BUCKFIELD – Heeding a strong request from the Board of Selectmen, Judy Berg led the Planning Board on Monday night to get moving on having a comprehensive plan completed before the end of 2005.

To begin the process, the Planning Board set public hearings at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 and 9 a.m. Jan. 15. At these hearings the board hopes to give a PowerPoint presentation of the sections of a comprehensive plan as suggested by the Androscoggin Valley Council on Governments.

The areas include historic and archaeological resources; economic development; production agriculture; public services/facilities; outdoor recreation; transportation/roadway system; affordable housing; natural resources; rare, endangered and significant natural features; scenic resources; fire land use plan; regional coordination; capital investment plan and hazard mitigation.

It is hoped residents will sign up to work on one of the subcommittees.

The timetable being presented to selectmen on Tuesday night is:

January, hold public hearings; April, get reports from the committees; June, in April, have a rough draft for the town meeting in June; September or October, hold public hearings; November, present the plan at a town meeting.

In other action, the board voted to accept the Board of Appeals’ request to strike a sentence from the Building Ordinance which states, “In no case may the Board of Appeals allow a structure or expansion to be set closer than 15 feet from any boundary lot line or closer than 30 feet from structures on abutting property.”

The board also voted to add: “The granting of this waiver will not create a fire or safety hazard as determined by the Buckfield Fire Chief.”

The board also voted to add, under the building construction section, that wells are not structures. Members voted to specify that there would be one building per 40,000-square-foot lot. This was at a request from Town Manager Glen Holmes. All of these motions will go the Appeals Board and the selectmen, as approved by the Planning Board, before going to a town meeting.