning ordinance now underway in connection with the town's recently updated
Comprehensive Plan.